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The Outdoor Steward: Properly transplanting bareroot trees and shrubs this spring and beyond

The dense roots of these 5-year-old white spruce transplants should be trimmed to a manageable length before planting. (Photo by Scott Pfeifer Yellow River Nurseries)

I planted my first bareroot shrub in 2003. Since then, I have planted thousands of bareroot tree and shrub seedlings and transplants. My track record has been pretty good, and most failures could be blamed on extreme locations or summer drought.
Since it never hurts to trouble-shoot your technique, I reached out to Wisconsin DNR Reforestation Specialist Jeremiah Auer. Wisconsin DNR state nurseries distributed more than 3.8 million seedlings from more than 50 different trees and shrubs last year alone. So Auer knows his way around bareroots.

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