What's the difference?

At J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. it's the way they are grown.

Schmidt's "containerized" trees are not grown in containers, but are field grown nearly to finished size, then potted and established in containers for year-round sales. The company believes that selected cultural techniques, including pruning, transplanting and undercutting, help tailor a tree ideally for finishing in a container.

Unlike trees propagated and grown solely in containers, field-grown specimens have stronger, straighter trunks and greater caliper in relation to height, the nursery says, and develop more balanced, well-developed root systems that establish more quickly in the container and ultimately in the landscape.

Deciduous trees potted in early spring generally are well-established by early July when they are released for shipping. Conifers containerized in August and rooted by November can be expected to product abundant shoot growth the following spring, ready for retail sales and planting in landscapes.