Why Bare Root?

By oakridge
February 27th 2023

Spring is right around the corner which means our bare root cellar is about to open.

What is bare root you might ask? Bare root is the literal way a plant is presented, meaning there is no soil or pot around the root system.

The main reason for getting plant material in “bare root” is that we can save on freight costs by not shipping heavy soil and being able to get more product on a truck.

While it is well known that plants need soil to live, you may be curious about how the plant can survive with exposed roots.

Once the truck arrives, our crew will unload the trees and shrubs and bring them to our root cellar. We then place hay over the roots and keep the hay damp to prevent the roots from drying out. At the time of arrival, the plants are still dormant so they don’t need to be planted immediately, but it is important to keep the roots from drying out.

Our root cellar is open for a short time from the beginning of April through May. During this time frame in addition to selling the trees and shrubs at a discounted price, we also start potting them to sell in our courtyard later in the season. Plants need to be in the ground or potted by the end of May so they can start accessing the soil nutrients by the time they break dormancy.

What are the benefits of buying bare root?

As stated above, buying bare root is a great way to save money! We offer a 20% discount off the tagged price of trees and shrubs in the bare root cellar.

Transporting and planting a bare root plant is substantially easier than a potted plant due the lack of soil around the roots. Planting potted plants can often be a two person job because of the weight and size of a containerized rootball.

Bare root plants aren’t confined by a pot which allows them to adapt to being planted in the ground quicker than a containerized plant.

For a step by step on how to plant a bare root tree, check out our tutorial

 

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