A Standard is a plant that has either been grafted or trimmed to look like a lollipop! A bare, straight trunk with foliage on top that is often trimmed in a rounded shape. Standards come in trees, shrubs and roses from Standard Weeping Cherries to Standard Roses. We sell lots of different types of standard shaped plants.

The reason plants are made into standards is to control the overall size of the plant, to create a neat feature plant out of an otherwise unruly plant, or to create the opportunity to underplant. For example a row of Standard ‘Iceberg’ roses can be underplanted with a low growing cottage shrub or groundcover. This means a nice full look and getting more plants into an area than you would otherwise be able to plant there.

A standard that has been grafted is created using a long, straight piece to create a trunk, with one or more pieces attached to the top to create a bushy head. When this is done, it means that the trunk doesn’t grow taller than the original height, just thicker and more mature. Only the bushy head section grows taller and fuller, and is easily trimmed to keep it to a desired size. This ensures that the plant will never grow to a huge size that is one day too big for the original spot.