Related to my question How to amend clay soil to propagate trees for bare root distribution? I want to zoom out and ask a broader question, phrased in the title.
I'm in Zone 5/4 and get about 1 meter of precip a year. I want to be able to propagate a large variety of trees and share or sell them with people from homeowners to farmers. If picking specific types of trees, I'd focus this question on smaller trees (max height <40') and shrubs, especially edible varieties like pear, apple, apricot, elderberry, black currant, hazelnut, mulberry, raspberry, etc.
My soil is silty clay in a suburban area. Thankfully its past land use is mostly known and safe (ie. no industrial activities or gas station on site). Deer pressure is high. Sun is plentiful with a few shady spots here and there.
I know there are different types of beds like air pruning beds for seedlings of trees that have deep tap roots, and different beds for trees destined for transplanting as bare root vs. ball & burlap trees. I don't know much more than that differences exist though, so I'm looking for info pointing me in the direction of which kind of bed is useful in which cases and more details about each kind of bed for tree propagation.
To start I have 100-200 square feet to work with, that I envision having a few rows of trees growing in along with some in containers. I already have a bunch of trees in containers and can always get or make more. How should I approach prepping the rows / beds?
