Well, we planted 500 Christmas trees this past weekend. Got the seedlings (6-12" tall) from a nursery in western Michigan. Good service, came in 3 boxes about 2'x3'x15" via UPS. Also bought some "root dip" that we mixed into a slurry and dipped the roots in before planting. It's not food but it attracts water to the roots. Just ran a tape out in a straight line and stuck a shovel in every 6', wiggled it back and forth and opened up a hole. Moved tape over 6' and repeat. Went pretty quick. Planted about 100 trees per hour with 3 people. Nursery said to expect about 10% loss.