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You are here: Home / Archives for Mitch Lies

Sound planning and strong communication helps complex loading processes run more smoothly

By Mitch Lies — Posted October 24, 2024

Careful planning, good communication and loading efficiency are critical steps to getting a truck in and out of a nursery and back on the road as quickly as possible.

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Transportation

New boxwood varieties shore up defense against spreading boxwood blight

By Mitch Lies — Posted September 10, 2024

As boxwood blight was spreading in the U.S. in the 2010s, executives at Plant Development Services in Loxley, Alabama, and Saunders Brothers Nursery in Piney River, Virginia, were looking for solutions. Plant Development Services looked to Europe, where blight had been a major issue since 1998, while Saunders Brothers looked to germplasm it had on […]

Filed Under: Blights, Boxwood Blight, Plant Features, Plant Pests and Diseases

Subsurface drip irrigation tape emerges as an effective option

By Mitch Lies — Posted June 24, 2024

Twenty-five years ago, subsurface drip irrigation was little more than a niche concept in the nursery industry. It was being used in a select number of ornamental tree operations, according to Kevin Stewart, director of marketing for Rivulis, a leading manufacturer of subsurface drip irrigation systems. Today, as water resources have become scarce and energy […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Irrigation

Nurseries ride the next wave of automation

By Mitch Lies — Posted May 28, 2024

As labor costs soar and the need for efficiencies increases, Oregon nurseries are embracing technology like never before.

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Automation, technology

Nurseries use new propagation systems with biodegradable liners

By Mitch Lies — Posted March 29, 2024

Nurseries are testing new propagation systems using biodegradable pots and are designed to optimize production and improve plant development.

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Sustainability

Oregon nurseries say a good work-life balance is critical to their success

By Mitch Lies — Posted February 29, 2024

In an industry reliant on labor, maintaining a healthy workforce is critical. And for many nurseries, ensuring the health of a workforce means much more than ensuring employees get home safe at night.

Filed Under: Nursery Operations

Greenhouse structures vary, so pick the one that suits your operation best

By Mitch Lies — Posted January 30, 2024

At Little Prince of Oregon Nursery, a wholesale annuals/perennials grower in Aurora, Oregon, Mark Leichty works with several styles of greenhouses, including gutter connect, Quonset-style and peak-roofed structures. His preference is a GK Machine peak-roofed greenhouse, part of the Donald, Oregon, company’s 5000 series. And, fitting with Leichty’s philosophy, you can find several of the […]

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

Shippers must sift through layers of deception

By Mitch Lies — Posted October 31, 2023

Shippers, brokers and carriers increasingly must be watchful for a fraudulent practice called ‘double brokering’

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

The problem of the root

By Mitch Lies — Posted September 5, 2023

Growers, suppliers discourage tap roots and circling with pruning pots and grow bags.

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Plants, Wholesale Nurseries

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

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NURSERY NEWS

Bailey Nurseries removed dams to build environmental resilience

The new NurseryGuide.com powers up with new features

Terra Gardens owner’s gesture for his mother opens the door to other wheelchair-bound gardeners

OAN announces 2025 Friends of Nurseries award winners

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

In memoriam: Bill Van Belle

Longtime employee buys Heritage Seedlings and Liners

More Nursery News

From the pages of Digger

August 2026 Digger: Farwest Show Edition

July 2026

June: The Shrubs Issue

May 2026: the Sustainability Issue

April: The Tree Issue

More issues of Digger

Pests and Diseases

Box tree moths pose a threat to Oregon nurseries

Managing Phytophthora: timing, temperature and emerging threats

Managing slugs and snails in Pacific Northwest nurseries

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

Prioritizing nursery pest challenges

More articles

FARWEST SHOW UPDATES

2026 Farwest Show issues calls for speakers

Excitement, optimism prevail at 2025 Farwest Show

Dazzling plants, products garner Retailer’s Choice Awards

Youngblood Nursery wins Best in Show booth honors at the 2025 Farwest Show

Glow Sticks Fescue wins top honors from judges at Farwest Show’s New Varieties Showcase 

More Updates from Farwest

The Value of Membership

OAN members see benefits and rewards from serving ag industry organizations

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

OAN honors industry leaders at 2025 Convention

More member stories

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