The path of the specialty nursery has unique challenges and rewards There are many Oregon wholesale growers that offer something for everyone. For them, it’s all about variety — growing and shipping as much of what their customers need as possible. Specialty growers, by contrast, are a whole different breed. They pick one plant and […]
Garden clubs: Cultivating buzz
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Growers benefit by building relationships with gardening groups, both in person and online Garden clubs have always had a mutually beneficial relationship with wholesale and retail nurseries. Each can provide something the other needs. Nurseries need passionate gardeners who are always in search of new and interesting plant discoveries. Gardeners hunger for knowledge about new […]
Taxing times for trade
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How Trump’s tariffs and trade policies are impacting Oregon’s nursery industry Jeff Stone has been in the nursery industry in Oregon for nearly 15 years. And in that time, the executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries has seen his share of industry ups and downs, particularly in the area of trade. Most recently, […]
Working assets
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Educating workers on personal finance helps both the employer and the employee Articles seem to be published every day about how individuals will have to work well past retirement age because they haven’t saved enough for retirement and Social Security soon won’t be sufficient to meet their income needs. “Saving more” isn’t the simple solution […]
Mulching in containers
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With timely and full application, hazelnut shells and other mulches can keep weeds at bay Weeds. They can be like urban wildlife, with endless amounts of time to find the weaknesses in your domicile to one day become uninvited houseguests. Through drain holes, in small piles of woody debris and in bark — as tubers, […]
People. That’s what it’s about.
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It takes a number of essentials to transform a healthy seed, seedling, cutting or start into a market-ready plant or tree. There’s water. Fertilizer. Pest management. Growing media for containerized plants, or healthy soil for those grown in the field. If any of these are missing or unavailable, the product will suffer or die, but […]
The leadership farm team
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When people talk about the nursery industry’s human resource challenges, they often speak strictly in terms of labor. But the nursery industry needs people at all levels, from entry-level workers to crew leaders, supervisors, managers and above. To succeed in a challenging industry, nursery companies rely on the experience, technical knowledge, management ability and leadership […]
Working wonders
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Despite pervasive labor struggles, nurseries find ways to find workers There was a time, up until 2006 or 2007, when Robinson Nursery in McMinnville, Oregon would lay off at least 30 percent of its workforce every year, just after the fall season and heading into winter. Back then, the nursery industry’s labor pool included a […]
The essentials of retention
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Many growers can’t set the price of their products in the national marketplace. They are competing for business with growers from states that don’t have same high cost of doing business, which puts Oregonians at a competitive disadvantage. This means business owners must focus on collecting high-value returns on high-cost labor expenses. When compiling salaries […]
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 […]
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