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Comparing costs of establishing trees
Table 1. Cost per live 2.5 inch caliper live oak tree from six nursery production methods and under two irrigation regimes.
| Production method | Cost per live tree | |
| Summer irrigation | No summer irrigation | |
| Plastic container | $445 | $588 |
| Plastic container with Spinout | $445 | $784 |
| Air root pruning container (ARP) | $445 | $672 |
| Low-profile ARP container | $445 | $1,176 |
| Root-pruned field grown B&B | $383 | $274 |
| Non root pruned field grown B&B | $383 | $383 |
Cost (US dollars) of purchasing, installing, and irrigation 14 trees divided by number of live trees one year after transplanting to the landscape. The following represented costs per tree: container grown tree-$144; field grown tree-$107; transporting trees 50 miles and planting them-$145; staking container trees-$25; irrigating for 6 months twice weekly-$131; irrigating for 6 weeks, once each week-$22.
Trees transplanted to the landscape April 14th and were irrigated four times in 9 days then twice weekly for 6 months (summer irrigation) or 5 weeks (no summer irrigation). Five gallons of water was applied to the top of the root ball at each irrigation.
Higher costs represent methods that resulkted in with higher mortality following transplanting to the landscape.
Source: Gilman 2001.
