About Us

Karsten Nursery is a small family-owned production nursery that was founded more than 40 years ago in the early 1980’s by Glen Karsten, and now sells a variety of trees and shrubs to customers all over the United States.

Glen Karsten with family on the front porch

Glen Karsten with family on the front porch

Glen was a hard-working farmer, mechanic, entrepreneur and nurseryman, with a keen eye for new introductions. He was raised on the family farm south of Worthington, Minnesota, where the nursery has been for more than 40 years.

Glen and his wife raised four children with a traditional midwestern American work ethic. They’re proud to continue serving all the customers of Karsten Nursery in honor of their dad, who unfortunately passed away in 2021. 

Glen founded Karsten Nursery in the early 1980’s and developed a hybrid of an amazing new cultivar of Salix matsundana x alba in the 1990’s.

He dubbed it the “Hybrid SuperTree” and he began to propagate this cultivar and sell it as a replacement for other less desirable windbreak trees, such as the Honeysuckle or the Dogwood.

The Hybrid SuperTree has one amazing characteristic; it grows extremely quickly.  It requires little water once established and really produces a thickly branched character near the base of the tree with multi stemmed branching from the main trunk. This characteristic make the SuperTree a great wind break, or visual barrier, sound barrier and dust barrier, even in the winter when the leaves are off, the thick branching makes it effective. Adding nitrogen fertilizer around the drip line of these trees really creates rapid growth, and they easily reach 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide in three years.  This amazing growth rate is highly desirable for a windbreak tree. 

Farmers and ranchers love this species because it’s possible to plant them across a field and within a short time have a wonderful thick hedge row to stop the wind and snow. 

Suburban homeowners also love this species as it provides an attractive visual barrier from neighbors, without the time and expense of installing a fence.  The Hybrid SuperTree is also somewhat drought tolerant once established, doesn’t require pruning, and has very few insect or disease problems. 

The popularity of this HYBRID SuperTree means our family nursery now ships them all over the USA.

We’ve sold many hundreds of thousands of trees and shrubs at this point, especially to customers in Southern Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Eastern South Dakota. We have many happy customers who come back to purchase again and again for 40 years. We also get lots of referrals, when the friends and neighbors of our customers ask about the source of the beautiful trees they’ve seen growing so quickly into a beautiful and functional windbreak.  

Today, Karsten Nursery is run by his son, Joel Karsten, who is proud to carry on his dad’s legacy of supplying quality windbreak stock at a great price to customers all over the United States.

Joel himself is a Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional through the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association, with a BS in Horticulture Science from the University of Minnesota. Joel has been a long-serving member of the Board of Directors for the Minnesota State Horticultural Association and often volunteers for his alma mater as well. Joel has a strong foundation of skills in Landscape Design, Gardening and Teaching Horticulture. He is also a published author of international best-selling books published in multiple languages with Quarto Publishing Company, based in the UK. You can visit StrawBaleGardenClub.com or watch Joel’s recent TEDx Talk to learn more about these accomplishments.

If you have questions about what trees to plant in which locations, general horticulture questions, or how bit a particular tree will grow, contact Joel.

SPRINGTIME AT THE NURSERY

Spring is a very busy time at the nursery, so please be patient with us if we can’t get back to you as quickly as usual. We begin taking orders in mid November for the following spring, so get in touch with us early to confirm your order in advance and assure we have the stock you’re looking for. Last minute inquiries are often quite disappointing, because we sell out of stock on many species of trees and shrubs long before Spring arrives. 

HOW DOES ONE PLACE AN ORDER?

The easiest way for you to order the Hybrid SuperTree is simply to click here to purchase from our website. The Hybrid SuperTree is always in stock through April and often sells out in May.

To order any other Trees and Shrubs from the more than 100 species of trees, shrubs and conifers we offer, you need to email us to confirm availability. Availability of stock changes rapidly especially in the spring. We don’t want to promise what we cannot deliver, and we don’t want you to order what we don’t have. Please send us an email with the details of what you would like to purchase. We will confirm availability and then send an invoice for your order by email. Once the invoice is paid, we will assign inventory to you, and your order will be scheduled for shipment at the appropriate time in the Spring.

Download or View Our Current Price List of More Than 100 Species of Trees, Shrubs & Conifers

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