Shippin' Tips

pootsie

Please share with us your advice on how to ship live trees safely.

How do you prepare and pack them? And what advice for the recipient?

pootsie

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Columbus Bonsai Society

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shibumi

When I ship a bonsai, I use a sheet of 3/4" styrofoam in the bottom of the box and then pass wire up through the bottom of the box to secure the pot. The pot is throughly watered and drained and damp paper towels are placed over the soil surface. Then the tree [pot] is bagged, either with a plastic grocery bag or a garbage bag, whatever size you need to fit over the pot. This is then stretch wrapped , then bubble wrap around that. I usually put enough scotch tape on the bubble wrap to hold it in place, then stretch wrap that. Then the pot is placed in the box and secured with the wire that I passed up through the bottom. Add packing peanuts and seal. The plant is ready to ship. When the plant arrives to it's new owner, the top is opened, the box is tipped over a garbage can or bag [clean!!!], the packing peanuts are gently shaken out of the box. The wire securing the tree into the bottom of the box is cut and the tree is lifted out. Now have fun cutting all that stuff off of the pot, but your tree got there safe, didn't it. Oh, yea, put the packing peanuts away until you need them or take them to your local pack and ship store. I will be shipping a tree in the near future, I will remember to photograph the sequence and post it here.
Tim

shamrock

Just came across your website.....thanks for the advice. it's nice to have others share in their shiping methods.

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RedPine

I think the best nursery man and the best potter in America do the greatest job I have seen.


The best shipping box job I have seen for live trees is from Evergreengardenworks.com, I think they have a write up on their method at the website.

For shipping pots WildThings bonsai does a very good job, when they do not have a professional service pack them he uses lots of spongey carpet pad to wrap the pots very well and to fill the box in tight. I think this method might have a chance in passing the old "drop an egg off a rooftop with out it cracking" test from science class.

Copy these two sellers methods and you won't be running into problems.

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sauce

Hi Pootsie, I think to get a reliable answer the size and type of tree and pot should be known. I have received several trees from several nurseries all packed and delivered in fine condition but the ones in ceramic pots were packed differently than the ones in plastic nursery pots. The larger ones were packed differently than the small ones. All in all the main consideration should be, a) that no branches are broken in transit and b) the soil stays moist. Tims method is excellent for ceramic pots and Evergreens method is good for plastic. It mainly depends on what your packing and where it's going.

rockm

"Pootsie, I think to get a reliable answer the size and type of tree and pot should be known."

Exactly. Big trees are shipped differently than smaller ones--by the way, I would NEVER wrap a tree's top in plastic. The wrapping acts like a blanket and pressure on one side of the wrap can break branches on the other. Left unwrapped, branches are isolated from such damage.

For BIG trees, Vito Megna shipped the pots wired to a large piece of plywood for stability, put into a large appliance box (washing machine, or water heater box) with wooden cross supports on the sides that hold up support wiring for the tree. You can pad ceramic pots with foam blocks, but big pots should be shipped separately and the plants put in plastic nursery containers for the trip. Yeah, it's more expensive, but it save having to buy another big pot because of brutal shipping clerks.

I've shipped smaller trees by wrapping the pot and roots with shrinkwrap after watering well, then bubble wrap, then placing the plant in a large box, backfilling with plastic peanuts--packing them in tight and working them into voids. Of course it helps if the tree is still dormant and there are no leaves. The styrofoam won't hurt for a couple of days. SHIP NEXT DAY AIR. If the buyer refuses to pay the extra cost, have them sign an agreement or officially notify them in writing or an email that their plant may arrive dead or damaged if they refuse...This protects you from having to replace a tree that's shipped three or four day ground and winds up on the buyer's front porch in a hard April freeze.

Ship plants in early spring. Don't ship anything beyond mid-May. You can also ship in early fall, but not past Thankgiving...