Why Choosing a Hardy Tree Nursery Matters

Sourcing trees from an experienced Okanagan tree nursery ensures your landscaping investments will survive and flourish. Our rigorous growing practices produce incredibly resilient trees that adapt beautifully to their final planting destinations.

• Climate Resilience: We specialize in trees suited for hardiness Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
• Superior Root Systems: All trees are carefully maintained and root-pruned annually to guarantee robust health.
• Premium Quality: The rich soils and long, dry summers of the Okanagan and Kootenay valleys create the perfect environment for producing high-quality nursery stock.
• Versatile Selection: We offer an extensive selection of field-grown shade trees available as bareroot or in containers.
• Testament to Legacy: As one of the oldest nurseries in Canada and North America, our tree quality, seed source, and tried, tested, and true methods have endured the test of time, and our tree quality speaks for itself. While we still take many extra steps that lend themselves to resilient trees, we have also modernized certain processes and are always trying to engage meaningful technology where appropriate.

Our Tree Cultivation and Supply Process

Delivering exceptional trees in Kelowna and beyond requires a meticulous, year-round methodology. Our process ensures every tree meets our strict quality standards before it leaves our tree farm.

• Field Cultivation: We plant and nurture our stock across over 300 acres of prime agricultural land in Kelowna, Grand Forks, and Midway, B.C.
• Annual Root Pruning: Our dedicated team prunes the root systems every year to encourage dense, healthy root balls that survive transplantation.
• Careful Harvesting: Trees are expertly dug as bareroot or placed into containers (pots) depending on the species and customer requirements.
• Client Distribution: We supply premium shade trees, evergreens, cedars, junipers, and shrubs to garden centers, commercial landscapers, municipalities, and homeowners across Canada and the northern, western, and central United States, including Alaska.

Local Roots and North American Reach

Our story began in the spring of 1908 when Richard John Stewart arrived in the Okanagan Valley to join his brother William. By 1911, they officially launched Stewart Brothers Nurseries. While we started as a prime supplier of fruit trees—even exporting globally before the Second World War—we shifted our focus in the 1970s to specialize entirely in premium shade trees.

Today, under the proud ownership of Avtar Jhaj, our Kelowna nursery continues to honor over 115 years of family-run heritage. While our head office and original growing fields remain deeply rooted in Kelowna, our reach extends far beyond the Okanagan. We proudly supply trees to Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and northern, western, and central US states, including Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

Key Nursery Statistics and Expert Insights

When you partner with Stewart Brothers Nurseries, you benefit from generations of unmatched horticultural expertise.

• Heritage: Over 115 years of continuous operation, making us Canada’s oldest operating nursery.
• Scale: Over 300 acres of active tree cultivation across three prime B.C. locations.
• Expertise: A highly dedicated team, with some of our most valued employees bringing over 55 years of hands-on experience at our nursery.
• Hardiness: Specialized focus on hardy trees rated for Zones 1 through 5.
• Extensive knowledge of logistics and exporting trees to the United States. Regionally, we are able to deliver right to site with our own fleet of trailers and also utilize various third-party carriers that usually deliver on time. In the summer months, we utilize reefers to ensure tree health.
• We are proud of our newly constructed state-of-the-art cold storage facility which holds an exact temperature any time of year, whether it is -30°C or +40°C. What does this mean for you? Trees that have a lot less stress and are much healthier.