Plant Material - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 125

Long woody cuttings have been used in areas where cattle may browse on lower hanging
branches. Used in the southwestern United States along streams, creek beds, and small ponds,
the long woody cuttings are the same as the whips, or live stakes. In this case, the cuttings can be
between four and ten feet long.
Container Plants
The term container plant is commonly applied to specimens grown to the “one gallon” size or
larger. Projects requiring container plants will have numerous choices to make concerning the
size of the plant and the shape of the container. The size of the plant to be used is based on several
factors previously discussed. Plants provided by typical commercial nursery operations will most
likely be propagated in one of the traditional types of cylindrical containers. Following are some
advantages and disadvantages of ordering plants from nurseries:
Advantages
• Do not need to know propagation techniques
• Do not need nursery grounds taking up space
• Do not need to maintain support facilities and staff for plant propagation
• Delivered to site when ordered
• Can control the quality of plants provided on-site by refusing those not meeting
specifications
• With advance notification, can order almost any quantity desired (may require contract
growing arrangements)
• Not involved with locating a wild site or obtaining required permits or permission
Disadvantages
• Delays caused by the site not being ready may cause deterioration of plant quality.
• Immediate expenditure of funds requires controlled budgeting.
• Plants may not be from immediate locality (if that is a concern).
• A delivery charge may offset savings.
• A large number delivered at once will require a well-organized labor pool to install plant
material.
• Provisions are needed for short-term maintenance while plants are installed.
• Container-grown plants commonly allow plants with poorly adapted genotypes to survive.
• Container soil is commonly overfertilized and roots keep exploiting the potting soil instead
of the native soil on-site.
• Holophytes (mangroves) grown in nurseries many not be exposed to salt so will need
brackish watering prior to planting.
In the United States, plants generally come in sizes referred to as one-gallon, five-gallon, and
fifteen-gallon cans (table 8-2). However, no standardization of sizes and dimensions for those con-