The rise of bare root tree nurseries has gone hand-in-hand with the online shopping phenomenon. Platforms like Shopify allow anyone to easily sell online. Cheap shipping has made it possible for smaller, bare root trees to be shipped across the country, or even internationally for reasonable rates.
Many of the comparisons made by bare root suppliers are between bare rooted plants and container-grown plants. This is an odd comparison to make as most potted stock is not actually grown in the container, but field-grown and placed in a container before selling to make things easier on the customer planting the tree or shrub. There needs to be an apples-to-apples comparison, or some would say an apple tree to apple tree comparison.... Growing trees in containers would lead to spiralling root systems that could harm the development of a tree, but raising trees in containers is neither beneficial for the tree nor financially viable. Potted plants require much more upkeep for nurseries as they frequently need to be watered and would not grow as quickly as trees in the ground. This is why it is not a common practice. Below are some areas for comparison between bare root and potted plants rather than container-grown plants.
Varieties/Cultivars
(The terms variety and cultivar are terms that indicate the degree to which human intervention is the involved in the development of a plant.)
Bare root nurseries generally offer wild, generic, or heritage varieties and cultivars. Some bare root offerings come from seed and therefore have unknown or unpredictable genetics. This is great for promoting biodiversity, as even the latest developments rely on genetics from heritage cultivars.
Planting from seed increases the ability to develop new traits and adapt to new environmental conditions. We are huge believers in using heritage varieties or saved/traded seed for annual crops such as tomatoes.
Conversely, genetic developments are unpredictable, and for many species, it is extremely unlikely to produce anything that matches the cultivars developed by breeders and universities. With fruiting species, you usually need to wait many years to find out the quality that the seed produces.
Plant breeders and universities take years or even decades to develop and test new cultivars that offer benefits such as improved disease prevention, increased yield, and larger fruit size by trying to select desirable traits (through controlled crosses, not genetic engineering). There are some exceptions for heritage varieties that have stood the test of time, but choosing a generic or even wild variety can result in much poorer performance than those with improved genetics. This is especially true with fruit trees.
For mass plantings, such as a large shelterbelt or windbreaks, genetics should still be considered, although there is more room for seedling plantings and the variability that will come with them. An example of this is how the emergence of Bronze Leaf Disease is decimating populations of Tower Poplar and Swedish Columnar Aspen. Both species are highly susceptible to Bronze Leaf Disease, but fortunately, newer cultivars are available that show resilience. Many are also familiar with the havoc being created by Dutch Elm Disease on the American Elm. Fortunately, other varieties of elm are also available. Unfortunately, they cannot be planted as 50-foot-tall trees to replace a canopy lost to Dutch Elm.
A side note: this can illustrate the importance of biodiversity in the orchard. Having an orchard with 50 apple trees that represent only two cultivars means that the orchard is susceptible to the same disease or insect pressures and can easily be wiped out. A more resilient system would be to have 20 apples, with 10 different cultivars, 20 plums with 5 different cultivars and 10 pears with 3 different cultivars. Add in some berries to the mix and that is one extremely resilient system that can produce and withstand a single insect or disease pressure while still producing a great amount of food.
Price
Bare root trees usually win on price easily. Bare root plants are young and haven’t had much time in their development. Time equals money, and it is much cheaper to buy young seedlings than larger established trees. Even cheaper is just buying seeds themselves, but challenges exist with growing from seed for many plants, especially apples.
For berries and other things that bear fruit at and earlier age, costs are usually similar since they are generally sold at a younger age. However, for trees that take many years to reach fruiting age, the price difference is greater, as potted trees are often sold just as they are entering their fruiting years.
Shipping costs can eat into the bare root price advantage, sometimes making potted shrubs and berries less expensive with total costs involved, but usually not enough to make mature potted trees cheaper than young bare root trees.
Plant Quality
There is quite a range in plant quality from both bare root and potted stock suppliers, and it is unfortunately hard to evaluate before purchasing, especially if done online. Some bare root suppliers offer very healthy and hardy plants with large root systems, while others ship out a tiny sprout with very little roots attached. We continually hear stories from customers who have made online orders and received unexpectedly tiny plants with very few roots, or even plants that arrive obviously without life and never put on leaves in spring. This sets them back another year in development.
When ordering bare root that has been shipped from outside of your zone, always be sure of the hardiness to ensure it will survive winter. Hardy is relative to a particular area, and we’ve seen many online suppliers claim to be hardy offering plants that would never survive the Manitoba climate. Additionally, seeded varieties will not necessarily have the same hardiness from one area to another. For example, hazelnut seed collected in Ontario or BC would likely not have the same hardiness as hazelnut seed collected in Manitoba, even if it is the same variety.
There is also a wide range of quality experienced with potted plants. Most dedicated tree nurseries that sell potted plants have good quality and are understand how to care for plants to ensure customers are happy with what they receive. Nurseries are also generally very knowledgeable about what plants grow well and can advise customers on their choices.
Again, there is some variability, but big box stores that have a plant section are usually lowest on the quality spectrum. The workers caring for the plants often do not have specialized knowledge or even a dedicated role as plant specialists. Since they are not grown themselves and are shipped in from afar, it is easy to find trees and shrubs offered that are well outside of our growing zone for Manitoba and have no hope of survival when winter arrives.
Transplant Shock
Transplant shock is stress placed upon a plant after it has been moved/transplanted into a new area. Many bare root nurseries tout bare root trees as superior due to reduced transplant shock. There is truth to this, but the benefit in transplant shock is related to the size of the tree rather than if it is bare root or in a container. In fact, some fruiting species with delicate or sensitive roots, such as blueberries, can experience more transplant shock when planting from bare root. When you see landscape companies planting huge trees, you will often notice huge machines to move the roots. Large trees need larger roots to enable plants to thrive after it is transplanted.
Both bare root and potted trees experience broken roots and stress as they are uprooted and moved. More stress occurs as they are shipped. Roots and branches can break, but fortunately, for both potted and bare root trees, they usually bounce back just fine if the main roots are not severed.
Properly watering new plantings is the key to minimizing transplant shock. Utilizing products such as Root Rescue and Sea Magic have proven effects for reducing transplant shock for both potted and bare root plants. These are very economical products and provide a multitude of benefits for the plant and the soil ecosystem beyond reducing transplant shock. We use them with every tree we plant in our orchard, and we highly recommend these to customers as well.
Ease of Planting/Care
Moving a bare root tree is generally easier to do than planting a larger, potted tree. Handling a 6-foot potted tree requires some manoeuvring and more digging, as the roots are usually much larger. With shrubs, and their smaller height and root mass, there is very little difference.
In terms of ease of planting, potted trees do offer some benefits. With potted trees, usually the container has plenty of roots and they are well-arranged and spread out. Simply plopping in a bare root tree is not ideal; the roots should be separated and spread out, so they do not bundle up together. This is already off to a good start in a potted plant as the roots are held in the soil to radiate outward from the trunk.
It is quite easy for bare root trees to dry out and die. They need to be quickly addressed when they arrive. If there is a late winter, prolonged period of rain, a flood, or even an urgent situation in your personal life, bare root trees cannot just sit and wait the same way potted trees could. Both potted and bare root trees are best not planted during the intense heat of the sun, but potted trees have a much longer period where they can be successfully planted.
More mature potted trees also have been pruned to encourage proper branch scaffolding that will support healthy growth and fruiting. Most bare root fruit trees sold by online suppliers are sold as whips (an unbranched tree) which have not developed any side branches yet. This is both because they are usually very young and because shipping bare root with side branches would be difficult and increase the shipping costs considerably. Planting a bare root whip requires pruning to the proper heading height and encouraging of proper branch scaffolding. A tree can still bear fruit without proper pruning but will not naturally develop branching at appropriate heights without human intervention and long term yield and fruit quality could suffer.
It is much easier to move around bare root trees, as you are not hauling heavy soil and large plants, but planting bare root trees appropriately requires some experience and has a shorter planting window. Overall, it is usually easier to sacrifice the short-term grunt work on planting day than hitting the sweet spot of planting time required by a bare root tree and pruning and shaping it appropriately as it grows.
Summary
Wildpath Farm offers both potted and bare root products (our bare root products are usually the bulk deals). We believe that both options offer unique advantages, but potted trees offer greater benefits in most scenarios and that is why we focus on providing potted plants. The major benefit of bare root trees is the price, but this can come with costs such the time taken to bare fruit, the quality/quantity of fruit and inferior genetics/varieties.
It is often a complex choice, but bare root could be considered for those with a limited budget, a very long-time horizon, and an understanding of the potential drawbacks related to potentially inferior genetics.
When customers are dealing with budget constraints our recommendation is to develop a long-term plan, focus on planting a smaller number of high-quality plants each year and gradually expanding each year. We believe this strategy is much more beneficial than planting many cheap trees at one time as it will allow customers to learn as they grow, be able to have a harvest quickly, possibly in the first year of planting and gain knowledge of what grows well in their area and adjust accordingly. Mistakes will also be minimized through a multi-year plan which can result in considerable savings.
It is easy to make mistakes when selecting fruit trees or planning out an orchard. Not only do fruit trees need to be suitable for the appropriate hardiness zone, but some plants also come with special soil or pollination requirements. We have declined to setup an online store thus far, as we believe it is often not conducive for customers achieving success with growing fruit and berries. Additionally, we are strong advocates of growing local and supporting the local economy. Despite receiving numerous requests from outside the province to ship plants, we have thus far declined to go down that road and are instead focusing on providing quality plants for the Manitoban market.
We firmly believe that ordering fruit trees and berry bushes through an online store, without any interaction, significantly increases the risks of making costly mistakes and impulsive purchases.
We take great pleasure in assisting customers in setting up for success and ensuring that they understand the implications of their selections. We frequently suggest modifications to orders or even outright discouraging ordering items that likely won’t work for a customer’s growing situation. We are confident that our advice has saved our customers both time and money, contributing to their short and long-term growing success. We cannot take care of the plants after they leave our nursery, but we can ensure they are put in a situation where they can thrive and provide quality food at their next home, enabling others to grow local, high-quality food.