John Conroy, owner of Fish Branch Tree Farm, was generous with his time and gave me an educational tour of his 300 acres of beautiful tree production. I was impressed by the cleanliness, the quality, and the quantity of trees produced here in the south-center of the state.

(Sorry I did not share any photos of their tens of thousands of young ‘Boardwalk’ Live Oaks, all standing up straight with their consistent central leaders. And their progressive planting and harvesting intervals where they produce 500 acres worth of trees in a 300 acre farm. Visit their website for pictures of their ‘Densa’ Slash Pines. This long-needled pine has a superior form with thick trunk caliper and lower, wider branching than our scrawny native tree.)

The highlight of my visit was seeing the preharvest cleaning procedure of one Sylvester palm. The worker was just tidying up with a broom when we arrived. It takes this craftsman about an hour to cut off the base of each frond, at a slightly sloping angle away from the trunk, careful to leave the trunk intact.

More information: https://www.fishbranchtreefarm.com

Phoenix sylvestris.

Trunk with “boots” attached. The naturally occurring ferns do no harm.

I have never seen a broom used after pruning a palm in a nursery.

Trunk after pruning.

The trunk of the Ribbon palm. Note the trunk is unscathed.

Mule palm is a cross between the Pindo palm and the Queen palm.

Japanese Blueberry is a deep-green, small ornamental tree.

‘Brodie’ red cedar is a no-maintenance, hardy evergreen.