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From Roots to Canopy – The Value of Native Trees in the Horticultural Industry

Native trees are the backbone of many local ecosystems, they are important for providing essential habitats for wildlife while preserving the ecological balance. Ensuring seedlings have the highest chance of survival is a priority in the horticultural industry that starts from seed selection. 


Find out the significance of why NAI used Native Red Oak trees during product testing for our Plant-EE™ Pots.


Importance of Native Trees

Investing in the growth of Native Trees has many different benefits from environmental to cultural significances. If we look at abiotic factors, Native Trees are adapted to the local environment and conditions that could negatively impact an Non-Native species likelihood of survival. Likewise, if we look at biotic pressures on why Native Trees are important, pollinators are acclimated to local trees which is significant during breeding seasons as they will symbiotically support one another. This is why we see long-term complications in the ecological balance of ecosystems when Non-Native species are introduced into the mix. 


In 2021, the City of Toronto invested a total of $3.38 Million in The Tree Seed Diversity Program that works directly with Forest Ontario. The focus of this project is to collect native seeds from Toronto and then plant them in environmentally significant areas. This work allows for a network of certified seed collectors and local nurseries to partner in sourcing, cultivating, and monitoring seed progress. 


Our plant physiology lead Eric Davies is a Certified Seed Collector with the Forest Gene Conservation Association and works directly with communities and nurseries to provide Native source-identified species. In 2016 Davies started a long-term study on native tree seed ecology at UofT’s forestry department, with the goal of collecting seeds from trees throughout the city of Toronto to enhance the biodiversity in our urban ecosystems. 


Why Do We Use Heritage Trees?

There are two major reasons why it is beneficial to source seeds from old-growth Heritage Trees. One being that we know these trees are resilient to the changing environment. They have been around longer than 100 years, and have survived local environmental changes. This includes anything between pests and disease outbreaks all the way to human pressures associated in land development changes. Secondly, these Heritage Trees carry lots of genetic diversity to pass desirable traits for future generations. Specifically, these traits can impact anywhere between how tall or straight a tree is to its crown development, disease potential or how much seeds are produced yearly. 


NAI’s Work With Native Red Oak


Kew Gardens Native Red Oak

Red Oak, Quercus rubra is one of the most commonly planted deciduous trees in Eastern North America. In the Northern hemisphere alone there are over 435 species of different Oak trees (Kremer and Hipp, 2019).


Red Oaks are desirable in urban environments because they are able to grow in a wide range of conditions and are aesthetically beautiful especially during the changing seasons.


This is why when testing our product, Plant-EE™ Pots, we aimed to select a tree species that is widely cultivated in nursery systems while providing an environmentally friendly growing pot. There are two particular Northern Red Oak trees that Davies collected from for our experiments, one at Wycliffe College and the other found at Kew Gardens. Both trees are found at staggering heights and are over 100 years old. 


To read more on the Native Red Oak found in Wycliffe College check out Alex Newman’s article in the Insight Magazine Fall/Winter 2020 Edition. 


If you are interested in finding out about the Native Red Oak found in Kew Gardens you can read Al Shackleton Column in Beach Metro Community News. 



Reference (s)


Kremer, A., & Hipp, A. L. (2019). Oaks: An evolutionary success story. New Phytologist, 

226(4), 987–1011. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16274 


Newman, A. (2020). Wycliffe’s red oak: “an image of something stable and lasting.”


Shackleton, A. (2024, October 3). In my opinion: Residents can celebrate the Great

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