It is in the roots, not the branches, that a tree’s greatest strength lies

At Alba, we want to produce the best trees of any tree nursery by focusing on quality, so all our plants are cell-grown and UK grown.  You need not worry about imported plants cross-contaminating home-grown stock on our nursery.

Our ethos of quality is reflected from years of Research and Development, through plant production and onto Customer Service and Delivery.  It is all the details which make the difference, from getting the very best seed to having a dedicated nursery team to look after our growing stock.

Our cell-grown trees have several advantages over lower-quality bare rooted trees.  Most of these benefits are due to how we treat the roots; cell grown trees are grown in containers so that the root system is kept complete, but bare rooted trees are grown in the ground so need their roots severed during the ‘lifting’ process. Not only do bare root trees have a large proportion of their root mass left at the nursery, the roots have been damaged just before they are sent to site.  You should consider using cell-grown trees if you are interested in getting any of these benefits:

Lowering the Risk

• Our trees have higher establishment rates with fewer losses, due to the root systems being complete.  Replacing dead trees can be expensive, so it normally pays to get it done right the first time.
• Our plants do not ‘check’ on planting so there is rapid early growth and less risk of weed competition.  Bare rooted trees often take time to settle into their site as the severed roots must re-grow.
• Our containers are designed to eliminate root spiralling, enabling stability once planted.  We select container type according to species and carefully consider the effect of this choice on ‘lazy rooters’.
• Our packaging systems have all been designed to allow for careful handling of our plants and prevent root damage, which is the primary cause of poor establishment.

Flexibility

• Our plants remain in their growing containers until they are ready to be graded out for orders, meaning they have enough time to grow a strong root system.
• Because there is no damage to the root systems, our plants do not need to be dormant when they are planted.  So you can plant throughout the year.