Thanks so much for having me out Mike! I had a blast....so cool to see how your operation has evolved over the years! See ya again soon!! Josh

Mike if you roll the root ball on the ground the same way you did the tub to get the tree out that will loosen it up nicely.

Since we're suppose to have a dry year upcoming, do consider buying and installing the tree watering bags for use this coming summer; and likely upto 3 years. Also, making a small circumpherence tree ring around the actual trunk but then covering the ground for several feet around with a deep mulch which will form a crust keeping the lower depth and soil below from drying out.

For us short guys, we put the driver over the post before we stand it up. Lol

Hey Mike, if your family looks after those trees just as well as you do with your animals, I'm sure they will grow into beautiful, healthy trees.

I have a "Gary" but his name is Bill. My husband is a truck driver so he has made sure that my boys and I are safe when the weather turns bad. He has been a Godsend! Best neighbor ever.

Always love all of the ways you expand the ranch. Shows your love for the ranch and gives honor to Gilbert..

Mike, nice to see some grass growing in the RV area. We were prevailed to stay at the park in mid June and had a great time. Ranch hand Jeff got us situated and then the next morning we took your tour. My wife got to feed the bottle calves also. We really enjoyed the tour and got some great beef and pork products at the Farm Store. We look forward to another visit next year.

Howdy Mike,are you sure? I could've sworn it was the Telephone Pole LoL. I hope your Trees take they will be a welcome sight 🐦. JO JO IN VT 😆💕

I have nothing but "happy feet" for your Cottonwoods, very resourceful trees. I appreciate how your Ranch strives for continuous improvements to key resources. I hope your ranch plants more!!!!!

Phew! That was a lot of work. Well done. We were there last year as a Harvest Host guest and we are still watching. Mary💕Fred

We have a tremendous number of cottonwoods here in the Boise valley and when they're shedding their cotton, it looks like a blizzard!!

I love the scent of Russian Olive trees in the Spring! It signals that Spring is here to me & has since I was a young child in Idaho.

Putting some organic matter, such as well rotted manure, in the planting hole and around the soil surface would help retain moisture and provide nutrients for the trees. I know you said each tree has to survive on its own, but in the first season after planting a boost of manure would help them.

Hi Mike and all others too. Mike you shows a Heart Full Of Love for your family animals and land too. Great video and thanks for sharing i pray everyone enjoy the rest of the week. 😃😃God Bless You All 😍 Hugs and Prayers to you all. 😃😃

I like it when you speed up the video. It’s cool. Thank you for sharing your ranch life.

Tree planting 101 on the ranch. Nice job explaining everything. Keep up the great content. Blessings.

I am so glad you are planting trees. Shade is so nice and having some green to look at when you live in such a brown dry area. Great job with planting correctly

Thanks for sharing our wyoming life have a great week

You did a great job of explaining your tree planting process. You would be surprised how many people don’t have a clue when it comes to planting a tree. Most common mistake is planting too deep. Due to your shortage of moisture the last few years I would suggest putting mulch around the trees. Anything to help hold in the moisture. We are very fortunate to have a community tree committee. Each spring they have a free tree giveaway (about 150 trees @ a cost of $3500) it’s on a first come basis. With the limit of one tree per person they are usually gone in ten minutes. Their Arborist gives a demonstration on planting procedures, the importance of calling One Call before digging and the importance of planting different species of trees. Over the years the tree committee has planted thousands of trees. The past few years they’ve planted replacement trees free of charge to home owners that lost trees to the Emerald Ash bore and Derecho. They’ve been a Tree City USA for over 35 years.

Good job explaining your tree planting!😅😅❤❤🤠🤠

Hi Guy's, hope all is well..

MIke, you really made a meal of planting that tree

Thank you for the great videos Mike! Wyomingites are the best!

Glad you got cottonwood trees without the cotton! In the Chicagoland area it looks like it’s snowing with that stuff blowing around and it gets stuck in vents!

Two of my favorite You Tubers, Josh and Mike. I watch both channels every day. Woooooooooo!

Just FYI living here in Wyoming and planting trees - you should put drywall in the bottom of your hole and use grass for the base over the gypsum (drywall), the grass should be a foot thick as it holds the ground water and contains beneficial microbes... just saying as I have planted lots of trees on my place and they really do well with this method.

Good luck with the trees hopefully they are around for a long time

Our wyoming life I liked the video it was entertaining I hope you have a great week.

You should check out the trees called. Royal empress. They grow in any climate. Provide shade. Grow very fast. Amazing pink flowers. Amazing trees to plant.

trees are good for shade and to play under and to relax under

Hi Mike compost and menure also verry good for planting your trees

I would tie the tree to the four t-posts to keep it stable in the strong winds you get. Also, I would have put a lot of mulch on the tree to preserve moisture and help keep the roots warm in the Winter. I love that you have portable water, but the water comes out too fast. You did a good thing by putting water in the hole, but the water on the top doesn't get a chance to soak in because it goes on too fast. Good luck with your trees! It is amazing that your pastures don't have any trees.

The telephone pole LOL

You plant enough of them you can call your ranch the Cottonwood Ranch!

Improvements are always good, love the ranch Mike!!

🤔we just bend a cattle panel around on itself and tie it together with bailing wire 😁your way works to

Good day, Mike...Sure was nice seeing you plant the trees! You really should do it every year, as its wonderful shade when they mature. Its fall here, in Maine, and our trees are at Peak color. The Maple tree probably is the most prolific with its colors, ranging from bright reds, yellow, and oranges! Maine is the Pine Tree State, our pine trees are always green. Fortunately, our soil is not the hard pack like what you have....(I understand that most of it was due to construction of the RV park) However, we do plant our trees, just as you did yours. The hole, larger than the diameter of the tree, add water) break up the root system, put tree in hole, fill with dirt, pack and tamp out any possible holes, and after final fill of dirt, add water. I have planted 3 different kinds of apple trees, and did not stake them...had no problems with them withstanding the winters and wind here. Great job!! Bev in Maine

look at all desertification programs, the more green, the less evaporation and the lower the soil temperature, and mix the leaves with manure for better soil structure.

I plant trees all the time as a hobby, grow from seed. Some hardy evergreens are, afghan pine, nellie stevens holly, aleppo pine, arizona cypress, italian cypress, murray cypress..and of course the eastern red cedar. Most of those are all very fast growers but the fastest ones I've grown seem to be surprisingly the western white pine, dawn redwood, of course the willow and poplar hybrids are beasts, and the red mulberry tree. The red mulberry seems exceptionally hardy and fast growing, squirrels love it. From seed I have one that's 10ft in 2.5years. Redbud is a great tree as well. Something like a hackberry is a beast in the heat but will snap apart in a freeze, very dangerous. But I'd probably bet money on eastern red cedar all day. Not the prettiest but animals use it, no dangerous limbs, wind breaks, shelter belt, and it's something to look at in winter.. plus you can always trim it into a tree shape. Oh and I love the dawn redwood. It's basically a prettier, faster growing bald cypress. It can even grow in ponds. Grows very quickly, great color changes/deciduous conifer and no knees like the bald cypress has that stick out of the ground. Very cool trunk and it's in the fossil record with the dinosaurs..which is neat. Bald cypress trees are very hardy trees and you'll see them in a lot of front yards. It's not just a swamp tree.

Shade for the future.👍🇨🇦

We always fill our holes with water, twice, along with root stimulator. Secret ingredient! West Texas is just as dry and we’ve been successful, so far, with our water technique.

Now you need to plant some picnic table seeds. 😉

I planted two cottonwood cuttings, this summer in Northern AZ. The calves on the land ate them. Hahaha

Great job.

Awesome tree 🌲 planting

good on you for planning trees! Plant them low, they won't grow, plant them high, they won't die. I place a pipe down 8 to 10 inches below the root ball. Then use that as an encouragement to get the roots to go deep.

Great video Mike keep them coming please

tree's are great for the cows for shade, also fruit tree's would give your animals free food have a great week hugsssssss

If you want to drip water them use a 5 gallon pail with a small hole in the bottom to water. Even better a larger pail. I usually give them a little extra off to side when watering as well. Coming from Panama where it rains 8 months of the year and nothing for 4 months.

Great Video 😄

I love the way education on the state you live

Rode along the Rio Grande beautiful cotton woods and mistletoe . Lot of shade in the desert.

Mike, wr planted trees in August at our place in Montana and the arborist told us to gently remove the leaves so the nutrients go to root development. Just a thought. Keep on going.

Watching you and your family has renewed my love of gardening. This pass summer I had exalent results with my vegetables. I am so thankful for you videos.

Nice addition to the RV park.

I enjoy watching Stony Ridge Farms!

I love cottonwoods.

Good initiative

great video Mike

Great video Mike! So enjoy your video's! We have so many deer 🦌 on our property I can't even have a garden.

Great hat!

New Wyoming t shirt! Another hot seller! You should add more RV sites!

Suggest if going to plant trees around farm house why not fruit trees or a nut tree they make shade and provide food

that's what I love about California coast. Even if no rain The coast Redwoods absorb moisture through their leaves in fog

Yes!!!!! I lived in the high desert of Wyoming for over 12 years and I planted FIRECRACKER MAPLES… It’s quite a struggle to keep the wet to keep them alive…. I gave each tree 1 five gallon buckets of water 3xs a day…. And I had to put fence around each one to keep the antelope and mule deer from eating each one….

Pounding in the post brought back memories of putting in posts in Texas. I think you have completed your weight lifting and cardio for the week!!!!

Wow, everyone has an opinion on how to plant a tree!😮😂. You did an awesome job!

i have planted 20,000 trees aboutish in the last 60 years. my conditions are not as harsh as yours and they grow easy

Thinking the ball should be at or just tad above grade

Love the huge sky and massive range of sight out there on the prairie! The more long horizons and big sky the better as far as I'm concerned, though I can see why you want these trees. I think the cottonwood at one time was also propagated as a hybrid with the Quaking Aspen? I may be remembering wrong though. Thanks for the great video!

When I planted a tree in Northwestern indiana I was told to make sure the tap root was headed north. Hope they take hold and grow big and strong.

Stake out a 5 gallon bucket... or two... near the tree trunk. (You can even partially bury the bucket, so that the wind doesn't blow it over or away when it is empty.) Then poking a couple of nail holes in the bucket bottom and fill the buckets with water. The bucket will leach water slowly out of the hole and the tree will stay nicely moist. Watering in this way DEEP waters which encourages roots to go down to seek water instead of searching for water at the surface of the soil. My grandma used to chuck a pile of dry horse poo into the bucket occasionally as well to feed the tree with a nice manure tea. I know you weren't planning on adding any fertilizer or amendments, but until the tree gets a DEEP root established I think it is a good idea. Another idea to encourage deep rooting is to put manure at the deepest part of the hole, then cover with a bit of normal soil and then plant the tree. Adding the manure deep gives the tree a kick of nutrition and encourages even deeper root growth. Deep roots keep trees alive in tough environments.

Excellent video on tree planting. Dr John Ball, professor of forestry, South Dakota State University would be proud of those instructions you gave. Fall River Conservation District here in Hot Springs sells male cottonwoods (no cotton) for $3.00 each. 12 inches tall but they will soon catch up to the taller ones you plant as they don't have to spend so much time getting their roots restablished. Order now and arrive in spring. Have to pick them up here in town though. Some of mine are now 35 feet tall.

Definitely need to do some rain dancing for the trees. Got a kick out of this video!

Where did the extra horses come from?

Mr Stoney was looking for some stones to take home to the ridge

"Mike inaugurates the Wyoming Cottonwood Tree Dance (cue mariachi music)." Film at eleven! lol

My neighbor here in South Carolina works for the US Agriculture and moved to Wheatland Wyoming quite a few years ago. I was expecting to see trees everywhere. He was over the pine tree program and they plant about 750 to 900 trees per acre. He says the problem in Wy is water.

Cottonwoods take a lot of water

Those trees are going to be nice for your RV area, provide shade and scenery. I like what you did with them, hope it works out good. Thanks for the video, have a wonderful week.

Instead of pounding you need to use the bobcat the way your friends Cole and Brian do in S Dakota. Also I thought the telephone pole was the state tree of S Dakota!

Did you get a third equine? Saw three in the video.

Water would be a great addition to rv park and maybe a septic dump station in a central location

your kids should be out there helping you plant to learn how to do stuff on the farm. you should run a piece of pvc next to it so u can water it deeper n roots will go down seeking water n be stronger

Thank you for doing a proper tree planting vs augering and slamming a tree in a hole - have maybe 1 year of growth - then instant death as the roots hit the auger compacted wall, no nutrients, and the tree roots die. Deer eat the leaves, while the rabbits/hares eat the bark at the ground level ...

Get tree bladder to help water ❤

Speed limit signs ...lol

In my part of Texas I am the Gary, No Post Driver for BobCat? Makes putting in T-Post much easiter.

😁😁😁👍👍👍Brilliant!

Drip watering will be your best way to keep your trees alive with lots and lots of mulch.❤❤

Another compliment to those Cottonwood trees, add pine trees or fir trees. They do well together in Wyoming.

Great work! We always put a fish in the hole when we plant a tree! We have had great luck with it! Best wishes! We enjoy your channel.

We live in Indiana and deer are our biggest problem also. They will eat anything in our garden, and laugh at any way we try to scare them. The way I got my sunflowers to grow this year, I put pink flamingos around them. I figured deer in Indiana had never seen pink birds. It worked.

Easy waterer. An old farmer taught me this one. Take a plastic milk jug ( 1 gallon) Poke a hole in the bottom with a finishing nail. Set it close to the tree and keep filled with water. It will keep the ground wet until the tree can get established. I did that for 6 months with an oak tree I planted. Worked great.

I never realized just how treeless your area is? After visiting your area I now understand why they call it the Great Plains

Good Job.. now watch out for the metal wood peckers.. they really sounded rather loud.. LOL (post pounder that is)

I'd like to just go riding across those duns out there. Just to see the country side. Trees look good Mike. Yep don't forget to water them. Thanks for sharing

Mike, can I suggest you KZfaq Ellen White and a number of others, on planting trees. Round holes make the tree roots follow the curve of the soil, wrap around themselves and eventually strangle themselves. A mate and I drilled holes for a heap of 'shade trees' on his sheep property in Australia. We ended up with a nice line of sticks. Square holes make the roots spread at the corners. I love your show, I've been following for a few years now; always click.

I planted trees on the high plains of Colorado the same way and it worked....great job....just add water