Monitoring growth rate, disease and insect susceptability, flower color, fall color, all of which must be exceptional. We avoid accepting seeds from friends, collecting from parks where trees were planted by humans, or buying seeds on the open market. Most of the seed is personally collected by Peter White , the manager of the nursery, and carefully germinated by Saralee Silverglade in our propagation department. Bare root seedlings can be purchased very inexpencively. Most of us who have attempted to grow bare root seedlings know that the results are usually less than desirable.
Most native trees have what is known as a taproot.
Generally, when a large portion of a taproot is cut, as in transplanting, the tree dies. The key is to try to develope a multi-stemmed root system at a young age and avoid as much shock in transplanting as possible. We have developed a production system that singes the taproot when it reaches the edge of the container and forces the root system at a young age to produce many fiberous roots and allows us to grow the plant in a container whithout restricting the roots. This allows the tree to absorb more water and nutrients producing a healthier, stronger, faster growing plant tht is easily transplantable with little disturbance to the roots. We produce a fully established containerized tree.