Nature Hills Gardening Community

 Does anyone have an idea how to mail saplings? We have a Portuguese cork oak tree, and friends across the country are asking for some babies that we raised from acorns. Thanks for any advice!

hollisg 

Hello and welcome to our community. The best way to mail the seedlings is to wait until the seedlings are dormant and then dig up and wash the soil off the roots. Use wet shreds of newspaper to wrap the roots so they keep moist. Take a heavy plastic bag to go over the paper and roots and tie it off just above the root collar. Place in a heavy box so they do not get smashed during shipping.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

 Thank you very much for this information. How do I know when they are dormant??

hollisg 

Hollisg,

Once the trees defoliate this fall (after the first killing frost) then dig them up and send to your friends. Please let me know if you have further questions.

 Thank you again. I know that seemed like a dumb question, but since I live in Los Angeles, we don't have frosts and the trees stay green all year. I have to guess that when the mother tree dumps most of her leaves, I'll assume the babies are as dormant as they are going to get!

hollisg