The tall-pot nursery at the Flood Control District was established in 2002. After seeing the success of using tall-pot grown trees at Arizona Game and Fish and Scottsdale Community College projects, Project Manager Theresa Pinto started the District’s Tall Pot Nursery. 1000 trees were produced in the first year despite the shoestring budget. Currently, the nursery has the capacity for 8500 trees with 4000 growing this season.
Most desert species have long tap roots that reach to find moisture. The length of these roots are several times the height of the above ground stems. Tall-pots mimic growth characteristic of native desert trees. In a traditional container, tap roots grow around and around in the bottom causing the need to spread the root by hand when planting. The tap root then has to reorient and grow towards moisture. The root will spread but shallow. If not irrigated, the tree can become stressed or die before reaching soil moisture. Conversely, the long tube of a tall-pot allows the tap root to follow their natural tendency to reach for soil moisture. Even without supplemental irrigation, this slight head start is often the difference between tree survival and mortality.