Newly Planted Apple and Hazelnut

Greetings!

First post from a new planter with probably a dumb question. Mods, please move or delete if not relevant.

Just have a question about what I should expect to see from newly planted trees. Two Honeycrisp, one Granny Smith, and three hazelnut (I’m assuming American).

I just planted about a week and a half ago, 4/28/24. Already, all trees are showing signs of life. I know this is probably a good thing and therefore a stupid question, but as a newbie I want to be certain that what I’m seeing is a good a thing.

Basically, there’s little buds of green sprouting from the nodes. More pronounced on the hazelnuts than the apples. Pics below.

I’ve read that right now, new plantings should be focused on root growth. I guess I just want to know that what I’m seeing isn’t evidence that the trees are overly focused on vegetation?

Edit: these were all bare root.

Any help is appreciated!

Welcome to Permies!

From your description and your pictures, the trees are doing what they are supposed to do! They are breaking out of dormancy (a state of stasis they enter for the winter months) and now sending stored energy to grow roots and leaves.

I'm early on to my own permie-fication of my land and have been utilizing a lot of bare-root trees to get started.

My one piece of advice depending on your location is to protect the trunk from rabbits. Those cute fuzzy little guys will chew the bark and can kill a tree. I just use some scrap chicken wire and something to tie it together to prevent anything from reaching the bark. Once the trees get some girth, I remove it.

Thank you! And yes, I was planning on applying some kind of protection. Some rabbits occasionally but lots of squirrels and a mole come by the yard.