DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE  
PESTICIDE AND PLANT PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT DIVISION  
REGULATION NO. 627. CARE OF NURSERY STOCK IN SALES OUTLETS  
(By authority conferred on the commission of agriculture by sections 9, 176, and 178  
of Act No. 380 of the Public Acts of 1965, and Act No. 189 of the Public Acts of 1931,  
as amended, being SS16.109, 16.276, 16.278, and 286.201 et seq. of the Michigan  
Compiled Laws)  
R 285.627.1 Definitions.  
Rule 1. As used in these rules:  
(a) "Balled stock" means nursery stock removed from the growing site with a  
portion of the root system intact in a ball of the soil in which the plant was grown, the  
diameter and depth of such soil ball to be as specified in the publication entitled  
"American Standards for Nursery Stock," dated February 1, 1973, which is published  
by, and available from, the American Association of Nurserymen, 230 Southern  
Building, Washington, D.C. 20005, at a cost of $2.00. The publication may also be  
inspected at, or obtained from, the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Plant  
Industry Division, Lewis Cass Building, Post Office Box 30017, Lansing, Michigan  
48909; the cost, when obtained from the department, is $2.00.  
(b) "Container-grown stock" means nursery stock grown in a container, with a root  
system completely established in soil or other growing media.  
(c) "Manufactured ball" means a bound ball of soil or other growing media in  
which the roots of nursery stock have been placed with the intended purpose of  
establishing a root system in the media.  
(d) "Packaged nursery stock" means nursery stock prepared for merchandising  
with the roots wrapped in a moisture-holding media, other than soil, with no intention  
of establishing a root system in the media.  
(e) "Potted stock" means nursery stock offered for sale with the root system in soil  
and in a rigid or semi-rigid container in which the plant was not grown and  
established.  
History: 1979 AC.  
R 285.627.2 Storage and display conditions.  
Rule 2. (1) Balled stock, container-grown stock, potted stock, and nursery stock  
with manufactured balls shall be kept uniformly moist by surrounding or covering  
the root area with nontoxic, moisture-holding materials, or by irrigation sufficient to  
maintain the viability and vigor of the stock, and shall be kept under temperature and  
light intensity conditions that permit normal growth. Balled stock and stock with  
manufactured balls, displayed or stored on pavement or  
a
similar moisture-  
impervious surface, shall be separated from that surface by at least a 4-inch layer of,  
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or shall be surrounded by, peat, sawdust, shingletow, soil, or other similar moisture-  
holding material, which shall be kept moist at all times, or shall be kept under other  
conditions that will assure maintenance of moisture in the ball sufficient to preserve the  
vigor of the plant.  
(2) Bare-root nursery stock shall be kept under conditions of temperature and  
moisture that maintain viability. Moisture shall be supplied to the root system by  
high humidity conditions in storage or by covering the roots with soil, sawdust,  
peat, shingletow, or other moisture-holding material not toxic to plants, which  
covering shall be kept moist at all times.  
(3) Packaged nursery stock shall be stored and displayed under conditions that  
preserve the vitality of the plant and insure an adequate supply of moisture to the roots  
at all times.  
History: 1979 AC.  
R 285.627.3 Minimum indices of vitality.  
Rule 3. (1) Woody stemmed deciduous nursery stock, such as fruit and shade trees,  
rose bushes, and flowering shrubs, shall have moist, green cambium tissue in the stem  
or stems and branches, and shall have viable buds or normal green, unwilted growth  
sufficient to permit the plant to live and grow in a form characteristic of the species  
or variety when planted and given reasonable care. In the case of a rose bush, each  
stem shall show moist, green, undamaged cambium in at least the first 8 inches above  
the graft. Any single stem on a rose bush not meeting this specification shall  
disqualify the entire plant. However, a rose bush may be pruned to comply with this  
specification if at least 1 stem meeting the specification remains and the grade  
designation, if sold by grade, is changed accordingly. A packaged rose bush having  
more than 3 inches of etiolated growth from a bud shall not be sold or offered for  
sale.  
(2) Hardy herbaceous biennials or perennials, when in a wilted, rotted, or similar  
condition indicative of subnormal vitality, shall not be sold or offered for sale.  
(3) Nursery stock in a weakened condition, as evidenced by die-back or desiccation  
of foliage, or balled stock with broken or loose earthballs, broken manufactured balls,  
or root systems of a size smaller than established by the American standard for  
nursery stock, shall not be sold or offered for sale. Packaged nursery stock, potted  
stock, and nursery stock with manufactured balls shall meet the root spread  
standards established for bare-root stock.  
(4) Nursery stock on display at sales outlets not meeting the foregoing minimum  
indices of vitality shall be restricted from sale and shall be removed from public view  
by the owner or person in charge.  
History: 1979 AC.  
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