Golden Bough Tree Farm

Marlbank Ontario has been the home of the Golden Bough Tree Farm for over 50 years now. Our commitment to growing rare and native plants in as natural a setting as possible continues. All of the trees in our nurseries are grown under the dappled shade of our maturing arboretum, we do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides, we add wood chips, leaves and manure to our trees to mimic the natural life of a tree in a forest.   Our seedlings are now mature trees in every province of Canada. After 46 years of receiving our orders through the mail from our paper catalogue we have succumbed to the time and moved our business online.  We update our website annually on February the 1st, so check out what we have to offer this year.    We sell only bare-root plants, which keeps the costs down and we believe creates a stronger more resourceful tree.  They are ready for pick up or mailed sometime in mid to late April. Our trees and bushes come to you in a dormant state. When plants awake from winter, they wait a few weeks for the proper heat and light conditions to begin growth. The reverse is true in the autumn when plant metabolism slows down before freeze-up. Only during these brief weeks of dormancy can we dig, grade, pack and ship your choices. Prompt and careful planting by the customer ensures a cost-effective operation.

Golden Bough Tree Farm offers plants in three forms:

Seedlings – one to three years old, dug from the bed in which they grew from seed. These seedlings are graded and priced by size. The smallest are replanted in rich nursery beds and sold later as larger, stronger transplants. Seedlings are less expensive but younger and take more care. 

Transplants have been pruned and quickly replanted at regular spacings in fertile soil where concentrated nutrients create compact, fibrous root-systems which suffer little shock when dug for sale two or three years later. 

Oversized stock are transplants, which have grown too large to be shipped – 1 metre being the maximum length allowed by Canada post.  Customers who can pick up their orders often benefit by receiving extra large stock for the same price as mail-order size. Stock that is left at season’s end we sell for extraordinarily low prices on our clearance sale. Big trailers or enormous vans are not necessary to get these trees home: pickup trucks, station wagons, car roofs, large trunks and fold-down back seats usually suffice. Bring a tarp.

Success in transplanting bare-root plants is directly proportional to the effort put into site preparation. The quicker your plants are in the ground – meaning rich, well-turned soil and not a rock pile – the better they will grow. Bare surfaces heat up and lose moisture quickly so form the soil into a bowl (for easier watering) and mulch generously with straw, lawn-cuttings or sawdust. Heavy watering twice a week is better than daily dribbling. Basically, the first year shows little growth. Be grateful that your plants leafed out and are busy reestablishing their roots. During the second year the leaves should appear more lush and modest growth will occur. It is during the third year that plants take off.

Delivery by Mail: We offer trees delivered by Canada Post across the country.  Our trees are pruned and carefully packed before being mailed out near the end of April. Postage prices vary between the provinces. Check out our website for more details.   

For our Pick up Customers: When you place an order you can also schedule the pick up date that works for you in the end of April or early May.  We look forward to meeting you at the barn where your trees will be ready for you. 

Our Open House is scheduled for April 27 & 28th this year.  

To our valued Customers:   Thank you!  We wish you a happy, healthy Spring 

The Golden Bough Team – Johanna, Blair and Ashley

This year we offer regular Plant Walks led by Blair.  See our website www.goldenboughtreefarm.ca for dates and times and to register.

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