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March, 2020
URBAN FOREST NURSERY, INC.
Q1 NEWSLETTER
Dear


Below is the link to our latest inventory. We will send updates monthly to ensure our customers always have current information on our availability.

Check out this video of Paulino planting a liner!
(1 of about 7000 trees the crew will hand plant this season)
“Trees are Awesome! Those of us in the industry have always known that but quantifying their value has always been a challenge. This is especially true for storm water mitigation. Finally, we have some real information about how trees benefit our urban areas. Hot off the press is a new publication “Urban Forest Systems and Green Storm water Infrastructure”.  Generous in statistics, the bottom line is that it provides more justification as well as reasonable methods and procedures for retaining large established trees in urban areas. Enjoy-    READ HERE
Nursery News
Planting Season
We plant over 7,000 new trees in the nursery every year. This starts as soon as the soil is dry enough, hopefully in late February and usually lasting through April.  Planting in bags requires that we prune every tree root back so that no circling roots are started in the bag and all new roots grow towards the edge of the bag.   Roots do grow through the bag , but are restricted so that roots fatten up and branch off inside the bag producing more root density in the root-ball. We are finding that more customers prefer the grow-bag system than other systems for these reasons and more:
  • Smaller, lighter root-ball
  • Greater root density per square inch of root-ball
  • Better root establishment
  • Easier transplant-ability
  • Near year round availability
  • Easy handling and storing
  • More trees per shipment
  • Fewer circling roots
  • A nice looking package!
REJECTED!  

All nurseries are working hard to avoid circling roots but it still happens. We try not to plant any tree in the nursery that starts out like the roots in the above photo. These twisted circling roots likely began in a small pot when the tree was barely a seedling. We inspect the roots of all 7,000 liners that we buy before they go into the ground. Bad root systems are rejected. Selective production methods are gradually helping to avoid this root condition. 
FYI  - We grow approximately  180 varieties   of trees  but here are some we have that are hard to find:

  • Nyssa & cultivars
  • Parrotia & cultivars
  • Carpinus caroliniana & cultivars
  • Ginkgo & cultivars
  • Quercus garryana
  • Frontier elm
  • Snowcone Styrax
  • Forest Green Oak
  • Tree lilac
  • Many more
Featured Tree
Emerald Sunshine® Elm
Ulmus propinqua ‘JFS-Bieberich’

Elms were once America’s favorite tree. I predict they soon will be again.  Dutch Elm Disease nearly wiped out the original plantings, but new disease resistant cultivars are coming out faster than spring this year. Elms have been covered in general in this column, but it’s time the cultivars are highlighted. One of the best new arrivals on the market is the Emerald Sunshine ® Elm, ulmus propinqua ‘JFS-Bieberich’. First of all, what a great name!

Honestly, many of these elm cultivars were new to me but my good friend, Nancy Buley, from JFSchmidt Nursery helped me out with the photos of the Emerald Sunshine ® . We are growing it but I wanted more information. OK, call me crazy but as I opened those photos, I caught myself oohing and ahhing. The tree form, leaf shape, summer and fall color; oh, this could be the perfect tree… time will tell. Right now it appears to be the smallest and slowest growing elm selection. That is good because, frankly, elms can grow like weeds. Everyone wants a small to medium maturing tree, upright growth, no fruit, great fall color, leaves that drop and decompose fast, easy to prune and well behaved. So far, that is what I see in Emerald Sunshine ® Elm.

Also, like most elms, they tolerate drought and poor soils. This one is known to be highly resistant to insects and disease, including that horrible DED. The foliage emerges with slight reddish edges and matures to a deep dark green. Fall color is bright yellow, highlighted by purple tips and along the margins. What a gem! Plant and elm enthusiast, Steve Bieberich selected this cultivar as the best performer on the arid plains of Oklahoma grown from seed collected from China. It has a strong central leader, with upright symmetrical growth and habit to make it a potentially easy care tree for streets and landscapes. 

Please keep your eyes open for this one. Let me know  if you have any experience with these or other trees that you would like to pass on.
Published February 2015 by Jim Barborinas

Jim Barborinas, ISA #PN-0135, ASCA Reg. # 356. TRAQ Qualified
Urban Forest Nursery, Inc.
Urban Forestry Services, Inc./Bartlett Consulting
Mount Vernon, Washington
2020 Available Inventory
Click below to see our latest inventory list. We will be updating it soon and will send out monthly emails to ensure our customers always have the most current information on our availability.

As always,  we invite our customers to come check out our production facility in Mount Vernon, WA , including our new RFID Inventory system.  Give us a call and set up your appointment today!
Urban Forest Nursery, Inc.
15119 McLean Road, Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Office (360)428-5810 Fax (360)428-1822
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