Quality

Types of Nursery Stock

The three most common packaging types for nursery stock are “Bare root”, “Container”, and “Balled and Burlapped”. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on the given situation.

Bare Root Planting

Bare root trees come with no soil around the roots this is an advantage as you can see the roots to make sure there are no circling roots. Bare root take longer to establish because they do not come with the root mass that other type trees come with. Ball and Burlap come with burlap wrapped around the root ball of the tree usually held together by a metal basket. With B & B a larger amount of established roots come with the root ball than either a bare root or a container trees. Never having been in a container usually roots are free from circling. With additional roots comes the weight of soil making them harder to move around.

Container

container-planting-jr trees are the most common widely sold type of trees for their ease with handling and their ability to establish quickly. The downside to container trees is that when left in the pot to long roots have a tendency to hit the side of the container and begin to circle. If not corrected the circling roots will continue eventually girdling and choking other roots ultimately negatively impacting the tree.