Conservation Grade

General Fruit Growing
1

Good afternoon. I am planning on buying a couple dozen black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and redbud (Cercis canadensis) trees from Cold Stream Farm. They say on their website something along the lines of “All trees should be considered conservation grade”.

What is conservation grade? I have seen that on several other websites and I have not really found a good definition of what that means.

Thanks!

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2

conservation grade. adjective. 1. relating to food produced using traditional methods where possible, and following strict specifications regarding animal feeds and welfare, the use of chemical fertilizers, wildlife conservation, and land management.

https://www.google.com/search?q=define+conservation+grade

3

here is what lawyer nursery says about conservation grade.:

CONSERVATION GRADE

Conservation grade is intended and suited for planting shelterbelts, erosion control, windbreaks, wildlife habitat and other conservation purposes. Conservation stock is graded mainly on the merits of its possible survival with minimal consideration to deficiencies which may detract from its value in the ornamental nursery trade. Size may in form and other attributes vary considerably, although extremes are not normally included within the same bundle. Availability of this grade for some species may be limited if most of the crop meets the higher standards set for other grades.

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4

May want to check out the forestry department for your state.

In my state the forestry department sells a lot of trees like you are talking about for low prices.

A few years ago, I bought a bunch of trees including crape myrtle, redbud, Chinese chestnut, persimmons and others for 50 cents per tree

I believe they only sell to in state residents, but here is a link to some of the stuff they sell:

http://nc-forestry.stores.yahoo.net/otherhardwoods.html

5

Folks on the site have suggested Missouri has a very good state nursery that sells to folks out of state.

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6

Drew

Thanks for the recommendation. Just checked out the Missouri Forestry site. They have an awesome selection of all kinds of stuff, much more than my state. Also, most things are only 80 cents each in a quantity of just 10.

7

I would pick MO Dept of Conservation over Cold Stream Farms everyday for that grade of plant material.