Preliminary Seedling Availability For Spring 2025 Planting

 

Reforestation News
July 2025

Preliminary Seedling Availability For Spring 2025 Planting

Proper tree planting requires a lot of decision-making, and one of the most crucial decisions is which species and age are the most appropriate and cost-effective to plant. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Reforestation Program is taking some of the unknowns out of that process by giving landowners and property managers an early peek at the seedlings we anticipate having available in fall 2024 for planting in spring 2025.

This list is preliminary, as some species may be added, adjusted or removed depending on health, growth and other factors as the growing season progresses.

The listed tree and shrub seedlings will be available to purchase starting Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. Though we expect high demand, we anticipate having a variety of species and ages available to all customers.

The quantity designations listed below are relative to particular species based on historical sales and projected demand. For example, our anticipated demand for white pine 3-0 sales is about 140,000 seedlings. In 2024, the available quantity will be approximately 65% of the anticipated need, making the available quantity “limited.” In contrast, our 2-0 white pine had above-average germination, they are growing well, and the inventory is above projected sales, giving it “adequate” availability. Customers may not get the 3-0 white pine they prefer but most likely could obtain the desired species in a younger age class.

Species Quantity   Species Quantity
Aspen Adequate   Oak, Bur 2-0 Adequate
Basswood Very limited   Oak, Red 1-0 Limited
Birch, River 2-0 Adequate   Oak, Red 2-0 Adequate
Birch, Yellow 2-0 Adequate   Oak, Southern pin 1-0 Adequate
Butternut Limited   Oak, Southern pin 2-0 Very limited
Buttonbush Very limited   Oak, Swamp white 1-0 Adequate
Cedar, White 3-0 Adequate   Oak, Swamp white 2-0 Adequate
Cherry, Black 1-0 Adequate   Oak, White 1-0 Limited
Cherry, Black 2-0 Adequate   Oak, White 2-0 Adequate
Cranberry, Highbush Limited   Pine, Jack 1-0 Limited
Dogwood, Grey Very limited   Pine, Jack 2-0 Adequate
Dogwood, Red-osier Very limited   Pine, Red 2-0 Adequate
Dogwood, Silky Limited   Pine, Red 3-0 Adequate
Elm, American 1-0 Very limited   Pine, White 2-0 Adequate
Fir, Balsam 3-0 Limited   Pine, White 3-0 Limited
Hackberry 1-0 Adequate   Plum, Wild Adequate
Hackberry 2-0 Limited   Spruce, Black 2-0 Adequate
Hawthorn Adequate   Spruce, Black 3-0 Adequate
Hazelnut Adequate   Spruce, White 2-0 Adequate
Hemlock, Eastern 3-0 Adequate   Spruce, White 3-0 Adequate
Hickory, Bitternut 2-0 Very limited   Sycamore 1-0 Adequate
Juneberry Very limited   Sycamore 2-0 Adequate
Maple, Red 2-0 Very limited   Tamarack 2-0 Limited
Maple, Silver 1-0 Adequate   Walnut, Black Adequate
Maple, Hard 2-0 Adequate      

 

More information on seedling stock can be found at the Nursery Seedling Stock Descriptions webpage.

Several species may not be available for spring 2025 due to either a lack of available tree seed, challenges during growing season, or the fact that the seedlings did not meet our stringent sales requirements. These include elderberry, ninebark, grey dogwood and winterberry.

If your planting project includes a species of tree not listed above, you can likely find seedlings from private nurseries throughout the state. You can find a list of these nurseries on the DNR Bare Root Reforestation Nurseries webpage.

More updates will follow as October approaches. If you have questions regarding tree seedling availability or anything related to reforestation, please contact the Reforestation program staff.

Griffith Nursery – 715-424-3700

Hayward Nursery – 715-492-1204

Wilson Nursery – 608-375-4123

More DNR Division of Forestry News

Forest Health News
Urban Forestry News
Private Forestry News

Wisconsin DNR – Division of Forestry, 101 S Webster St, Madison, WI 53703

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