Oh Goawd! Now we are going to import our trees from china too! LOL

Not sure what this is. They seem to be looking for trees, not selling/importing them.

Are trees to be used in the US or are they needed in China? If they are to be used in the US, I assume they want a US source to reduce freight costs.

My apologies. I was born with a rare disorder were my mouth has a mind of it's own and a separate pair of legs and it gets way from me some times before I have a chance to read the post. From a glance, I thought it was spam.

Shelly-Wang,
Baumschule Lappen in Germany is highly recommended.
Sam

Here is a link that might be useful: Baumschule Lappen

To be fair, we took a lot of plants from China. Only fair that China does the same thing and bring destruction on their native plants...

I don't know if any of these source locators will help, but you might give them a try.

http://www.plantfinder.com/

http://www.findplants.com/

http://www.nurseryman2.com/

There are others also. I've seen one plant locator that I know is better than the ones above, but can't find it right now. I need a plant locator locator. LOL

Thanks for all of you.

quirkyquercus: Thanks for following up.

esh_ga: We are in China and want to import 100 Northern Red Oak Trees, coz there's no such big Northern Oak here.

Sam: Your information sounds interesting...gonna do a research now. lol Thanks so much Sam.

Does it have to be Quercus rubra? China has plenty of native oaks that would be better suited to the growing conditions. Also importing trees from elsewhere is very risky (a danger of importing new diseases and pests with them by accident); I don't know about Chinese regulations, but in most countries that I know about, importing trees from another continent is illegal for this reason.

Check here to see what species occur naturally in your province:
Oaks in China (in English)
Or in Chinese

Resin

Thanks so much brandon.

Resin: Yes there are native oak trees in China. But the city which i'm living in (Hangzhou, China) is planning to use Quercus rubra. I've talked to several experts, they said the same thing as u mentioned that importing trees is very risky .

Anyway, will still do some more research and go back to the government with informations and quotations, let them make final decision. :-)

Thanks!

Hangzhou . . . 30°N latitude (for Americans, same as northern Florida or New Orleans). I don't think Quercus rubra will survive well there. Maybe high up at 1,000m altitude in the Huangshan, but not down close to sea level. Where Quercus rubra occurs close to sea level, is at the same latitudes as Beijing north to Harbin (Heilongjiang). It is not called Northern Red Oak for nothing!

For similar appearance to Quercus rubra, species that would be better adapted are Quercus shumardii and Q. falcata. But personally, I would choose Quercus acutissima. That has proven good growth in urban situations, is an attractive tree, and is native in the Hangzhou area. It is disliked in North America because it is invasive there - but that is a bonus back where the species is native, it means it should survive and grow well.

Resin

With our drought I'm sure there are tree farms that would love to export some trees, many businesses are on the verge of closing. But even though they are native to this area, I haven't been able to find anyone that carries Norther red oaks.

WOW WOW...
You know a lot about China. But so far as I know, northern Florida or New Orleans Should be tropical weather, quite different from the weather in Hangzhou.

Quercus acutissima is native in North China, South Liaoning, South of Shanxi, Gansu. It has been widely used in China for gardening, landscape and road greening projects. Btw, I agree with you, i think it's a very attractive tree.:-)

The designers in China are planning to try different type of color-leaf plant. For instance, We imported a new variety of Photinia(brilliant red leaf) several years ago, but now you can see it in most part of China.

Resin, you are very professional at this area, may i ask what do you do? maybe we can help each other in business in the future.

Thanks again for your information.

Shelley

Actually Northern Red Oak would do fine in Hangzhou, China their highest average temperature in Jul. is only 92F to 93F and their average high in Jan. is around 48F which is exactly like many places in Northern Red Oaks natural range in the U.S. and Hangzhou has a humid subtropical climate just like here in the U.S. The only difference is Hangzhou gets most of their yearly rain spring thru early fall, while here in the U.S. we get most of our rain late fall thru spring. But planting natives is a wise idea in any place to reduce the chance of spreading non-native bugs or disease.

Hi Treeguy,
"average temperature in Jul. is only 92F to 93F and their average high in Jan. is around 48F"

You'll need to explain what the F that means - F isn't used at all outside the USA

Resin

You can convert it in Google just type: 92F to C and press enter and it will convert it.
92°F = 33.3°C
93°F = 33.8°C
48°F = 8.8°C

Shelley,

Can you tell us what the soil is like in Hangzhou? Maybe I missed it somewhere?? My understanding is that Q. Rubra needs acidic soil to thrive. Nutall red oak is another option that can tolerate occasional flooding (acidic soil only).

It's Alkali along the river, most of the other area is acidic. :-)

I suppose ya'll are planting Nanjing Beauty cypress along the river? I read that they are growing them by millions in China...

I'd agree that Quercus rubra should do ok in Hangzhou. The climate(in regards to temperatures) is similar to Atlanta, GA, and I've seen it snow in Hangzhou, although that might be uncommon or even rare. I believe they have at least 1 Northern Red Oak growing in the famous Hangzhou Botanical Gardens.(although my memory is a bit shaky on this, it could of been growing in Nanjing) Northern Red Oak seems to grow just fine in sub-tropical(and warmer than Hangzhou) California, although it doesn't get as large in California as it does in the Eastern USA.

I also think Shumard Oak might be a better choice with a similar leaf form since it is native to warmer places than Northern Red Oak, if that's what the city is looking for (a Northern Red Oak leaf style). Even though I think Northern Red Oak would grow fine there, Shumard Oak could be a good substitute if you can't locate Northern Red Oak.

You might check some of the large commercial nurseries on the West coast of the USA, like Hines, Monrovia, Schmidt and Sons, etc. or a commercial nursery in British Columbia, Canada since it seems to often times be easier to import/export out of Canada. I can't recommend any of these nurseries, but they might be places to contact since they are so large and might be exporting plants, in addition to those plant locators already given.

Another idea is that it's probably much more economical (and easier) to import seedlings or even acorns and grow them to size in China. I'm sure that might be well beyond the time range in which the city wants these trees though.

PS. lou midlothian tx, I understand that a large part of the hybrid Bald Cypress (Taxodium), including the cultivar 'Nanjing Beauty' is being grown at an East Texas University for use in China, in addition to a government run nursery somewhere near Fuzhou.

Thanks so much for your helpful comments.

Mid-night here in China now. lol My colleague and I did a lot of research in the past few days and we are sending emails to nurseries to the U.S. and Canada today, will call some of the companies later.

The Shumard Oak idea is very cool.^_^

I'll go back to work now.. Thanks again for ur suggestion.

let us know how this goes for you...also let us know how minor little things (like import/export restrictions) work out.

hey i'm back...

We have some feedback from some suppliers(mainly nurseries) in British Columbia, Canada and Oregon, the U.S. Have been learning a lot.

anyway, there's no such big trees grown in containers. So we'll see the possibility of shipping 4" caliper trees with soil/artificial mix.

Hope this business work out, then there'll be more orders in the future.

That does sound very interesting. I know that there are probably rules and regulations concerning imports in China, but guanxi still counts the most, right? Either way, I'd push for having the trees shipped in an artificial mix rather than soil because there's less of a chance of accidentally importing a disease or harmful microbe that way.

Continue to keep us updated on your project, it sounds very interesting!

Hi:

I was in Hangzhou a long time ago (1983), but I would say that the climate is Charleston-like, palmettos will grow, winters are mild, and summers are very warm and humid.

Quercus rubra makes a nice red autumn show (right now in Minneapolis, they are beautiful) but I worry about whether the tree will show red well in Hangzhou. In any event, it is a fast growing tree and I suggest someone in Georgia or another mild winter place collect acorns and mail them to Shelly.

About a North American tree taking over in China: Read the book by Jared Diamond "Guns, Germs, and Steel." It explains why it is possible for a Eurasian species or culture to choke out American species or culture, but not vice versa. That would be like American Indians taking over Europe.

"About a North American tree taking over in China: Read the book by Jared Diamond "Guns, Germs, and Steel." It explains why it is possible for a Eurasian species or culture to choke out American species or culture, but not vice versa. That would be like American Indians taking over Europe"

Doesn't apply to individual species, there are plenty of examples of North American species being invasive in Asia and Europe. Robinia pseudoacacia springs conspicuously to mind.

Resin

Great appreciated for that. ^_^
They much look brilliant in landscape with the brightly red color in this season, right?

Making big progress here, and have been talking to State Forestry Administration and many growers in Canada and the U.S.
Still, do hope this order works out.:-)

my company email add.:
shelley@accuratelimited.com

msn:
wang_saihua@hotmail.com

Waiting for any good news.

Pineresin: and also prickly pear. But I'd bet there are way more Eurasian plants causing trouble in North America than the other way round.

Does this have anything to do with the Green Wall Of China project??

Here is a link that might be useful: Green Wall of China Wiki

I'm surprised nobody has recommended Quercus coccinea (Scarlet oak). Isn't it planted fairly often in Europe?

I also read somewhere that Prunus serotina is invasive in Europe. Is that true?

shelley_wang,

Can you not just buy some seeds - like your colleagues from America did?

Then, you can propagate them using migrant workers over there? It saves money.

It is awkward to ship large trees one by one. The soil can bring new-world fungus, virus and other things. With the Charleston-like weather of Hangzhou, I would choose more exotic trees.

C

snasxs,

What is exotic to you and North America isn't necessarily exotic to China. Northern Red Oak would be very exotic in China.

The only commonly planted North American trees I saw in China were #1 Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) and #2 London Plane Tree (Platanus x acerifolia). The only other North American trees I saw were all in botanical gardens, like the Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) given to China by president Nixon gorwing in the Hangzhou Botanical Gardens.

I actually love Northern Red Oaks.

(1) The Chinese city is a Southern coastal town of mildest climate. I think they should talk to city planners of Charleston SC before choosing exotic plants. There are so many in the tropical list.

(2) I think they should buy seeds instead.

(3) I link some images of Hangzhou. I have a hard time imagining the Northern Red Oaks in the landscape. However, it would be interesting to see :-)

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Here is a map showing the location of Hangzhou. It is a Southern coastal city with mild climate suitable for many exotic plants.

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China took bald cypress, pond cypress and montezuma cypress from USA and did breeding with each other and came up with interesting hybrids like Nanjing Beauty (MCxBC) that is being grown by MILLIONS via cutting propagation.

"I also read somewhere that Prunus serotina is invasive in Europe. Is that true?"

Yes. And one or two Amelanchier species, and Gleditsia triacanthos. Oh, and Quercus rubra is invasive in some parts of Europe as well (e.g. Germany, Poland). So I would be very cautious about using it in China. I still think Quercus acutissima would be a safer choice.

Resin

Thanks for all of you for your time, I appreciate all the suggestions. I love this forum even more now...:-)

btw, snasxs, you are lovely, haha. Thanks so much. the West Lake in Hangzhou is one of the most well known views in China.

Work...will come back next time.

lou_midlothian_tx,

I believe a professor (along with some Chinese grad students) at an East Texas University developed those hybrids, including 'Nanjing Beauty' under contract for the government of China. At least that's my recollection of what the professor told me.