ForestCare, the largest tree nursery operation in Eastern Canada, has made a multi million dollar committment to its future in Southern Ontario. The company, which has been operating tree seedling nurseries since 1984, acquired the St. Williams Forestry Station from the provincial government in the fall of 1998 and has brought its innovative technology to Southern Ontario.
ForestCare supplies tree seedlings primarily to the Northern Ontario forest industry and has been expanding its markets to include woodlot owners, Conservation Authorities and individuals all over the Province of Ontario.
According to information in its Web page (www.forestcare.com), in 1999 it supplied 60-million seedlings from its two nurseries.
ForestCare supplies "container stock" (plugged root) seedlings to major North American forest companies. There’s been a dramatic shift in the direction of seedling production. ForestCare’s Vice President of Forestry & Client Services, Don Stratton, told The AgriNews in a telephone interview from his office in Kapuskasing on Feb. 23.
"Fifteen years ago of the 125-million seedlings planted annually in Northern Ontario, 99 per cent were bareroot stock. Today, of the 125-million tree seedlings planted on Ontario’s Crown forests, 99.9 per cent are container stock."
The plug technology is receiving rave reviews from clients in the south where bareroot seedlings used to dominate reforestation and aforestation efforts.
Stratton says plug seedlings have major advantages over their bareroot counterparts. They respond immediately in shoot growth after planting, as they do not sit in "check". The root system is not exposed to wind and untraviolet rays during planting, therefore the microscopic root hairs responsible for nutrient uptake do not die. Food located in the plug is readily available to the seedling upon planting.
The "natural" root system improves future stability of the tree. ForestCare plug seedlings have a higher survival rate.
Quick initial growth allows the seedlings to get above competing weeds and grasses quickly making it less likely to be mowed by the landowner and reduces the amount of herbicides required to control competing vegetation.
ForestCare acquired the St. Williams Forestry Station" - Canada’s oldest nursery, established in 1908 - in the fall of 1998 as part of the provincial government’s privatizatin process.
ForestCare’s St. Williams Forestry Centre is located 20 miles south of Tillsonburg and 25 miles west of Simcoe. The company is involved in intensive research and development to produce hardwood species in a containerized format.
ForestCare ships via Express Post from its St. Williams facility, shipping out early in the week so customers receive their seedlings before the weekend.
A free ForestCare catalogue can be ordered by calling the company’s toll-free line at 1-800-570-0327, by fax at 1-705-856-4512, or by visiting its Web site at www.forestcare.com.
From the Archives:
News, March 2001
