Colorado State Forest Service Nursery - Nursery Tour

Colorado State Forest Service Nursery

Nursery Tour
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The Colorado State Forest Service Nursery in Fort Collins, CO
	To the left is a field of Colorado blue spruce seedlings, the Colorado state tree. Blue spruce makes an excellent long-lived windbreak.
Besides outdoor production, the CSFS nursery has 18,000 square feet on greenhouse space. We produce most of our evergreens here. Our history has shown that container grown evergreens offer improved survival over bareroot seedlings.
As you can see from the photos above, a potential benefit of all this seed collecting is great jams and jellies! Many shrubs we raise are fruit bearers, valuable not only for wildlife but we humans can enjoy it too. Gathered seed is sown in "beds" outdoors. With most of the deciduous or broadleaf trees it is necessary to seed in the fall. That is because most woody plant seed has some type of "overwintering" requirement. Some physiological or mechanical factor prohibits the seed from germinating given the right conditions. Frequently the best way to overcome this dormancy is to plant in the fall. At the CSFS Nursery, seeds are sown in early October.
The sowing process is begun by finely working the soil to form seedbeds. Each seedbed is about four foot wide and will contain four to seven rows depending on the crop. The seed is sown with a specialized machine very similar to a farmers grain drill. After sowing, the seedbeds are mulched for overwinter protection. In the photo above two styles of mulching are used. On the left is the old method using alfalfa hay. On the right the seedbeds are covered with a "frost fabric". The fabric allows the seedlings to emerge in spring under the protecting white blanket. This fabric keeps temperatures five degrees warmer than outside. This small temperature difference can make a major difference when confronting a late spring freeze.
After the danger of frost is past the mulch is removed. The newly sprouted seedlings are carefully grown for one or two growing seasons. The result is a beautiful crop about two foot tall like these Cotoneaster shrubs above.

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	Last Updated: 15-Aug-2006

The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) is the sole owner of its logo(s). Any proposed usage will be limited to the scope of the agreement (i.e., limited to represent the specific project, product, service, or technology), and will not appear as a blanket endorsement. CSFS reserves right of approval or refusal of any proposed use. Each proposed use must be submitted beforehand to Judy Serby at jserby@lamar.colostate.edu.