Container Grown Trees

When buying trees homeowners should look for container grown native trees.  The benefit is that in that container is all the roots the tree ever grew.  Since you're buying all the roots the transplant shock nearly (if not completely) eliminated.  It's important to note that there are several options when buying container grown trees and if you buy the wrong one the tree may already be doomed to a short life.  The type of container the tree is grown in makes all the difference.  Trees grown in smooth sided containers should be avoided.  That's because when a growing root encounters that smooth edge on the inside of the container it begins to circle along the inside edge.  Around and around the root can grow until literally you pull the tree out it stand on its own roots.  This is most likely a death sentence for the tree.  It will never fix itself.   Those roots will never grow straight and in the end this will strangle the tree.  This tree has been resigned to grow poorly for a few years and then die.  When that tree dies and is uprooted you will see that the root never really grew any larger than the pot it was originally in. The only way to check for circling roots is pull the tree out of the container and look at them.  A few circling roots are not too bad but if the pot has many then select another tree.  At Riverside Nursery we grow in special patented containers that are designed to significantly reduce circling roots while at the same time increase the number of roots. Fortunately, there is an alternative that satisfies all the shortcomings of growing B&B trees and smooth sided container trees.  Growing trees in step sided containers actually trains and improves the quality of the root.  Step sided containers are so named because if you turn it upside down the pot outline looks like a series of steps.  Step sided containers work by allowing the growing root tip to protrude through small holes in the side of the container where it dries off.  This is called root pruning and it is absolutely essential to growing superior trees.  The root tip dies but begins to branch backwards along its length towards the tree.  In effect, that one tip dying off gives rise to dozens of new tips that can grow in different directions.  This drying and branching process happens repeatedly in the container causing the formation of thousands of root tips in the container.  The root is literally like a mop.  If you happen to damage a few during the planting process it's not a problem because so many other root tips are present to do the job of absorption. Each root tip can now grow into new soil to quickly anchor the tree and provide water and nutrition.  In our trials at the nursery we have seen roots that have grown one inch in a single week.  While that my not seem like a lot consider that there are hundreds or thousands of roots in the container doing the same thing.  Within a few weeks our trees double or triple their root mass.  This is why are trees have such great survival rates.  Because of these benefits Riverside Nursery only grows trees in step-sided containers believe this is the best way to grow a tree and our customers have been very pleased.