Any tree farm/nursery growers here on tbn?

[spruce Deere]

Just curious if there is anybody like me who grows ornamental trees or nursery stock.

I grow spruce/pine varieties of trees from seedling stock. Then once big enough from 5 foot to the teens in height, dig them with a spade in ball and burlap form in the spring when the tree is still dormant for landscape markets and some reclamation needs.

We have dug trees in the fall, but most of the action seems to be in the spring.

We specialize in growing spruce/pine varieties. If you let us know what species of ornamental tree or shrub you are looking for and we can provide it for you.

Anyhow, been a member of TBN for a while now just wondering if there is other 'tree farms' here

 

[ncnurseryman]

I grow ornamental shrubs and trees from1 gal. To 25 gal. No b&b, don't have a spade digger and the soil here doesn't drain well. We also do landscaping, mostly residential jobs. Are you wholesale only or both wholesale and retail. I am both but much prefer wholesale, retail can be a pain sometimes.

 

[spruce Deere]

Hello there ncnurseryman

We do both wholesale/retail..... Lately, any sale is the preferred sale:licking: A lot of our market has been wholesale to other nurseries. We are one of the bigger spruce plantations in the surrounding area.

We contract out our b+b digging to a partner nursery that offers 1 gal pots to 25gal also and B+B stock. The contracting out the digging saves us from the overhead of more machinery expense and tends to help us sell more trees at times!

Surprisingly, we do not get much involved with the planting of the trees other than giving advice on how to care for a tree after its planted. 'mostly the retail customers'.

I do offer compact tractor services tilling, rotary cutting, light material moving and such. Not the most lucrative thing most the time, but it helps. I offer the service 'cause I can and have repeat customers.

 

[ncnurseryman]

Yep, as we move into summer any sale is good. We always slow down in high summer and winter with the most sales in spring and fall, but I have to be here all the time to work things alive. It reminds me of a dairy farm whereas plants in containers need constant attention as do cows. I have debated on buying in b&b items to have on stock for landscapers and builders but after a while they start to grow out of the burlap. I may do it still when the housing market picks back up.

 

[spruce Deere]

When we have to hold b and b dug trees for an extended amount of time, we 'heel them in' Which is just burying the ball in some sort of mulch material and keep it moist. We have limited space and materials and can only 'hold' a small amount of trees though.

Growing out of the burlap is not all that bad, whats bad is not keeping the ball moist and protected.

One tree farm we sell to has a dedicated holding yard for just that reason, holding trees for a later date. They are able to keep and sell stock threw the summer.

You mentioned its like a dairy, the constant attention. You are the only one other than myself that I know of who has made that direct comparison, I kinda chuckle when people say can't be to hard to grow trees.......

Its the growing healthy, good looking, marketable trees that's tricky

 

[ncnurseryman]

Most definatley, the most challenging part of the nursery is keeping things watered, somewhat protected from the elements and keeping them good looking for sale. I have thrown out more plants than I care to remember because the were no longer saleable. Another challenge is shifting plants up to larger containers for continued growth, that's more money on containers, potting media and fertilizer. Here at least the price of a plant/tree has not risen but the cost of growing and maintaining has. Perhaps there is a reason why no one has responded to this post but me, maybe we are the only ones that are "smart" enough to work in the nursery industry. :confused2:

I guess you just have to enjoy it like we do to do it. a lot of folks dont realize how much work it is and I am certainly not getting rich, but it does have many other benefits. maybe one day. :licking:

 

[Tractor Seabee]

We are just getting started on our enterprise. 21 acres, about 19 in forest with a year round creek through it. Have 20 acres set aside as a forest mangement area for land tax purposes. In the process of logging off what the state will allow, have to stay back 110 feet from the creek. Next fall mwe will reforest (required by the permitting) with fir and cedar. 37 loads of prime logs from about 12 acres so far. We are propagating the small fir and cedar seedlins we forage from the forest floor and pot them till established and then heel in a small plot till needed or sols. We are also potting other forest plants for replanting and resale such as ferns (we have 6 varieties growing wild), flowers, mountain ash trees, salal, oregon grape, huckel berries mountain blue berries, mushrooms, maples, pines, hawthornes, and cultivated rhodedendrons. We alos have a lot of holly trees scattered about that we will use for seasonal greens to sell. Amazing that we have all this variety growing wild. The alder along the creek area is a perpetual msource of firewood. We have a lot to learn as we go. Just got 160 noble fir seedlins for free that we have heeled in for the summer to start our christmas tree plot in the fall, about 2 acres to start. Plan those, some doug fir, some blue spruce, sequoia, and a pine variety. Any good ideas? We want to stay with natural NW products.

Ron

 

[spruce Deere]

Tractor seabee, you folks over on the wet side of Wash. can grow darn near anything you want with the Lush soil, No end to the rain, lack of hard frosts..... I recommend you stay with the native variety of plants, don't go to exotic. I wish my ground had more 'forested' acreage.

The cost deal runs the same over here... The market seems to have tipped toward the retail side a little more also compared to years before. Over stock of plant varieties and slow picking up markets, Different tree farms up for sale or have sold

At the end of the day, had more calls this season than the last. Its turning for the better, just sloooowly.....

I'm hoping we are not the only ones here in the tree/nursery industry here.

 

[techwrtr2]

After reading this thread it has me wondering....

What makes a tree nonsalable? Besides dead of course.

 

[kthompson]

I will start off with I am near 60 but about four years back gave consideration to raising trees and shrubs. Gave a far amount of consideration and the water issue was considered very carefully. When I said to my children who thought it was good idea, okay which one wants to join in this venture as by the time it is really rolling Dad may need help due to age....did you know they suddenly felt it was best in hay or soybeans?

Have a friend who's family is one of the largest farmers in our area. They began a few years back with raising trees and shurbs and it seems to do very well for them.

 

[spruce Deere]

To be able to sell trees, nursery stock, your farm products must pass state inspections for bugs, noxious weeds, fungus. AND If you are gunna sell into foreign countrys such as Canada, California and the new one Washington state, you need a thing called a phytosanitary which is like a state inspection but has government smeared on it.

So, you asked what makes a tree unsellable.... If the state finds a harmful bug infestation in your stock or noxious weeds growing amongst marketable stock, or a contagious fungus in your stock, you cannot sell anything till the pest is removed from stock. State can quarantine your stuff if it see's the need..... Could ruin a seasons worth of selling...... A hale storm at the wrong time can do severe amount of damages to trees..... One amorous buck proud of his antlers can do untold damage to trees if not guarded properly.

Hay, well The best way I found how to do hay is not to, allergies solved that. Soy beans, I don't know. Never have grown them. Sure there is caveats with those too.

 

[techwrtr2]

So it's not an appearance thing then. I can see where .gov wouldn't want you to sell trees with bugs etc. Moving stuff around without care seems to cause us problems.

 

[JT on a JD]

Not quite a tree farm/nursery, but I do have 75 pecan trees on 5+ acres in Central Texas. If the rains cooperate, I might be able to pull in a small harvest for the first time this fall!

 

[spruce Deere]

Well tech, Aesthetics are in the eyes of the customer. Some like short, full trees and some like a layered tall or a layered short tree. Some like blue trees some like green trees....:laughing: Important thing is I make sure they are healthy and free of noxious anythings

JT I know what it is like to wait years in growing trees for a harvest, of any kind. If I could shove all of the rain we are having lately, averaging an inch per 24 hours here and going on a week now, I would graciously oblige.:thumbsup: And welcome to TBN!

 

[ncnurseryman]

Tech, it is very much an appearance issue as well. People expect perfection on a plant and that is often difficult to do when working with hundreds or thousands of plants. They all do not grow the same, some do well, some do not. You just have to try and provide the best conditions for growth and keep a constant watch on them and it is a year round maintenance concern as well. It's like any other agricultural endeavor, you are at the mercy (somewhat) to nature. You just don't hear about the nursery industry when the news talks about agriculture issues. That revolves around food production.

 

[techwrtr2]

I'm not critical of the need you have when it comes to what the customer will buy. Most folk seem a bit foolish. What I am pondering is if I could convince sellers to offload trees they'd otherwise junk. I need trees but really don't care if they are perfect. Heaven knows they won't stay perfect where I'm planting. Only thing I care about is that they grow and not carry disease.

 

[ncnurseryman]

Probably so, I always have a heavy discounted scratch and dent sale to move plants that are good but maybe not full retail quality. I am thankful for folks like yourself that can see that a not perfect specimen can still turn out to be a nice tree or shrub. I often plant them at the nursery and at home and they often thrive. I hate throwing them out and would rather sell them at a discount than not at all.

 

[spruce Deere]

Oh, 10-4 on that

We sell some of the the "phugly" trees at a discount. Still costs to dig'em and such.

 

[Furu]

. It's like any other agricultural endeavor, you are at the mercy (somewhat) to nature. You just don't hear about the nursery industry when the news talks about agriculture issues. That revolves around food production.

Not that I am a nursery manager like you two but growing trees for commercial/timber purposes is certainly always at the mercy of nature. The ice storm we had this past January took out over 95% of one of my stands for a loss of just about 10,000 trees. I only lost 12 years of growth. As unfortunate as I was I know people who lost 80 year old trees to the same storm and the timber is not even salvageable as timber just firewood. Nature is always in control we just think we are.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Not that I am a nursery manager like you two but growing trees for commercial/timber purposes is certainly always at the mercy of nature. The ice storm we had this past January took out over 95% of one of my stands for a loss of just about 10,000 trees. I only lost 12 years of growth. As unfortunate as I was I know people who lost 80 year old trees to the same storm and the timber is not even salvageable as timber just firewood. Nature is always in control we just think we are.

Ain't that the truth. We only lost a few more dead alders last winter. I doubt I can even burn as fire wood all that stuff before it rots. Some is virtually inaccessible in wet areas except with a long winch line. Luckily my wet areas are not on the county/state maps as wetlands so I can selectively pull out stuff for firewood. Due to liability issues I will not allow others to cut firewodd and there is not a big enough return/labor to try and market it as cordwood; getting too old for that anyway.