Specifications include, but are not limited to: A. TREE SEEDLING CARE AND HANDLING: The contractor must ensure that their planters adhere to the following: 1. Daily check a sample of the roots and root plugs for dryness. Water when needed. 2. Protect the roots and root plugs from drying out by prolonged exposure. 3. During temporary stoppages in planting, place the tree seedlings in a shaded area with seedlings shoots open to the air 4. Keep air exposure to tree roots at a minimum. B. PLANTING METHOD: 1. Planting is to be done in as continuous a manner as possible and may only be suspended due to extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures, winds, dry soil conditions, or extremely wet soil conditions. Periods of suspension will be at the sole discretion of the State. 2. The planter will be required to maintain an average 12' X 12' spacing. No spruce will be planted closer than 8' and farther than 12' from the nearest planted or naturally existing spruce tree. 3. Seedlings are to be planted only in microsites that favor tree survival and growth such as a mixture of mineral soil and well decomposed organic matter, and on microsites that have been site prepared. 4. Each planting hole must be of a size that will accommodate the entire root system or plug of a tree in a natural position and not in a tumbled or double-up position. 5. Each seedling must be planted to such a depth so that the mineral soil of the plug is 1/4" deeper than the surrounding compacted soil. No part of the plug or root system will be exposed. 6. The stem of each planted tree must be vertical relative to the ground. Any planted tree whose stem is more than 30 degrees from the vertical will be considered wasted. 7. Each planted tree must be capable of withstanding a reasonable tug by hand without being extracted from the soil (ie., grasp 3-5 needles at top of tree between fingers, pull gently. The needles would pull off before the tree is extracted from the soil). 8. All trees must be planted using a hoe dad, planting bar, or other planting device approved by the State.
