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You are here: Home / Archives for Mitch Lies

Finding your flow

By Mitch Lies — Posted February 24, 2023

Today’s technology can automate every aspect of irrigation, saving labor and water, but it comes with a price With irrigation controls at your fingertips and data on soil moisture levels and plant stress a click away, today’s nursery producer has more control over plant health than at any time in history. And with labor and […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, OAN, OAN Members, Water, Wholesale Nurseries

Stretched to the limit

By Mitch Lies — Posted January 30, 2023

Extreme weather wreaks havoc on greenhouse poly film With 15 acres of greenhouses under his management, Jeremy Dewar at North American Plants in McMinnville, Oregon, replaces polyethylene (poly) film on a recurring basis. Lately, however, he is replacing it at a higher rate than usual. Like other greenhouse operations in Oregon, the greenhouses at North […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, OAN Members

A season of nightmares

By Mitch Lies — Posted November 2, 2022

With low availability and higher driver and truck costs, shipping costs skyrocketed in 2022 For as long as Erica Hill can remember, Union Pacific railroad has provided the nursery industry with a special commodity rate to move stock during the spring shipping season. Until this year, that is. “With container availability issues and with the […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, OAN, Transportation

Lean outdoor growers ferret out waste, boost profits

By Mitch Lies — Posted September 12, 2022

Small margins and lengthy production timelines at nurseries mean that small changes implemented with Lean production techniques can add up to less waste and better margins — while better protecting workers.

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: growers, mechanization

‘A perfect storm of hurdles’

By Mitch Lies — Posted July 21, 2022

Container vendors deal with supply chain, labor and raw materials issues, which in turn affects growers and retailers In her 14 years as hard goods buyer in the nursery industry, Cheryl Atwater has seen economic cycles come and go, plant trends peak and drop off and markets surge and decline. Never, however, has she experienced […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: coronavirus, Digger, Digger magazine

Dealing with a known quantity

By Mitch Lies — Posted June 22, 2022

Wholesale nurseries find personal service and relationships are still key for making the sale Many nurseries no longer input orders manually, in some cases saving hundreds of work hours monthly. Smartphones have become indispensable as nurseries snap photos of plants and shoot them across the country in a matter of seconds. And in response to […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Wholesale Nurseries

Getting the word out

By Mitch Lies — Posted March 18, 2022

Growers take an interest in steering landscapers and end users to the right tree for the location No tree can grow best in the wrong place, and no location can be enhanced by the wrong tree. To that end, the flow of information between tree growers, and experts in the markets they serve, is critical […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Nursery operations, Wholesale Nurseries

Arranging for efficient greenhouse production

By Mitch Lies — Posted February 22, 2022

The intentional, strategic use of space can determine how efficiently a greenhouse functions and how profitable it is Nursery operators tend to fill greenhouses to capacity, so that enough product is available when sales come knocking. But according to Rick and Elizabeth Peters of Lean consultants The Peters Company (Wilsonville, Oregon), a packed greenhouse at […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Efficiency, lean

Keeping drivers in the loop

By Mitch Lies — Posted October 26, 2021

Communication is key to treating truckers well during driver shortage Jackie Weisenberger of Oregon Pride Nurseries Inc. rarely hears that a driver has backed out of picking up a load from her McMinnville nursery. “Earlier this spring, we had that happen, but that was happening everywhere,” she said. “As things died down, as we got […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

A billion-dollar bounty

By Mitch Lies — Posted July 29, 2021

Several factors explain Oregon’s robust plant sales figures, particularly in woody material When Rich Bailey of J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. in Boring, Oregon, relocated to Oregon from Chicago several years back, he was struck by the wide diversity of plant materials produced by Oregon nurseries. “This state grows so many different types of […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Economy

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NURSERY NEWS

Hall of Famers give gift towards horticultural industry advocacy

Verl Holden retires from Oregon Garden Foundation Board

Fall Creek promotes Dave Daniel to general manager for U.S. and Canada

NWFCS, Farm Credit West create new association

Bailey Nurseries announces leadership transition

More Nursery News

FARWEST SHOW UPDATES

Secure your 2023 Farwest hotel room and save

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Nursery professionals connect at Farwest

These 12 products had buyers buzzing at Farwest

Nightfall Snowbell sweeps top honors in Farwest New Varieties Showcase

More Updates from Farwest

From the pages of Digger

March 2023: Water Outlook 2023

February 2023: Greenhouse Issue ’23

January 2023: The Retail Issue

December 2022: Oregon is Nursery Country

November 2022: Transportation and Logistics

More issues of Digger

The Value of Membership

OAN Member Profile: Oregon Flowers Inc. 

These 12 products had buyers buzzing at Farwest

Creating the future generation of nursery leaders

More member stories

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Virtual is the new reality – for now

Trade shows in the time of COVID

A demand ‘renaissance’ for nurseries

Western Nursery & Landscape Association falls victim to pandemic

MANTS 2021 to move online due to COVID-19

More articles

Nursery Guide LIVE

Nursery Guide LIVE clicks into place

Booth spaces still available for Nursery Guide LIVE March 17–18

Nursery Guide LIVE virtual marketplace postponed due to winter storm damage

Keynote presentations at Nursery Guide LIVE virtual marketplace provide insight on green industry trends in 2021 and beyond

More Posts from this Category

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