This month, the nursery is hard at work replanting 900 bare root trees. These trees will be cared for at the nursery until they are picked up and planted across San Jose's urban forest. Bare Root weeks at the nursery are crucial to our inventory and also our tree plantings for years to come, they may be the most impactful project the nursery has all year long.
What are Bare Roots?
Bare roots are exactly what they sound like: dormant trees that arrive at the nursery with roots completely exposed, just a a burlap sack in a moist dirt mound, the young trees wait to be planted in their own container.
Bare root trees are much easier to handle and ship across large distances since the trees can be stored much easier without the weight and bulk of the dirt around their roots.
Nursery manager Ben Heinstein pruning the bare roots.
900 trees were potted by out nursery staff and volunteers.
There are many benefits of planting bare root trees, and control is the name of the game. With the roots exposed our planters can check and double check the placement of the roots, ensuring proper growing for years to come. An example of improper growing is the spotting of roots that are "girdling" around the tree, roots like these can literally suffocate the tree when it grows larger. Thanks to bare roots we can spot this and remove them before planting.
After planted, these trees need to be staked, sorted and tied up in our nursery rows so they can enjoy their stay at the nursery. Our team is hard a work and with the help of volunteers we'll plant the 900 bare roots in no time at all.
Workdays are Thursday through Saturday through February and early March, morning and afternoon shifts are available.