Our trees are special

Why should you buy from us? Here are the advantages:

Container Grown -- You get All the roots!

Container grown

Most of our trees are grown in pots. This is more work, but a pot-grown tree can be transplanted at any time of the year that the ground can be worked. It also means that I don't have to lift trees for market during the planting season. (Truth time: I started this way because I couldn't afford to buy a bobcat, a tree spade, or a root pruner, but I could afford to buy a pickup load of pots.)

Container grown does not mean pot bound. A potbound plant has badly tangled roots from insufficient space. A field grown tree loses most of it's roots when it's lifted out of the ground. This means it spends it's first year or two putting most of its energy into growing roots.

No wussy beach resort for these guys.

Alberta hardy

/imf All of our trees winter here. You're not getting a tree from the coast that has never been exposed to an Alberta Winter. This increases your chances of a successful transition. One owner of a landscaping company told me that they expect up to a 40% mortality on trees brought in from out of province.

Eastern White Pine -- Just one of our unusual you-won't-find-it-at-Revy trees

Uncommon Species.

Dare to be different.

You will find trees here that you will have a hard time finding elsewhere. Try finding Ponderosa Pine or Jack Pine at Home Depot. Ask the Rona people if they carry Concolor Fir, or Canoe birch. Tell the Walmart clerk that you want a native choke cherry, and see the look you get. We carry a fair number of native species, and trees that frankly get way to big for a city lot.

Unusual Sizes

Smaller tree = Easier Planting + Lower Cost + Greater Survival

A 7-8 foot spruce costs several hundred dollars, weighs better than 100 pounds, and if you don't have a pickup, it's hard to get home. Once you get it home it's at least a two wheelbarrow hole. If you're doing more than a few its also likely a visit to the chiropractor. For that same money you can get 10-20 Sherwood's Forests trees, have an easier time planting, and better survival rate.

Our trees are big enough to compete with the weeds, big enough to be seen from the saddle of a riding mower. This is a huge advantage over a tiny seedling.

Fast Supply

Local Grower + Container Grown = Trees on Demand.

The big guys place their orders a year in advance. They hope they can sell most of their stock in the spring, and hope that they don't have to trash much of it after the fall sales. The small garden centre owner and the landscape contractor don't know what they'll need next year.

With Sherwood's Forests, you can phone on Tuesday, pick up on Thursday, sell on Saturday. Your money is tied up for only a short period of time. You have less stock to care for.

Different Selection

If you look over our inventory, you will see some trees and shrubs that are uncommon at garden centres. I started doing this because I could not find a ponderosa pine or a weeping willow at a local garden centre. I've got ponderosas now, and I've got a line on a prairie hardy weeping willow. Stay tuned.

These red pine are doing well in plain field soil

Soil, not bark chips

I tried various mixes, but found that most of my trees do well in a mix that is close to straight field soil. Sure, it has some composted bark, a bit of peat in it, but conventional field soil is a good part of the mix. This makes for a heavier pot. I wouldn't want to pay to ship these to North Overshoe, Ontario. A heavier soil means that the boundary at the root ball when they are transplanted isn't as severe. It also doesn't drain as fast, so it's not necessary to water as frequently. (I typically water conifers once every week to 10 days in normal summer weather (12C to 20C))

Two year old Birch in #2 Stuewe Tree Pots

Pots can make a difference.

We use unusual pots for some of our trees. They are tall and narrow, to train roots to run deep. Ridges running up and down discourage root spiralling.
This is a nuisance when moving trees to their new home, as the pots tend to fall over. It means a deeper hole too. We think that these small temporary nuisances are worth a stronger tree. You will too.

(Garden Centres & Landscapers: We do have trees and shrubs in conventional pots too. I can show you three different ways to display Stuewe pots that are effective, and not terribly labour intensive to set up. See Reducing Windthrow)

Personal Service & Good Advice

I believe that an informed, educated customer can make better decisions. Much of my web site is devoted to helping you learn enough to turn your dreams and visions into reality, and to do so at a price you can afford.

Unlike most of the clerks you find at Big Box stores, my life is trees. I will give you the best advice I can. Sometimes that means I send you to someone else. To me it is important that you get the right tree for your vision. Much of that advice is on this site. Where other garden centres will give you a paragraph on swedish aspen, I'll give you 5 pages. Read. Learn. Enjoy. Ask questions.

I have often spent a dozen emails, or an hour on the phone, or two hours walking the farm teaching people about their options, and choices. Comes with the package. Can you ask my advice and buy your trees from Walwart? Sure. You'll get what you pay for.

A good starting point to turn your dreams into reality: Click *[Advice](/Advice* at left.

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This file last modified on Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Sherwood's Forests is located about 75 km southwest of Edmonton, Alberta. Please refer to the map on our Contact page for directions.

There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. But there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know. So why fret about it?

Robert A. Heinlein