• Root Manipulation
• Tree Farm Video

    Exceptional landscape trees always begin with the roots. Starting with propagation and continuing through the production process, root manipulation in container grown plants is essential to superior performance in the landscape.

    We begin to implement a variety of root pruning techniques in the very beginning, at the liner stage, and continue all the way through to a finished container tree  We mechanically root prune all container liners during our canning process and check for and remove any potentially girdling roots or undesirable root defects.  We slice down the sides and bottom of the root ball several inches in 4 to 6 places to ensure that any circling roots are pruned. This is done each time a tree is transplanted, or shifted to the next container size.  Our large container trees generally go through 3 to 5 shifts by the time they mature to market ready specifications.  

    Our pots are treated with SpinOut® so that roots are chemically pruned during the production cycle.  Spinout® is a product containing copper hydroxide which is painted onto the inside of the container.  As roots come into contact, they become inhibited by the copper, essentially being pruned rather than turning and growing in a circle around the inside of the pot.  As elongation stops, the development of secondary and lateral roots occur resulting in a fibrous root system allowing for more efficient nutrient and water uptake, reduced transplant shock, and quick root regeneration after transplant.  The problem of circling roots is minimized.