Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

Grower guidance vs. customer demand

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Sometimes customers want one thing and climate wants another, but this dilemma presents opportunities for the grower If Mick Jagger had been a horticulturist, he might have sung, “You can’t always plant what you want.” Case in point: Sean Hogan, owner of Cistus Nursery (Portland, Oregon), was driving home from work in late August and […]

Up in the air

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The popularity of drones, aka unmanned aerial vehicles or systems (UAVs/UASs), has dramatically increased over the past decades. Like global positioning (GPS) technology, walkie-talkies and Jeeps, drones initially were developed for military use. Although the U.S. Air Force’s Predator and Reaper drones continue to appear on the evening news, and as a plot device in […]

Meet the leader: Ron Kinney

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Tell us about yourself. I was born and raised in Southern California, and my entire 33-year career in the horticulture industry has been in large-scale nursery production management. After attending Fullerton Community College I graduated with an A.S. degree in ornamental horticulture, and completed my education at Cal Poly Pomona with a B.S. degree in […]

Common questions from the summer

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It probably goes without saying that it has been a long, hot summer and early fall. With record high temperatures and little or no rain, one might have expected customers to stay away from garden centers. However, this was not the case. Customers continued to shop for plants and also relied heavily on garden centers […]

Honoring the past and charting the future

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The Oregon nursery industry was built with the sweat of our earliest growers. Blessed with some of the best soil in the country, their hard work transformed unknown markets into opportunities. There is an old photograph that is at the OAN office, and I pass it every day. It looks to be in the mid-1930s […]

Amazon will sell Christmas trees this holiday season

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Amazon is getting into the Christmas tree business, according to a report from the Associated Press. The online megaretailer, recently valued at $1 trillion, will deliver full-size, fresh-cut Christmas trees in large boxes to doorsteps this holiday season. The trees will be eligible for Amazon Prime shipping. Trees will be sent to customers within 10 […]

Senninger Irrigation appoints Abernethy as president

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In a release by the company, James Burks has announced his resignation as president of Senninger Irrigation to attend to family needs. He had dedicated 22 years to the agricultural irrigation manufacturing company and will be missed. Steve Abernethy will assume the role of president on September 28, 2018. Abernethy was hired as vice president of […]

September 2018

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In this issue, we explore conifers offering vast combinations of texture, color and height to meet a variety of landscape needs. Also inside is an update on leafy gall, caused by the bacterium Rhodococcus, which afflicts annuals, herbaceous perennials, and woody broadleaf plants. Check out the 2018 Farwest Show recap, which includes a list of the […]

Skagit Horticulture hires chief operating officer

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Skagit Horticulture, a nationwide supplier of annuals and perennials, has appointed Scott Crownover to serve as chief operating officer, starting September 1, 2018. Crownover joins the company with more than 34 years of experience in the industry, which includes leadership positions at Vaughan’s Seed Company and McHutchison Horticultural Distributors, a division of Dümmen Orange. His skill for […]