Say Goodbye To Circling Roots

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

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After a year of preparation SuperTrees Inc. has its first crop of SuperTrees available at Linden Nursery in Lindon, Wasatch Shadows in Sandy, and Noles Nursery in Murray.

Most young trees sold to customers are grown in plastic nursery containers that cause the roots of trees to circle inside the container. These circling roots prevent the tree from establishing properly once transplanted and create future problems for customers as they grow.

Trees with severe circling roots will eventually blow over or kill themselves through strangulation. (See pictures at www.supertrees.com) In 1999 nursery owner Ben Walker came across a growing container that uses air to keep the roots of trees from circling.

The patented design of this container guides the growing roots towards holes in the sides of the pot. Once the root reaches the air it stops growing, causing the tree to send out new roots from the base. This new technology is called air-pruning and results in healthier and stronger trees.

As interest in the technology grew his son, Brant Walker, conducted market research on root caused problems while attending Brigham Young University. Brant found that 73% of nursery professionals considered circling roots (root bound, pot bound, girdling roots) to be a major problem and would prefer to purchase trees without these issues.

In 2004 Brant developed a business plan aimed at making SuperTrees (trees grown using air-pruning technology) available to the public. He entered his business plan (Superoots USA) into the BYU MBA Business Plan Competition.

After winning the BYU Business Plan Competition, Fortune Magazine called and asked Brant to enter his business plan into the National MBA Business Plan Competition that they sponsor each year.

This MBA student showdown is comprised of the winners of MBA business plan competitions nation-wide. SuperTrees became a semi-finalist against the best business plans in the nation and finished in the top 9.

SuperTrees are now available to customers through local garden centers in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. More information about air-pruning and the unique benefits of this process are available online at the companies website www.supertrees.com.