The Challenges and Cost of Holding Trees for Mid to Late Season Planting

BY ARNOLD HEUVER

The issue that is on the mind of many owners and managers of nurseries at a recent nursery producers meeting was the growing trend of holding tree inventory for mid-tolate season planting projects. They are all aware landscaping happens over the whole season and trying to lock down start dates is a difficult task to complete before the spring digging season begins. Because of this, plant material must be readily available throughout the growing season to ensure trees are ready as the projects require. In the spring and late fall (some trees are best spring dug only), majority of caliper trees (B&B) can be readily available within a short time frame. However, outsourcing caliper trees midseason is not as simple since the product needs to have already been harvested and proper maintenance program conducted to ensure the contractor receives a healthy, thriving tree for their landscape. In times of high demand for caliper trees, the product may not even be available come summer time.

To ensure contractors, have access to the product they require for the season, preparation is made in the late winter and early spring to ensure all trees for their projects will be ready when the site is accessible. As previously stated, trying to compile a strong, realistic timeline for all projects can be a very tedious and impossible task since the landscape contractor is always the last one on site for a project. This makes the contractor heavily dependent on the general contractor and all the other subcontractors to do their part to keep the project on schedule. This timeline challenge is not only a problem for the contractors, but also creates a dilemma for nurseries. They are holding these trees without a firm shipping date. Very often there are requests for this same plant material by other landscape contractors; however, it was not pre-ordered but they would take the product the same day if available. My favorite tree is always one that is sold which means the tree is out of my care and money is in the bank. However, it is important for nurseries and contractors to work together to ensure landscape projects are completed.

In general, nurseries will keep and maintain pre-ordered trees for the landscape contractors. However, there is a cost to maintaining this dug stock.

• Regular watering

• Fertilizing to keep the trees vigorous

• Moving the trees into the holding area

• Insect and Disease control

• Risk a hailstorm which makes the trees unsalable

• Having to re-dig trees that have re-rooted during the hold cycle

• Evergreen trees that are dug are not as vigorous in late summer and newly dug trees look better in September

• Risk not being able to sell all dug product, increasing waste

Depending on the length of time plant material is held, the cost will be anywhere from $25.00 to $50.00 per tree. It’s important to discuss with your primary caliper tree suppliers to see how they are setting up their costs for maintaining dug trees during the season and if they are open to holding product for their contractors. On one of our nursery visits, we were in Ohio and they found it unbelievable that we would hold trees.

They were shipping between 15,000 and 20,000 trees per season and all the shipping was completed by the middle of June all over the United States.

Nurseries may do whatever works for them. Trees are owned by the nursery until someone comes to the farm, picks up the product and pays for it. Cashflow is a key component for any business to stay alive and every business requires a certain amount of cash coming into their operation every month. If nurseries are being forced to sit on large amounts of trees with no realistic timeframe for when they are going to be utilized, they might be forced to sell the product. On the other hand, landscape contractors need to secure product for their project sites so they are able to complete these projects as they come available.

Over the past decade, nurseries have been forced to absorb a lot of additional costs for operating a business due to a large over supply of field grown trees in Western Canada. These additional costs include but are not limited to:

• Maintaining dug product for contractors

• Large number of trees being cancelled at the end of season o Some were cancelled because they were bought cheaper from another supplier o Some were cancelled due to project delays

• Loss of sales due to holding product

• Increase in input costs (liners, fertilizer, chemicals, equipment, etc.)

• Pandemic related cost increases, that everyone is experiencing

Many of these extra costs are absorbed by local nurseries by robbing from the future. Meaning less trees being planted until the oversupply of trees works its way through the supply chain. The over supply is almost grown out and now nurseries are forced to ensure all costs are being accounted for since they don’t have a large inventory that they can rob from anymore. It’s more important than ever to ensure all costs are accounted for in the sale of their product so the operation can continue to operate.