Sources for More Information

Bulletin #77: How to Grow a Better City Tree

There is abundant information available on nursery practices and other topics touched on briefly in this bulletin. Here are a few that we recommend for additional information.

• The American Standard for Nursery Stock (ANSI Z60.1) is now available free for downloading courtesy of AmericanHort.
• Up From Roots by James Urban is a 479-page book that provides definitive information and tools required for planting and maintaining city trees, with special emphasis on space and treatment of roots.
• Planting Landscape Trees by Margaret Shae and Michael Kuhns of Utah State University.
• Creating the Urban Forest: The Bare Root Method by Nina Bassuk and Michelle Buckstrup of Cornell University.
• An illustrated explanation of The Missouri Gravel Bed for extending the planting time for bare root stock.
• Taking Stock of Nursery Stock, a Penn State Extension online publication.
• The perspective of a commercial nursery on container-grown planting stock.
• Inspect, Correct, and Reject Defective Nursery Rootballs is a well-illustrated blog by consultant and garden educator Ellyn Shea.
• For a summary of professional opinions about removing wrapping materials from B&B and container-grown stock, visit this University of Utah website.
• Click here for information about CU Structural Soil and Silva Cells.

Two examples of good specifications:

• An appendix item in Arboriculture by Richard Harris et al.
• For additional information about the planting and care of trees, the Arbor Day Foundation has prepared videos on bare root, containerized and B&B planting stock.