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1. The trees I received didn't grow much in the first year or two – why is that?

The city orders trees in bulk from large tree suppliers in bare root form. Bare root trees are economical to purchase for this program and allow for large quantities of trees to be moved easily – they are dug out of the field they're grown in when they're dormant and sent to us without any dirt around the roots. This is safe for the trees when they are dormant.

We pot these trees into the containers when we receive them from our supplier in February - you receive them within a month of the city potting them up. This means that the trees will be loosely fitted into the soil in pots you receive and will not have any time to grow roots – this means that none of the trees program participants receive will be 'root-bound' – a big benefit to program participants has 'root-bound' trees can be harder to plant successfully.

However, bare root trees do have the down-side of loosing a large quantity of their fine, fibrous roots when they are dug out of a planting field by the tree supplier and shipped to the city; the result is a slower growing tree in the first year or two of planting them in their permanent location as they set new roots. If you plant the trees following the instructions provided at the training prior to receiving your tree(s) and water the trees thoroughly during our dry summer, you will have a tree that will outgrow most containerized trees following the 1-2 year establishment period.

2. One of my trees looks sick, what should I do?

Puyallup NeighborWoods does not conduct health check-ups for trees on private property, however you can contact us to see if we can help. If you need a tree assessment or your tree needs some care, you should contact an ISA certified arborist.

If you are unable to locate an answer to your question, please contact us at Trees@ci.puyallup.wa.us or 253 841-5418 for help.