Kris Welker is the owner/operator of California Big Tree Nursery. He is a May 2009 graduate of California State University, Fresno, where he earned a bachelors degree in plant science. Shortly after graduation Kris started California Big Tree Nursery. Though this is a new business it is not a new nursery. Kris took over the wholesale end of his father's business, Welker's Grove Nursery. Kris is not simply a recent college grad with no experience. He has taken an active part in the production and management activities of his father's nursery since childhood.
The nursery is located on 15 acres in the central Sierra Nevada mountains of California, between Yosemite National Park and Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks. It is located at 4,500 ft. elevation, in a predominantly ponderosa pine and incense cedar forest. The nursery experiences temperatures 15-20 degrees cooler than the valley floor enabling the production of a multitude of conifers and certain broadleaf plants.
All trees at the nursery are grown from seed, much of which is collected locally. While California Big Tree Nusery specializes in container grown trees 1 gallon and up, Welker's Grove Nursery propagates these trees from seed and grows them up through the seedling stage and into 1 gallon pots. Welker's Grove Nursery also sells these seedlings and 1 gallon trees over the internet at www.giant-sequoia.com.
