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Receiving & Planting Your Trees

You have received your trees! This is a wonderful day. Unfortunately, it is also your mom’s birthday and you have a dentist appointment and there’s that three-day fishing trip you’ve been planning… The checklist below explains what to do when you receive your Cummins Nursery trees, even if you cannot plant them right away. See How to Plant a Fruit Tree when you are ready to plant.

How to Start:

  1. Open each box. If you cut a box open, take care not to cut too deeply, so that you don't slice the moisture wrap around the roots. We usually wrap the roots in plastic, which you can leave on for now.
  2. Pull the tree bundles out of the box. You should remove the trees from the box regardless of whether or not you are able to plant them immediately.
  3. IMPORTANT! Count your trees. Note the attached scion-rootstock labels and match them against your order. Did you get all the correct trees? If not, contact us!
  4. If you can plant your trees immediately, go to Step 5. If you are not able to plant your trees immediately, please do the following:
    1. Never let the roots dry out! If they are still in plastic wrap, you can stick a hose inside it to dampen them. If you are planning to plant within 24 hours you can soak the roots in a bucket of water. Do not soak them for more than 24 hours as they will drown.
    2. Do not let your trees freeze or bake. Keep them in a cool, dark place such as a garage.
    3. If you cannot plant for a week or longer, you should “heel in” your trees. This means covering the roots in soil and keeping them moist. It’s like a half-way house for your trees.
  5. Proceed to the checklist, How to Plant a Fruit Tree. This will guide your next moves, including options for whether you are planting immediately, or planting within one day, or planting at a later date. You can skip to Step 2 since you have already opened your boxes.

Next:

How to Plant a Fruit Tree






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