by mannytheseacow » Sun Mar 31, 2013 4:30 pm
I'm joining this discussion pretty late... Here in N. Illinois we don't plant too many trees until mid-april. I put in some apples last year. This year I'm planting some wine grapes, hazelnuts and pecans. Over the years I've planting quite a few trees on my little parcel, and harvested quite a few, too, for lumber and to set up a solar panel array.
As I was reading through the threads on here a couple of things came to mind. I'm not sure if y'all know about black walnuts, but be careful where you plant them, because nothing will grow around them. There's a compound in black walnuts that helps it take over an area. Don't plant them anywhere near your garden!
Guy: pecans should yield pretty far to the north and you shouldn't have any problems with them in your area. If you're skeptical or have the option try a variety from the University of Minn., they breed some pretty cold-tolerant stuff up there!
Also, I don't know how this works around the planet, but here locally and in the surrounding states we have "Soil and Water Conservation Districts" that sell trees in the spring. They're usually bare root trees sold in bundles of 25. That's a lot of trees, but the prices are super cheap. In my experience, the smaller the tree the faster it recovers from transplant shock, so you have that advantage, too. Also, planting these bare-root trees is as simple as putting a spade in the ground and making a crack, as someone already pointed out.
Oaks make great hog food, too. I don't raise any livestock, I pretty much just eat what I hunt, but I know some hog farmers that raise high end breeds for the culinary industry that are getting $25 a pound for their pork that they fatten up on squash and acorns before slaughter. My old-growth oaks are worth more to me for the acorns they drop than their lumber would ever be just because of what these guys will pay for the acorns. Makes for some damn tasty pork, too!
Another favorite tree of mine is hackberry. It drops a lot of small purple berries. In December when I'm turkey hunting I always find the turkeys around the hackberries and every bird I dress will have a crop full of these berries. It makes for some pretty lumber, too. Sort of like a hickory with the contrasting light and dark coloration. Burns hot, too, though it's hard to split like elm, bindey.
"Knowledge is power. Arm yourself."
I feel like a Piker now, 
Congratulations on getting so many trees added to your respective landscapes. Like George says, you will see many years of growth and improvements from this one day of hard work. Little things like this one day of work start to add up over time to equal Huge differences in your surroundings . I hope all of the trees you guys planted grow well for you. Even though you skimped a bit on the digging Matt, you can most likely make up for that with Water, 
. Keep them mulched and keep them moist and you may not see any problems from your planting methods, 
