Practical, experience-based guides for growing native oaks from seed and caring for arborvitae cultivars, drawn from years of hands-on propagation at our Michigan nursery.
Most growing guides online are generic, incomplete, or written by people who haven't actually grown thousands of trees. We've spent years propagating oak acorns, growing seedlings, rooting arborvitae cuttings, and developing pre-bonsai material. Every guide here reflects real experience—mistakes, successes, timing details, and the species-specific knowledge that makes the difference between a struggling plant and thriving stock.
These guides are designed to be thorough, specific, and honest about what works and what doesn't in our Michigan Zone 5b/6a climate and beyond. Whether you're growing oaks for landscape restoration, bonsai development, or simply because you love native trees, you'll find the detail you need here.
A comprehensive, step-by-step guide to growing oak trees from acorns. Covers species selection, the float test, cold stratification, germination, potting, and first-year care—everything you need to know from collection through establishing healthy seedlings.
Read GuideEverything you need to know about growing, maintaining, and propagating arborvitae (Thuja) cultivars. Learn planting, watering, pruning, problem-solving, and detailed propagation techniques for rooting cuttings of rare cultivars.
Read GuideWe're continuously expanding our growing guides based on the questions we receive most often. Upcoming topics include:
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