FAQS FOR ARBOR AMERICA
Here is a list of frequently asked questions by customers and clients of Arbor America. Learn more about our products and tree care by reading below.
Arbor America Inc. has developed several cultivars of fine hardwood trees, including American Black Walnut, White Oak and Black Cherry that have been tested to grow consistently straighter and faster than non selected trees.
These trees can be propagated through grafting or through seed, and Arbor America can source enough seed and scion wood from its own stock to propagate up to 3,000,000 seedlings and 100,000 grafts every year, using our state of the art nurseries, greenhouse and shade houses located in Central Indiana.
Arbor America has patented several cultivars that are the result or its own breeding program, and is also capable of producing very large quantities of former patents Purdue#1 and Tippecanoe#1.
Grafts are genetically identical copies (from the root up) of the original cultivars that have been bred and tested to be genetically superior in terms of straightness and growth rate. Using grafts provides uniformity to the performance of a plantation, since every tree is a identical copy of the original patented tree.
Seedlings are grown by germinating seeds obtained from the original cultivar after open pollination in our seed orchards. Seedings will inherit traits from their female parent, which is a known genetically superior tree, and its unknown male parent, in a sexual propagation process that results in higher variability, but still with better performance than non selected sources.
Arbor America’s seedlings are grown from seed collected at one of our five clonal plantations located in Central Indiana. These five plantations are about 100 acres each in size, and are located in the midst of a fertile plain devoted to row crops, mostly corn and soybeans, and miles away from other black walnut plantations or wild trees. This isolation leads to a high probability of pollination within the planting, which means that both male and female parents are genetically superior trees.
This depends greatly on the quality of the soil in which they are planted and the intensity and quality of the care provided to them (weed control, fertilization, irrigation), but genetically superior trees have been proven to grow significantly faster and straighter than non-enhanced sources under the same conditions.
Arbor America’s genetically superior trees are not GMO’s since they are not the result of genetic engineering but of traditional genetic breeding. These trees are selections made after patient testing of thousands of trees propagated from hundreds of sources, the vast majority of which turned out not to be genetically superior.
Grafts can be shipped both potted or bare root, and seedlings are shipped bare root.
This depends greatly on the planting location. For Central Indiana, it is best to plant bare root trees in the Spring, after the ground has thawed for the season. Potted trees can be planted both in the Spring or in the Fall, provided they are protected by a thick layer of mulch.
At any rate, these are deciduous hardwood trees that need to be planted while dormant, and it is not recommended to plant them after they flush.
Black Walnut trees can thrive in a variety of soil conditions, but grow best in well-drained, rich soils. Avoid soils with high contents of clay, are too wet or too dry, or are prone to flooding.
Yes, these genetically superior trees are as hardy within the normal range of its species, and do not show any propensity to weather, pest or disease damage.
