Tree planting, planning, pruning today on the Christmas tree farm.

Hello Rob here from the Flanagan Homestead we're at the farm this morning Getting ready to plant more Christmas Trees we've got uh 500 Normans that We're putting in the ground we plan to Plant more than that but uh this is one Of those situations where on late notice We uh We're only able to get a crew for so Many trees and pick up so many trees we We actually could have got a few more Trees but uh today I'm going to take you Through what we're doing here on November 5th planting we like to do fall Planting I have other videos on that This is not going to be as much of a Teaching video I mean we will do the Basics of what we're doing but today is Going to be more about uh just an update On what we're doing why we're planting In the fall and then there's going to be A lot more thoughts Barry and I are out Here we're gonna we have a crew planting The trees we're going to be cleaning up Our trees getting them ready for Harvest Uh making them look a little bit nicer Making everything sure everything else Is ready to go Um this video is probably going to have Some thoughts on Just Christmas tree farming in general Or things that happened this year so You're going to see some planting and You're just going to see some thoughts

On uh how things are going this year and The reality of Christmas tree farming Why we we had to make some changes in The last two days of what our plan was Today but it's all going to work out so Thanks for joining us So the first thing to talk about on Having to change your plan we as I Mentioned love to plant in the fall now We think that that gives its roots a Chance to get established before the Next year's growth and they survive Better and and our experience has shown Us that we we wanted to plant earlier if We could get moisture in the ground we'd Like to plant earlier in October but Today is November 5th but it was so dry We had the longest driest uh summer ever And there just was no moisture in the Ground so we couldn't plant in October So we couldn't get the trees in the Ground and expect them to keep growing And get that nice October early November Root growth so but we we still if we get Them in the ground we feel that the the Soil gets down tight around the roots Better throughout the winter and there Will be some root growth so they'll do Better off so we still want to plant in The fall if we can even though we we Didn't do it as early as we would have Liked uh the other thing is we were Planning to do a noble for plugs We were going to get those out here but

And I actually called my supplier and They were ordered and yeah we have those Available what not just let me know when You wanted well I had to confirm with my Crew that they could be out here confirm With my business partner everything was Going to work and then I didn't call Them soon enough and so then when I let Them know that we were coming to get the Trees yesterday that they had just Sprayed in their greenhouses where they Grow the plugs uh uh and I don't even Know what they sprayed on it to be Honest but they had to spray something That for 48 hours nobody else was Supposed to go back in there and so they Said we can't pull your Noble plugs out For us and so uh they said but we do Have some bare root nordmans so you want To take those instead because we had Some nordmans in order so we went ahead And said well we got a crew coming to Planning to plant 500 trees We will take the 500 nordmans and get Those in the ground right now hopefully We'll get our Noble plugs if I can get This crew back next week we'll get the Noble plugs in the ground and then also I'm going to show you some nordman's the Ones that we have here and I'm going to Try some Norma's from another supplier As well that these are three O's so they Haven't been transplanted in The Roots Cut whereas I'm going to get some two

Twos where after two years of growth They pull them out cut the roots to nine Inches and replant them and then instead Of getting the longer roots They get more of a mop that's easier to Plant but yet still has more root Structure so we're gonna get our hands On some of those and plant those and We're going to compare the survival rate This next year of the two different Times two different kinds so those are Things that are happening you know it Doesn't always go exactly as planned but We just scrambled around and made this Work and we're going to get 500 trees in The ground and hopefully If we don't get the 2000 trees that we Plan to in the ground this fall then we Could do some spring planting as well All right so we've got our uh 500 Nordmans that we're gonna plant today we Do want to plant some more this fall or Next spring but this is what we had These are three O's uh so they've been In the ground outside for three years Uh we'll show you what they're going to Look like So this is a fairly typical of the three O's I actually had more reserved than This but I ran into a friend at church Whose dad actually runs a nursery and They talk about how their root system Has a lot more significant Roots these Are not bad these look pretty good but

They actually have more of a like what You would call a moth a significant root System and he said that they uh those Are two twos two years in the uh Sorry Greenhouse two years in the Greenhouse and then two years out in the Field and they actually dig them up After two years and cut the roots to the Eight nine inch length and then they Replant them wider in the grow them two More years and because of the cutting They don't have the longer roots that Run down they have more roots that Spread out and they'll always cut the Tree the roots to nine inches which is Industry standard and so by doing that Once that creates a wider system instead Of a longer system Part here and just yeah wherever we see Um you know where we lost the tree again We're going to plug those in all right And I was thinking Rob On some of our larger trees should we go Ahead and plug one right next to it I Must have that I was considering the Same thing but with only 500 trees do we Need to do that yet or do we do that With our next planting because there's Going to be 500 normal holes I think We'll have 500 out there We had a lot died this last year Uh well let's do that then let's just Just whether we lost our small ones and Then if we need to we might come back

And put some next to the bigger all Right okay all right cool So more you planted for us several years Now and do you are you the owner now of RK reforestation or how does that work Yes like family business right now yeah Yeah Something like that something like that Moy worked for a crew that planted for a Lot for the county and that's how we got Connected with them he plants uh a lot Of trees down over our Hillside by the River and uh His boss was resigning and he's kind of The boss now is that accurate or not Really Something like that if you've watched Our videos You'll see Moy before he does A good job Put another one in there all right You can see we still have some weeds That came back this is particularly a Bad spot it's got some blackberries And we had to clear out a little bit and Notice this technique he likes to almost Slap the tree down in there that really Gets the roots to go down on the bottom And then Stomps it in good [Applause] Okay so while the crew is planting Barry And I are going to go out and work in The field and uh this is not a pruning Or shearing time of year but it's a good Time to clean up some stuff uh Harvest

Is going to be here uh later this month And it's it's a good time to walk Through sometimes when you're doing uh Hundreds or thousands of trees Hearing In the summer you go through and you get Tired and you miss something or you just Approach it at a different angle so We're going to be cleaning up things Just some simple things like this one Still has three liters on it I need to Get rid of that then just the dead Branches when you did Shear that they're Sitting on the tree clean those out and Then you get some of these Sections right here where it's a little Extra thick so we'll be uh thinning out Some and Just trying to make the tree just to Look a little bit more presentable we Won't be taking a full shearing approach To it but just a little bit of cleanup Making things look a little nicer today So we have a section of trees right here This is what Barry was talking about we Were told these were Frasier They're not a very nice seed source if They are but these trees have been here A long time a long time and the deer Like them they're not grown in full They're not Very valuable But we're considering what are we going To do uh sell these cheap There are some decent ones but for the

Most part they're pretty straggly and We're just gonna get these out of here They've been here a lot longer than Their size would indicate and so we need To get these trees out of here and get Something that will grow Much more rapid and produce a better Tree so These things we're probably going to Just mark them really cheap there's There's not going to be very many cheap Trees on our farm this year 100 at least 100 bucks for every noble or Nordman but These trees Are going to go we're going to mark them Down and just see if somebody wants a Bargain price tree Get these out of here and use this land For a better tree You can see where we've been mostly Harvested out and our inventory is Really low So the these are the trees have been Left behind they've had problems people Didn't like so we've done a lot of Shearing and shaping and fertilizing Trying to get these to where they'll be Good enough to go into someone's home Some of these are Looking really good again these are Grandfathers that we're standing in Right now some of them just aren't Healthy like this one The coloring on it just has too much

Brown we're probably just going to pull This out cut her down and turn it loose Then some of them just aren't getting The shape Some of these over here too close to the Trees over here not getting that Sunlight on that side so That side doesn't grow in as thick So what you're proposing here is we're Done Growing ducks we've had enough we don't Grow that many anyway Putting all this into Noble so we'll Have Nobles Run right to our Grands Normans are on that side mostly Nobles On the side and focus on those two I believe well Nobles Normans and grants That's three the dug for I mean there Are there are customers that come and And choose a duck fur but Yeah that that little piece of land is Pretty valuable you know for for us in a Nordman or a noble Get us more money in a couple of years Versus a short shorter term for a dug For of course but Um yeah I think that's a good idea for Our future Good plan So this is we're getting besides getting Trees ready to sell this you're trying To correct this has a double leader one Coming off sideways although it's a

Taller one one more straight up we're Going to leave the shorter one that's Straight up And just let it when spring comes around Next year Have a straight growth There we go Also on days like today sometimes we'll Do a little bit of the handle work this Tree is not tall enough to Do a full foot handle right now but if We take off a few of the lower branches Right now the trunk will grow up thinner And the tree will be lighter and then in Another couple years we'll come back or Another year or two when it's about four Feet tall and get the full handle on it We don't want to cut off more than a Third of the tree at a time but again That's not enough handle for permanent But uh just taking off a few of the Basil pruning branches we call it Cutting handles Uh we're not doing it all one day but Just here and there when we're around Makes the job easier Okay so Barry and I are again are trying To figure out I may have mentioned Earlier we have 500 Normans that we're Planting today we have access to another Thousand Norman if we want we don't have That much space we also have access to a Thousand Noble fur plugs with which a Nice seed source so we're gonna see if

We can get these guys when they're done Planting today if they'll come back next Weekend or soon after because again we Prefer the fall planting Um but we're just trying to figure out How how much space we have so we've just Been discussing a plan so I forget we think If they'll come do we want a thousand Trees and try to get nordman's and Nobles or do we even we need to count And figure out I think we need to walk Through the field and determine that but To me it's looking like it's looking More like we would do the Nobles yeah We're trying to divide our farm mostly Nobles on this side Nobles and grandfers And nordman's on the other side and it's Looking like we have some space Uh where we can definitely put some Nobles in and we're going to replace Some of the Fraser fur with Nobles and So we have a few rows of frasers that I Think I Probably showed you on the video that We're not proud of and we want to get Rid of they've how long has this been There too long they've probably over 10 Years old I would say yes and yeah most Of them are shorter than me still Um well not most but several of them are Still shorter than me so they're too Slow growing they're not good looking so We're going to Discount those get those

Out of here that's going to become Nobles a more valuable tree our dogs Well we may be done with thugs and put More Nobles in there more valuable tree And uh We've considered just buying some Wholesale dogs for the few people that Come out to get Doug first and have them Available So this may not again a lot of this is Contingent on getting a crew because Barry and I are getting too old to do All the planting so if these guys are Willing to come back next weekend we'll Probably be doing the plug Nobles which Uh will be ready and available for us In this section of the trees you can see That we had the weeds killed really well But we had a lot of rain and late into The summer this spring before it went Really dry and it kind of washed our Soil Sterling out and we had we don't Have fixed sod but you can see we have a Fair number of weeds that have come back Up this year we need to take care of and Then with the super dry At towards the end of the summer we have Usually once they get to two three feet Tall we don't lose too many trees but You can see There's a Fair amount in this section That didn't make it you might notice That moy's using a spade mowing a screw Are using a spade or a shovel in the

Background here and in previous videos We talked about how much we like to use An auger because it kind of tills up the Ground as well and we were wanting to do An auger again but again things don't Always go as planned one our auger isn't Working we would have had to have gone And borrowed another auger and short Notice or rented another one so due to The fall planting which we think is more Important than the auger use we're just Going to get these in the ground with a Spade because the crew is available Today so I do like the auger but uh this is just What worked for today This time of year is got to get the Sticks off too that we tied these on When we were shearing so the the tree is Hard enough that they should stay Straight Probably shouldn't use my pruners On these wires but It's quick we could pull these off now And they're gonna the tree is still Gonna stay straight I'm getting a false leader up here on This one All has been for me I mean I literally had I had I honestly Between the North Fork and the nasal and The click attack I had one day I didn't catch a fish Really all the trips I took until that

Selected You were killing it So sometimes you get a super ugly tree Like this one I'm not super ugly it's Generally got a good shape but there's Areas of certain trees you tie them up And then it just grows a Burly knob and It's really thick and it's just never Going to have a good shape so we're Going to take this tree like this and There's another one Right over here you can't see it very Well but it's it's got uh Different shapes it's not going to grow Up straight it's been there a long time That we're going to just do some Flagging on these trees that are we Haven't set an exact price but Barry and I are I've talked about this has got to Go it's got a huge stump I'll show you That here in just a second it's been Here for a long time and it's got to get Out of here and so we're either going to Cut it down and throw it on a fire or we Can sell it cheap and someone else will Take it so we're gonna flag some of These trees that we want cold out and a Lot of people aren't going to want to Pay a hundred dollars for a number one This year So uh you know maybe we'll do a 50 tree Or less who knows we haven't decided on That price yet but we're going to Mark a Lot of trees that would have some value

To someone but they certainly aren't Number ones uh and some cheaper normally We just sell every noble a hundred Dollars or we have one price any size And they choose it if they like it they Keep it but uh we're gonna Mark a few at Discount just because we got to get them Off the farm Here's what I was talking about on this Tree that we want to call out That trunk will not fit in a standard Christmas tree stand because it's been Here so long it's so thick maybe if we Cut it up a little bit further It'll fit in the stand but uh just time For this thing to go Okay so uh the crew we've already talked To them they're willing to come back Next Saturday and get more of our trees In so we'll have all the trees in Planted in the fall which we really want But we we were just looking at how many Trees they have and we need to decide so You're just going to see the discussion Here It looks like the nordman's section of The field is going to be almost Completely full yeah we have two options Get no more nordmans Or we plant some in that small section Of Norton's over there I wanted to get some of the nordness From the other Nursery but if we're only Going to put 200 in the ground we don't

Want to drive to Salem And Hood River no to get seedlings so if We only plant a few more nordmans if we Get them all at Brooks both the Nobles The 500 Nobles that we want and the Nordmans We could pick up Norman's there yeah you Know because they have them on reserve For us they're ready to go you drive to One spot It wasn't quite the necessarily the tree That we wanted yeah but you know you Were you were really interested in Getting those those Normans though that Have the different route you know the Root uh scenario that you're talking About I'm retired I can make a trip Laurie and I love Hood River it's gorgeous I wasn't Going to put that on yeah no I can't Make it but if you can make it yeah then I I think we lean toward doing that and You wanted to see what the difference Would look like I really do be a real Good Community it would be very distinct Because the Norman's over here would be From one provided supplier the nordman's Planted over there would be from another And yeah we'd have a pretty clear Distinction of If one did better than the other I think We need to do that I think we need to Take a look at that we've had a lot of Difficulties with some of the bare root

Uh nordaments we've been getting so it'd Be nice to try something different and That'd be a great you know planted the Same fall Uh You know nearly the same time all the Factors would be equal so and then the 500 Nobles for sure 500 Nobles and then We'll before they leave we'll make a Count or before I leave we'll make a Count how many Normans we want so I'm guessing we're going to be about 700 Total trees again next weekend yep okay Okay cool sounds good so Barry was just Saying because he's got time because He's retired the fortunate Soul he's Been fishing a whole lot so uh and Killing it so that's that's good but He's like if we can't get the nordman's The 200 nordman's I could plant those on At my leisure and get those in and the Crew would do the Nobles but uh One of the situations that we would have There is these are not cold stored ones That can stay in the bags a little bit Longer when you you get them in the fall Then they're the nursery suppliers are Like we haven't had our 400 hours of 40 Degrees or less and then we cut them bag Them and they're ready to go in the Freezer and then you can keep them cool And they last longer Um Both of our suppliers say if you're

Going to take bare root in the fall You need to get them get them home and Get them in the ground so we don't want To wait nearly as long with these you Know we picked these up yesterday the One that we were planned today and They're all going to be in the ground Just a little afternoon today and then So we'll probably pick up trees again Next Friday and have them in the ground By Saturday so We if you get fall trees fall bare root You need to get them in the ground good To know excellent didn't know that So the crew is just pulling out and We're a little bit after noon they start About 8 30. uh we got 500 trees in the Ground I gave them 300 to split amongst Them might have been a little overpriced If you go by the hour but uh they know What they're doing they get in here they Get it done quick and we can go home and My back is saved because I'm not Planting all of them But we really caught a break in the Weather today after torrential rain Yesterday it really has only rained very Lightly for a little bit of time today So we gotta we both have moisture in the Ground a little bit of moisture in the Air which are good for the trees but we Weren't getting soaked out here so I Didn't even put my rain gear on the Planting crew did but uh at one point in

Time but it's back off and so anyway There's a recap of uh what's going on Today at the farm thanks for joining on The Flanagan Homestead and East Fork Christmas Tree farms where Christmas Trees are my business teaching including Horticulture is my job and outdoor Projects are my passion hope to see you Again soon be blessed everyone