Nursery Practices and Research in Ontario

A brief history of nursery production of forest tree seedlings in Ontario is presented. The industry dates back to 1904, when the first nursery in the province was established. From 1922 to 1958, eleven additional nurseries were built, the majority of which were situated in northern Ontario. Although the original experiments with containerized seedlings were conducted in 1965, it took more than 15 years for this type of production to become operational. In 1981, the provincial government provided funding for the establishment of private tree seedling nurseries. Today, there are 34 private nurseries in production in the province. Only four of the original government nurseries remain in operation as private enterprises. Containerized seedlings now comprise 80% of all seedling production in Ontario. Trends and developments in species, stock types, greenhouse structures and container types are presented. Seed sources and overwintering considerations are also outlined. Ongoing research in the province, through LUSTR Co-operative is described. LUSTR Co-op is a non-profit tree seedling research co-operative, providing research and development services to the seedling industry. The Co-op was incorporated in 1993 and since that time, has expanded to include members from nurseries, forest products companies, allied supply companies, silvicultural contractors, research organizations and colleges and universities. The mandate and research programme of LUSTR Co-op will be presented. Current and future research trends in Ontario will be discussed.

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Author(s): Karen Watt

Publication: National Nursery Proceedings - 2000

Event: Western Forest and Conservation Nursery Association Conference
2000 - Kona, HI