Every year we test new species. It gives us useful information about how to grow them should we decide they are a good fit in our urban forestry program. Strong germination is critical to success in container nursery culture. These early trials help us adjust our methods. Sometimes in the first year we find unanticipated problems with our environment such as high humidity – a chronic issue in Taizhou. Natural growth habits can be a struggle with other species. Both very slow and too rapid growth cause problems in the nursery. By delaying seed sowing we can harvest a smaller tree and keep in our rotation species that otherwise grow too large in the first season. And we achieve the same effect as an extra year of growth by germinating seeds in autumn. That makes slow growing species appealing.
