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American Standard for Nursery Stock (ANSI Z60.1)

Purpose: Provide buyers and sellers with a common terminology in order to facilitate transactions involving nursery stock. The standard defines terms and numerical relationships among tree parts.

It does not provide buyers with any assurance of the health or quality of the nursery stock being specified or sold.

The standard allows parties to come to common language and relationships on the following:

  • measuring plants (caliper, height, branching height)
  • specifying and stating the size of plants
  • relationship among caliper, height, branch number
  • root ball, container, or box size
    • box size:caliper chart
    • bare root spread:caliper:height chart
    • caliper:root ball diameter:tree height chart
    • ball depth:diameter chart
    • container size:caliper:height chart
    • fabric in-ground bag diameter:caliper chart
    • balled-and-potted same as balled-and-burlapped
    • collected root ball size:caliper (one size larger root ball than standard B&B)

See: View full 2014 version of the Standard (pdf)

Published by the American Association of Nurserymen, Washington, D.C.