Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

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 […]

A time for reasoned minds

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October is upon us — the release of summer’s long grip on our operations, leaves rapidly changing into a wonder of colors, crisp mornings and celebrations of Columbus Day and Canadian Thanksgiving. It is difficult not to write about all the tumult happening around our great nation. It is not the first time nor the […]

October 2017

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Discover the appetite for edibles in gardening, the best advice from wholesale nursery professionals for optimal growing production, and the hidden gems within a private garden in OAN’s October issue of Digger. In this issue: An appetite for edibles: Homeowner desires to grow their own food mean opportunities for retailers to redefine their role in the community. […]

Open gardens, open minds

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Gardening is a constantly changing hobby for many of us. When we visit garden centers, we are often not only buying plants that are familiar to us, but we are on the lookout for something new. Many private gardens have signature plants that might be a tree or shrub, or perhaps it is a plant(s) […]

Better production cycles mean greater success

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For Mike Heller of the Mount Angel-based Kraemer’s Nursery — and for probably just about any other seasoned nursery grower out there — the key to success can be boiled down to three simple things. “The biggest things for nurseries are space, time and money,” he said. “Those are the biggest limiting factors — and the […]

An appetite for edibles

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When I grew up in southeast Portland in the 1950s and ’60s, my parents grew plenty of food in our yard. The parking strip in front of our house supported apple, peach, pear, plum and quince trees. The backyard held a full size cherry tree that boasted sweet fruit, provided comforting shade and supported both […]

Rainwater harvesting systems for the Willamette Valley

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The recent trend toward more extreme periods of drought has been a shock to residents of the Pacific Northwest. Many are able to maintain their landscapes at high levels only through heavy summer watering. This has forced people of the Pacific Northwest, and people from all around the world, to rethink their water-use strategies, as […]