Sustainable Small-scale Nursery
Production
Horticulture
Systems Guide
ATTRA - National
Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
PO Box 3657
Fayetteville, AR 72702
Phone: 1-800-346-9140 --- FAX: (479) 442-9842
| By
Steve
Diver and Lane Greer NCAT Agriculture Specialists May 2000 (Revised Nov. 2001) |
{pdf lcoation} 9 pages — 287 kb |
Introduction |
This publication is geared toward small-scale nursery managers who want to use sustainable practices, and larger-scale nursery managers interested in converting from conventional to sustainable practices. (For the purposes of this document, small-scale can be defined as having fewer than five acres in container production and fewer than 15 acres in field production.) It is not meant to include everything one needs to know before going into production. A nursery can be part of a diversification strategy to make a farm more profitable, or it may be the only enterprise. In either case, it is important to start small and expand later.
For general information on standard nursery production, please refer to publications and bulletins published by the Cooperative Extension Service, and common horticultural texts and trade magazines. See the Resources section at the end of this document for a listing of nursery literature.
This document discusses sustainable nursery production in general before going on to container and field production techniques. Sustainable nursery practices usually involve reduced levels of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, use integrated pest management systems to deal with insects, diseases, and weeds, and focus on building the soil to promote plant health.
The nursery industry as a whole has grown 10_20% a year during the past decade. Nursery sales follow the economy in general. When times are tough, people stay home more and garden, but they buy smaller, less expensive plants. When the economy is doing well, homeowners often buy more, larger plants for entire landscaping projects. In general, though, no matter what the state of the economy, it usually takes five to seven years for a beginning nursery business to show a profit.
The most important things to consider before actually beginning production are what crops to grow and how to market them. In today's economy, it is no longer possible to grow crops without first considering how they will be marketed. Here are some facts to keep in mind before starting out.
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Container-grown crops generate about ten times more sales per acre than field crops (1). |
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Approximately 80% of a lawn and garden center's customers are drawn from a five- to fifteen-mile radius (2). Over 60% of an average wholesale nursery's sales are within the state. Small nurseries sell about 20% of their plants out-of-state (1). |
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Retail garden centers usually want small plants in 1_3 gallon containers. Landscaping firms and landscapers are more often interested in larger container plants (3_5 gallons) and balled and burlapped (B&B) woody plants (1). |
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The nursery industry is very dependent on the construction industry and on the rate of unemployment in the vicinity of the nursery. |
ATTRA is the national sustainable agriculture information service operated by the National Center for Appropriate Technology under a grant from the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. These organizations do not recommend or endorse products, companies, or individuals. NCAT has offices in Fayetteville, Arkansas (P.O. Box 3657, Fayetteville, AR 72702), Butte, Montana, and Davis, California.
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