KVF plants an average of 250,000 pine tree seedlings, wire grass plugs, and various other native species each year on private and government lands. The most common varieties include Long Leaf Pines, Slash Pines, South Florida Slash, and other bare root trees. Year after year, customers rely of KVF for their planting projects. Experience and proper preparation including planting site, transportation of plants, and weather awareness helps ensure we stack as many odds in our favor as possible for high survival rates. At KVF, we take a “hands on” approach on our planting projects. Starting with the initial onsite meeting with prospective customers, this allows us to discuss and determine desired objectives. Next, we pick up the plants from our preferred nurseries, allowing us to ensure the highest quality product, handling and timing. Working closely with these nurseries allows us to have the shortest window possible from the time the plants are pulled from the ground, prepped for transport, and transported by KVF to the job site for planting. Lastly, we get our hands dirty planting the trees side by side with our crews to ensure proper planting.
Depending on the ecological needs, types of habitat, and other variables dictate the method of planting KVF uses. KVF’s two most common methods of planting are hand planting with a private contractor with H2-B crews, and using a mechanical tree planter drawn by a tractor. Typically, hand planting crews vary in size from 10-15 crew members, who can plant up to 20,000 trees daily. KVF is equipped with two Whitfield semi-automatic mechanical planters and one King manual planter. These planters are the work horses in the industry and are backed with history of reliability.