Ronneby Trees commenced operations in Berwick, Victoria in 1977 with a focus to produce the highest quality trees available to consumers. During the following decade growing techniques utilised throughout the world were trialed to establish growing methods that produced trees best suited to Australia's diverse environments.

Ronneby Trees found that the long-term success of a tree was determined by the way in which the tree's roots developed. Through extensive research and development, Ronneby Trees introduced to the Australian market the Root Control Bag (RCB®) and the SpringRing® container, which revolutionised the nursery industry worldwide. Root Control Bags and SpringRing are patented internationally.

Ronneby Trees is committed to furthering development of chemical-free growing methods and products to continuously improve the quality of advanced trees produced for Australians to enjoy.

Root Control Bag (RCB®)

It has long been accepted that the best way to grow an advanced tree is to replicate the conditions into which the tree will ultimately be planted. The widely accepted standard utilised to achieve this replication has been to grow trees directly in the ground until they are ready for relocation. To remove the trees from the ground required the grower to sever the trees' roots with a spade damaging roots vital to the future success of the tree. The result of such root damage became evident when the tree was planted at its final destination - the severed roots retarded establishment and inhibited growth of the tree. Trees grown in accordance with this method are referred to as 'balled and burlapped' trees.

The obvious disadvantages of balled and burlapped trees were highlighted with the introduction of the RCB. Trees grown in RCB's enjoy the same benefits as trees grown directly in the ground without the disadvantage of having their root systems disrupted and damaged upon harvest. The RCB's produced by Ronneby Trees are manufactured from select materials closely interwoven to produce a fabric capable of resisting the penetration of a tree's major roots, whilst allowing finer 'feeder' roots to extend beyond the bag's wall. 'Root hairs' develop at the tip (apex) of the growing feeder roots and absorb water and nutrients from the surrounding soil. In response to the resistance provided by the RCB, the larger roots produce nodules at the point of contact between the bag wall and the root. Carbohydrates stored within the nodules sustain the tree during the establishment period and minimise transplant shock. Removing the RCB reveals a rich network of existing feeder roots and nodules and once planted, new feeder roots will rapidly grow from the nodules. The healthy root system produced by an RCB grown tree greatly reduces the time required by the tree to establish itself.

SpringRing®

In response to increasing demand for trees able to be successfully planted throughout the year, Ronneby Trees developed the SpringRing container. SpringRing utilises the principles of air root pruning to produce a healthy tree without the traditional root fault of spiraling.

A tree's root network will naturally grow horizontally before vertically. The SpringRing container allows a tree's roots to extend to the sidewalls where they are directed into open-ended cusps. Apical cells at the root tip are air-pruned upon exposure to air. The continual exposure of these apical cells to air promotes lateral root development back along the roots. The result is an extensive and fibrous network of roots throughout the root ball. Because SpringRing encourages the growth of a more healthy root system, a larger tree can be grown in SpringRing than in the same size fixed wall container.

Traditional fixed wall growing containers can produce a root system that spirals around the wall of the pot, ultimately strangling the tree. SpringRing overcomes spiraling by entrapping root endings in its deep air-pruning cusps.

Removing the SpringRing from the root ball prior to planting reveals an intricate and dense root mass, which does not require teasing or thinning upon planting. The high surface area and spread of roots ensures shock-free transplantation of any size tree, at any time of the year, with a rapid re-establishment rate. In fact, Ronneby Trees encourages dry season plantings in areas where anaerobic clay basins are present and the lack of water drainage during the wetter seasons may result in the tree drowning.

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