The SuperTree is a deciduous tree so it will drop it's leaves in late fall, and it is one of the first to get new leaves in the spring. While it drops it's leaves it still makes a fantastic windbreak even in winter. As air flows around the dense branch structure of these trees it must travel around the branches. Bernoulli's principal explains that this airflow creates a pressure drop on the down wind or leeward side of the tree. This drop in pressure creates a big pile of snow, just past the row of trees. It also causes dust, sound, to drop out, and even slows the wind down dramatically creating an turbulence that protects other trees, buildings, and objects from wind sheer.

That depends! If you are trying to develop a wind break, snow catch, dust or noise barrier, then plant one row 5-6' apart, and no closer than 5'. If planted too close, they will rub against each other before they have a chance for their bark can mature. The thin bark will easily rub off and this creates wounds in the tree bark, which can be an issue when the tree matures. If planted at least 5' apart they will not touch one another until they have had time to grow thicker bark, which won't rub off easily. If you are planting and you have lots of space, then plant the same number of trees but make two rows 8-10' apart, and plant the trees 8-10' apart in each row but stagger them between the rows. This gives more space for them to fill out, and yet gives the same density of plants for wind or snow blowing from the side. 

The plugs ship alive and growing about 1/2" every day, so we target shipping them at 12-24" but sometimes they are slightly taller. The plugs will have leaves already growing. The root ball on the plugs is about the size of a soda can, with a netting around the root ball. Plant the netting with the tree, and it will dissolve away and the roots will burst through it.  We also offer transplants that ship bare root, without fully extended leaves. These have a bit larger root system and tend to transplant well. We can ship these anywhere in the USA by Postal, UPS or SpeeDee Delivery. Our only limitation for shipping is when it gets hot, because when the trees arrive at your door they CANNOT sit in the sun on a hot day inside the box, or they will die! If you take them out of the box and put the roots into a pail of water they are just fine like that until you have time to plant them. We ship up until it gets to the hottest part of summer, then we pick up again in early fall.  After October 1st, orders placed will usually be scheduled to ship in the SPRING! You will clearly see on our website if we are delaying shipments at the time you order.

At our tree farm we jokingly say that if we could dig planting holes in the highway, the Hybrid SuperTree could grow roots into the asphalt! Our experience with fast growing trees goes back 35+ years and our customers tell us how well this hybrid of the Salix grows in pure sand, heavy black clay, and everything in between. If you have poor soil it is important to make a bigger planting hole 1'x1' and backfill with 50/50 mix of good compost and your virgin soil. This lets them get started, and then they will push roots out from there. If anything grows in the soil where you will plant them, then you can count on these growing there too.

Karsten Nursery has an industry standard warranty for wholesale trees. We will replace any stock that does not arrive in good condition and claim is made within 72 hours of delivery. Stock is guaranteed to be alive (scratch test) and in healthy disease free condition, ready to grow. We DO NOT guarantee that the customer will be successful growing the bare root plants they purchase from us. We cannot control how the stock is handled, and bare root stock must be kept moist at all times. Nor can we guarantee the trees will be planted correctly, watered, and maintained properly. We charge wholesale prices and offer a standard wholesale guarantee. However, our goal is always to have happy customers, so if you are not happy and you think that it is our fault, you call or email us and we will try to work with you so you can turn that frown upside down.

Some Salix species grow only near lakes and rivers and need water, these trees do not require water nearby, and are actually quite drought tolerant once well established. To get them established make sure you water well when you plant, this gets all the air pockets out of the soil. If no rainfall is received then plan to provide one gallon per tree per week for the first three months. The KEY is how you water. Slowly! Use a bucket with a nail hole near the bottom and fill the bucket and let the water drip out slowly. If you set up irrigation, DO NOT WATER EVERY DAY. This is worse than not watering at all, because we want to make sure the roots can get air,  and if the soil is wet no air can get to the roots, and your trees will die. They cannot live with standing water around the roots for more than about a week or ten days at most.