First Time Planting Trees

I've told many people we were going to plant trees in my backyard, and that we ordered them online. Everyone has thought we ordered full grown trees and that somehow I was going to plant those after receiving them in the mail.

I'm not sure they mail full sized trees.

The type of tree I chose to plant also doesn't get very big. They're smaller trees.

Anyway, we received the trees in a box along with instructions on how to plant them. I followed the instructions to a T. Hopefully our little trees make it!

Step One: 

Open the trees carefully. Unwrap the plastic. Very gently untangle the roots of each tree. (The roots had some hydro gel on them that kept them moist.)

 Step Two:

Place the roots of the trees in water for 3-6 hours, but not overnight. The trees are dormant, but I know nothing about trees, so I guess putting dormant trees in water is okay. 

Step Three: 

Dig the holes while the trees soak. The holes need to be deep enough that the roots can hang out without getting cramped, and wide enough that the roots can expand during the winter. 

Step Four: 

The trees are tiny. Can you see them? They are the twigs with the tiny white labels on them. I didn't want them to get smashed or blown over, so I placed some "stakes" next to them. I had to dig around the garage for things to hold them up. So we have a broken shovel handle, some random piece of rebar and a piece of wood that has an unknown purpose. Anyway, I tied them to these in hopes of keeping them up when the snow comes (if it comes) and to make sure everyone knows there is something right there. The shovel is much more noticeable than the tiny trees.  

Here are the trees! 

(These are memorial trees. One for Scott, and one for Chad.)

Also, if you hear me talking to myself in my backyard, I'm just giving some encouraging words to the trees. ;)