Bringing Native Trees Back to New England

The need for locally grown, locally adapted native trees and shrubs is enormous—and growing every year.
Many of the tree species that form the backbone of New England ecosystems are simply not a priority for large industrial nurseries in the Pacific Northwest and Mid-Atlantic. Those businesses focus on producing massive quantities of cloned trees—often grafted cultivars that are genetically identical and frequently male-only selections.

These trees are typically grown in fields and harvested using mechanical tree spades. During that process, half or more of the root system is often left behind in the soil.

The remaining root ball is wrapped, loaded onto trucks, and transported thousands of miles. By the time the trees reach New England, they may sit in wholesale yards for weeks—or even months—before finally being planted.

This system works economically for the nursery industry, but it is far from ideal for trees, ecosystems, or local landscapes.

A Better Way to Grow Native Trees

Over the past several years I have been working on a better method for producing large native trees—trees that are healthy, diverse, and locally adapted.

Instead of cloning cultivars and cutting roots during harvest, my approach is simple:

• Trees grown from seed
• Locally adapted genetics
• Full root systems
• Native species rarely grown commercially

This includes important native trees such as:

• Sourwood
• Hickories
• Oaks
• Sassafras
• Black gum
  

Many of these species simply do not thrive under conventional nursery methods, which is why they are so difficult to find in the nursery trade.

The solution is a technology called Air-Pot containers.