*2.2. Equivalent Costs*

To determine the equivalent value for replacement of the planted trees at the end of two growing seasons, data were collected from the locally-grown trees. Final height and trunk diameter of the trees in the field in October 2014 were utilized to determine ANSIZ60.1 [22] container size approximations. Utilizing these ending container size equivalents, prices were designated according to the mean prices obtained from wholesale growers. Additionally, costs of installation and maintenance were derived for the ending container size of each tree. By subtracting the ending container size costs from the beginning container size costs, the net gain or loss in value over the two post-transplant growing seasons were calculated for each tree.

Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with JMP 2009 and SAS 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) to determine the significance of interactions and main effects for each variable. The overall model was 3 species × 5 sizes with 6 replicates (observations) per treatment combination (Table 1). Means for container size, wholesale cost, installation, maintenance, and total value for each tree were analyzed as the change between the beginning and end of the experiment. Where interactions were significant, Student's *t*-test (Fisher's Least Significant Difference) was used to compare means among the treatment combinations. When significant main effects were found, a paired *t*-test comparison was used to indicate values that are significantly different (*p* ≤ 0.05).


**Table 1.** Means and Analysis of Variance of the effects of tree species and initial container size on changes in size, price, costs, and value of trees after transplanting to the landscape and growing for two seasons.

<sup>x</sup> Standard errors, with different letters (a,b,c) indicate significant differences using Students t-test at *<sup>p</sup>* ≤ 0.05 within each species; <sup>y</sup> Values within a column represent the mean of six observations ± standard errors; <sup>z</sup> \*, \*\*\* Indicate significance of the main effect or interaction at *p* ≤ 0.05, 0.001, respectively, or not significant (n.s.).
