Growing a resilient canopy in California’s cities starts with growing quality trees in California’s nurseries.

There are widely accepted nursery practices associated with increased tree health and longevity. For example, root pruning can reduce circling roots introduced in containerized systems and appropriate shoot pruning can lead to stronger branch structure. If any practice reduces the frequency of tree problems down the road for cities and disappointing outcomes for communities investing in green infrastructure, it is worth the effort, and perhaps a higher per unit cost, to urban forestry professionals. However, the general perception in the urban forestry community is that these practices aren’t consistently implemented.

Recognizing this challenge, a group of urban forestry professionals informally known as Team Fancy (after the highest quality grade in Florida’s nursery tree standards) has formed around shepherding state-specific tree grading standards, or a related certification process, into California. The goals of standards or certification would be to recognize and elevate the craft of growing structurally sound, vigorous trees for tough urban conditions, and to increase the consistency of nursery products delivered to urban forestry consumers.

But what do nursery professionals think about California-specific tree quality standards or certification? To better understand the feasibility and value of a program like this from a nursery perspective, UCNFA sat down in Zoomland with a few nursery industry thought leaders—Jon Reelhorn of Belmont Nursery, Doug Henderson of Boething Treeland, and Tonya Schoenfuss of Alta Nursery. Their perspectives reveal both the promise and practical challenges of implementing quality standards in California's diverse nursery industry. If you are another nursery industry thought leader who would like to contribute to this conversation, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Perspective 1: The case for certification as market differentiation

It seems to me that a certification program would be a benefit to the little guys... Jon Reelhorn, Belmont Nursery

For generations, Belmont Nursery has been a fixture in Fresno, first opening its doors in 1943. It stayed with the Belmont Family until 2001, when it was purchased by Jon Reelhorn. A point of pride for Reelhorn is that the nursery is well known locally and that it persists when a lot of others have gone out of business. He credits Belmont’s persistence with attention to detail, strong internal culture, and diversification across both wholesale and retail markets with loyal customers. Belmont Nursery also takes pride that they’re “the best in the world at propagating ‘Keith Davey’ pistache,” a fruitless cultivar of Pistacia chinensis that many cities plant for fall color. Belmont’s success with that tree is thanks to a “plant guru” named Humberto Hernandez who came to the nursery with the absorption of Henderson Experimental Gardens, where ‘Keith Davey’ was first propagated.

Overall, Reelhorn expressed enthusiasm about a potential grading or certification program. “I like the idea of certification. I want to be a tree-certified nursery,” he says, drawing parallels with small business certification, which gives Belmont a 3-5% bump on bids for select municipal and school district contracts. “It seems to me that a certification program would be a benefit to the little guys, because how else can we set ourselves apart if we're not selling price?”

This market differentiation is crucial for Reelhorn's business model. “I try to do a more premium plant to serve the homeowner and to serve the garden center,” he says. For nurseries focused on quality over volume, certification could provide a way to justify higher prices and build customer loyalty.

When asked about the state of tree quality in California, Reelhorn’s response was that the industry has lost focus on quality since key advocates moved on to other roles. An arborist named Brian Kempf was doing significant nursery outreach as director of Visalia’s Urban Tree Foundation from 1999 to 2008. Though he wears more hats these days, Kempf continues his contributions to the tree quality conversation and is a prominent voice in the Team Fancy group. Reelhorn credits Kempf with raising awareness years ago about structural problems. “When he was out there pounding the turf I think the word was out more, and I think the growers were trying to do a better job with circling roots, and root flares, and central leaders, and on all of that…There’s less of that message out there [now]…” he says. 

One point of contention Reelhorn finds with the Team Fancy approach is that there is already a set of standards in place for nursery production. A revised version of the American Standard for Nursery Stock was released just this year. His concerns seem to be two-fold. One is with roles and responsibilities: “Who runs it? Who owns it? Where does it land?” he asks of the proposed program. His other concern is that there’s no reason for California to go it alone, asking “Why does California think that we have to do it ourselves? Are we different? Are we better?”

Team Fancy does think that California is different, not least because our state grows trees almost exclusively in containers whereas other parts of the country often grow trees in the ground. The national standards skew towards ground production.

Perspective 2:  Market realities and quality trade-off

Doug Henderson is a self-described “nursery rat.” He grew up in nurseries, worked at Valley Crest in its heyday, and now serves as the Assistant Vice President of Sales for Boething Treeland. He was very candid about the realities of the nursery business and his belief that the greatest challenges to delivering consistent high quality come from the market.

Like many urban forestry professionals, Henderson likes to drive around and check on favorite projects. “There’s my babies,” he thinks when he passes the Getty Museum or the Ram Stadium in Los Angeles.  But he is also clear about what these showcase projects represent. “They were big, they had a ton of money, the owners really cared about what the end product was going to look like, and they had the foresight to look 2 or 3 years down the road,” says Henderson.

It's a short window to have a high quality rootball Doug Henderson, Boething Treeland

Typically, housing developments and apartment complexes are operating on an 18-month timeline “from start to finish, from drawings to dirt.” For these projects, “it's what is available at time of order. It wasn't planned; it wasn't ‘nurture it from a young plant up to a specimen tree.’” Short turnaround customers, which represent the majority of Boething’s business, “want a good tree, but they’re not looking for a perfect tree. They’re more concerned with their budget…landscape contractors are awarded a bid because it has the lowest budget, and so their job is to save money.”

This market reality has created what Henderson calls a "considerable demand for cheap trees" and a supply chain willing to meet it. "There's not a lot of good quality growers out there anymore, not as many as there used to be, and then the rest...are just in it for the nickel. They're sending stuff out that's not rooted...I would say there's a chunk of our business that we get that's rebound work. Contractor bought the low-priced material, but somehow it got rejected. And now it's got to come back, or it died, or whatever the case might be.”

The financial pressures are real. Maintaining quality standards means "you're gonna be throwing stuff away that gets overgrown. It's a sad part of our industry... You will be putting millions of dollars-worth of trees into tub grinders when the market dips." Henderson firmly believes that "it takes more money to put out a quality product," and quality standards would inevitably narrow the already-limited window for selling trees.

"It's a short window to have a high quality rootball," particularly for fast growers like Tipuana and Platanus, Henderson notes. He estimates that the average time in container at sale for a 15-gallon tree grown "to the standards which I think we all want to be a part of, it's somewhere between 12 and 16 months." This narrow window is the time between adequate rooting and over-rooting.

Although it isn’t always possible to start a tree or sell a tree at the most optimal time for every project, Henderson values quality deeply and stated early in our interview and regularly throughout that “With every crop we grow, we want it to be better than the crop we grew before.” He believes that there are other nurseries out there that share his philosophy, but that this isn’t universal.

Perspective 3: Technical innovation and cost optimization

Tonya Schoenfuss grew up at Alta Nursery in Southern California, but didn’t come home to run the family business until after she’d built a very different career. Schoenfuss has a Master’s and PhD in the chemistry of dairy products and continues to hold a professorship at University of Minneapolis in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition. While the transferrable lessons may not be obvious, her experience in food quality, safety training, and process upgrades informs how she approached the tree quality and standards conversation.

“I know a lot about preventive controls, standardizing your processes, all that. Do we do that here [at Alta]? No,” she admits. Why not? “It’s difficult. It's really difficult to control everything at your business.” However, her analytical approach has led to significant cost reductions that keep the nursery competitive even in down markets.

Schoenfuss has found many ways to reduce costs since assuming ownership of Alta in 2021.  “Our greatest achievement has been reduction in our cost of goods numbers by saving on energy,” she says. Schoenfuss accomplished energy savings by optimizing her irrigation for maximum well production. She doesn’t want to exceed the well’s maximum production because that leads to pressure loss issues and she doesn’t want to go under its maximum production at which point “you're just wasting energy because the pump's not as efficient, and it's still a 250-horsepower motor that’s sucking up electricity.” Schoenfuss has found that she can also reduce costs by consolidating plants to irrigate less area, installing drip, and adding water tanks to reduce use of costly city water.

If Schoenfuss is interested in adopting a new practice, she’ll find a way to optimize it.

With the exception of some pines and shrubby trees (like Gambel oaks and mountain mahogany), Alta Nursery focuses primarily on propagation and liner production rather than growing trees to urban planting size, but they're experimenting with innovations relevant to Team Fancy's goals. They have been testing air pruning pots for stock they grow themselves, with Schoenfuss noting, "we really think they do work better than just putting them in a straight round court or gallon." However, she emphasizes that "these root pruning containers are a lot more expensive than just putting them in a normal gallon," so there need to be efficiency gains elsewhere to justify the higher container costs in a competitive market.

Future Considerations

As Team Fancy continues developing its approach to tree quality standards, these nursery voices highlight the importance of balancing idealistic goals with practical implementation. A successful program will need to reward quality while remaining economically viable, provide clear market advantages for participants, and build on existing industry knowledge rather than creating entirely new systems.

The conversation continues, and UCNFA remains committed to gathering and amplifying nursery perspectives as this important work moves forward. The goal isn't just better trees, but a more sustainable and profitable path for the nurseries that grow them and the communities that depend on healthy urban forests.

Jessie Godfrey is an Environmental Horticulture and Water Resource Management Advisor in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco Counties; Chris Shogren is an Environmental Horticulture Advisor in Los Angeles County.