-
Nikko Blue Hydrangea Shrub -
Northern Privet -
Red Osier Dogwood -
Elderberry Shrub -
Bamboo Plant -
Burning Bush Shrub -
Black Raspberry Plant -
American Hazelnut -
Ibolium Privet -
Forsythia -
Wild Blackberry Bush -
Red Crepe Myrtle Shrub -
Northern Spice Bush -
Pee Gee Hydrangea -
Witch Hazel Shrub -
Pink Crepe Myrtle Shrub -
Purple Crepe Myrtle Shrub -
Red Chokeberry Shrub -
Smooth Hydrangea -
Carolina Allspice Shrub -
Wintergreen Boxwood Shrub -
Black Chokeberry Shrub -
California Privet Shrub -
Snow Hill Hydrangea
Wholesale Shrubs for Landscapers, Restoration Contractors and Garden Centers
Our wholesale shrub collection gives landscape contractors, garden center buyers, restoration firms and municipalities flowering, hedging and native shrubs in
volume. Every shrub is field-grown, dug leafless during dormancy and sent bare root straight from our grower network in Altamont, Tennessee, ready for hedgerows, buffers, foundation beds and habitat plantings.
Use this free calculator to work out how many trees or shrubs you need for a hedge, privacy screen, windbreak, orchard or reforestation site. Pick how you're planting, enter your measurements and spacing, and it gives you the number of plants and the bulk packs to order.
0 trees or shrubs
| Bulk pack | Quantity |
|---|
Most trees and shrubs come in packs of 25, 50 and 100, and many seedlings also come in packs of 500 and 1,000. Pack sizes vary by plant.
How the tree and shrub calculator works
- Hedges, screens and windbreaks: the calculator divides the row length by your spacing and adds one plant for the end of the row, then multiplies by the number of rows. In staggered rows, each row is offset by half a space so the screen fills in without gaps.
- Area plantings: the calculator divides the total area by the space each plant takes up (spacing within rows × spacing between rows).
The result is rounded up to whole plants and split into bulk packs.
Quick reference: plants per 100 feet of hedge
| Spacing | 1 row | 2 rows |
|---|---|---|
| 1 foot | 101 | 201 |
| 2 feet | 51 | 101 |
| 3 feet | 34 | 67 |
| 4 feet | 26 | 51 |
| 5 feet | 21 | 41 |
| 6 feet | 17 | 34 |
| 8 feet | 13 | 26 |
| 10 feet | 11 | 21 |
Quick reference: trees per acre
| Spacing | Trees per acre |
|---|---|
| 6 × 6 feet | 1,210 |
| 8 × 8 feet | 681 |
| 10 × 10 feet | 436 |
| 12 × 12 feet | 303 |
| 15 × 15 feet | 194 |
| 20 × 20 feet | 109 |
One acre is 43,560 sq ft. Divide that by your spacing within rows × spacing between rows to get trees per acre at any spacing.
Choosing the right spacing
- Formal, clipped hedges: plant close, about 1 to 2 feet apart, so plants knit together quickly.
- Informal and flowering shrub hedges: about 3 to 5 feet apart, depending on how wide the shrub grows.
- Evergreen privacy screens: fast-growing evergreens like arborvitae are often planted about 5 to 6 feet apart in a single row, or farther apart in two staggered rows.
- Windbreaks and wildlife plantings: two or three staggered rows give the most protection and cover.
- Reforestation and seedlings: closer spacing closes the canopy sooner and shades out competition. Wider spacing costs less per acre.
As a rule, the closer you plant, the faster the hedge or stand fills in, and the more plants you need. When in doubt, base spacing on the plant's mature width.
Link to this calculator
Landscape designers, foresters, conservation districts and extension offices are welcome to link to this calculator from planting guides and resource pages. Copy this link:
<a href="https://tennesseewholesalenursery.com/pages/tree-shrub-calculator">Tree & Shrub Calculator – Tennessee Wholesale Nursery</a>
Who Buys Wholesale Shrubs
- Landscape contractors installing privet and boxwood hedges, foundation plantings and mass beds of hydrangea, spirea and weigela on commercial and residential jobs.
- Garden centers and re-wholesalers potting up bare root crepe myrtle, lilac, forsythia and hibiscus for spring retail benches.
- Stream and wetland restoration crews planting silky dogwood, buttonbush, silky willow and red osier dogwood along riparian zones.
- Municipalities, parks and schools specifying durable native shrubs for screens, rain gardens and pollinator borders.
- Farms and conservation programs setting out hedgerows of elderberry, hazelnut and chokeberry for windbreaks and wildlife cover.
Native and Ornamental Shrubs We Grow for the Trade
| Plant | Botanical name | Typical trade uses |
|---|---|---|
| Buttonbush | Cephalanthus occidentalis | Pond margins, wetland mitigation, pollinator habitat |
| Silky Dogwood | Cornus amomum | Streambank buffers, riparian restoration |
| Red Osier Dogwood | Cornus stolonifera | Wet slopes, winter stem color, bank stabilization |
| Silky Willow | Salix sericea | Bioengineering, streambank toes, wet swales |
| Arrowwood Viburnum | Viburnum dentatum | Native screens, bird habitat, park borders |
| Blackhaw Viburnum | Viburnum prunifolium | Informal hedges, woodland edges |
| Elderberry | Sambucus canadensis | Fruit hedgerows, wildlife plantings, wet meadows |
| American Hazelnut | Corylus americana | Hedgerows, windbreaks, nut-producing habitat |
| Black Chokeberry | Aronia melanocarpa | Rain gardens, mass plantings, fall color |
| Spicebush | Lindera benzoin | Shaded understory, butterfly host plantings |
| Carolina Allspice | Calycanthus floridus | Fragrant specimen beds, woodland gardens |
| Smooth Hydrangea | Hydrangea arborescens | Shade beds, foundation plantings |
| Rose Mallow | Hibiscus moscheutos | Wet borders, retention pond edges, summer color |
| Northern Privet | Ligustrum | Clipped hedges, property-line screens |
Specifying Shrubs by Site and Purpose
Start with moisture. Buttonbush, silky willow, silky dogwood and rose mallow thrive with wet feet, which makes them dependable picks for detention basins, stream corridors and mitigation sites. Arrowwood viburnum, chokeberry and elderberry span moist to average soil, while spicebush, Carolina allspice and smooth hydrangea prefer the dappled light under a tree canopy. Sun-loving ornamentals such as crepe myrtle, lilac and forsythia carry color in open commercial beds.
Hedges are laid out in linear feet. Privet is typically set 12 to 18 inches apart in a single row, or staggered in a double row for a faster, denser screen; our northern privet hedge planting guide walks through spacing and shearing. Restoration plans more often call for clusters on 3 to 6 foot centers, mixing several native species so the planting meets diversity targets. For wet-site detail, see our buttonbush planting article. Confirm hardiness for each job with the USDA zone finder.
Bundling shrubs with matching stock simplifies a bid: pair riparian shrubs with our live stakes, fruiting natives with berry bushes, and larger mitigation plantings with the restoration and mitigation line.
How We Grow, Dig and Ship
Shrubs are raised in Tennessee field rows, ours and those of long-standing neighboring growers who help us cover big counts. We wait for leaves to fall, then dig each plant with its fibrous root mass intact and its top stems bare. Roots are coated in Terra-Sorb gel to hold moisture and the bundles are wrapped in plastic, which keeps them in good shape for up to 12 days in transit. Contractor-size shrub loads move on semi trucks by freight carrier; smaller boxes go USPS Priority with a tracking number. Details are on our bare root information and packaging pages.
Ordering Wholesale Shrubs
Hedge and buffer jobs often run into the thousands of plants. When any one shrub hits 500 units, email the plant list, jobsite address and the week your crew is ready to install, and a full quote follows within 24 hours with freight, packing and delivery or pickup choices spelled out. Smaller counts of 100 or fewer per shrub follow the listed site pricing. Ask for shrub pricing or apply for a trade account, which runs on prepaid terms. Licensed buyers receive our Arrive Alive guarantee on shrub shipments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do bare root shrubs arrive with leaves?
No. Shrubs are dug and shipped dormant, so they arrive as bare stems with roots packed in moisture gel, and they leaf out after planting.
Which shrubs work best for stream restoration?
Silky dogwood, silky willow, buttonbush, red osier dogwood and elderberry are reliable natives for riparian buffers and wet banks.
How far apart should I plant a privet hedge?
Most privet hedges are planted 12 to 18 inches apart; closer spacing or a staggered double row closes the screen sooner.
Can garden centers pot up these shrubs for resale?
Yes. Dormant bare root shrubs pot up readily in late winter and fill containers for spring sales.
Shrub growing at Tennessee Wholesale Nursery goes back to 1959 on a small Altamont farm, and the same family, now three and four generations deep, still oversees every dig. Tammy Sons serves as CEO, and the owners work directly with buyers placing shrub orders over 500 plants. Our stock has been planted at the Washington Monument and at Arlington National Cemetery. Talk with us at sales@tennesseewholesalenursery.com or 931-692-7325.