Question
Two weeks before Christmas I received my order of 3 yr old white pines (300) from the state nusery.  They were all about 12 - 18 inches and bareroot.  I got them all planted quickly.  Mainly I was planting for a screen along the propery borders, 3 rows deep.  I tilled the entire area beforehand to kill off vegetation, then I used a 6 inch  auger on my tractor to drill the holes.  As I drilled, my wife and daughters planted the pines.  They are all still green so that is good.  We have had several good rains since then including a good rain the day the last tree was planted.  My question is this - is there anything I can do to this large of a quantity of trees to increase their growth rate or at least try to maximize their growth rate over the next few years?
Thank you for your time.

Answer
You can mulch around the trees to keep down competition from grasses and weeds. This mulch will also help hold moisture. Pine straw will work well. After they have been in the ground a year I would fertilize them with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of maybe a cup spread around each tree. Do this in the spring and again in early fall. After they get larger the fertilizer rate should be 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter per tree. water the fertilizer in good after spreading OR wait just before a rain.