Getting a Good Start

Investments in good preparation of the planting site to remove weeds and ensure good soil and drainage, and in hardy, vigorous planting stock, mean that you won't have to come back later to replace trees that did not survive. Not only is this rework a headache for you, but it also means double the cost on those planting spots where the trees did not make it—double the stock cost, double the planting labor, double the weed control and other tending costs.

Plus, it means you avoid a costly delay in the time it takes to get a payback from your initial investment.

Our field trials tell us that the difference in survival between a healthy, well-balanced seedling with a thick vigorous root system and a smaller seedling with a fair to poor root system can be 25 to 50 percent or more, depending on the harshness of your site.

Do the math—a few percentage points of difference in survival, or extra trees on the site up front, will more than make up for ten to twenty cents per tree more to buy a top quality seedling.