Transportation

The same principles of seedling care during storage apply to transporting seedlings. The seedlings should be protected from heat and drying. In the absence of referigerated trucks for delivery from the nursery cold storage unit to the planting site, several precautions need to be taken:

1. Move the trees as fast as possible, planning trips so weekend layovers are avoided.
2. Use tarps to prevent drying.
3. Use a ventilated truck to prevent heat buildup.
4. Park in shade when possible.

The nursery has been using a variety of trucks for tree delivery each spring, some open and, the last two years, a refrigerated van. The ideal process would involve stock lifted when dormant, packed and refrigerated at the nursery, loaded on refrigerated truck for delivery, and planted within a day of delivery.

Of course, things never work that perfectly all the time. When planting cannot be geared to delivery time for whatever reason, we now have another alternative. This is delivery directly to landowner by U.P.S. Keep in mind that U.P.S. delivery is not refrigerated, but this may be better than our refrigerated delivery when planting is delayed several weeks.

< Back to Transportation, Care, and Storage of Seedlings; and Planting

Last Modified: 07/05/2007