A New Tree Planting Season is Underway at SGN Trees!

April 1, 2024

SGN Trees Kid Crew

Tree Planting 2024 is now underway at Spring Grove Nursery! This spring marks our 25th year planting at SGN Trees. We started planting last week and have about half of our new crop in the ground and ready to grow. We are already receiving some nice rains to help settle the newly planted trees into the soil. Once it dries out in a few days, we can go back to the field and plant the rest. By this time next month, all of our SGN Trees will be planted and growing new roots!

Last week was also Spring Break for several of the kids in our SGN Trees family. We enjoyed the extra help on the planting crew, and it made for a fun afternoon in the field! Check out some images below of the kids having fun in the dirt planting trees and collecting worms. Some days us “grown-ups” forget how much fun planting trees can be. Thanks to our special SGN Kid Crew for spreading their love of tree planting with all of us!

Planting time in the nursery is our absolute favorite part of the job. We love it for so many reasons – but mostly because the act of planting in the nursery really speaks to our core purpose at SGN Trees: We grow healthy trees, deep roots, and strong communities. When we plant a new crop into our farm we do all of those things at the same time. Here’s what our core purpose looks like through the lens of planting season:

We grow healthy trees… Jamie often says, “The most important day for this tree is when it gets planted here in my nursery.” We take extreme care to select only the best quality liner stock from the very best nursery partners. We also make sure our trees are planted properly so that they have the best chance at success later in the landscape long after they leave our field. Our team here at the nursery understands the importance of getting it right from the start. Growing healthy trees starts long before the trees come to our field and continues throughout our entire growing process.

We grow deep roots…We all know that the roots below the ground are really what help make a tree flourish in the long run. Roots need to be sturdy, substantial, and flourishing for the tree to withstand the growing seasons ahead. Deep roots anchor the tree during tough times, and bring up essential nutrients to feed a growing canopy. We seek out liner growers who develop fibrous root systems on the liner trees we plant in our nursery. We are attentive to the proper care of the roots before, during, and after planting. Once our new trees are planted they need two critical things for the roots to thrive – rain and great soil. The soil conservation methods we inherited on this farm from the last generation have set us up for success. Our soil is rich with organic matter and extremely well-drained. The combination of quality rootstock, mindful stewardship of the soil, and nature’s gift of rain give our trees the perfect environment to establish deep roots that will thrive for many years to come.

We grow strong communities…On the surface, we grow trees – we are farmers, and trees are our crop. But to grow trees, we get to grow so much more. We get to grow relationships. Growing trees gives us the opportunity to build community throughout the growing process. Our SGN Crew is our community at the core of everything we do. We work closely with our partner family businesses at iTrees.com and Harford Farms in tree planting efforts at the nursery. We couldn’t do it without the dedication and teamwork of our fantastic crew. We also grow a strong community with the partner nurseries who supply our liner stock. The long standing relationships with J. Frank Schmidt Nursery, Bailey Nurseries, Robinson Nursery, John Holmlund Nursery, Kuenzi Turf & Nursery, and Sester Farms are as important to us as the beautiful trees they grow for us. The strong community of customers we have cultivated is also at the heart of what we love about growing trees. Our customers know us and have grown with our business over the years. These strong communities growing around us are the most fulfilling and meaningful crops we can produce!

So our core purpose through the lens of tree planting is off to a great start this season. The trees we plant this spring will have a future that is still unknown. But as farmers, we plant anyway…. and we grow healthy trees, deep roots, and strong communities!

For a cool view from above during tree planting, check out this video from Robert Avery of Airwave Media Productions – @AirwaveMediaProductions