Buying Shrubs and Trees Bare Rooted - Good Or Bad?

I'm after a few shrubs and a mountain ash for the front garden. It seems as my favourite garden centre is closed for winter I will have to look online for them. (I could wait until they reopen but find looking at a bare patch of ground quite depressing) Have found a few sites offering the trees and shrubs online for a third of the price I would pay for a potted plant.

Is there any drawbacks to buying bare rooted plants over the potted ones? Will they take longer to establish themselves etc?

 

Jane
Bare root plants used to be the usual way of buying trees. They are only available when the tree is dormant, so winter to early spring. They tend to be cheaper as there is no pot or compost and they come straight from the field.
I have had no problems with bare root plants from reputable suppliers. Disadvantage is that they need to be planted soon after you get them so weather can be a problem. Do not plant if ground is frozen or waterlogged. You can always put them in a temporary home (pot) until the weather improves. Keep them cold but frost free.
I've found that they establish quickly, maybe a bit of extra watering in the first year.
Nigel

 

Jane,
I've also bought shrubs bare rooted and never had a problem, as Nigel says buy from a reputable supplier, my local garden centre sometimes does bare rooted never got any from them always used mail order for mine.

 

I've used bare root trees. They are cheap and they take pretty easily.

The only word of caution I'd throw in is to choose the supplier carefully. There is a certain very well known one that stills sells bare root shrubs well into the growing season. The good suppliers only sell them during the 'bare root window', which is not really set by the calendar but by the weather, and its when the plants are dormant. Some will say they are available from November to the end of Feb or similar, some will say that's only a guideline and they wont supply them until they've gone to sleep or after they've shown signs of waking back up. One, as I mentioned just now, keeps selling them even after everything has well and truly woken up.

 

Can anyone recomend a good mail order supplier? I had my eye on one but am wondering if they are the same company that other members on here have delt with?

 

I much prefer to buy Bare Root rather than Container Grown.

Plants need to be "big enough" (to survive), but I recommend avoiding buying "biggest you can" as I find they take longer to establish.

I have had a lot of hedge plants and a fair number of trees from Ashridge Trees. Their trees are on the large side though, and I think they get set back by the move (they still insist on selling trees sized by the girth of the stem 3' above the ground, or something like that, which is as good as useless for a layman to know what size they will be getting! Safe to say that their trees will be bigger than you are expecting, so don't be put off if their price is on the high side)
http://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/

I've also been very pleased with Mail Order Trees. Their plants have been smaller, but have got away really well. (They sell a mix of Container Grown and Bare Root, you can choose for some trees, other are only available container grown). Only negative is if you want a Standard as (I think) most of their stuff is no bigger than half-standard. You can grow it on from there of course ... if you are happy to wait.
http://www.mailordertrees.co.uk/

I've bought a lot of shrubs, and a few trees, from Buckingham Nurseries. Their stuff is at the cheaper end. I've been happy with the quality, but I have been buying plants to grow-on. Clearly if they say the plant is in a 9cm pot then you won't be expecting a 12' tree! Plenty of savings to be had, but not much that is instant-impact and some that you would do better to grow on and plant next Autumn. All the variegated Hollies for my Maze came from them; bought in the Spring, potted on (on arrival) to 1L and stood on my terrace during the Summer, some potted on during the summer to 2L, and all planted out in the Autumn.

http://www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk

My terrace last Summer:


I have had good quality Shrubs from Duchy of Cornwall Nursery. Tend to be slightly more unusual things, or plants that are on the tender side (the nursery is in the SW)

duchyofcornwallnursery.co.uk

Worth looking at Plantify. A relatively recent online nursery, they are buying in from all sorts, and often offer a range of container sizes (sometimes the 5L is cheaper than the 2L - all due to where they are sourcing the plants from). I find it a useful resource to give me a guide price. Nothing bare-root (that I know of)
www.plantify.co.uk

Then there is Crocus. They seem to usually be the most expensive, so I have rarely bought from them, but quality of their plants has been good. Nothing bare-root (that I know of)
www.crocus.co.uk

 

That well known supplier isn't Tiny & Mislabled is it ?

 

Suffice to say that I've dealt with some of the companies that Kristen mentioned, and I've also done business with one called The Hedge Nursery, who have the title on their page RHS Bare Root Hedging.

When I did business with the some of those that Kristen mentioned, the plants all arrived at the right time, were clearly dormant, and settled in very well and established quickly once spring came, and they didn't have yellowing green growth on them at all when I opened the bag that arrived way sooner than expected, in early September.

If you order bare root trees while its still summer or early autumn, ie when stuff is still active, I'd expect to wait several weeks for them to arrive, while the supplier waits for just the right conditions to dig them up. That's exactly what happened when I ordered from some of the suppliers that Kristen mentioned.

 

Here's a tip, JJ. If your soil is less than ideal loam( that I'd sell my soul for) use 'pralin'. It's a slurry made of clay (soil), mature manure and water. A handful of bonemeal is optional but beneficial. You submerge the bare roots in the slurry, swish them about until thoroughly coated and then plant as usual.
Can be made with a small bag of bought manure if it's not readily available locally.
It's good stuff....coats the fine roots to ensure that they have contact with something nutritious to get them going.

 

Kristen. That's quite a response!

This morning I was intending to go and put an order in for a Mountain ash with these people. Has anyone used them?
http://www.treesandhedging.co.uk/
But now as there seems to be more variety than I realised I can really shop around for one and also other plants. I reckon now I will probably get the tree from Buckingham Nurseries. Some of the other sites you mentioned do have better variety but I am on quite a strict budget as always.

 

Not come across them, although their bulk prices are OK-ish. Cell grown Holly are £1.17 100-off, I bought cell grown back in the spring for £0.78

But the only Mountain Ash I found was £4.08, but only 60-80cm high. That's a LONG wait until you get a tree I reckon (and only the bog standard variety available)

Buckingham Nurseries 4-5ft for £13.95-14.95

Mail Order Trees - 6-7ft £24.99 (note that it is also available in their BOGOFF - so you could get a second tree (from a list of a dozen or more) for free/ Couple of nice varieties available, of which I have, and like, both Joseph Rock and Pink Pagoda - not your bog standard red berries
http://www.mailordertrees.co.uk/Ornamental+Garden+Trees++Buy+One+Get+One+Free/0_caaa198/PRAB422.htm

Ashridge Trees 6/8 std £31.50. Trouble is you don't know how tall a 6/8 std will be. I would guess 10-12' so its a lot bigger than the others, and its a full standard too, whereas Mail Order Trees is a half standard, and Buckingham Nurseries will be a whip I expect.

 

I just doubled checked on the site I mentioned and they are selling a tree at 150-170cm tall at roughly £12. I do agree that the other sites seem to have a better range and offers. The BOGOFF is tempting but I don't really have a need for anymore trees, accept a few cordons in the near future and mail order trees don't include them in their offer.

I am tempted to buy a tree from Ashridge as well as I do want to go for the tallest possible tree that I can afford, but will it take longer to establish itself because of it's size? Also this will be planted on a very exposed site and wonder if this will inhibit it's new growth somehow. Also according to their description a standards trunk is only waist height, I need the main trunk to be at least double that so Dave and my neighbour can get a clear view when they pull out of the drive.

 

I would definitely plant smaller in that situation. The trees I have had from Ashridge trees, some 6 years now, are a decent size now, so they didn't "stall" per se. But since then I have planted smaller ones and been surprised with how much growth they put on in the first year. In an exposed site I think that would be even more apparent.

doesn't sound right. The standards I have all have clear stems to about shoulder height.

Might be best to phone them up, I've found them very helpful. You might even be able to squeeze out of them roughly how high the tree is likely to be!