"Plantings are ready to be planted in the buffer along the Far Mill River.
Isn't it a little late for that, season wise?"
You can plant shrubs whenever the ground isn't frozen...now that plants are
dormant. However, if the plants are handled in a frozen condition, have
their roots thaw and re-freeze, or air allows the roots to dry out without
adequate initial watering you'll have dieback or lose them. Fall planting is
ideal, but we've had difficulty with plants, not dormant, coming from the
south that are Fall planted, not acclimated to our climate. They typically
suffer from 'shock' after the first hard freeze. Deals on leftover nursery
stock abound making it attractive for late season planting especially on
large projects.
Depending on the tree variety, dormant, large tree transplanting ( up to 15"
caliper ) is preferred throughout the late Fall and winter, even with some
surface freezing, as the ground is solid and the large transplanters don't
sink into soft areas!