BOISE, Idaho — Lucky Peak Tree Nursery is only one of six tree nurseries in the entire country. They seed, grow and ship millions of seedling to an incredibly large area.
“We've been packing since September. When our customers order seedlings, they’re going to request a fall plant or a spring plant." Forestry horticulturist Michael Danielson knows his stuff. It's a big task growing millions of seedlings and getting them out to a large geographical area. Danielson explains. “It’s the Intermountain Basin, the Boise National Forest and the Payette National Forest."
As a forestry horticulturist, Danielson has to stay on top of all kinds of seedlings for all kind of climates, including Southern Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.
They even grow the White Bark pine that takes a little longer because of where they have to be planted.
Danielson says it's a climb. “This is the species that’s highest up in elevation in our region, it’s very difficult to get to close to, up in the timberline, this is the last tree you going to see."
I asked Danielson how much water he has to give these seedlings. “We’ll soak this crop up to 100 percent the whole thing gets the crop up to where it is leaching water out of the bottom, it is saturated. You're gonna weigh it and come up with a saturated weight," Danielson answered.
It truly is a science, that makes our forest healthier for generations to come.
