Choosing Your Size: 45L to Ex-Ground

The first decision in any planting is not species but scale: how much tree, on day one. It is a question of budget, of access, of patience, and of what the landscape is asked to do — and there is no single right answer. Signature Trees grows advanced stock at every scale of that answer — from 45-litre containers to basket-grown ex-ground specimens — and this guide explains the range so the decision can be made with clear eyes.

What "advanced" means

An advanced tree is one that has been grown on for years beyond nursery stock — a developed trunk, an established branch structure, a canopy already doing the work of a tree rather than the promise of one. The years of formative pruning, root management and staged potting-on have been done by growers, so what arrives at your site is a known quantity: you can see the trunk it has, not imagine the trunk it might develop.

What "ex-ground" means

Our largest trees are not grown in containers at all. They are grown in the ground, in open soil, where they develop the calliper, canopy breadth and character that containers cannot confer. When an ex-ground tree is selected for a project, it is root-pruned in stages, prepared over a season or more, then lifted by tree spade into a hessian-lined wire basket for transport.

Ex-ground trees are individual specimens in the truest sense. A mature fig that has stood in our ground for years is not a line item with variants; it is one tree, with its own shape, its own history and its own photographs. Every numbered specimen carries a Tree Passport — its estate, row, year planted, root-management history and current measurements — and the passport travels with the tree. We sell these trees individually, and we encourage clients to meet them — by appointment at either estate — before committing.

Basket-grown ex-ground trees

An ex-ground tree is lifted with a four-concave-blade tree spade and set straight into a hessian-lined, engineer-rated wire basket, where it stays. We work with three basket sizes:

• Basket 1.4 m × 0.8 m — tree height 3.5–5.5 m, root-ball weight 850–1,200 kg, recommended hole approx. 1.8 m wide × 1 m deep
• Basket 1.6 m × 1.2 m — tree height 6–8 m, root-ball weight 1,200–2,000 kg, recommended hole approx. 2 m wide × 1.4 m deep
• Basket 2.0 m × 1.5 m — tree height 6.5–15 m, root-ball weight 2,000–3,000 kg, recommended hole approx. 2.4 m wide × 1.7 m deep

The tree is planted in its basket. The hessian rots and the wire degrades in the soil, so nothing needs to come off — strapping may stay in place — and disturbing the rootball to remove it does only harm. Trees of six metres and over should be guyed after planting. The north orientation is marked on every root ball before it leaves the ground, so the tree can be set facing the way it grew.

On craneage: crane placement is possible wherever the delivery truck can get within seven to eight metres of the planting position — a question best answered before the tree is chosen.

The range at a glance

Our container range runs from 45 litres to 750 litres and beyond, with select stock in bags to 2000 litres. As a broad guide, matching the sizing chart above:

• 45–75L — typical height at supply 1.5–2 m
• 100–150L — approx. 2–2.5 m
• 200–300L — approx. 2.5–3.5 m
• 400–500L — approx. 3.5–4.5 m
• 600–750L — 5–5.5 m
• Ex-ground / bagged to 2000L — beyond 5.5 m, specified per tree

Heights vary with species and form — a spreading fig and a columnar water gum of the same container size are very different trees — so treat the list as orientation and the individual listing as fact.

How to think about the decision

45–100L is the considered choice for structural garden planting in numbers: young enough to establish quickly and race away, large enough to read as real trees from the first season. These sizes behave like conventional stock — ordered by quantity, handled by two people or a small machine.

200–400L is where instant presence begins. These trees screen a boundary, anchor a courtyard or line a driveway on the day they are planted. Expect machine handling and genuine site-access planning.

500L to ex-ground is landscape-as-finished-work: the mature canopy on settlement day. These are specimen decisions, made tree by tree, and worth an estate visit.

There is a horticultural truth worth stating plainly: smaller trees establish faster and often overtake larger ones planted the same day, given a few years. The additional cost of size buys time, not superiority. When a client has time, we say so.

Lead times

Advanced stock cannot be hurried, and availability at the larger sizes is finite by nature. Advanced container stock from 45L to 200L carries displayed prices and can be ordered directly. From 300L upward — and for every ex-ground tree — each tree is an individually numbered specimen: add it to your Shortlist and request a quotation. These larger containers and all ex-ground specimens should be discussed early — ex-ground trees require staged root preparation before lifting, which is measured in months, not weeks. For projects with fixed planting dates, the conversation is best had at design stage; trees can be selected, tagged and held.

Craneage and site access

From roughly 200L upward, weight becomes the practical planning question. A watered 500L rootball is a task for machinery, not manpower, and ex-ground specimens are craned as a matter of course. Before ordering at these sizes, consider overhead powerlines and street trees along the delivery path, gate widths and surface load-bearing for crane or telehandler access, and the reach required from hardstand to planting position. We can advise on all of this — we load these trees every week — and will coordinate with your landscaper or crane contractor on delivery day.

From the growers — Decide your access before you decide your tree. The most common sizing mistake is not ambition but a side gate: measure the narrowest point of the delivery path first, and the honest size range chooses itself.

The right size reveals itself quickly in conversation about your site, your timeline and your intent. We would be glad to have that conversation — by phone, or by appointment among the trees at either estate. And when a tree declares itself, add it to your Shortlist and request a quotation.