Select Trees is Agri-Business of the Year
Feb 18, 2010 by Mary Ann Carroll, The Oconee Leader
A little of Oconee County has found its way to the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas where Select Trees provided trees to go up around the stadium. The Oconee County business provides sustainable trees to parks, cities and colleges around the country.
If you happen to visit Dallas Cowboys Stadium during the summer, chances are you will seek shelter from the searing heat of a Texas afternoon. And, chances are, the trees that provide you shade outside the stadium are from Oconee County.
The same goes for many of the trees at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. And, some of the trees at the University of Georgia, Emory University, and Berry College. And shade trees in cities from Lexington, Georgia to Chattanooga, Tennessee to Washington, D.C.
All across the country, more and more of the trees that provide lush canopies of shade were grown at Select Trees.
The company, located on Cole Spring Road, is not only getting national attention, but also attention here at home. The Oconee County Chamber of Commerce recently named Select Trees as the Larry Risse Agri-Business of the Year.
Started in 1985, Select Trees grows Select SustainablePlus shade trees for large landscaping projects. It is one arm of the Select Trees Group, which also contains the Select SustainablePlus Tree Trust, the charitable arm of the organization.
The Select Trees Group – whose partners are Brent Marable, Chris Hughes, Matt Nielson, Corey Browning and Mike Turner – includes a third arm, Tree Introductions. Tree Introductions researches and develops new and improved tree cultivars.
Natalie Glenn, advisor and public relations manager for the Select Trees Group, said many things make Select Trees different from other wholesale growers. One thing, she said, is Select Trees grows only sustainable shade trees.
“We choose the right tree for the right place, provide superior genetics, provide proper nursery culture, and proper planting and maintenance,” Glenn said from the company’s Oconee County offices. “It is a complete process, and each and every piece of the process must fall into place.”
The end result, Glenn said, is a tree that will last from 50 to over 100 years. The average landscape tree, she said, lasts only seven years."
To understand the difference between a sustainable tree and a regular tree, Glenn said, you need to look no further than the Bradford Pear. Planted by the millions in urban and residential landscapes in the 1980’s, people quickly found out Bradfords were not the ideal landscaping choice. The slightest wind or the tiniest snowfall split many, if not most, of the trees that were mass-planted a few decades ago.
On Select Trees’ 280 acres, not a Bradford Pear can be found. Instead, you will find Select SustainablePlus trees, trees made to survive conditions ranging from drought to urban pollution to heavy human traffic.
“Our emphasis is on quality,” Glenn explained. “We concentrate on what will live the longest, grow at the best rate, and survive in even a harsh urban environment.”
The concentration on quality starts with research and development and continues through the growth process, Glenn said. Root pruning, for example, makes a healthier tree from the ground up.
Also, Glenn said, Select Trees uses a truck spader to plant trees. The spader does the whole planting process, from digging a hole to placing the tree.
“By using a truck spader, we greatly reduce the stress and shock of the planting process,” she added.
Another aspect that sets Select Trees apart, Glenn said, is the charitable trust. The Select Sustainable Tree Trust (SSTT) discount and donates trees and services to schools, parks, municipalities and non-profit organizations.
“The Tree Trust is most effective at allowing schools and others who must rely on the low-bid process to maximize their tree budget,” Glenn explained. “They can get larger, sustainable trees with the help of the Trust.”
In other words, she said, they can supersize the trees for their landscaping.
Rocky Branch, Cleveland Road, Barrow and Barnett Shoals are local schools that have benefited from the SSTT. UGA, the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, Oconee Hills Cemetery, Piedmont Park in Atlanta, and Habitat for Humanity are just a few of the others who have used the Trust to maximize the size and quality of the trees for their landscaping.
In just a week or so, Select Trees will plant almost 50 trees at Oconee’s Veterans Memorial Park.
“Those trees will have a huge impact on the park, Glenn added. “You will immediately see a noticeable difference in the way the park looks.”
The trees planted at Veterans will be sustainable, of course. In fact, Glenn said, sustainability is the rallying cry for every one of the 12 employees at Select Trees.
“Everyone here is passionate about what they do,” she said.
Select Trees is also passionate about their support of the local 4-H program, and the administrative office has provided a first summer job for more than one 4-H student in the county.
Because Select Trees is a wholesale grower for large landscaping projects, individual Oconee homeowners cannot buy trees from Select. However, that does not mean local residents cannot enjoy the shade of a Select tree at a local school or park.
Or, even at a Dallas Cowboys game.
Tagged: select trees, select sustainableplus shade trees, sstt, select sustainable tree trust, oconee agribusiness of they year, large shade trees, 4h, dallas cowboys stadium, centennial oloympic park, uga, emory university, berry college, oconee veterans park