Harry and Gordy, Thanks for the encouragement and advice.
Our neighbor has 2 acres that was treeless 40 years ago and today is covered in a Carolinian forest. There are english walnut, redbud, mulberry (black and white), pines and cedars with blackberry, blueberry, and current bushes mixed in. He will point to early plantings of 5' pines planted along side 12" saplings where 40 years later the saplings are noticeable taller the 5 footers are. He claims that a 12" will pass the larger trees growth within 5 years.
Our property was a gravel harvested site backfilled with sand and has very little topsoil. In 2007 and 2009 we applied 40 yards of compost in the fall of each year. It has been very disheartening to watch a 4 year-old healthy tree die suddenly because grubs eat the roots off. When we purchased the property in 2001 the line of trees along the drive and 4 in the yard were all that existed.
Even with the sand back fill we will encounter a stone occasionally.
We have been planting wild trees harvested locally for a the last 15 years but have had little successes due to grubs and planting methods. Last year we planted 25 pine saplings using the neighbors advice and only had 1 die. It went droopy the day it was planted and never recovered.
The method used was to dig a square hole 18 X 18 X 18". Square is to encourage the roots into penetrating the wall of the excavated area instead becoming ball bound in a circular hole. When back filling the new tree, the top half of the hole is left open to hold 2.5 gallons of water every other day. No fertilizers or stimulants are added. The neighbour believes that a tree will do better if it adjust to its environment from day one.
The end of summer the saplings had a nice green, and so did the yard.
Today the tree is starting to come out of winter dormancy, and so is the yard.
These two pines were about 6" when pulled from a fence line 4 years ago. They are only 2 that survived out of 15 using a plug and play method. I am hoping that following the neighbors advice of watering 2.5 gallons every 2 - 3 days for the first 2 years of summer will give us 25 trees 8' high in 5 years.
Planting for the future,
Spike
I also don't know if I want that privacy hedge when I'm 90 years old. Would really like a hedge in 2-3 years.