here I'm transplanting some small larch plugs into larger plugs

here I'm transplanting some small larch plugs into larger plugs, if you don't know larch are this conifer that have the unusual feature where they drop their needles in the fall and just grow new ones first thing in the spring. these broke dormancy a few weeks ago even while bundled up like this and look nice and healthy, but they're super slow growing when small like spruce and pine, unless you have ideal conditions expect about a 2" tree at the end of the first year, and plant them into small pots or large plug trays for the second year to get up to a size that can handle being planted out. or leave them in a garden bed for 2-3 years kind of back burner and then in the spring you can put them into pots or transplant to a field or yard location. spruce in particular, they can grow maybe six inches per year for the first five-ten years, then once established take off and grow much faster.