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seedling planting productivity

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I have 6 acres the need replanted and a few to start from scratch. Ordering 8-16" seedlings from the state nursery and trying some cuttings from my own willows. The planting crew will consist of me with a shovel and a bucket. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew in one season and looking for feedback on how long it would take a guy to do this. Site is prepped and assuming no problems like a bad back, can I get 500 trees planted in let's say an 8hr day??
 
Wow. If you could I wouldn't expect many to live. Dibble bar would be better. I like to use a tile spade when the soil is loose(used like a dibble bar). Depends on the year. Some years you can't do anything wrong.
 
I was going to use a tile spade. I guess tile spade or not equal shovel :)ha. Or if I get crazy, I might get a hoedad but haven't figured out if that would be all the much quicker than the spade. So I'm over optimistic on 500 trees in a day?
 
I would guess that 500 trees is optimistic. I would say it would be more like 2-300 a day. With a dibble bar you may be able to get 500 in a day, but your survival rate will be much higher if you were to use a shovel. The issue with a dibble bar is that you are going to get an air pocket around the roots when you close the hole up, and all the soil is compacted around the roots. With a shovel you can make a wider or deeper hole, to fit the roots in properly and firm the soil down around the roots to make sure there are no voids of soil to root contact. The larger hole also makes it easier for the root system to grow the first year and to take up moisture.

So.... you either put a lot in the ground and hope the laws of averages comes out on your side, or get less in the ground knowing that you are giving them more of a chance to survive. I have planted with both methods and have seen a big increase of survival rates when planting with a shovel.
 
kalup said:
In my experience, it depends a lot of soil type and conditions. Wet, clay soil is a b*tch.
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Soil condition and type does play a factor. Chose the right species for the soil type and the location that you are planting on. You should be able to find a soil map online or at your NRCS office. In the tables, it should list best species to plant based on soil type.
 
Good to know. These are all going in lowland along wet creekside and trees are picked according. My brother suggested illegals for help so I'll look into that
 
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