Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

About Canopy & our nursery

Check out our About page!

How much will shipping cost?

A good rule of thumb is that it will be about 15% of the total order amount.

Collapsible row

Can you ship me potted plants?

No, we cannot ship potted plants. Potted plants are only available for pick up.

Can I pick up some items and have other items shipped to me?

Yes, but it will require two separate orders. These plants may be fulfilled from different locations and may be ready at different times.

When do plants ship?

Plants ship from March - May. At checkout, you will select your specific ship date within this range. We only ship on Mondays to ensure that your plants arrive by Friday and don't get stuck in a warehouse or the back of truck over the weekend. You will get shipping notice and tracking number when your trees ship.

Can I pick my order up?

Potted plants (chestnut and pawpaw) can be picked up at our locations in:

  • Champaign, IL
  • Prairie du Chien, WI
  • Columbus Junction, IA*

Bare root plants (chestnut, heartnut, and persimmon) can be picked up at our location in:

  • Champaign, IL

Tubes + Stakes can be picked up at our locations in:

  • Champaign, IL
  • Prairie du Chien, WI
  • Spring Green, WI
  • Columbus Junction, IA*

If you choose pickup at checkout, Canopy will contact you to schedule a specific pickup window when the trees are ready (typically in May or June for potted trees). Tube and stake pick ups are more flexible but must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.

*We also offer a pickup in Columbus Junction, IA at a partner site. This pickup will only be available tentatively the weekend of June 7-9, 2025. Pawpaw cannot be picked up in IA.

What do I need to know about the IA pickup option?

We also offer a pickup in Columbus Junction, IA at a partner site. This pickup will only be available tentatively the weekend ofJune 7-9, 2025. This date could change plus or minus a week. If you unable to pickup in that timeframe, please select another pickup or delivery option.

Pawpaw 2025 pre-orders made in 2024 may be picked up in IA. However pawpaw orders for fall 2025 cannot be picked up in IA.

Will I be charged sales tax?

Plant orders shipped to or picked up in IL or WI will be charged sales tax.

Plant orders shipped to states outside of IL or WI are not subject to sales tax.

All tube and stake orders are subject to sales tax.

If you are eligible for a sales tax exemption, you should pay the sales tax at checkout and then email us proof of exemption to initiate a refund of the sales tax.

Can you ship to Canada?

Yes, but be aware that there will be additional charges for customs and plant inspection. This is subject to any legal requirements and import/export regulations.

Can I order less than the specified amount of one variety?

No, we cannot currently process custom orders for quantities under our order minimums.

Do you sell nuts or seednuts?

No, we do not currently sell nuts.

How do I get more in depth help with production or design questions?

If you want to take a deep dive into tree planting, care, management, and production, we suggest reaching out to our friends Tom and Kathy at Red Fern Farm for a consultation.

If you are looking for farm design, tree planting, or other farm services, please reach out to our Project Management team at Canopy Farm Management.

Chestnut Questions

How do I know if my land is suitable for chestnuts?

Please use our suitability analysis tool by visiting Canopy Compass to map your farm and find out.

Do you grow specific cultivars?

We primarily sell seedlings of known mother trees (i.e. "half-siblings) and seedlings of groups of top mother trees on a specific fam (I.e. "farm families"). All seedlings are unique individuals that are likely, but not guaranteed, to share traits with their parent tree(s).

Canopy also sells some tissue cultured trees and may start selling some grafted trees. Both tissue cultured and grafted trees are clonal/identical to each other.

Can you ship chestnuts to my state?

Becasue of quarantine restrictions, we cannot ship chestnut trees to CA, OR, or WA. Shipping to LA is allowed, but it requires a phytosanitary certificate.

How old are your bare root chestnut seedlings?

They are 1-year-old trees sprouted in the spring, harvested and stored in the fall, and shipped the following spring.

When are your potted seedlings sprouted?

We start our seedlings in the greenhouse in February. This allows them to be ready to plant by May or June.

What are your most cold hardy chestnuts?

Any seedlings with Badger in the name have improved cold hardiness to Zone 4. This includes Badgersett Boundless, Large Badger, BadgerQing, and Giant Badger.

Which is better - potted or bare root?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Potted plants offer more flexibility because they have a longer planting window and are generally considered easier to plant for inexperienced growers. However, this comes at a cost because they are much more expensive. Bare root trees must be planted before they break dormancy but are significantly less expensive and are more amenable to mechanical planting. It is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of each.

I want varieties that are only available as potted stock, but I live too far away to pick up. Can you clean off the soil material and ship them bare root?

No, we cannot do this. Potted trees are actively growing and cannot be removed from pots.

Do I need more than one variety for pollination?  

Most chestnut trees are self-sterile, which means you need at least two distinct individuals to pollinate each other.

When purchasing clonal (e.g. grafted or tissue culture) trees, you must have at least two cultivars/genotypes for pollination purposes.

When purchasing seedling trees, this is generally not a concern, as each tree, even within the same family name, is a unique individual.

So, for example, 25 seedling trees that share the parent 'Qing' are able to pollinate each other. But 25 grafted 'Qing' trees are not be able to pollinate each other.

When mixing chestnut cultivars for pollination purposes, distinct trees should be within a 60-meter vicinity, as chestnuts are principally wind-pollinated, although the flowers are visited by several pollen-feeding (as opposed to nectar-feeding) insects.

The exception to the above rules are pollen-sterile cultivars or seedling families. Pollen-sterile individuals do not produce pollen and therefore cannot pollenate other trees regardless of identity. Seedling trees of the parents 'Luvall's Monster' and 'Large Badger' are likely to be pollen sterile.

Can other tree species pollinate the chestnuts?

Tree species outside of the Castanea genus cannot pollinate chestnuts.

Do you sell seedlings with a specific drop window?

No, we cannot accurately predict when a specific seedling will drop nuts.

Black Currant Questions

How do I know if my land is suitable for black currants?

Please use our suitability analysis tool by visiting Canopy Compass to map your farm and find out.

Can you ship currants to my state?

Because of regulations to protect against white pine blister rust, we cannot ship currants to ME, NC, NH, or WV.

Do you sell cuttings?

No, we do not sell currant cuttings at this time.

Why do I have to sign a Non-Propagation Agreement (NPA) when buying currant plants?

All McGinnis cultivars are protected. Asexual propagation of cultivars is illegal. A signed non-propagation agreement is required prior to shipment.

Canopy is working with the Savanna Institute to continue the McGinnis breeding legacy. Novel crosses are being made and offspring evaluated to develop the next generation of top currant cultivars for the North American industry. All black currant plant prices include a 15% royalty fee, which goes directly to the Savanna Institute to support ongoing breeding efforts.

McGinnis black currants were developed by McGinnis Berry Crops Limited in British Columbia, Canada through decades of breeding. These cultivars are the only new, commercial black currant cultivars bred within North America in over 50 years – since Consort and siblings were first bred to have resistance to White Pine Blister Rust. Currently, five cultivars have been released and are available for purchase. Additional cultivars are under evaluation for potential release in the coming years. McGinnis cultivars lead the industry with high yields, disease resistance, and outstanding flavor profiles.

Canopy is the exclusive US source for McGinnis black currant plants. Canopy took over US nursery production after Dick McGinnis retired in 2021. We can also ship bulk orders to Canada. During this transition time, there has been a major plant material bottleneck. This severely limited plants sales in 2022-2024.

Why can't I order less than 25 plants?

It is too difficult to enforce the NPA with small retail volumes. We are looking into other cultivars for retail sale that don't require an NPA. If we do that, we may be able to sell smaller quantities.

Can I mix and match cultivars to make a minimum order of 25?

No, we cannot currently fulfill special orders.

Pawpaw Questions

How do I know if my land is suitable for pawpaw?

Please use our suitability analysis tool by visiting Canopy Compass to map your farm and find out.

When can I pickup my pawpaw?

Pawpaw are a slow grower so they will be available for pickup in September for fall planting.

Why can't I pickup pawpaw in IA?

We only able to come out to IA to deliver plants in June which is several months before they will be ready for planting.

If you preordered pawpaw in 2023/24 for 2025 delivery they will be included in the IA delivery.

What pawpaw genetics do you sell?

We seedlings grown from seed sourced from top-performing trees at Red Fern Farm.