Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

Don’t underestimate the power of email

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There are so many digital tools you can use to reach potential customers these days: digital ads on Google or Facebook, social media pages and advertising, videos, remarketing, blogs, websites, and more! In this new and evolving landscape, it’s easy to forget about one of the first digital marketing tools many of us used: email. […]

Delivering the goods

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Transporting nearly a billion-dollars’ worth of Oregon-grown plant material takes trucks and trains — and lots of them. Droves of railroad cars, dry and refrigerated (refer) vans are needed to move shipments of plants across the state and to faraway places across the continent. Growers ship their plants to market with the help of transportation […]

November 2017 – The Transportation Issue

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Just as with water to grow crops and labor to transform them, there can be no nursery industry without transportation to deliver products to paying customers. In this special issue, we explore the facets of transportation that can make or break your bottom line. In this issue: Paving the way to market: Nurseries depend on a […]

Preparing the load for shipment

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The majority of wholesale growers in the United States sell a variety of types of material in a variety of sizes and formats. In terms of shipping the material, that presents challenges, but each nursery is different. While all growers must pay attention to the cost and availability of freight, as well as the labor […]

Starting a board of directors for your family business

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Starting a board of directors is frequently cited by family business owners as something they know they “should do.” In fact it’s a perennial top request for new family business workshop topics. With all of this reported interest, it’s surprising that only 48 percent of family businesses have actually instituted a functioning board. Two important […]

Paving the way to market

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The U.S. nursery industry is responsible for shipping nearly $14 billion worth of products every year, including nearly $1 billion from Oregon alone, according to the most recent USDA Census of Horticultural Specialties. Whether these plants, trees and shrubs are destined to live for a season or a century, they must make their way along […]

Tornado causes damage at Smith Gardens near Aurora

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Smith Gardens Inc. is recovering from a tornado that caused major damage last Thursday afternoon (October 12, 2017) at its greenhouse growing facility in Aurora, Oregon. Most of the damage was structural; less than 2 percent of crops were lost, and no one at the nursery was injured. Although there is a lot of cleanup […]

IPPS Western Region to meet in Wilsonville October 17–20

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The Western Region of the International Plant Propagators’ Society will hold its 58th Annual Meeting Tuesday–Friday, October 17–20, at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville, Oregon. This year’s conference theme will be “Growing in Diversity.” Conference organizer Melanie Miller promises something for everyone. “We will visit a wide variety of nurseries and listen to experts in […]