Our tree improvement cycle begins with Irving foresters locating the best trees in the natural forest. These superior trees stand out from others of the same age and species because they are taller, larger and straighter, although they do not appear to have had any special environmental advantages.

In mid winter when the trees are dormant a forester will take a cutting at a growth point from the top of the tree. Back at the nursery this growth point is grafted to a young tree that has strong roots. These grafts are exact genetic copies of the superior trees in the forest. Because the new growth point comes from a mature tree, the blended tree begins to produce cones and pollen within only a few years from grafting.

Tree Nursery

Seed Orchard

The grafted trees are planted in seed orchards to produce seed for nursery stock production. J.D. Irving, Limited manages seed orchards for seven species of conifers including white spruce, black spruce, red spruce, Norway spruce, jack pine, white pine and tamarack. Hardwood species are usually regenerated naturally. For some species such as red oak we have orchards where trees from several native stands are planted together as a future source for locally adapted hardwood seed.