Frequently Asked Questions
“There are so many internet sites that sell trees why should I buy from you?”
We have over 50 years of experience growing trees, we grow our own trees, and we give you an honest evaluation of the trees you want to plant on your site. Our web site gives you pictures and information on the specific trees. We are always here to give you the information you want or need.
“Why are your trees cheaper than other companies?”
We are able to lower our prices because we grow most of our trees ourselves!
“Can you explain the difference between bareroot seedlings, bareroot transplants, and potted.”
Bareroot are plants that have no soil on the roots, this is mainly for plants 3 ft tall or smaller.
Seedlings are bareroot plants grown from seed that have never been dug. Normally you do not want a seedling older than 2 years as the survival drops substantially as so many roots have to be cut off when dug. These are the cheapest, but losses can be high if conditions are too dry or no weed control is provided.
Transplants are bareroot plants that have had their root system pruned and planted back in the ground. This process greatly increases the survival rate. 2/2 transplants have spent 2 years in a seedling bed and 2 years in a transplant bed. These have excellent survival when given good weed and grass control. They are also easy to plant!
Potted is a tree that is grown in a pot and is usually 5-7 years old. Survival is excellent as few roots are lost during planting. If you have good weed control, even watering is not needed except in a dry year. These cost more but for windbreaks and yards we think they are the best choice.
“Your website mentions no mulch when planting trees, I was told to mulch everything.”
If you have a very sandy soil it is alright to mulch your trees, but for everyone else we have a no mulch policy. On a normal to wet year mulch keeps the soil too wet for the roots to grow, and the roots grow right under the mulch to get away from the wet soil. This is not good as you want your tree and plant roots to grow deep. We believe that mulch should not be used for weed and grass control and recommend the use of herbicides to do this. When the ground is kept bare by herbicides we have seen a tremendous increase of earthworms which is great for the soil and trees. Our experience has shown that in the midwest our fastest, best growing trees have no mulch.
“You recommend herbicides to spray around your trees, is this easy to do?”
Yes it is very easy! Weed growth can deprive the tree of moisture and nutrients. Grass and weed control is one of the most important things you can do for your trees once they are in the ground. We suggest chemicals such as Roundup, Pendulum, Goal, Princep and Preen. These are the safest to spray around your trees and you need no special license to buy or use them.
“I live too far to drive to get my trees can you ship them?”
Yes trees that are shorter than 4 ft with the root system can be shipped by UPS. We ship bare root trees ONLY by UPS. We usually ship on Mon or Tues so you have them by the end of the week so they will not sit in some hot warehouse over the weekend. If you cannot plant them within 24 hours we suggest that you freeze gallon plastic milk jugs of water and put them in the box with the trees and keep them closed. Replace them with new frozen jugs every 48 hours, this will let you go up to 10 days if for some reason you cannot get them planted, but try to plant ASAP. We also have 2 delivery routes in Iowa in the Spring and Fall. One route is along Interstate 80 to Council Bluffs, IA and the other one to Spencer, IA
“What does it cost to have trees shipped?”
We charge 20% of the total order with a minimum of $40. We do require a minimum of $100 order to ship, that does not include the shipping