Plant Nursery Business Opportunities on the Rise

By Francis Gouin and Ray Brush.

Opportunities are on the rise for rural residents to use their land and available family labor to operate a plant nursery. The demand for fruit plants, trees, shrubs and vines is expected to grow as our society continues placing increasing emphasis on environmental improvement.

Many kinds of plants can be produced. There are approximately 2,000 species common in the nursery trade and thousands of cultivated varieties. For example, in roses, azaleas, and camellias there are over 100 cultivated varieties. However, most of the commercial trade is concentrated in a limited number of varieties.

Producing some of the more unusual cultivated varieties is one possibility for the small nursery. Many of these varieties are especially adapted to the soils and climate of a local area.

Of course, there is a difference between growing plants as a hobby and as a business venture. Growing plants that you find pleasure in growing, on land and in an area where the climate' is best adapted for those plants, can result in a profitable small business that is enjoyable for the individual or family. But if you are not willing to grow plants which are most adapted to your soil or climate, then you cannot effectively compete in the marketplace. Your investment of capital and labor will produce a low return, showing an unsatisfactory net profit or even a loss. In such cases you are better off devoting Your time to hobby gardening.

Producing nursery plants requires a lot of work. And they need special attention at various stages of growth. Yet the knowledge and skill to produce quality plants is well within the realm of possibility for the average individual.

You need not necessarily have been born and raised on a farm to succeed in this business, but it helps. At any rate see how the successful producers do it, talk with them seeking advice, and read current journals and literature for recommendations based on new research.

A small nursery operated on a part-time basis does not require extensive acreage. Depending on the kinds of plants produced and the size to which they are grown, two to ten acres could be adequate. Because of the great number of kinds of plants produced in nurseries, it should be easy to select plants well adapted to the land and climate of the area as well as plants you will enjoy growing.

Depending on the kind of plants and the region of the country, there is a choice between producing the plants in field rows or in containers. Containers are pots of plastic, metal or other material which will hold the soil or growing medium in which the roots develop.

Container production provides the opportunity for producing a higher number of plants in a limited area. A nursery of this type will probably produce smaller plants which may be sold retail at the site to home gardeners, or sold in quantity to the larger wholesale producing nurseries, or to garden centers and other retail outlets.

Licensed by States

Producing nurseries are licensed by the state department of agriculture in every state, with all nursery stock inspected for freedom from insects and diseases at least once a year. Many kinds of nursery stock must be inspected two or more times during the year before they can be marketed.

Nurseries with plants found infested with insects or diseases may be restricted from selling any plants or have portions of the nursery "tagged" for non-sale until that kind of plant or that portion of the nursery has been treated and found free of the hazardous insect or disease.

As a rule the nursery inspector is considered a welcome counselor by nurseries. In most states the inspectors hold bachelors degrees in a biological science, preferably entomology or plant pathology. Their specialty is identifying plant pests. For specific remedial action they will refer the nurseryman to the proper agricultural Extension specialist for recommendations.

If the nursery specializes in propagating plants, those plants may be sold as "liners" to other producing nurseries for growing on to sizes salable to the general public. "Liners"are young plants either grown from seed or by rooting cuttings. Cuttings are portions of the stems of growing plants. Depending on the kinds of plants and the facilities for protecting and sheltering them while the roots are developing, cuttings may be the tips of young shoots that are just beginning to harden or any stage between that and woody stems.

Nursery production is unique in agriculture because plants grown in the nursery are sold complete, including the roots. Often larger plants are sold with a ball of earth around the roots in which they were growing. When that ball is wrapped in burlap or a similar material to hold the soil and root mass intact, it is called a "balled and burlapped plant" (B&B). If the soil and root mass is in a container, usually a fiber pot, it is referred to as a "balled and potted plant" (B&P).

Over the years the nursery industry has developed a system for standardizing plants to facilitate sales to nurserymen, landscape contractors and others. In the case of B & B or B & P planis, the standards specify minimum depth and diameter measurements of the root ball according to the height or caliper (average trunk diameter) of the plant.

This system of standards is contained in the publication American Standard For Nursery Stock ANZI Z60.1-(year). The Standards are sponsored by the American Association of Nurserymen and approved by the American National Standards Institute. The current edition, approved in 1973, is being revised. The revision will be submitted to the standards institute for approval in 1978.

Both landscape and fruit plants are high value crops and must be grown with minimal losses.

Soil Needs

Nursery crops require deep, rich, well-drained soils for developing healthy and vigorous root systems that will overcome the shock of digging and transplanting into the new site.

It is estimated that 100 to 150 tons of topsoil per acre are removed with each crop dug B & B or B & P. Smaller plants which are dug bare root remove only limited quantities of soil. However, they suffer more severe transplant shock and may have low survival rates if not carefully handled.

Nurserymen carry on soil building programs to maintain both the organic and nutrient content of the soil at high levels. That is done through production of green manure crops (corn, grasses, or legumes not subject to soybean cyst nematode). These crops are carefully fertilized and limed so as to produce the maximum vegetative plant growth. They are then plowed under to enrich the soil.

For both field production and container production, the nurseryman desires level land, and often grades the fields to level them when establishing a nursery. In both production practices, service roadways are maintained through the nursery. Wet areas are tiled so as to remove excess water, permitting air to penetrate to the roots. Often in refitting nursery fields, a subsoiler is used to penetrate and loosen the subsoil to encourage greater depth of root growth.

In field production nurseries that are not level, nurserymen frequently use strip or contour farming methods to prevent water erosion. The nursery rows are made to follow the contour of the hill, and wide strips of sod are left undisturbed between cultivated blocks of plants.

It is now becoming more common for nurserymen producing shade trees, for landscape purposes, to grow them in sod and control the weeds in a small area about each tree. The grass is mowed periodically both to control undesirable plants and to avoid providing rodents nesting areas near the plants. During winter when other food is not abundant, rodents feed on the bark of plants, girdling and killing them.

The length of time required to produce nursery plants for landscape use may vary from 3 to 15 years. Some of the bulb and tuber plants and flowering biennial and perennial plants require only one year to produce a salable crop.

Root-Pruning

To assure that B & B and bare root plants transplant well, many trees and shrubs are root-pruned two and more times. Root-pruning is accomplished by pulling a cutting blade, often "U" shaped, beneath the plants cutting the tips of the roots. This practice stimulates development of a branched root system. The number of times depends on the kinds of plants, how long they are grown in the nursery, and the type soil they are growing in.

Shallow, fibrous-rooted plants, such as azaleas, seldom need to be root-pruned. Deeper rooting plants such as yews, many conifers, and the shade trees produce the most desirable root system for transplanting when they are root-pruned as often as every three years.

Although root-pruning retards plant growth, plants that have been root-pruned are easier to dig. Such plants have a well branched root system and survive transplanting shock better.Training environmental plants to make them conform to specific shapes and sizes, or to their natural habit of growth, is a continuous process. Prune most nursery plants frequently either to stimulate branching, or to eliminate undesirable branches.

Because each kind of plant has a unique habit of growth, you must be familiar with these characteristics. By knowing plant peculiarities and following proper pruning practices, you can enhance the plant's individual characteristics. Yet it is no simple task to grow a block of shade trees with straight trunks and well-formed heads, or to grow uniformly branched shrubs.

Gardeners soon learn that not all plants grow well under the same conditions. Weeping willows, maples, and some hollies grow satisfactorily even when planted in poorly drained soils. However, juniper, yews and oak trees require well drained soils. Azaleas, rhododendrons and andromedas grow best in acid soils. Yews, maples, roses and forsythia prefer soils that are only slightly acid. White birch, mountain ash and spruce prefer colder regions while crape myrtle, camellias and magnolias grow better in warm climates.

These differences enable a nurseryman to specialize, based on personal preference to produce a given kind of plant, the local market, and local soils and climate. Many nurserymen specialize in growing only certain kinds of plants, such as azaleas, rhododendrons, shade trees, ground covers, dwarf conifers, or herbaceous perennials. For the nursery to be profitable, you must become proficient in growing your chosen plants economically. With specialized equipment, you can develop efficient methods and facilities for propagating and growing these plants.