Study tour of North American production nurseries pdf 6 MB

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NYS9048
Study Tour of North America Production
Nurseries
David Gordon
Nursery Industry Association of Victoria
NY99048
This report is published by the Horticultural Research and
Development Corporation to pass on information concerning
horticultural research and development undertaken for the
nursery industry.
The research contained in this report was funded by the
Horticultural Research and Development Corporation with
thefinancialsupport of the Nursery Industry of Victoria.
All expressions of opinion are not to be regarded as
expressing the opinion of the Horticultural Research and
Development Corporation or any authority of the Australian
Government.
The Corporation and the Australian Government accept no
responsibility for any of the opinions or the accuracy of the
information contained in this report and readers should rely
upon their own enquiries in making decisions concerning
their own interests.
Cover price: $22.00 (GST Inclusive)
HRDC ISBN 0 7341 01694
Published and distributed by:
Horticultural Research & Development Corporation
Level 1
50 Carrington Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Telephone:
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HORTICULTURAL
RESEARCH &
DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION
Partnership in
horticulture
RESEARCH PROTECT NO. NY99048
STUDY TOUR OF
NORTH AMERICA PRODUCTION NURSERIES
FINAL REPORT
OVERVIEW
This Tour was undertaken by nineteen industry personnel who are all actively
involved within production nurseries. The Study Tour took place over a
period of nineteen days in total, of which three days were spent on travel and
resting and the remaining sixteen days were spent studying nurseries and
other production facilities.
In total fifteen production nurseries were visited along with two large
gardens and two universities.
The purposes of the Tour were to investigate North American production
nursery techniques including methods of stock handling and stock movement
on a large scale as well as the capacity for adaption within Australian
production nurseries of economies of scale where applicable.
The anticipated outcome of the Tour was to improve the economical structure
of production facilities within Australia coupled with the local development
of suitable training and equipment to achieve these objectives.
In terms of industry adoption the target audience was seen as the entire
production nursery industry in Australia, but particularly producers of
temperate climate plants.
The participants in this Study Tour were each designated to specifically
review the individual destinations visited by the Study Tour, and copies of
their reviews and reports are attached. The information gathering process has
been a most extensive one and the degree of contribution by each member of
the Study Tour party has been significant.
Several of the reports are very comprehensive, and in particular the
presentation by David Button of Alameda Homestead Nursery is both
informative and instructive. This report has also been produced on CD Rom
and copies will be made available to industry shortly.
1
INDUSTRY ADOPTION
Excerpts from the reports have already been published in GroundSwell
magazine (copies attached) and it is expected that this will continue. Articles
will also be submitted to Greenworld and Australian Horticulture magazines.
Four major information nights have already been held. All tour participants
have taken part in and contributed to these information nights which have
attracted audiences in the range of 80 per session. These very valuable
information nights will continue in the foreseeable future. We would
anticipate at least another 8-10 discussing the outcomes of the Study Tour and
disseminating information from it.
PROJECT EVALUATION
Tour participants were expected to maintain a journal of their findings while
on tour. By and large the contents of these journals have been used in the
preparation of the individual reports. Participants are also maintaining
records of the adoption of the outcomes of their findings, and these outcomes
will be reported regularly in GroundSwell and copy will again be submitted
for publication to Australian Horticulture and Greenworld magazine.
TOUR OUTCOMES
Some of the major lessons learned by the tour participants were:
•
In many respects the basis of comparison of the economics of North
American production facilities and Australian production facilities is
difficult to assess because of the fact that the North American market has
the advantage of easy access to very cheap labour resources, primarily
from Mexico.
•
Whilst many North American production nurseries are on a huge scale
compared to their Australian counterparts, the internal stock handling and
transport systems and methods are, generally speaking, not up to the
Australian standard. Again, the advantage of a cheap labour resource
obviates the need for heavy capital investment in stock handling and
transportation systems.
•
One very significant lesson which could be applied to the Australian
market is the fact that North America has five standard pot sizes, and all
the pots are black in colour. At a stroke, this system obviates the very
expensive and time consuming practice in Australia of adopting hundreds
of pot sizes and colours. This very advantageous system also takes
2
advantage of a system known as USDA Hardiness Zones. Under this
system plants are given a zoning classification according to their
hardiness, and the whole USA market place is able to grasp very quickly
the type of plant referred to.
•
Generally speaking the balance between supply and demand within the
USA seems to be fairly level and the signs of prosperity and viability are
quite evident. One of the very powerful impressions that the tour
participants gained was that the North American production operators
focus heavily on profits and the pure business aspects of their enterprises.
The plant stock is simply treated as a stock line.
•
Plant hygiene is probably not as good in North America as it is in
Australia and this comment also applies to the final preparation of stock
for sale. Bloomers are sold by the production nursery at a much later stage
of development than in Australia. The North American market culture is
to purchase flowering stock in full colour. Therefore the pot colour and
label are nowhere near as significant in the marketing process as they are
in this country.
•
Prices are not geared to pot sizes to the same degree as they are in
Australia. The North American buying public are attuned to buying
plants based on precepts of plant quality, rarity and colour rather than
simply the size of the pot.
•
As alluded to earlier, the tour participants were most impressed with the
financial aspects of production nursery life in North America. Most
operators are better at assessing their business inputs and expenses, they
are better at financial and business management, their production target
management is generally more sophisticated, there is a significant and
strong profit motivation at all levels and there is a very powerful
knowledge and understanding of the marketing and other forces at work
within their market place.
•
Very few production nurseries in North America act as their own plant
wholesalers. In general terms most of the buying and selling and general
dealing is done by brokers who operate within the system, are highly
knowledgeable and very respected.
•
The cultural differences within the North American market are too great to
be of value in terms of importing such notions as personnel techniques etc.
The main reason for this difference is in the use of cheap Mexican labour.
The ability of the North American production nurseries to avail
themselves of this resource places them in a category alone when it comes
to market place comparisons.
3
•
As a general rule North American production nurseries work on a staffing
ratio of one person per acre. This is similar to the ratio adopted within
Australia but the major difference is in the fact that the unit cost is
significantly less for the North American nursery.
•
The incidence of colourful and informative plant labels is not as significant
in North America as it is in Australia. This stems primarily from the fact
that the American stock is sold at a much later stage of development and
therefore needs less illustration. The North American nurseries adopt a
procedure of putting stickers on pots rather than labels. Putting stickers
on pots has not been in practice in Australia for many years but it is a
notion worth investigating.
•
Occupational health and safety issues in the North American nurseries are
generally afforded more exposure. The signage around the nurseries is
excellent and they have a very good culture in relation to OH&S. This
undoubtedly stems from the fact that the USA is a hotbed of litigation.
•
In terms of developing new products to bring to Australia, the tour
participants were able to see some new product but not a significant
amount. The American market seems to be satisfied with traditional stock
lines. Whilst tour participants are negotiating with their North American
counterparts it is not expected that a great deal of new production will
evolve out of this on to the Australian market. The North American
producers are simply not very keen on developing new products. They
are keen on producing products which will make money.
•
North American production nurseries are strongly attuned towards award
schemes and incentives as a means of encouraging excellence. The
California Certified Nursery Personnel Scheme has a very strong presence
in all the better quality retail nurseries. The tour participants strongly
encourage the ongoing development of a Nursery Professional Scheme
within Australia. It is interesting to note that staff accredited under this
scheme are keenly sought after and there is no doubt that this experience
will extend to Australia in due course.
•
E-commerce is very advanced in North America. Generally speaking the
production nurseries are much more advanced and are making much
better use of their electronic capability. To a degree this has been forced
upon them by the need to communicate efficiently given the very long
distances involved. However, the fact remains that Australian production
nurseries have much to learn in this area.
4
•
Whilst the study tour participants were well received, it is obvious that
there is very little social interaction between the North American
production nurseries compared to their Australian counterparts. This
stems from the very powerful business motivation in the USA and the
strong desire to divulge nothing which could be of assistance to a
competitor.
•
Pre-ordering is very strong in North America. Both the production
nurseries and retail garden centres recognise very strongly the value and
benefit of pre-ordering. In fact most trade is pre-ordered.
•
Most product in North America is grown according to the local climate
and using the natural climates in each area across the USA to advantage.
In other words for reasons of economy North American production
nurseries do not engage to any degree in climate control. This has very
significant economic benefits.
o/ref: corresp\usstudytourfinrep.doc
5
BAILEY'S NURSERY
Bailey's Nursery was on our agenda for the 5th June (the 11th day of our tour). We
were given so much information that it all became a bit mind-boggling.
We were met by the chief propagator Jim McConnell and his assistant
Randy. Once again because of the lateness of the hour on our arrival we were
unable to see maximum effectiveness of workers but I guess this was evidenced in
the overall experience of how the nursery was laid out, starting from the
propagation area to the canning area - large trees in pots.
All up Bailey's have a total of 4,500 acres under production, which is
distributed over five farms; Minnesota, Oregon (where we visited) and
Washington.
Bailey's was founded in 1905 by John Vincent Bailey (a market gardener)
and it is still run today by the fourth generation of the Bailey family. It has
diversified a great deal in that time.
They grow stock that includes deciduous trees and shrubs, evergreens, fruit
trees, perennials, and roses and grow from seedling-rooted cuttings to finished
bare root and container grown stock. About four million softwood cuttings for
trees, shrubs and vines were started at the nursery we visited.
Probably one of their biggest features was a fantastic cool-room in which
they store their bare-rooted stock at 48 degrees fahrenheit, which during March is
full to the brim. Here they are able to keep stock indefinitely as the system allows
them to keep them at a constant humidity. They wrap the stock in plastic and pack
into palettes where they are kept at a constant temperature until required usually
within a year and a half.
Seedlings are stored at 37 degrees fahrenheit and they don't need to freeze these.
They have a high pressure Fog system to keep humidity up. I believe that in
Minnesota, the cool rooms they have there are the size of football fields.
40% of the whole organisation was centred on the location we visited and
the remaining 60% was centred in Minnesota, which handled all of the marketing
to zones 2, 3 and 4 - the hardier areas.
Everything was started at the nursery we visited, with regard to softwood
cuttings and they grow approximately four million trees, shrubs and vines per
year.
Our tour involved looking over the greenhouses, eight of which had
cuttings in the ground but during peak time the whole 55 greenhouses would be
under production.
This area appeared to be fairly primitive as the cuttings were placed in
prepared beds of pumice and sand. Two workers worked opposite one another and
placed cutting in by hand until required amount of cutting was complete of a
particular variety (very back breaking and at ground level).
Because of its availability and wonderful porosity, pumice was used widely
both in the striking and growing mixes. It is an inert material which they have
found allows the plant to make a good root system and they get semi trailer loads
of it delivered at a time.
One of Bailey's mottos is "less water is best". They would rather have
things peak towards dryness than over water them. There is very little breeze at
1
night and little cloud during the day so they feel with natural ventilation they have
idyllic conditions for growing.
The watering is not computerised in this area and Randy is the main worker
responsible for turning on the sprinkling system and he tests the soil by hand and
observation of wilting of plants to keep things at the right level. There is no
heating for root cutting except for the rhododendrons.
Each greenhouse (igloo) was approximately 138 feet long and was prepared
by carefully mixing the sand and pumice. They do enclose each glasshouse and
spray - leaving it shut for 4 - 5 days to penetrate, then each is aired for 5 - 6 days
before being planted out. They did have a boom sprinkling system, which was
automated in part but a worker still had to keep an eye on it. This area appeared to
be very labour intensive. Cuttings were taken between the 15th May - till winter January. Fertiliser is used after the plant is established.
Their water is chlorinated and pumped out of a reservoir, which has just
been newly acquired. This has a variable speed pump system which they consider
to be state of the art. It did look pretty good.
They also now have a back up generator that is greatly beneficial in
emergency situations. They don't have much trouble with algae in tank as it has a
floating cover and is highly chlorinated but once diluted down does not interfere or
detract from growth of plants. The nozzles on booms don't block up very much so
this indicates all is working well. They do not have any wells. All water is gravity
fed. Jim McConnell and our group displayed a lot of enthusiasm and excitement
in the pump area; apparently it had a 120kg pressure.
An interesting way of them keeping even growth of cuttings was a self
designed mower system which had a Honda lawn mower attached to a boom
which went over the whole area and because it had a bag attached all clippings
were removed. This was done 6 - 8 times for the season to ensure uniformity.
Because of its isolation the nursery experiences very little theft. They
didn't appear to have any great security system but I guess the fact that there was
always someone within the nursery every hour of the day ensured no problems in
this area.
The aim of the nursery is to breed quality shrubs that are disease free and
have good flowers and of the 300,000 seeds that are sown they are happy if they
are able to find two or three hardier types that can be then patented. This process
can take two or three years and a lot of expertise. They are looking for "Miss
Universe".
Dedication of staff was apparent in the people who showed us around and I
believe many of the staff have been there over 20 years. The young girl Dusty
who showed us over the "canning" area had been there only a very short while but
was extremely enthusiastic about the people she worked with. The teamwork and
of course the most magnificent views with snow covered mountains as a backdrop
were all positives. These people really loved their job and made our visit very
rewarding.
After our visit to the propagation area we were introduced to Dusty who
whisked us away on the bus for a tour of her particular forte, the "canning" area.
This area was 170 acres and was sensational to look at. Trees and shrubs
everywhere. Here they grew 150,000 different plants in different pot sized. One
2
of the most spectacular sights here was of Berberis which was just an area of red
as far as the eye could see. Because of the different needs of the plants watering is
still mainly done by hand.
90 - 95% of recycled water is used at Bailey's. Their main product here is
the rhododendron; 100,000 cuttings planted out each year. They have found that
the roots like to be cool but they don't like to be over-watered.
All potting here is done by hand and some of the larger container pots are
designed to be moved with a forklift but everything else is shifted by hand and
trailer. They use about eight different types of soil mix depending on what they
are potting and once again great use is made of pumice, because of the need for
good drainage in the mix. The mixture consists of varying quantities of sand,
pumice, birch and soil. A granulated fertiliser is used to cut down on time spent
top dressing and thus can last for up to two years.
They load using conveyor belts and daily load six trucks, which takes
approximately 14 hours to do each day.
Contractors are employed to transport stock to Minnesota area. Basically
trees are potted, placed on trailers, run through showers then placed on ground
area.
Approximately 95 varieties of plants are grown in the "canning" area and
80 people are employed to do the heavy potting.
Baileys appear to be very innovative and try to be as efficient as possible
with labour and water saving techniques. All run-off is collected by a huge
drainage system which goes down to the creek and then the catchment area to be
then recycled and used again in the nursery.
Trial areas of between 3,000 and 5,000 plants are continually monitored to
ensure quality of stock. Presently they are having trouble with scab on the apple
trees and they have set up a drip irrigation system in an effort to try and cut down
on spraying.
They have a new variety committee who study things for three years and
decide what they are going to grow and have found this to be very effective. At
the moment they are also trying to design a frame which will hold the pots down
in the high winds which will cut down on labour needed to fix stakes in as other
nurseries do. This method is very labour intensive and considered by Bailey to be
very cost ineffective.
Quality appears to be the essential element of their growing and great care
is taken to prune by hand according to variety. Because propagators are
continually taking cuttings, pruning does not have to be done especially.
An interesting point to note in the growing of daphne burkwoodii was that
the pots were submerged in the ground to promote better root growth. Their main
lines appeared to be Rhododendrons, azaleas, maples, birches, daphne and
magnolia. Lots of new development appeared to be happening in the particular
area and it would be great to visit in a few years time to see how much more this
nursery will have grown by then. As with most of these larger nurseries on the
west coast, the majority of staff were Mexican and little if no English was spoken.
Dusty was fluent in Spanish and this asset along with her enthusiasm for her job
ensures another satisfied Bailey's worker. Another interesting feature of the
nursery was its profit sharing incentive for permanent employees, which has been
3
operating since 1955; thus maybe explaining continued dedication of staff. I don't
know what other incentives are used but the staff seemed to be particularly happy
which tells us all we want to know of the integrity of Bailey's Nursery. One is
amazed at the feeling of personal involvement when it is so huge, but this feature
really shines through and is to Bailey's Nursery's credit.
We thoroughly enjoyed our tour and look forward to the next one. One can
appreciate the integral role that Bailey's Nursery has had on the nursery industry
of America.
4
The Butchart Gardens
Nestled at the feet of tall cedars and firs lies The Butchart Gardens, 50 acres of magnificent year round
floral delight ticked into a serene 130-acre country estate. What was once a limestone quarry, with its
eerie, lifeless, stark landscape, lias become a much talked about and world-renowned landmark.
The abundance of spectacular flowering plants, shrubbery and trees, are set out in different areas, like
the Sunken Garden, where the quarry once lay, the Italian Garden, The Victorian Rose Garden and the
Japanese Garden.
Throughout the many walkways, are distinctive touches - statues, fountains, and waterways - all
woven into an aura of elegance and charm.
Flowers having such common appeal as zinnias and daisies, snapdragons and petunias intermingle with
much more exotic plants such as a Handkerchief Tree or the Tibetan Blue Poppy. Shrubbery like
rhododendrons and azaleas and trees like the dogwood and arbutus which grow in abundance in the
coast forest, give the gardens a lush setting.
On any one-day, visitors to the gardens might find as many as 300,000 plants in bloom. Willi so many
flowers, a walk through die gardens is not only a feast for the eyes, but enticingly fragrant. One might
come upon gardeners at work changing over the planting's in one area, or hear the chatter of visitors in
a different language.
History of the Butchart Gardens
In 1888, near his birthplace, Owen Sound Ontario, die former dry goods merchant. Robert Pim
Butchart began manufacturing Portland Cement. At the turn of the century, attracted to the west coast
of Canada by rich limestone deposits vital for cement production, he built a new factory at Tod Inlet,
on Vancouver Island. There in 1904, he and his family established tlieir home. •
As the limestone in the quarry became exhausted near tlieir house, Mr Butcharts wife Jenny thought of
an idea for refurbishing the stark pit which had resulted. She requisitioned tons of topsoil from nearby
farmland, carrying it by horse and cart to Tod Inlet and then using it to line the floor of the abandoned
quarry. As time went on the bleak quarry was transformed into a blooming spectacle known as the
Sunken Garden. By 1908, reflecting tlieir own world travels, the Butcharts had created a Japanese
garden on the sea-side of tlieir home, and later constructed a symmetrical Italian Garden on the site of
tlieir former tennis court. The magnificent Rose Garden that today is home to 2500 rose plants from tea
roses to climbers, replaced a large kitchen-vegetable patch in 1929. Word of Mrs Butcharts fantastic
garden soon spread and by the 1920's, more than 50,000 people visited each year to marvel her
creation. In a gesture to all tlieir visitors, the Butcharts christened their estate "Benvenuto", italian for
"Welcome".
Their house grew into a comfortable, laxurious showplace with a bowling alley, indoor salt water
swimming pool, panelled billiard room and a self playing Aeolian pipe organ. Today the residence
contains die Dining Room Restaurant, offices, and some rooms are still used for private entertaining.
The only surviving portion of the Tod Inlet cement factory is the tall chimney of a long, vanished kiln,
which can be seen from the Sunken Garden lookout. The plant stopped manufacturing cement in 1916,
but continued to make tiles and flower pots up RF1950.
The Butchart Gardens have always been under family ownership, initially by Robert and Jenny
Butchart, then by grandson Ian Ross up until 1997. It is now owned by members of the Butchart/Ross
family, the board members being: Mrs Ross, 2 children in their 50's. an accountant and a lawyer.
In excess of 1.5 million visitors a year marvel at this spectacular garden, enjoying the floral beauty,
entertainment and lighting programs on offer. Carrying ontiieirfounder's work, The Butchart Gardens
today have established an international reputation for tlieir continuous display offloweringplants. Each
year, over 1 million bedding plants in some 700 varieties are used throughout the gardens to ensure
uninterrupted bloom from March through October.
Location
The Butcliart Gardens is located 21 kms nortli of the capital city of Victoria, British Colombia, Canada.
Admission
Admission rates vary depending on die amount of bloom in the gardens. At dietimeof die groups visit
on June 10*. die following spring prices applied, April 1st-June 14tii:
Adult
Junior
Children
$12.75
$6.50 _
$1.50
Admission prices include 7% GST. Summer prices as a comparison (Peak Season) June 15 T - Sept
Adult
Junior
Child
$16.50
$8.25
$2.00
The gardens are open from 9.00am - 11.30pm at diis time. Discounted rates apply to groups of 25 or
more adults. Closing times vary on die time of the year.
Climate
Victoria is located in die sub-mediterranean zone and lias die mildest weather of all in Canada. The city
boasts an average of 2,183 hours of sunshine yearly and an 8-month, frost-free season. The average
mondily rainfall in winter is 5cm (2 inches) and die summer is lesstiian2.5cm (1 inch). Winters are
mild and rarely include snow.
The Benvenuto Seed and Gift Store
This store is open all year round and offers an extensive selection of local handcrafts and gift ideas.
Souvenir items and flower seed (hand packaged at die gardens) make lovely momentos of your visit.
Jenny Butcliart's dream of sharing die gardens with everyone grew in leaps and bounds. So much so
tiiat as more and more people visited die requests for seeds led to die establishment of the Benvenuto
Seed Company in 1920. By sellingtiieseseeds,tiieywere able to offset some of the enormous cost of
upkeep of the gardens and until 1939, charged no one admission to the grounds:-
Plant Identification Centre
On your stroll dirougliout die gardens, if a particular plant catches your eye and you wish tofindout
more about it, visit die centre where knowledgeable staff will answefyeur questions abouttiieseplants.
Open April 1 - October 31.
Food Services at the Gardens
Excellent food and warm hospitality are a tradition at The Butcliart Gardens. There are 3 excellent
restaurants on die property as well as several food service outlets located throughout die gardens. The
Dining Room Restaurant is housed in die original Butcliart home. The Blue Poppy Restaurant is
cafeteria style in aflowerfilledconservatory and die Coffee House provides boxed lunches, liglit meals
and specialty coffees and desserts.
Other On Site Services Include:
Loan cameras;
Luggage storage;
Directional guides available in 18 languages;
Pet leashes;
Pet clean up bags;
Postage stamps;
Postal box
Public telephones;
Spousals assist washrooms;
Strollers;
Umbrellas (hundreds).
Wheelchairs;
Web Site http://butchartgardens.bc.ca
Entertainment at the Gardens
The Butcliart Gardens has a wonderful program of seasonal entertainment to delight visitors of all ages.
Catch a live performance in die evening, and dien stroll dirough die grounds to look in awe at die
magnificent night illuminations from June 15 - Sept 15. Hundreds of hidden lights transform die
gardens' landscape.
Fireworks
A sensational eveningtiiatwill delight all young and old, featuring a new theme each year, set to a
glorious symphony of music. Saturday evenings July 3 - Sept 4. These nights are quite often a sell out
and to avoid traffic congestion, catching a bus is recommended.
Christmas Time
Carollers in period dress sing your favourite seasonal songs and die gardens come alive widi diousands
of decorations and lights. A truly magical sight. Dec 1 - Jan 6.
Many more attractions and performances are heldtiiroughoutdie year, die above being just a selection.
"Welcome".
Behind The Scenes
You may noUee diem on a visit to The Butcliart Gardens, but you know they aretiiere.Their careful
and meticulous work gives them away. A team comprising in excess of 50 gardeners and over the
year's, 10 head gardeners which have directed die work.
Tlirouglioutlhe yeartiieywork witii die soil, die cycle of nature and most importantiy the great variety
of flowers and plants. Bedding plants are started in one of nineteen greenhouses on site, then hardened
off, for planting in die gardens 3 montiis later. Three to four times a year, die gardeners transform-die
beds tiiroughout die 50 acres, witii a new crop of flowers and a new season begins. Approximately 500
other employees are involved in die operations of the gardens covering office personal, kitchen staff,
entertainers and information staff.
Tour of the Butchart Gardens Seedling and
Potted Colour Nursery
Guide for Nursery and Garden Tour s- Paul Tunnel - Horticultural Guide who lias been widi die
company for 9 years.
Area of Nursery
The nursery is located on a sloping site adjacent to die large visitor carpark. 52,000 square feet of the
site is undercover, made up of glass and poly greenhouses.
Staffing
Greenliouse manager Danny began with die company at 17 and is now 57. During his 40 years widi die
company, he has missed only 2 days of work. Danny is supported by a number of staff. 50 in total, who
tend die gardens as well. The pay structure is comparable to municipalities,tiieyare not unionised,
howevertiieyare looked after quite well by the company and are regarded as equal to tlie union.
Holidays - Statutory holiday's average to approx. 1 per month.
Annual leave -
up to 5 years service
5 to 10 years service
10 to 15 years service
15 and above years service
2 weeks
3 weeks
4 weeks
5 weeks
The company offers die employees dental and medical benefits and a retirement plan is in place.
Butchart Gardens are a self-sufficient company who employ all trades and have dedicated departments
for diese tradespeople, eg; carpenters, painters and plumbers.
Tlie Workers Compensation Board of British Colombia is a very strong organisation and dierefore
workers safety is paramount at Tlie Butchart Gardens. This was very apparent by the signage and
continual referral by our guide to point out any obstacles during our tour of the nursery and gardens.
Growing Areas
All plant material for die gardens is grown on site betweentiiisnursery and die Tree and Slirub Nursery
(which is located on die RHS of die exit road^wlien departing die gardens. Tlie climate is very similar
to San Fransisco. Winter temperatures are not extremely cold and summer temperatures are very mild.
Average Monthly Temperatures (daily maximums)
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr _
May
Jun
F
C
44
47
50
55
61
67
6.8
8.4
10
12.9
16.3
19.3
_
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
F
C
72
72
67
57
49
44
22.1
22.1
19.3
14.1
9.4
6.8
Greenhouses
A total for 19 greenhouses which are independently computer controlled are required to grow the
diverse range of plants required for die gardens. No master plan was drawn up 96 years ago when die
gardens were established, so when anodier greenhouse is required, diey have to dig into die hillside of
diis sloping site. Dirt floors and wooded benches have made way to concrete padis and metal benches
for easy cleaning. A number of crops need over wintering undercover. These are brought in from die
gardens in late autumn. Varieties include fuchsias, bougainvilleas and lantanas.
All greenhouses are computer controlled and if a problem arises, an alarm sounds and someone from
die property will attend. If not diere is a system of phone protocol in place to contact someone to come
in and correct die problem. Day and night, everything is controlled. A mouse shut die system down a
couple of years ago by chewing dirough one of die major wires. The computer control area has since
been relocated into a safer and dust free environment. Reports can be produced easily to show any
information required on die growing environments, eg: number of times heating came on die night
before, represented by a graph. All greenhouses are hand watered due to die amount of variance in die
size and range of varieties produced.
All greenhouses used to be covered in whitewash during die wanner mondis. It certainly was cheap and
effective, however very dangerous when staff were required to walk between die houses during
removal. The construction of newer houses saw the addition of shade curtains for summer and heat
retention in winter.
In 1996 a major snowstorm came dirough and wrecked 7 greenhouses. These were replaced with
Harnois and Cravo houses. This was an exceptionally bad winter for snow; normally it is not as severe.
Summer sunlight and heat (over 80 degrees farenlieiglit is classed as a heatwave) with low night
temperatures limits whattiieycan grow successfully.
The supplying greenhouse company carries out construction of greenhouses, with plumbing and
irrigation work being installed by die garden tradespeople. Due to die many controls, sensors and
lighting widiintiiesegreenhouses, a diverse range of crops can be grown.
One greenhouse lias a material moving system installed. A track in die form of a U positioned for
arrival of freshly potted stock and dispatch when required. This system makes efficient use of die
growing area, by starting at one entrance and finishing at anodier approx 20 feet apart.
Rollable benches are used in most of the greenhouses, using a ratiier unique way of moving diem.
Benches are moved by turning a steering wheel eitiier left orright.The system is extremely ergonomic
which is a big buzzword in British Colombia. Every effort is constantly made to monitor healdi and
—
- safety issues within die workplace.
Two large boiler houses are located at die gardens widiin die nursery. We were fortunate to view one,
constructed by their own tradespeople and finished off to perfection. This one ran on natural gas. The
other boiler can run on 3 fuel sources, electricity, natural gas and fuel oil.
Geranium Houses
Two greenhouses are set aside for die growing of 38,000 Geraniumstiiatare a major part of die colour
aTButchart Gardens. These are set up as capillary houses using an ebb andflowsystem. During die
construction of these houses, tubing was placed widiin die concrete floor during pouring. Hot water
from die boiler is circulated diroughout tins system. After die Geraniums are moved out, all die matting
is lifted and die greenhousetiioroughlycleaned. Bulbs were being moved in flats, to be dried out
undercover.
Tropical House
This house is used for the management of orchids. As soon as tliey begin to flower diey are taken from
here and placed out into the gardens.
Indoor Plant House
Used solely for die growing of advanced and semi advanced indoor plants that are used to decorate all
indoor facilities around the gardens. This house lias misting and heating for optimum growth
conditions.
Propagation Houses
Four propagation houses are in use for seed and cutting production. Hot water is piped through black
tubing under the benches, creating bottom heat to aid in rooting and seed germination. Wooden flats
are used for production. Cuttings are struck into diese flats in propagation media. Allflatsare sterilised
prior to reuse. For seed germination only, new flats are used. Ranges of ferns are grown within die
nursery in a specially designed fern house. Tliese are used extensively around die gardens.
Trial Grounds
Before any new plant material is planted in die gardens, it is trialedtiioroughlyin trial gardenstiiatare
situated opposite die Tree and Shrub Nursery. Tliese trials are carried out for one year or more
depending on die species. Catalogue descriptions are not enough and diey can't rely on diese when diey
are putting together a proposed display in die gardens.
In die past diere were always a lot more plants grown dian actually required. This was mainly due to
Mr Ross. Mr Ross was owner of The Butchart Gardens up until 3 years ago, before passing away at 79.
He had a habit of going up to die greenhouse manager Danny and saying "I want colour from here to
diere" in addition to what was programmed. Since he passed away, production lias been finely tuned so
now there is very little oversupply.
Bulbs
The major show in spring begins with what-work is carried out in autumn. In autumn, when all die
summer plants are removed from die beds, diey'll begin by planting 400,000 spring bulbs, including
tulips, daffodils; hyacindis and odiers all interplanted widi an understorey of myosotis, english daisies
or wallflowers. In late spring, all die bulbs are dug and taken-up to die nursery and stored to dry off. In
mid summer, diey are sorted and graded widi 25% being held for replanting and die rest being
composted. 300,000 new bulbs are planted a year to ensure the show is always 100%. Tliese butte are
ordered dirougli a broker in June dien imported from Holland.
Begonias
_
Tuberous Begonias are a major part of the show in die gardens. Tliey are grown in pots and specially
made hanging baskets. In die gardens diey are planted out in die ground, placed around in ornamental
pots, used in mixed planting's and hung in hanging baskets in an eye catching display. Begonias are an
extensive part of die display, especially in semi-shaded areas, and are used in mass planting's, hanging
baskets and garden standards (tied up to stakes). Non Stop is a variety used in abundance, as it doesn't
require as much dead heading. Begonias are propagated in 2 ways. Seed sown with a vacuum seeder
direct into pugs and tubers dug form die garden, dried and stored.
Hours of W o r k
Specific crews control particular areas of die gardens. They come up to tlie nursery with a planting list,
load up die material required into trucks and take it out into the gardens. Tlie Butchart Gardens open at
9am every morning to tlie public. Staff begin at 6am and between 6 and 9am, a great deal of work is
carried out. They endeavour not to have too much activity on the walkways, as diey are small. All work
is carried out meticulously so as not to interfere with die public viewing or creating congestion.
Temporary Displays
Some areas around tlie gardens may have temporary displays set up and sometimes involve ponds with
fish. When die displays are dismantled, diefishare stored in a pond widiin die nursery.
Carina Lilies are used extensively not only planted in die ground, but also in containers, to sit in ponds
all summer, creating a colourful display.
Water
Water is not recycled within die nursery at diis stage, however it is to be looked at in die near future.
Tlie water source for die gardens is delivered by 5 reservoirs on die property, plus die addition of a
large, 30,000-gallon tank on die lull beliind die nursery. The tank supplies pond water for irrigation and
to flush die many toilets diroughout die summer montiis during die peak season. City water is not
required for tius.
Tlie gardens are self sufficient widi water and power. Whilst operating as a cement factory, Mr
Butchart acquired waterrightsto access several local lakes. During certain times of the year, using a
system of streams and creeks, die reservoirs on die property are replenished.
Recycling
The Butchart Gardens, widi visitors numbering 1.5 million a year, are extremely conscientious when it
comes to recycling, and have been presented widi an award fortiieirrecycling efforts of cardboard and
styrafoam.
Potting and Growing Media
All material from die gardens is recycled and composted. This compost is then sterilised in a
sterilisation compound. All potting mix is produced on site using a series of bobcats to mix die
ingredients. Tlie potting mix consists of compost, peatmoss, perlite and sand. A 686 granular fertiliser
for immediate release and a 14 14 14 Osmocote for timed release is added. Tlie entire product is mixed
and processed through a shredder onto a dump trucktiienbrought up to die nursery where it is used as
required. Tlie mix is placed onto portable potting benches and moved to die site where potting is to be
carried out. Air porosity is obtained by the use of perlite. It was stressedtiiatgreatxare was required
when handling this product during mixing by the use of particle masks. It is rated as bad as asbestos as
once it enters your lungs, it stays there. A greariiorticultural product but must be handled widi care.
Additional feeding is carried out in die form of liquid fertiliser. This is injected into die hose line. The
formulation being 20 20 20 or 15 30 15 depending on what stage die plants are at.
Tlie use of 2 electric golf carts and trailers carry out movement of stock-around die nursery site widi all
stock being carried around in wooden flats.
Spraying and Pest Control
Years ago, according to log books kept at Tlie Butchart Gardens Nursery, DDT was sprayed on a
regular basis, usually daily, widi no masks or protective gear being used.
A recent acquisition at die nursery is a spray unit called an ESS system, which involves technology
developed for an automobile company for spray painting. The University of Georgia located in die
south of die U.S. developed the technology. Operation in principle is where tlie product in a
conventional sprayer is pushed dirougli using pressure into diis new spray gun device. There, it gets
electronically charged and die particles, when diey come out are ionised into a negative mode, widi
plants being in a positive mode. These particles coming out of die sprayer are attracted to die plant, not
just by gravity, but by the whole electromagnetic phenomena. Tlie particles are attracted to die
underneadi of the leaves, in die crevices, everywhere. Tlie spray system used before die ESS system is
like most systems available, whereby the product is just blasted onto die foliage missing die crevices
and most importantly die undersides. Tlie ESS system is a lot more effective, not having to use as much
product, more economical and safer for staff as they are not exposed to such a high degree of
pesticides. For a cost of $5,000 U.S. die ESS system lias been able to cut back considerably on the
amount of pesticides used to achieve the same level of effectiveness. All concerned at die gardens are
very proud of this 21s' century technology.
Unfortunately this electric unit cannot be used out in die gardens due to drift, as die particles are so
small. Conventional spray pest control is used in conjunction widi IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
around die gardens and some parts of die nursery. Some of the areas witiiin die gardens are dedicated
pesticide free zonestiiatwill eventually see the gradual removal of pesticides used around die areas.
Periodically there may be the necessity to spray for die control of mildew. The continual purchase of
predatory insects will ensuretiiatIPM will become a major part in keeping die gardens in pristine
condition for future years.
Summary
The management and staff of The Butchart Gardens make running a world class, 50 acre garden look
so easy. With detailed planning, well diouglit out procedures, a totally professional approach, combined
with die latest greenhouse and spray technology, they are able to present breatiitaking displays of
colour all year round.
Tlie Butchart Gardens truly is a memorable experience and Itiioroughlyrecommend a visit. Widi tiiis
small insight into die behind tlie scenes operations you can't help but come away impressed.
COLORAMA NURSERY - Asuza California
Colorama comprises three sites totalling 114 acres. The 45acre Asuza site, where the temperature
doesn't fall far below 30 degrees Fahrenheit plus 600acres in Thermal near Palm Springs, sub
tropical desert with short mild winters minimum 37 degrees F and the third of 120 acres at
Carpinteria near the coast has mild winters and cool summers.
The nursery began in 1984 and in 1993 a new stand alone business, Cal Agri Transplants was
formed on the Asuza site to produce transplant plugs of vegetables for farming and bedding plugs
that are now consumed primarily by Calorama. Cal Agri produces nearly 120 million transplants
annually.
STAFF
_The company employs over 250 people during the peak season, most of them are Hispanic. The
nursery operates seven days a week with half of the staff working Monday - Saturday and the rest
Sunday - Friday. The staff learn as they go doing the repetitive type jobs.
PRODUCTION
Colorama are agents for the Herb Herbert series from Australia and this accounts for
approximately 7% of their total sales. They also use pots from Garden City Plastics and the
Norwood taglock system that their customers prefer to the ordinary push in type labels that can
easily be knocked out of the pot. Colorama began as a 4" grower of potted color but now grow a
full compliment of product sizes and varieties that include Geraniums, Cyclamen, Fuchsia,
Poinsetta and a large range of annual vegetables and flowers in cell packs and individual pots.
Their customer base are chainstores and bulk depots whose slogan regarding stock is "no bloom,
no room". The busiest sales time is mid February to mid May.
PROPAGATION
The propagation area has concrete paths, a fog system and hot water heating beneath benches with
open-ended capillary type matting. Cuttings are dipped in hormone powder before being stuck in
oasis blocks or a peat/perlite mix. The material is not treated through a chlorine dip before
processing.
DISPATCH AND WATER SUPPLY
The sales holding area has self feeding roller benches stocked with a range of proven sellers. As
orders come in, they are compiled directly from these benches onto transport trolleys. Kubota
tractors towing shelved trolleys are used to collect additional stock. Completed orders wait under
flat roofed shade houses before being pushed into a parking bay ready to load onto trucks. At the
end of each day a crew of employees cleans the dispatch area.
Watering is done almost exclusively by hand and via drippers on hanging baskets. Their water
source is from the city of Asuza and they are currently working on a recycling water system.
MARKETING
Twenty-four sales people do in store merchandising as well as promote product. Calorama
manufacture all of their own display racks for the stores. Plants are sold on sale or return, given in
the form of a credit provided the plants are positioned and maintained to a minimum level by the
store.
Product is distributed in Southern California as far down as the Mexican border.
Colorama focuses on high quality service backed up by a 7 day a week delivery service. They
believe that technology is the key to futurersuccess so they utilise robotic transplanting equipment,
extensive roller-veyor systems for product assembly, retractable greenhouses, computer controlled
watering booms and have plans for water recycling in their newest greenhouses. The introduction
of the Herb Herbert range of plants with display stands increased herb sales by 380% on the
previous year's sales. Other nurseries have since improved their marketing strategies and the
dramatic increase in sales is levelling out.
i N V J K i n /\1V1C«JLI^/VLN 3 1 UU I
1UUR
rage o m o
PESTS AND DISEASES
Rabbits are a major source of damage in July and August despite a boundary perimeter of wire
fencing. An additional 2' high fibreglass barrier surrounds the outside growing area. During the
rainy season in January and February, botrytis on flowers is a problem. Some damage from
caterpillars and aphid occur periodically during the year, as does a small amount of root rot.
Calorama see their biggest challenge as the effective control and fine tuning of overgrown and
over producing stock.
GROWING
A spoilage rate of 2-3% occurs. Soil is recycled into a compost heap for about 6 months then
sifted and re-used in a ratio of 1:1 with new potting mix and used in big pots or color bowls with
less root sensitive plants. The potting mix is altered according to the time of the year. Soil is
purchased daily and made up to specifications from Calorama. Mixes can include perlite, peat
moss, and vermiculite, washed sand and fir bark. Slow release fertiliser is used over the winter
months and supplemented with liquid feed for the rest of the year. Fresh mix is delivered in large
bulk handling bags that can be forklifted into position above the potting machine hopper and
emptied by releasing the flap at the base of the bag.
Rolling benches in the hardening off shade cloth covered areas have metal A frames over the top
for the addition of plastic in the cooler months to provide extra protection. Colorama experience
4-5 frosts during mid December to March. A large single blade propeller run by a diesel motor
with a solar charged battery keeps air moving on cold nights to reduce frost damage. Plants are
grown on gravelled areas. A number of growth regulators are used including Bonsai and B9.
TRANSPORT
Their own drivers in their fleet of 20 trucks do deliveries. The department of transport is currently
trying to reduce the current 15-hour per day driving allowed for each driver to 12, which would
increase delivery costs dramatically to some areas. Drivers are encouraged to collect the 17"xl7"
trays with an incentive of 5c per returned tray. A levy of 30c per tray is imposed on the nursery
for each one. They manufacture their own trolleys, similar to the ones used by Woodlyn Nursery
in Victoria, multi shelved, capable of holding one tray wide.
PRODUCTION
A large percentage of Calorama's excess product is planted into terracotta lookalike bowls for
instant color. Previously clay bowls from Mexico were used, but were too heavy to handle easily
when full. The bowls aren't seen as a high profit item, but forms an important part of the turnover
and it reduces the number of throw outs of overgrown and excess stock. The recent introduction
of a new seeding machine by Cal Agri has increased their success rate by up to 23%, which
initially created confusion with the surplus stock produced.
_
EURO AMERICAN PROPAGATORS
Euro American Propagators is situated on the west coast of the United States in Bonsall
California, they started business in 1992 with 4 lines, they now have a range of 72 and
increasing. They have two sites, the site we visited has been in operation for 4 years and
consisted of 27 acres of polly houses and hardening off areas, the site is frost free and
hilly, the nursery has been designed so it is easy to get around. Their water supply is
mains pressure that is treated by reverse osmosis.
Euro American Propagators source the world for new plant varieties to introduce to the
North American nursery and greenhouse trade. They grow mainly perennials, herbs
geraniums and poinsettias. They market these products under banners or series such as
Proven Winners®, EuroSelect ™, Incense 'n' Peppermints™, etc. Strong merchandising
and marketing programs support all product grown.
Euro American Propagators only grow stock that is pre-ordered with 70 to 75% of stock
going to nurseries out of state with airfreight being the preferred means of transport from
San Diego airport. They produce approximately 40 million plugs per year with an
average sell price of US.40 cents. There top selling line is Sutera Snowflake which they
sell 2.5 million per year followed by Scaevola aemula New Wonder at 1.5 million.
In the peak time of year (February / March) they employ up to 325 people, with all staff
training being done in house as needed. During this peak time they dispatch 30 to 32000
trays of plugs per week the plug trays being 58 and 84 cells. All trays are packed into
cartons with a 2 carton minimum, 3 or 4 trays per carton. The promotional labels for each
plant are per-packed and fixed to the base of each carton containing the plants.
All plants grown by Euro American are put through a rigorous trialing period of up to 2
years. When a plant is selected for production it is then put into tissue culture to be
'cleaned up' this gives them a supply of mother stock that is virus free. They have there
own tissue culture laboratory on site and insect proof houses where all the tissue culture
is de-flasked. The hygiene in these areas is of the utmost importance with very few
visitors being allowed in (including us). All staff in these areas wear white sump suites,
hairnets and foot covers which are changed and cleaned daily. All stock plants are
replaced annually with clean virus free stock and monitored regularly and if any problems
show up these plants are replaced immediately with clean stock
Stock plants are grown in baskets or tubs outside or tubs in igloos watered by drippers.
Strict hygiene practices are followed here also. In the Sutera stock house for instance all
stock is grown in baskets in rows well off the ground. When the cuttings are harvested the
workers all wear white sump suits and hair nets that are changed every 6 rows, all there
tool are sterilised every row, the rows are about 10 meters long.
All the propagation is done by cuttings and direct stuck into cell trays that have been
filled by machine. The cuttings are stuck in cells on the bench tops in the propagation
house where they will grow, they put between 1 and 3 cuttings per cell, these take 7 to 14
days to produce enough roots to be then placed out side. These propagation houses are all
5
environmentally controlled by a main computer system. All the watering in these houses
and outside in the growing /hardening off areas is done by hand.
The bench tops are in sections of approximately 2m x 1.5m, when the plants are ready to
be taken out to the growing/hardening off area the whole bench top is taken out with all
plants left on as they slide on strips of hardened plastic on the top of the bench frame.
When the plants have hardened off and are ready for dispatch the tops are once again slid
onto a trolley and taken into dispatch in alphabetical order and again slid onto bench
frames for grading into orders, only then are the cell trays handled individually to be
graded and packed into cartons.
The visit to Euro American Propagators was very interesting and informative and I am
sure as I did, everyone in the group would have picked up some very helpful points they
can use in there own nursery. The management and staff were very receptive and willing
to answer all questions asked.
6
EVERGREEN NURSERY
AC NO. 010210849
145 MONBULK-SEVILLE ROAD,
SILVAN, VIC. 3795.
PHONE: (03) 9737-9407, FAX: (03) 9737-9788
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= = =
2 November, 2000
HINES NURSERY INC.
FALLBROOK CALIFORNIA USA.
Hines Nursery was started by the Hines family over 30 years ago and has many
similarities to general nurseries in Australia. One of its major differences is its size and
the fact that it is now owned by a public corporation listed on the New York Stock
Exchange. Hines Nursery in Fallbrook California is approximately 250 acres, Hines
Nursery in Irvine, California is 420 acres, and Hines Nursery in Chowchilla, California is
a 50-acre colour production area. In addition to these there are a further 15 production
sites across America, growing stock to suit various climatic and marketing areas. For
instance, Hines Nursery in Oregon has 1160 acres in production of cool climate plants.
In all, there are well over 2,000 acres in production of containerized plants on the West
Coast alone; many of the nurseries operate independently of each other.
Hines Nursery, Fallbook grow over 2,500 different varieties of plants. Because of their
location on the arid coastal plain, they suffer from few frosts and grow 50% of their stock
on open gravel beds, using butterfly type overhead sprinklers. The other 50% of
Production or 125 acres are grown under some sort of cover, mainly as protection from
intense sunlight. There are some extremely large shade houses and many plastic
multispans using opaque plastics and white wash for protection from the sun .
Although we were not permitted to view their propagation area, their growing technology
did not appear to differ very much from what we would do in Australia. This production
nursery does use some slow release fertilizer, when so many others in California do not.
They monitor their crop health closely and have several scouts, whose job it is to study
each growing section, keeping an eye out for anything that would effect product quality,
weeds, pests, nutrition problems etc.
Their water supply is a shandy of town supply and well water. The EC and PH of the
well water is a little high and this is corrected with an acid drip. The run off is directed
via open culverts to a collection sump or small dam. It is then mixed with the existing
shandy and reused without further treatment.
The main client of Hines Nurseries Inc. is the chain stores "Home Depot" etc. For major
clients they have account administrators that manage sales to that client only. Area
representatives manage sales to the individual stores of chains and also independent
garden center type retailers. Chain stores comprise 60% of their customers, whilst
garden centers and landscapers 30% and 10% respectively. Most orders come through
the representatives via phone or fax. E-mail is used mainly for inter-nursery
communication or for communicating with major clients. They do not have a web site at
this stage, although they perceive that it may be more important to them at some stage in
the future. The reps and customers are supplied with a very comprehensive catalogue
and price list. Reps are also encouraged to take samples to show customers plants "that
the trade may not be familiar with. Most clients are aware of the type and quality of
plant that Hines produce and are happy to order from a catalogue.
One of Hines many strong points is their reliable delivery service. Their semi-trailers, of
which there are over 100, are pulled by sub-contracted prime movers which follow
regular delivery schedules.
Hines have their own individually designed trolley system
and all trailers have power lift tail-gates. The trolleys are all stacked with plants at the
nursery, to the standard that the Nursery requires and Hines warrants the condition of the
plant on delivery. In the event that an outside carrier is used, responsibility for the stock
passes to that carrier once they have signed a receipt. Orders are accepted on a FOB
basis and minimum delivery values and quantities for the areas of California, Arizona and
Nevada are $750.00 US per order and minimum quantities of 12 units per variety for 4
inch pots and of 10 units per variety for 7 inch and pots. Delivery cost is charged on
each invoice and average at 5% of invoice value.
There is also a penalty of $US50.00 if
your order does not meet minimum shipping requirements.
With Nurseries so big, and volumes of plants so huge, the number of clients is also very
large; Hines Nurseries credit application form is quite personal and very detailed and
leaves nothing to trust. The applicant is required to sign the contract in three different
places enabling Hines to conduct research into records of the applicant's bank accounts
and financial statements. Finally a list of procedures and penalties involved if you don't
trade within their terms, followed by an unconditional personal guarantee by the
applicant.
8
In summary, Hines Nursery Inc. at Fallbrook did not appear to be any more technically
advanced than Australian nurseries, but its shear size and volume of plants handles
indicated that its management team was right on the ball Having access to a large and
will workforce (up to 400 in peak time) means that specific jobs can get done on time.
Having procedures in place for worker training and OHS. Helps workers gain confidence
and satisfaction. Put it all together with a buoyant economy and you have a winning
combination which has every appearance of success.
9
Home Depot
Company Information
Home Depot was founded in 1978 in Atlanta. Georgia by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank and is now
tlie world's largest home improvement retailer, with over 970 stores in tlie United States, Canada,
Puerto Rico and Cliile. By tlie end of 2003. Home Depot expects to have in operation over 1,900 stores.
Net earnings of $629 million U.S. were recorded for tlie first quarter of 2000. an increase of 29% over
1999. Net sales for tliefinancialyear ending 31st January. 2000 rose 27% to $38.43 billion U.S.
Home Depot stock is publicly traded on tlie NYSE: HD and is included in tlie Standard and Poor's 500
Index and tlie Dow Jones 30 Industrial Index. For seven consecutive years they have been ranked by
Fortune magazine as America's Most Admired Specialty Retailer.
Employing approximately 226,000 people. Home Depot are credited as being tlie innovator of the
home improvement industry, as well as offering a level of service unprecedented among warehousestyle retailers.
The Home Depot Museum
Opened in 1999 at tlie Atlanta Store Support Centre, a museum known as Tlie Legend chronicles tlie
history of The Home Depot and illustrates die values diat have set diem apart form other home
improvement retailers. The museum is primarily an internal educational tool for Home Depot
associates, dieir families, vendors and stockholders. It is also open to groups on a limited basis, strictly
by appointment.
About the Stores
An average Home Depot store is approx. 130,000 square feet, catering for do-it-yourself, as well as
home improvement, construction and building maintenance professionals. Each store stock approx. 4050,000 different kinds of building home improvement and lawn and garden products, including
variations in colour and size. All newer stores have included between 15-25,000 square feet of garden
centre.
Home Depot also operates 15 EXPO Design Centres across the United States. The EXPO Design
Centres enable customers to get expert advice and top quality products widiin its unique showrooms. In
its' infancy, is die operation of Villager's® Hardware in East Brunswick, NJ and Garwood NJ.
Villager's® Hardware is diefirstof a four-store test of convenient hardware stores catering to home
enhancement projects.
Home Depot does not consider diemselves to have a "chain store" mentality. A chain store dictates
every part of the operation and merchandising from an ivory tower, set in die back blocks somewhere.
Home Depot stores see themselves as entrepreneurial wiUi all stores set up differently, doing dieir own
diing. Tlie entrepreneur is an independent business person vvlfo's doing what's right for dieir market,
for dieir store, for dieir little piece of the business. If you diink of Home Depot as lots of entrepreneurs
doing die right dung in dieir market, dien I diink you get a better idea of what Home Depot is all about.
Home Depot is made up of divisions or regions of up to 130 stores widi a divisional merchandise
manager being responsible for about half die stores' departments. 4 merchants assist him for Lawn &
Garden widiin die same division.
A merchant before purchasing anything, lias tofigureout how diey're going to market it to die
customers, how diey're going to perceive it, where diey're going to put it, so die customer can actually
see it.
Every week, two merchants walk six stores with a district manager and talk about all tlie events and
subjects that effect tlie garden department, and try to teach diem how to sell die product. Selling is tlie
key word. Merchants are not only responsible for just buying tlie product, but marketing, advertising
and selling tlie product. Home Depot merchants are expected to be able to go out into die stores and
come up with new ideas to sell more products.
Merchants have close relationships widi die growers in regards to advertising. Timing product to
perfection to link in widi catalogues and advertisements is crucial. Floor space devoted to Lawn &
Garden in a store is gradually increasing as new stores are opened. Rivalry and friendly competition
between stores is part of the entrepreneurial spirit diat is encouraged. Value adding is proving to be
extremely successful with well-grown quality product in hanging baskets'selling well.
Growers offer advice on how to educate customers on die products. They produce regular point of sale
and service reps call sometimes weekly to help merchandise die stock. Tlie larger suppliers are on call
24 hours a day. 7 days a week.
Home Depot can't afford to lose great growers as diey do whatever it takes to maketiiemselvesand
Home Depot more successful. They combine to form a very strong team. Home Depot doesn't expect
die growers to do everything for diem. They still need die entrepreneurial spirit, but do require outside
input to help diem to be better and drive the business, to ensure diey continue to be No 1.
Tlie three diings die Home Depot stands behind are great selection, great prices and great customer
satisfaction. Quality of product is paramount. If diey can find better product and have to pay a little bit
more for it. diey are willing to do so because that's what die customer is looking for.
The Home Depot Store Visit
Tlie Home Depot store at Cupertino, California near San Jose, opened in Early May 2000. Upon
entering die store, what hits you is colour. Colour is prominent. Colour, colour and more colour. "No
bloom, no room". Approximately half of the outside area was covered by a retractable shade area,
which was strong, sturdy and functional, to suit seasonal changes and climatic conditions. Outdoor
lighting was plentiful to show off die colour displays.
Considered as a job of paramount importance is watering, carried out by hand, by trained staff, to
maintain die stock in peak condition until die customers take it from die stores. Many retractable hoses
placed strategically at die end of each row, mounted on posts, madetiiistask easy to perform and kept
floor space neat, safe and tidy.
Multiple selling was extremely evident and in popular demand widi selling prices quoted per tray lots.
Up market value added products were on offer at attractive prices.
Strong, durable and wide, flat benching was used, constructed of grey, besser blocks and treated pine,
with prices displayed on cards placed prominently on die edges.of the benches. Bulk sale items of
plants were displayed on wooden pallets widi prominent, clear pricing. Add on sales of fertiliser were
place in a prominent position (widi annuals) at die end of benches.
A high degree of xmstomer safety was evident with signs displaying die caption "Caution to be taken.
Plants are watered frequentiy, floors are slippery" When entering die nursery, a large sign was
displayed, advising customers of a 1 year guarantee on plants, shrubs and trees widi helpful advice on
tiieir planting. A Home Depot tip at die bottom of the sign suggested planting a plant from a 5-gallon
container in preference to a 1-gallon container. "Why wait for it to grow".
Tlie outdoor area was sectioned into groundcovers, herbs, vegetables, up market value added, annuals,
etc. Tlie very open viewTnto die nursery area was pleasing to die eye, being a lot more inviting dian
bare walls. Tlie overall presentation was very clean and tidy. Restocking by wholesalers during our
visit was being carried out on Friday morning, mainly in die colour area. This is common practice
especially with die major suppliers. On a busy day, up to 5 truck loads of colour can arrive a day. This
frees up the Home Depot staff to help serve die customers widi expert advice.
Summary
I found tlie visit to Home Depot to be extremely useful and informative, highlighting tlie way tilings are
progressing here in Australia. Tlie similarities between Bunnings and Home Depot are obvious
including die high volume turnover of a general range of plants, die quality and presentation, die
entrepreneurial input in each store, and die close liaison widi die growers.
Stephen Membrey
Southern Advanced Plants
Timeline
Page 1 of 6
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HISTORY
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The Home Depot concept developed and corporation founded
by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. (Original company was
named "MB Associates.")
• 0 Stores
• 20 Associates
• $0 in Sales
1379
» First three Home Depot stores opened in Atlanta.
• 3 Stores
• 200 Associates
» $7 Million in Sales
1980
* First regularly scheduled Product Knowledge training seminars
began.
• 4 Stores
• 300 Associates
» $22 Million in Sales
1981
—
* Home Depot stock went public, raised $4,093 million.
5
First Florida stores opened.
* Homer-f). Poe, company mascot and cartoon character,
appeared in advertising for the first time.
* Named High Growth Retailer by Management Horizons.
» 8 Stores
• 700 Associates
« $51 Million in Sales
1982
* Stock split three times.
* Board of Directors adopted Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
* Named High Performance Retailer by Management Horizons.
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Page 2 of 6
Timeline
• 10 Stores
• 1,100 Associates
• $118 Million in Sales
1983
* Opened first stores in Arizona and Louisiana.
* Computerized checkout systems installed.
* First issue of Doings at the Depot, an internal newspaper,
rolled off the press.
• 19 Stores
1984
• Stock listed on New York Stock Exchange.
* Bowater Home Centers acquired in Dallas, Shreveport, Baton
Rouge, and Mobile.
• 31 Stores
1985
* Expanded into California market.
* Stores operated in 15 markets.
* West Coast Division established.
• 50 Stores
* Sales exceeded $1 billion.
* First super-sized store opened with 140,000 square feet.
* Focus began on pro customer.
• 60 Stores
• $1 Billion in Sales
1937
~~
* Day-in/Day-out Pricing Policy established.
* UPC scanning system adopted.
* Building Better Health Program introduced to promote health
and wellness to all associates.
• 75 Stores
.
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Page 3 of 6
Timeline
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1988
* Expanded into Northeast market.
* Included in Standard & Poor's 500 stock index.
* Named Retailer of the Year by Building Supply Home Centers
for second time.
* Named High Performance Retailer for the seventh consecutive
year by Management
Horizons.
* Satellite communication system implemented.
• 96 Stores
• $2 Billion in Sales
1989
* Established focus areas for community involvement affordable housing and "at-risk youth" programs.
* Northeast Division established.
* The Home Depot built its first Habitat for Humanity homes in
Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa, and Miami.
• 118 Stores
• $2.7 Billion in Sales
1390
* Building Better Health Program launched in all stores.
* The Home Depot began Employee Matching Gift Program to
support associates' community involvement.
* Corporate Contributions exceeded $1.8 million.
• 145 Stores
1991
* Team Depot, the employee volunteer program, established.
* First EXPO Design Center opened in San-Diego.
* The Home Depot named Growth Company of the Year by
National Association of Investors Corporation.
* Olympic Job Opportunities Program established.
• 174 Stores
1392
* 1994 & 1996 Olympic Games and U.S. Olympic Team
sponsorship announced.
* Corporate charitable contributions reached $4 million.
•'timeIine.jsp?C>rrTYPE=NAVIGATION&CNTK£Y=compinfo%2fhistory%2ftimeline.jsp3/07/00
Timeline
Page 4 of6
• First Corporate Social Responsibility Report published.
* Home Depot customers and associates worked together to
help rebuild South Florida after Hurricane Andrew.
• 214 Stores
1993
* Opened first stores in Pacific Northwest.
* First Environmental Greenprint for better housing published.
* The Home Depot became largest employer of U.S. Olympic
athletes.
* Environmental Grant Program established.
• 264 Stores
1994
* $7 million raised for City of Hope Medical Research Center.
* 1996 Paralympic Games sponsorship announced.
* Expanded into Detroit and Chicago - Midwest Division
established.
* Second EXPO Design Center opened in Atlanta.
* Aikenhead's stores acquired to create Canadian Division.
* Announced sponsorship of Canadian Olympic Team and first
Canadian Olympic Job Opportunity Program.
* First Green (Environmental) Habitat for Humanity house built.
* The Home Depot announced Olympic "Adopt-A-Brick" program
to build Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.
* Named Fortune magazine's Most Admired Retailer in America.
• 340 Stores
1995
• Received President's National Community Service Award.
• Received Robinson Humphrey Alexander Award for Corporate
Citizenship.
• Corporate charitable contributions exceeded $8 million.
' Teamed up with Discovery Channel and Lynnette Jennings-to
produce daily home improvement program called HouseSmart
(TM).
• Named Fortune magazine's Most Admired Retailer in America
for the second consecutive year.
• 423 Stores
..7timelmejsp^CNTTYPE=NAVIGATION&CNTKEY=compmfo%2fliistoty0/o2ftimelme.jsp3/07/00
Timeline
Page 5 of6
* 100th Habitat for Humanity house built in Atlanta by Home
Depot officers.
* Sponsored the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.
9
The Home Depot marked 40 quarters, or ten years, of
consecutive record financial results.
* Southwest Division announced.
* The Home Depot passed 500-store milestone, January 16th,
near end of fiscal year.
* Received the President's Sustainable Development Award, the
nation's highest environmental honor.
* Named Fortune magazine's Most Admired Retailer in America
for the third consecutive year.
• 512 Stores
1997
* Arthur Blank elected~to position of CEO.
* Acquired Maintenance Warehouse.
* Entered into joint agreement with S.A.C.I. Falabella to open
stores in Chile in 1998.
* Purchased National Blinds & Wallpaper Factory, a telephone
mail order business.
* Stores launched Load N' Go - Home Depot's exclusive truck
rental service.
* Made a seven-year commitment to the Olympic Games.
* Developed the Kids' Workshop to teach building skills and
safety.
* Received the Vision for America Award from Keep America
Beautiful.
* Named Fortune magazine's Most Admired Retailer in America
for the fourth consecutive year.
• 624 Stores
1998
*
*
*
*
*
*
—
*
*
*
*
First store in South America opened, in Santiago, Chile.
Tool Rental Program rolled out to stores.
Computerized job application process instituted.
Entered Puerto Rican market.
_
New convenience store format called Villager's Hardware
announced to open in June 1999.
Alliance formed with Emerson Electric to create exclusive line
of Ridgid tools for The Home Depot.
Received an "A" rating for its environmental programs from
the Council on Economic Priorities.
Received an Award for Excellence in Corporate Community
Service from the Points of Light Foundation.
Announced NASCAR partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Named Fortune magazine's Most Admired Retailer in America
for fifth consecutive year.
1999
..7'timelinejsp9CNTTYPE=NAVIGATION&CNTKEY=compmfo%2fhistory%2ftimeline.jsp3/07/00
Timeline
Page 6 of 6
Built from Scratch published.
New environmental wood purchasing policy announced.
Home Depot acquired Georgia Lighting and Apex Supply
Company.
The first Villager's Hardware opened in E. Brunswick, NJ.
Home Depot University launched in the stores.
New customer-driven Web site unveiled.
Stock added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Tony Stewart named 1999 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.
First store in Hawaii opened.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and Home Depot
contribute $1 million to Zoo Atlanta to provide a home for
Chinese pandas Luh Lun and Yang Yang.
Named Fortune magazine's Most Admired Specialty Retailer in
America for sixth consecutive year.
• 930 Stores
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29th June, 2000
ISELI NURSERY INC
Address:
30590 Se Kelso Road
Boring, Oregan 97009, U.S.A
HISTORY
Founded by Jean Iseli in 1975 who passed away in 1986. The nursery was sold in 1996 to
a british owned company, who also purchased Scaggit Gardens (visited on the nursery
tour) and Weeks Roses, located in the north/west of America. The nursery is situated on
two sites which covers an area of 800 acres. The General Manager, Greg
Piltcher gave us the tour. He was previously the nurseries banker, but made the switch in
1986. Iseli Nursery is renowned for growing quality temperate zone conifers.
AIM
Jean Iseli's aim was to seek out rare plants from all over the country and commercialise
them. Iseli did not believe in protecting plants with P.B.R. His theory was that he could
not profit from a plant that someone else had discovered. These ideals are still held today
as Iseli Nursery only grow 4 - 5 protected varieties in their entire range. The inside cover
of their catalogue states, "The vision that drives us is the notion that we can create unique
products to allow our private retailers to distinguish themselves from the mass retailer."
FIRST IMPRESSIONSS
On arrival it is clear that Iseli Nursery is a professional organisation. The long driveway
leading in from the road has you passing through their despatch and container area, where
their quality stock is immaculately placed in rows. As you drive along specimen trees line
the pathway up to the office, pruned to form a magnificent avenue.
The office area was a showpiece. There display gardens featured fountains and a fish
pond with water lillies surrounded in beautiful stonework which looked very impressive.
Topiary specimens of all shapes and sizes were perfectly manicured.
PROPAGATION
Unfortunately we did not.view the propagation facility, however Piltcher said that 99.5%
of everything they grow is either cutting grown or grafted and the other 0 .5% is seed
grown. He said that they would prefer to grow 100% by cuttings, but some varieties
would net co-operate. The miih lines grown are conifers, bonsai and acer.
n
-2-
POTTING
Conducted by hand and potting machine. A Gleeson potting machine is used onT, 3 and
6 gallon containers. Twelve staff perform the entire potting machine operation. Pot sizes
range from 1 gallon to 40 inch wooden square containers. Unfortunately we-did not
witness any potting procedures or machinery. The majority of the container area was
open air on screenings. Some shadehouses were seen. There is currently 500 acres under
production consisting of 250 acres of field grown nursery stock and 250 acres of
containers. Piltcher stated that they would prefer to grow all their stock in containers
because field grown stock represented only 15% of sales, however it comprises half of
their production area. Unfortunately some varieties were better suited grown in the field
for performance reasons.
_
SALES/FREIGHTING
There are nineteen sales representatives employed in the company to service a customer
base comprising of 1500 accounts. This consists of 50% growers, 30% re-wholesalers
and 20% landscape and garden centres. The average customer spends US$25,000 p.a. If
a customer wishes to pay for their order two weeks prior to shipping, they received a
2.5% discount. In order to receive a 10% discount, you need to purchase US$90,000 of
stock p.a. Piltcher stated they would prefer it this way rather than having a large chain
store buying up their stock. His comment was, "Nobody is going to- sink our boat."
Peak selling months are May, June and July. By the 1st of August, up to 85% of all stock
has been sold. Main areas of shipments are to the top two thirds of the U.S.A. and the
bottom tenth of Canada. 50% of sales are freighted east of the Mississippi and north of
Kentucky, where 80% of the popoulation resides. Local deliveries are made by their one
truck to Oregan and Washington State. All other regions are serviced by a transport
company. Customers are invoiced for the freight seperately. Piltcher believes that despite
most of their customers being quite some distance away-, the unique growing conditions
that Oregan has to offer for temperate zone conifers way off-sets the extra costs incurred
in transport.
—
/3
- j -
STAFF
The company employs around 200 staff, most of which stay with the nursery year round..
Approximately 40 staff leave in December and return in Mid February. They employ 2 - 3
interns per year and only take on 5 - 6 new staff members per year. The nursery owns
eighteen houses in the area which are available for staff to rent. Most staff are on
minimum wage rates, but receive a bonus if sales quotas are achieved. This is part of the
profit share/cash bonus system. The higher ranked employees normally receive larger
- payments.
WATERING/FERTILISING
The nursery primarily uses bore water for most of their needs. The water is recycled but
not treated before re-use. Only a filtration system is used to filter algae. From 1st of May
until October they have access to reclaimed water from the nearby sewerage plant.
Overhead impact sprinklers are used on a large percentage of-stock. Drippers are installed
on the more advanced plants. Slow release fertiliser is applied to the pots and nitrogen is
dispensed through the watering system at certain times of the year.
CONCLUSION
It was obvious that Iseli Nursery was a very efficiently managed production nursery.
Despite the name of the town, I found Iseli Nursery far from boringH
Report compiled by David Sands
Grandview Monbulk P/L
Molbak's
Host
Study tour members were met and guided through the Molbak's Garden Centre by Kirsten Molbak. Kirsten
is the Vice Chairman of the Molbak group.
History
Molbak's began as a roadside stall at its current main site some 43years ago. Kirsten's parents originally
from Denmark, gradually built the business to the current 16-acre site. Molbak's remains privately owned
and managed within the Molbak family.
Location
Molbak's- Woodinville is the largest single site retail nursery in the state of Oregon.
Other sites within the company include:
Seattle Garden Centre- Pike Street, University (1/5 the size of Woodinville).
The production site (nursery)- approx 40 acres
Climate
The season kicks in around July 1st-beginning of summer. The garden style is often British; reflecting die
similar weather the region has to England- but a little milder.
What does Molbak grow and sell?
Sales break up:
6J Approx 50% Plant sales
e Approx 50% Non-plant- giftware, furniture, table accessories, cards, pantry, tools etc
•
Molbak's sell all associated tools to aid and compliment plant sales i.e. when selling the potted colour
for baskets, they have a full range of associated wares for baskets. Kirsten described this as "hand in
glove" selling.
Displays of giftware & plant displays are always changing to create and maintain interest for
customers.
Colour mixing is essential and kept up to date with the latest fashion colours. Molbak's belong to a
"Colour Marketing Group" to give them the edge in forthcoming colour fashion.
Current colours at the time of visit included:
• Orange & Lime
Hot Pink
• Blue
•
Brown
Textures are also important.
Pantry items are grouped i.e. related food products.
Combined plant materials (fashion colours) used in bowls for patio or table centrepieces.
• The gift shop is themed. Must be a total package i.e. the gift (perhaps glassware or a table accessory)
together with wrapping and the all-important card- mostly botanical themes.
• The florist shop has a full time florist that creates floral displays and gives customers ideas on how to
display flowers in various ways.
65 It sells silk, dry,freshand offers an "Interflora" type service.
© A foliage section is available offering stock up to 200mm pot size.
Outdoor nursery section consists of pots sitting on slightly raised sawdust beds. Species are placed in
p> grouping pmriinc *l'Ta *-e- trees, shrubs etc. The outdoor section does not seem to have the same
quality feel about it that is so evident in the under cover areas and certainly the very high standards set
in the giftware, florist and furniture areas.
• The majority of potted colour is displayed on self service, capillary watered benches.
•
10
•
•
•
The nursery has a water feature and sanctuary section, with bird life and a conservatory feel to it. This
is a quiet section for customers to relax.
Landscape packages for customers are currently being developed.
Molbak's has a 2 for 1 sale on selected products in July. This goes for 10-12 days. It is hugely popular
requiring 15 registers to operate on weekend to cope for 20,000 customers each weekend.
Advertising is spread between radio, Newspaper, Direct Mail and Meet & Greet. Vendors are required
to make financial contributions to assist in the funding of promotions.
Educational seminars for customers are held on a regular basis, using both experts from within the
company and outside.
Staff training is conducted to improve horticultural knowledge but equally to improve people
management skills with customers.
Molbak's Customers
• Molbak's customers are mainly middle-upper income earners, with an average purchase value of $55
US.
Woodinville is within 10 miles of Microsoft Headquarters. In the last 10 years this company has
created a lot of new money (i.e. .com kids). The new money customer is keen to spend, more so than
the old money (i.e. timber families).
• Customers travelling distances are approximately as follows:
30% 5-mile radius
30% from a 20-mile radius
30% outside a 20-mile radius
• The tourist dollar is extremely important.
Molbak's also have a large corporate gift service, especially at Christmas. In October
Molbak's contact (with a gift) the main purchasing officer for a particular company, reminding
them to place their Christmas gift orders
Facts
Molbak employs 450 staff within the company.
It has 17 buyers of product, produces 80% of their plant material requirements and has a total
of 400 car parks at the Woodinville site.
Summary
My observations are that Molbak's is an excellent retail garden and leisure centre. It has successfully
created a fantastic one stop indoor-outdoor horticultural and giftware shopping environment. It offers wide
spread appeal in product type and price. From the very fashionable and some what up market to a
willingness to lower the boom once a year with its two for one sale.
Molbak's Production Nursery
Location and Size
Situated 10 minutes away from the main retail outlet at Woodinville.
• 40-acre site with production occurring both in greenhouses and outdoors.
Molbak's Production Nursery Customers
40% of production is for the general trade.
60% of the production is for the Molbak garden centre.
Production timing and varieties are all retail driven.
General Information
100,000 sq ft glass and 90,000 sq ft of retractable.
11
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The growing houses have auto venting, heating and cooling in 4 zones.
A weather station is located on the roof of the main house. A light sensor will activate
installation or removal of living shade and black out curtains, which are installed on the walls
and roof for when, complete darkness is required.
Heating source is hot water from 2 boilers, gassed fired with an oil backup.
Water source is an underground well with no recycling occurring at this stage.
Stock starts as unrooted cuttings or seed raised or imported plugs. There are no stock plants
on site.
Mix is mainly peat & perlite delivered in bulk bags.
Production is keyed around 4" colour lines i.e. Geranium, Impatiens and stock for use in patio
baskets for both a Sun & Shade series.
A computer system called "Plant Partner" is used to assist in the production schedulesgrowing days & plug numbers.
All flats are hand watered when potted onto capillary mats.
Poinsettias are also an imported crop, with cuttings imported from Paul Ecke or Fischer. The
cuttings are housed in a propagation mist house set at 70° F. They are then grown through
various stages from 3" to large advanced. Six different crops within all the size ranges are
produced with peak sales occurring between November-December. The growing facility also
has the ability to provide additional artificial light as required.
The retractable area houses: Annuals, Perennials and Roses of various sizes.
Watering occurred by the use of conventional shrub heads.
Each zone within the retractable has heaters:
© Snow sensor-roof will open
B Rain sensor- roof will close
© High wind sensor-roof will close
20,000 bare root roses are purchased and started under cover in January.
Potting mix is a Pre-mix purchased from Canada.
Fertigation was used: NPK 200ppm
Hoop Houses were also used for crop finishing.
Pest Control
Pest control was centred on a preventative weekly program. The spray grouping is changed
every three weeks.
• Pest targets were mainly:
® Aphids
B Thrips
B Fungal infections
The chemical "Marathon" was used for White Fly control, giving a three-month cover.
Facts
Staffing was 40-50 seasonal plus 40 full time.
Summary
This facility was very good in terms of structures (glass & retractable) and I am sure management. The only
let down was the outdoor growing areas, which had a poor layout and seemed neglected. The management
agreed that the outdoor facility needed re-building but was a difficult site to improve.
NORTH AMERICAN STUDY TOUR
MONROVIA NURSERY - Asuza California
The long drive lined with 100 year old native palms leads to an office area, display garden and
stock display site amid a well tended lawn area. Monrovia takes its name from the area of the
original nursery site. A family owned business established inl926 comprises three sites: 600 acres
in Vicelia, 900 acres in Oregon and the Asuza site of 500 acres which supplies Southern
California. Each site grows plants to suite their particular area. Asuza is the most tropical of the
three sites.
Monrovia produces approximately 1200 varieties of plants, specialising in topiary and licensed
plants with emphasis on quality and prices in the higher end of the market scale. Minimal
licensing of their plants is done internationally to maintain control over their interests. Plumbago
Blue Cape - PBR belongs to Monrovia and they are currently pursuing a nursery marketing the
same plant as Plumbago Imperial Blue, which they believe, was imported back into the states from
an overseas source.
The nursery is strictly a wholesale only supplier with a total of 51 sales representatives, 21 of
whom represent California. They visit independent garden centres, which comprise approximately
60% of their business. Monrovia has a customer base of 5000 nationally and they have moved
away from chain store supply in favour of garden centres. Plant sales are made from a stock list or
catalogue, not by speccing with plants. Ordering by fax is also an option and a website is currently
being developed. It is a pre-requisite for sales reps to work in the nursery from 1-5 years before
acquiring a territory to service to enable them to be familiar with all facets of the nursery and its
product. Reps travel in their own cars.
The Asuza site is less profitable than the newer sites, which are on flatter areas. At Asuza , the
jeeps can only pull one trailer of plants around the site, whereas three or four trailers can be pulled
at once on the other more level sites. The residential area surrounding the nursery has US$3/4-l
million homes built on the blocks. The nursery is located at the base of hills which forms a
microclimate with practically no frosts.
PROPAGATION
All cuttings are done manually and divided into two seasons, conifers in autumn and soft cuttings
in March-October. Cuttings are collected by pruning crews off current stock or mother stock
plants along the banks of plantings at the base of their surrounding hills as per a schedule and
returned to the cool rooms in the propagation shed to await processing. The cuttings are prepared
almost exclusively by women, dipped in a hormone powder or liquid solution depending on plant
type then stuck directly into a steam sterilized propagation mix in pre-prepared trays of 2.5" square
tubes which they call liners, placed under holding mist in the shed after being watered in to await
transport by trailer to one of their 200 hoop houses. Propagation staff are trained on the job.
Heating for the prop houses is by hot water from boilers. Shadecloth is suspended over the prop
igloos to reduce temperatures. Monrovia have their own tissue culture lab and intend to out source
more of that work to improve efficiencies. They currently have 40 varieties in culture in their own
lab.
—
Tube production is done exclusively for themselves with the occasional small amount of excess
stock sold elsewhere. After striking, the tubes are moved outside on gravel in a flat roofed
shadehouse of approximately 5 acres. During winter they use a number.of large kerosene burners
which they call a smudge pot to heat an oil and kerosene mixture which is enough to raise the
temperature by 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit-Smudge pots are placed about 100' apart throughout the
INWrVin ^ViVlCKllÂiN 3 1 LIU I
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tube area. Large diesel powered single bladed aeroplane propellers located around the nursery are
used to keep air moving during winter when temperatures get too low. Winter temperatures
average minimum lows of 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit. The nursery is subject to the influences of
hot dry winds coming off the inland dessert known as the Santa Ana condition with gusts up to 7080 miles per hour causing leaf burning. Being so close to the ocean, they are also influenced by a
cool breeze from the water during late afternoon.
WATER SUPPLY
The average rainfall is approximately 20" with the nursery recycling water and purchasing water
rites to the San Gabriel River. Only fresh water is used in the propagation areas. Water is pumped
from their run off collection dam at the front of the nursery to the elevated dam at the rear of the
nursery where the water quality is monitored then mixed 50/50 with fresh water before being put
out onto the stock. All watering is done manually by crews of people.
DISPATCH
When an order is fed into the computer, a copy list automatically goes to the label room with
details of numbers, client and loading dock information. Monrovia offer a pre-pricing option and
two types of labels, a computer generated strip type for the chains or a better quality double faced
or bi-fold one with barcode and plant and Monrovia nursery information on it usually for the retail
garden centres. Labeling is done on the dock prior to loading. Nurseries have the option of
requesting their stock in plane pots or Monrovia Nursery signed pots. Some plants like roses are
dispatched in paper sleeves for protection.
It can take up to 8 hours to load their 50' pans, which carry somewhere between US$30-40,000
worth of stock. Stock can stay in trucks up to 10 days with cool air being distributed by an
overhead tunnel delivery system. Orders are separated in the trucks by timber frames covered in
weed matting held in place by sticky plastic sheeting stuck to the sides of the truck then across the
frame. This is more cost effective than the timber walls used previously. All plants are pyramid
stacked and the nursery doesn't produce stock any taller than the height of the pan. Drivers are
provided with a phone card to contact the nurseries prior to delivering. It can take 5-7 days to
travel to the East Coast and trucks make no more than 12 stops on any one delivery run. They have
a palletised bench display system for one of their customers, which is moved by forklifts.
Standardised plants have a thin spiral plastic to protect their stems during transport.
MARKETING
Recently Monrovia have begun marketing their plants in collections in association with special
interest groups such as the Audobon Habitat Collection and to help the home gardener they
produce a set of color handouts for the retail nursery on a number of different topics like fertilising
and pruning. All stock is produced in pots with the Monrovia name printed around the outside
unless otherwise requested. Independent garden centres account for 50-60% of their turnover.
Monrovia ship their product nationally and some internationally with February to June being their
busiest sales period. Approximately 80% of their turnover occurs during this time.
The nursery currently doesn't have an on line ordering system and they are not interested in direct
marketing. Monrovia have recently upgraded their nursery logo and are in the process of revamping their point of sale material.
STAFF
~
Monrovia refers to their employees as craftsmen who are made up of approximately 99% Hispanic
workers. Occasionally they employ summer-students too. Staff work in groups of about 15 and
work under the instruction of a group leader. They employ an average of 1 staff member per acre.
Staff eating areas are carport type structures located around the nursery with chairs, tables,
washing facilities, notice boards and a number of b.b.q.s as the Mexican workers prefer hot meals
at all their breaks. Male and female employees eat separately to one another by choice during their
10 minute morning break, 30 minute lunch and 10 minute afternoon tea.
Staff work an average 40 hour week, the wage being US$6.50 per hour for nursery workers.
Wages for managers is around US$30,000. Overtime is paid if you work more than 10 hours per
i N U l W n rt.lVlCJ*J.^/VLN C5 1 U U I
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day. Most of the craftsmen at Monrovia have worked there for approximately 25 years. Workers
receive 5 or 6 paid public holidays, no sick pay, one week paid holiday for the first 5 years, 2
weeks up to 10 years, 3 weeks to 20 years and 4 weeks to 30 years service. Bottles (20 litre) of
water are provided around the nursery for employees to drink to help reduce heat exhaustion. On
the job training is provided in all areas and cross training is encouraged.
Two staff work at night to take care of the watering as per a schedule and they double as security
for the property. They experience some vandalism with the main target of theft being the walkie
talkie radios that the supervisors and management team carry.
A staff initiative rewards system exists for all employees who come up with a new idea or a way to
improve efficiencies or save the company money. The cost of their idea to implement and the
cost saving to the company determine the amount of money given. A recent example was
Monrovia's new logo fbrtheir labels. A few hundred thousand of the old labels were going to be
thrown out until a staff member came up with the idea of a sticker of the new logo to go over the
old one. For his initiative he was rewarded with a cheque for a few thousand dollars. This is not
the first time this type of incentive has occurred at the nursery.
VEHICLES
Monrovia own their own trucks and use sub contractors during the busy times. All vehicles on the
property run on gas. They employ their own full time mechanic for the on site workshop and 2 full
time welders who do their own fabrication. Potting trailers are towed by 4wd jeeps of which there
are about 50 on the property. The loading dock can accommodate 25 semis. All vehicles are kept
in one holding area each night for security. They have their own tow truck for break downs.
PRODUCTION
A production/scheduling meeting is held once a month. Monrovia grow in 1,2,5,7 and 9 gallon
pots. Each plant produced on the three Monrovia sites has a minimum specification regarding its
height and width in relation to the pot size to ensure stock from each site -looks the same. At the
Asuza site, staff look after a range of stock compared to their other sites where staff look after only
one type of plant eg. conifers. A total of 32 mixes are used over the three sites, Asuza uses 17
different mixes, only some are steam sterilised. Mixes are a combination of peatmoss, pine bark,
re-used compost, red wood shavings, top soil and cedar bark. Liquid feed is applied through the
watering system some slow release fertiliser is incorporated in the mix to prolong shelf life.
Monrovia have their own laboratory facilities for soil testing and leaf analysis. Since 1926
Monrovia have introduced more than 265 exclusive plants, hold 100 patents and 161 state and
federal trademarks. Monrovia are well known for their topiary which can be seen at Walt Disney
World, Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.
They have a 2-3% chuck rate of stock. Soil is recycled through a tumbler that shakes the soil loose
from the pots and foliage. This is then composted and re-used 50:50 with new soil. Three potting
machines service the 500 acre site and supervisors must book these 2-4-weeks in advance. No one
section can use the potting machine for more than 2 weeks at a time. The potting machines are a
hopper fed Gieason brand from Germany and require 14 people to operate the system efficiently.
Approximately 20-22,000 1 gallon pots can be produced per day. Stock is towed by jeeps on flat
bed trailers and unloaded onto crushed rock growing areas. Stock taller than 4' has a J hook
through it to prevent blowing over in the wind. New stock is held in locked fenced areas for
security. No stock larger than a 15 gallon sized container or bare root or burlap wrapped stock is
produced.
PESTS AND DISEASES
California is heavily regulated for run off and pest movement in and out of the state. Spraying is
done early morning or near dusk to avoid high temperatures during warmer weather. A preemergent is used for weed control. Flick-weed, oxalis and winter grass are the main weeds to
control. Monrovia prefer to use environmentaly friendly chemicals where possible because
residential housing surrounds them. Algae and moss cause problems at times too.
The main pests are:
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1
RED FIRE ANT - it can fly and will travel on anything. It is prevalent in the south and has
recently come to California. Whilst they are fire ant free, no spraying or drenching is required
for it. If treatment becomes necessary, the cost would be approximately US$2million annually
for spray and exclusion times.
2
GLASSY WINGED SHARP SHOOTER - this is a host for a disease that has wiped out all
grape vines in Tomecula. Inspectors have free reign to come and go at any time into the
nursery and they are allowed to search everything~on the property.
3
EUROPEAN BROWN SNAIL - Monrovia is one of the few nurseries in California that is
free of this pest. Snails won't cross copper and they have installed copper mesh at the bases of
all their perimeter fences.
4
CROWS - a major pest that flip pots over looking for worms. The law prevents them from
being killed. Not a lot that can be done to deter them.
SUMMARY
The shear size of this nursery is-impressive. When you consider the range and quality of plants,
the number of employees and the area of their customer base it is quite something. The operation
of a production nursery this size requires good communication, co-ordination and co-operation at
all levels. We were told that sometime over the next 5 years the site would be sold for housing
because of its land value and the reduced profitability of the site.
EVERGREEN NURSERY
AC NO. 010210849
145 MONBULK-SEVILLE ROAD,
SILVAN, VIC. 3795.
PHONE: (03) 9737-9407. FAX: (03) 9737-9788
2 November, 2000
A VISIT TO THE PAUL ECKE RANCH
ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA, USA.
Paul Ecke Ranch is a family business, currently operated by Paul Ecke jr., whose
grandfather started the business 70 years ago. Initially it was a six hundred acre inground production farm, growing various flowering crops including Poinsettia. In the
early sixties a decision was made to become a more specialized grower of Poinsettia and
other crops, and also to move production undercover. The direction management chose
was to lead them to become one of the largest producers of unstruck cuttings in the U.S.
The company now has 35 acres of its original site still in production, predominately to
supply stock material for its two other sites in Guatemala, one of 28 acres and the other of
51 acres. They employ over 200 people in America another 200 plus people in
Guatemala. It also has a major subcontractor in Mexico whom employs about 150
people. It distributes unstruck cuttings to 32 subcontracted rooting sites across the U.S.
and other finished products such as plugs and colour pot production to other growers and
some retailers in the U.S.
The main product is New Guinea Impatiens with Poinsettia and Osteospermum also
important. We only had access to the Poinsettia production area.
In recent years they have developed marketing alliances with Yoder Bros. In the U.S.
To create a brand name product (Flowerfields) to market and develop perennials to the
retailer and consumer in the USA. They also license growers outside the U.S. and have
major licensees in Europe and Australia.
All stock is grown to order. If you don't place your order well in advance of your
requirements, then you simply don't get it.
They do not license growers in the U.S. to do their own propagation. This enables them
to keep a tight control on the quality of the stock being produced. They have a policy o
13
allowing some of their stock plants to flower each season; they then select the plants with
the best characteristics and take cuttings from them to produce a new batch of stock
plants for the next season. All the stock plants are grown under a fully screened thrip
and white fly free environment and by insisting on a high degree of hygiene practices
they have reduced their reliance on chemical pest control by three-quarters. All staff is
trained to recognize pest and other problems and there is a reporting procedure in place to
enable quick action to be taken when required.
Marketing:
80% of all finished crops (potted lines) are sold through plant brokers and all of the
flowerfield crops (cuttings and plugs) are also sold through brokers. It is the brokers
who take the orders and it is their responsibility to ensure all customers take their orders,
otherwise they must find outlets for any cancelled orders. Paul Ecke Ranch do not
accept cancellations once production has started.
40% of sales is in Poinsettia and yet it takes 60% of the production area, whereas New
Guinea Impatiens outsells the Poinsettia and requires only 25% of product area. The
Poinsettia market is a mature market and is at its peak whilst the New Guinea Impatiens
is an expanding market. Other plants grown by Paul Ecke Ranch in the flowerfield range
include Bracteantha, Scaevola, Brachycome, Federation Daisy as well as Verbena,
Petunia, Portulaca and Snap Dragons, all improved varieties, all with lots of colour.
Having been on the original site for over 70 years, some of the structures in the nursery
were of older designs, but everything appeared to be well maintained and very functional.
The nursery was spotless in its presentation and there was not a weed to be seen
anywhere.
Paul Ecke Ranch maintains a few acres with a historical collection of Poinsettia that are
no longer grown commercially.
You can visit Paul Ecke Ranch on the web at www.ecke.com
14
HISTORY OF THE ROSE GARDEN
Portland's International Rose Test Garden is the oldest public rose test garden in the United
States. The 4V2 acre garden has a panoramic view of the City of Roses. The site was chosen by the
rose hobbyist Jesse A. Currey who became the first curator of the garden. With the support of the
American Rose Society, City officials, and civic-minded citizens the garden was established in
1917. It-has always been maintained by Portland's Bureau of Parks and Recreation with free
admission.
The primary purpose of the garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. The City
of Portland Gold Medal Awards are issued annually to the best introductions. These varieties are
planted in the Gold Medal Garden. Portland is the only North American City to issue such
awards. The rose entries are judged for two years by a local panel of Rosarians. The garden is also
one of 24 official testing sites for the All-America Rose Selections (AARS), a group of leading
commercial rose growers and hybridizers in the U.S. which dates back to 1940. And, the garden
is one of six testing grounds for the American Rose Society miniature rose test program.
Roses under test are not named but designated by code numbers. Four plants of each entry are
scored for two years on 14 different points including plant habit, vigor, disease resistance, color,
form, and fragrance. About 200 rose cultivars are under test each year.
The Royal Rosarian Garden, of formal design which is located at the upper southern terrace, features the stone bench honoring Jesse A. Currey, the garden's founder. All past Prime Ministers of
the Royal Rosarians.. a civic group, are honored by a planting of their "rs?.:nesal;8 rose." Many old
favorites which are no longer available in commerce may be found here.
Directly below the Rosarian Garden is the Gold Medal Garden, consisting of varieties that have
won awards for outstanding performance in Portland. With the support of the Portland Rose
Society, this garden was constructed in 1969 commemorating 50 years of awards in the City-ofRoses.
Another popular garden within a garden is the Shakespearean Garden which was dedicated in
1945. The informal design figures graceful trees, brick walks, and many annuals and perennials.
This garden has over the years been the place for hundreds of weddings.
At the foot of the Rose Garden is the Queen's Walk. Beginning in 1907, the reigning Rose Festival
Queen inscribes her name on one of the bronze markers set aside for the honored Queen.
At the main entrance to the garden, is the information kiosk and elevated miniature rose beds.
This development began in 1978-79 and was funded by the F.L. Beach family.
The famous garden has a collection of nearly 10,000 rose plants and over 400 varieties. The display consists of modern hybrid roses with a smaller collection of old garden shrub roses.
02/18/93
TWENTY QUESTIONS
When was the Garden established?
1917
How large is the Garden?
4.5 acres
How many rose plants?
9,000 +/-
How many varieties?
550+
How often do we spray?
At 10 to 14 days
What do we spray?
Insects-Avid, Tempo II, Orthene
Diseases - Funginex, Triforene
What fertilizers do we use?
12 - 5 - 7, or 24 - 5 - 3.5 (50% slow release)
How often do we fertilize?
Three times - April, June, August
Do we use manure?
We used it for bed prep in the past. We now use
garden compost as our primary soil
amendment.
How do we irriQ^tg?
Automatic underground irrigation system.
How often?
Depends on weather, Roses use lots of water
Where are the Japanese Gardens?
Above the tennis courts across street.
Do we sell postcards?
May be available at Rose Garden Store.
How far back do we cut roses?
Forget 3 or 5 leaflets, cut to the height you
want, or cut at the stem length you want. Cut at
a growth bud.
Where can I buy a certain rose?
Ask Harry or Daryl or at Curator's office.
Is there a black/blue rose?
No there aren't any of either
Where are the restrooms?
South encLof parking lot, next to the Rose
Garden Store
How many people on staff?
2 in winter, 4 in summer
Can I take a rose/cutting?
NO!
Where is the public telephone?
In the Japanese Garden parking lot above
Rose Garden and Tennis Court.
ROGER'S GARDENS
BY
ROBERT ALLISON
GARDEN CITY PLASTICS
Roger's Gardens
2301 San Joaquin Hills Road
Corona Del Mar
California 92625
Phone: (949) 721 2100 Extension 451
Fax: (949) 640 7528
E-mail: ronv(g>rogersgardens.com
Contact: Ron Vanderhoff-Nursery Sales Manager.
Nursery is on a 7.5 acre site, (car parking takes up approximately 2 acres of the total
area,) Is situated in Newport, one of the most affluent areas in the United States of
America just south of Los Angeles 1 mile from the coast. Average income per household
well over $US100, 000. The nursery has been at this location for 26 years. Prior to this
the nursery operated for 3 years at another site about lOmiles away.
The company is privately owned. They have had the same owner for the last 26 years.
The previous owner was named Roger hence the name of the nursery.
Roger's Gardens is one of the busiest retail nurseries in America. Turnover
approximately $US16, 000, 000 per annum. (This figure relates to retail sales only and
does not include landscape services.)
Roger's Gardens employs 120 people in spring, this is reduced to about 75 people during
the low season.
The nursery specialises in colour flowering plants in baskets and bowls that are designed
and made up on site, (the nursery is renowned for these items.) They buy in the
components to make up the baskets and bowls. They sell about $US1, 500,000
of there own make up work and is one of the unique things that Roger's Gardens do, and
is mainly what their reputation is built upon.
The nursery is a lot more than the name infers.
1. They have an extensive Patio furniture/ Outdoor Living/ Home Decor department.
2. Vast indoor furniture display area.
3. Showroom for Xmas decorations, which compliment their sales year round.
4. Giftware and Card department.
5. A landscape design, installation and maintenance department.
6. Mail order department.
7. Food and Snacks area.
From a competitive standpoint they are an expensive nursery. This does not effect their
competitiveness as the products they sell are of a higher quality presented in a beautiful
environment.
15
Roger's Gardens are members of the ANAL (American Nursery and Landscape
Association) and the (California Association of Nurserymen) the latter being a very
active group which operates a certification program, where nursery people can take
examinations which is quite rigorous. If they pass their exams they become a California
Certified Nursery Professional, and that entitles them to a certain status within the
Industry. They get a name badge and plaque and other advantages. They can go further
and take advanced testing on three different topics and if successfully pass they get a star
for each topic passed which is displayed on their badge. (Ron Vanderhoff is chairman of
that program in California.) Regular customers are aware of this scheme. It is a way of
protecting the customer because when a customer goes to a Garden Centre or a Nursery
and they are looking for somebody they can ask a question to, how do they know if the
person is knowledgeable or not? If they are wearing a Certified Nurserymen's badge, it's
a fairly good chance they're a pretty sharp person. There are 3,400 people who have been
certified in the past 29 years, a lot of these people have retired or left the industry, there
are about 1,200 people who are active now and there scattered over 100's of nurseries in
California. The badges are a way for the homeowner to identify knowledgeable people.
Replenishment and Order Cycles.
Retail Nurseries in California are very fortunate, as the growers for the whole country are
located within 100 miles of Roger's Gardens. There are literally 1000's of nursery
growers that ship all the way to the East Coast to Canada; all over the country and most
are within 3 hours of Roger's Gardens. The buyer can pick up the phone and purchase
any stock and have it delivered in 3 to 4 hours. Although this is possible most of the stock
is pre booked. Suppliers do not send sample vans. Because of the reputation of Rogers
Gardens the suppliers are well aware of the quality required to keep the business on
going. They have developed a good working relationship with the sales representatives,
so they do not require seeing the stock pre ordering time. They have 10 buyers on staff to
cover all facets of the business, 4 buyers do greenlife only. The greenlife buyers do visit
nurseries to see new crops and promotions and to develop good relations with the
growers. They have one buyer for seed stock, one for indoor material one for general
trees and shrubs and one for production plants to be re potted into bowls and baskets.
Replenishment buying is done on Monday and Tuesday, by Thursday the merchandise
has arrived and by Friday it is in the store. Re stocking is done during trading hours
although they try to do most of this before the customer traffic gets heavy. All watering is
done by 9.00am, so no hoses are visible around the nursery. Next year they are looking at
doing stocking during the evening. The delivery bays are at the rear of the nursery as is
the production department and is not visible to the public.
There is car-parking space for 198 cars, the car park is bitumen and parking bays are
designated. They believe they could use twice as many car spaces.
They do not have a restaurant but there is an area with coffee and snacks available. They
are land locked by houses so no more room is available to expand. During the week end it
can take 20 minutes to get a car park, a restaurant would compound their car park
problem. When they get another 200 car parks a restaurant will be high on their list of TO
Do's.
Advertising.
Roger's Gardens invest about 4% of sales into advertising most of these dollars are
directed to two primary newspapers that cover most of their market area. They run about
100 advertisements per month. Almost every day of the week they would have an ad in
one of the above newspapers. They do some local cable TV ads; free to air TV is far too
expensive. TV ads are about 5% of the advertising budget. They do no radio advertising.
16
They send a newsletter to 10,000 of their best customers. These people are given
discounts (or better stated as rebates on their purchases). They get a special telephone
number they can use. As stated before this list is by invitation only, it is not openly
advertised. They have a very good Internet site this will be a major focus for them in the
near future. They are selling about $US250, 000 pa over the Internet.
Deliveries.
They have two trucks and have two more on order; they deliver 7 days a week.
They deliver to a 50-mile radius, and use other services outside this area. A charge of
$US30.00 is placed on all deliveries. Delivering is expensive for them but realise this is a
service they must provide.
Roger's Gardens do a tremendous amount of education and entertainment programs.
They have free seminars for the public every week all year round. (They had about 140
avid gardeners to their seminar the Saturday prior to our visit. This was on Herbs and the
use of Herbs in cooking. The seminars are of high quality using high profile presenters.
They present these seminars in an Amphitheatre they have created in the nursery. They
have gardening classes for which they charge $US125.00.
This is very popular. They pay the presenters between $US200 and $US 1000.00.
Roger's Gardens believe this really pays off by bringing people to the nursery.
Stats
Average sale $US70.00.
Staff work 40hours per week.
Employees get two weeks paid annual leave; they can take this at any time.
Average wage for Sales staff $US30, 000 per annum. Managers junior level $US 35 to
40,000 Per annum. Managers senior level $US50 to 70,000 per annum plus profit sharing
bonuses.
17
Schmidt's Nursery
Summary
Schmidt's is a family owned and managed nursery producing deciduous
trees and shrubs for the North American market. It is one of the dominant
growers of this material, with approximately 2800 acres of land under
production and a workforce of 550 people.
The nursery has been operating for 52 years and is spread over 6 farms, each
location offering a different microclimate.
We visited the Propagation Farm, the Container Farm and the Arboretum,
located just east of Portland, Oregon (near Boring) - see Map.
Propagation Farm
This farm produces 2 million cuttings per year, grows about 300,000
externally sourced tissue culture micro cuttings & germinates a smaller
number of seedlings.
Unstruck cuttings are planted directly into ground beds of either bark & sand
or
Perlite - regular hormones are applied. Temporary greenhouse covers are
used until the cutting is established (usually 12 months). The covers are
then removed and the cuttings grow in the open for a further 6 - 1 2 months.
No heat is added. All cuttings are misted until established (first summer).
During the second winter, the plants are dug & held in a cool store ready for
planting out on another farm.
The material propagated at this nursery is either the rootstock for future
grafting or those trees and shrubs that grow on their own roots.
Both landscape & stock trees on each of the farms are used as the source for
propagation material. The propagation farm does not graft - this is done
18
elsewhere. The challenge is to learn techniques for the new varieties each
year.
Staff is mainly local but the company does have a program to house nonlocals. There is government support to encourage Mexicans & others to
apply for temporary work permits. Schmidt's participate in this program.
Container Farm
Container production began 15 years ago and now covers 70 acres. This
farm is growing by 5 - 10 acres per annum with plans for 125 acres of
containers. It is the fastest growing part of the business & already accounts
for one-third of total income.
Water:
Potting mix:
sourced from well & recycled;
bark, sand & peat (3% soil in some mixes);
Potting:
by machine;
Pot sizes:
various 2 - 3 0 gallon, depending on demand;
Timing:
potting -
mid to late winter
Sales -
12 months later;
Fertilizer:
Slow release, 8 - 9 month 23.5.8 and 24.4.8;
Irrigation:
overhead, micro sprays and experimental dripper tape;
Source plants:
usually bare rooted;
Pot in Pot system: not used, limits flexibility.
In a separate area, a CRAVO retractable roof greenhouse is used to grow
those varieties that need extra protection, establish well in containers but are
not very successful as bare root trees. Temperature regulation is a
particularly important benefit of the retractable roof system. The roof is
waterproof.
Pots are freighted by road using contractors, except for local deliveries,
which Schmidt's do themselves.
19
Management
Many of the production nurseries we visited were organised on geographic areas,
with a head grower responsible for the crop within a given area. Work teams then
provided services to that area as required, eg weeding, spraying, pruning, potting.
The head grower managed timing and co-ordination.
At Schmidt's container farm, there are 4 foremen, responsible for overall
crop quality. They have 5 senior crew leaders, each with an area of 16 acres.
These leaders are responsible for all aspects of growing, including pruning,
irrigation, staking, weeding and spraying. Under them are 2 work crews of 8
- 1 0 people, managed by a crew leader. These crews did not pick out the
plants for sale.
This geographic, crop-focussed management approach encouraged all
members of staff to feel responsible for plant quality.
Marketing & Sales
Marketing strategy is planned by the management team & implemented
through:
• A team of 8 sales people, each representing a geographic area;
• Publications, including catalogues, labels, charts, media releases, web
site;
• Weekly availability lists;
• An arboretum (see Note), presenting over 400 of the trees & shrubs sold
by the nursery;
• A new plant development & release program.
Note: The arboretum, begun in 1984, is used to show
customers how Schmidt's trees perform in the landscape. It is
a particularly valuable service for landscape architects. New
releases are added to the collection each year. It is not a trial
area, but shows the trees in their best landscape position. The
trees are organized broadly into species groups.
Conclusions
20
Schmidt's is a successful leader - it is innovative in both
production and marketing and has a long-term view. The
construction and use of the Arboretum illustrates the long-term
commitment to build the business and reinforce its leadership
position. The business does face significant challenges:
1. At present, it is unable to meet customer demand, particularly
for shrubs & container grown plants;
2. Access to suitable land for expansion is difficult.
21
SIERRA AZUL NURSERY - WATSONVILLE
Sierra Azul is a retail and wholesale nursery with a display garden specialising in
perennials, Californian natives and Proteas from both Australia and Africa, including
Redwoods, Lithospermums, Grevilleas, Melaleucas, and Lavenders, as well as
ornamental grasses. They grow about 2000 varieties of plants and concentrate on the
hardier, drought tolerant varieties.
About 75 - 80% of the plants are propagated at the nursery, mostly from cuttings but
some are seed grown. Propagation is done all year round, their peak times being in the
cooler months from February to April. A Perlite and peatmoss mix (75% Perlite and 25%
peat) is used and a beneficial fungi mixture (Rootguard) is used in the propagation
medium to boost the success rate. Initially the cuttings are kept in a plastic houses for
the first month and then moved into shade-houses in winter about four to five times a
year to minimise frost damage during black frosts.
The nursery is on about 6.5 acres. The retail section is open to the public seven days a
week and has been operating for about six years. The top selling lines through the retail
section include salvias, penstemons, helleborus, rosemaries, geraniums, lavenders and
ferns. The sale of perennials makes up about 30-40% of the retail sales, and retail sales
account for about 35% of overall sales. The owners aim to increase this to 50% in the
future.
The wholesale section is open from 8 am - 5 pm Monday to Friday. It contains about
250,000 plants grown annually. It is watered using the overhead Rainbird Sprinkler
System - 75% efficiency. At present untreated bore water is used for watering. Those
plants requiring less water are hand watered a couple of times a week. The run-off water
is used by neighbouring properties to water lawn areas, and a baseball oval. In the next
year or so a dam and treatment system will be established.
A slow release fertiliser (APEX) is used. No liquid fertilisers are used. Herbicide weed
spot spraying is done once a week, and insecticides are sprayed once a month for aphids,
mites and thrip. Some fungicides are used.
The main attraction to this nursery is the garden located out the front of the nursery. This
has been established for about five years and they believe it gives them an edge over
competitors, drawing people in to the retail section and providing them with an idea of
the size and habit of an established plant. The garden has many drought tolerant species
and includes ornamental grasses, shrub roses, poppies, brachyscomes and Australian
natives such as Kangaroo Paws, Grevilleas, Acacias and Banksias, which attract
hummingbirds.
Sierra Azul employ about fifteen staff all year round, including a sales representative,
who is responsible for operating the display truck. They have two trucks of their own
which are used for deliveries and at this stage they have found faxing to be the most
efficient way to communicate with their customers, although there will be a move
towards internet sales in the future.
By Barry Humphris (Humphris Nursery)
22
Tree a Shrub Growers of Victoria
North American Study Tour
Skagit Qardens
Mount Vernon, Washington IISA
G A
T
R A
L 1 A
Reviewed by: Jane Wilkins 9th June 2000
Skagit Qarckns
Host
John Dixon, Manager- Plant Introductions.
History
Skagit Gardens was founded in 1966 by Jim & Ruth Youngsman with one 22' x 150' greenhouse. In 1998
International Garden Products (IGP) acquired the company.
Location
Skagit Gardens is located 60 minutes north of Seattle and approximately 60 miles south of the Canadian
border with two locations totaling over 50 acres.
Main location: 2 acres outdoor growing area
9.2 acres heated greenhouse area
(33% glass, 33% poly, 33% retractable)
The Riverbend location is 10 minutesfromthe main location and is the perennial growing site.
16 acres outdoor growing area
2 acres retractable & 1.5 acres of shade
Climate
The Skagit Valley has a temperate maritime climate well suited for growing perennials.
What does Skagit grow?
Skagit Gardens specialises in supplying independent retail garden centres withfinishedplants. It also has a
strong business in propagation of liner plant materials that they sell to other growers.7.5 million perennials
grown annually.
Perennials produced from plugs and cutting up through 3-gallon pots.
4.5 million pots of flowering annuals-yearly
150,000 flats of annuals and vegetables
11 million annual rooted cutting and seedling plugs sold to other growers across the continent
• 51,000 flowering hanging baskets
• Annual cuttings include- Marguerites, Verbena & herbs
• Australian plants (Koala Collection TM)
• Fuchsias- 7 million liners produced- 2000 varieties
• New Guineas & Double Impatiens, Primula & Poinsettias
• Over 250 new items added last year
General Information
G
A
During peak periods Skagit Gardens propagation facility produces 1 million cuttings per week for
4 weeks then reduces to Vi million for 2 weeks.
Basket sniffers produced in 3" x 3" cells are very popular.
Selling liners amounts to 40% of total business (product sold onto other growers to grow on).
A large percentage of perennials are grown on at the Riverbend location in 4" x 4" community
trays with 18 cells per tray.
These perennials are grown cold- outside (all winter) or in retractable roof greenhouses.
Product split is approx 50% Herbaceous Perennials & 50% Annuals.
Product sold is mainly in the North West of USA, but also into Canada, Alaska and further east of
=feFU0A.
During production two main mixes are used:
e Perlite, Pumice & Peat- Annual mix
24
•
•
•
e 70% bark, 20% Peat & 10% Perlite- Perennial mix
Specialised germination rooms are used. Referred to as plug rooms, these are humidified and held
at 50° F. The plugs are kept in for between 2 and 17 days until the seed coat cracks. They are then
removed to finish germination outside.
All cuttings are prepared and stuck within 24 hours of original preparation i.e. as cuttings are taken
they are held under mist until stuck.
Nutrient sprays are used on seedlings via overhead spraying equipment. As noted at many other
American nurseries, liquid feeding in conjunction with slow release is very important to them. Yet
their use of slow release is not as great as in Australia.
Water is being collected to prevent runoff. Concerns exist regarding the Skagit river to which runoff must be minimal. The river is naturally a public water supply and must be conserved.
All potting is done at the main location (propagation facility). Potted stock is then transported to
the Riverbend location (10 minutes away). The stock is on trolleys and is moved to the rowing out
area by tractor with forks i.e. the trolley is forked directly out to the rowing area and unpacked to
the bed.
Staffing
m 125 fulltime employees
B At peak season from mid January-May the total staff numbers increase to 270.
Summary
Skagit Gardens are certainly offering their clients a huge range of material, many of which are branded.
They are also very committed to new varieties and the sourcing of new varieties.
Skagit Gardens also have the added stability in my opinion of selling product to both growers and
independent retail garden centres and hence connecting to the two main market areas within the trade. Their
"Skagit Super Starts" ™ and finished product both appear to be well sort after.
25
SUNCREST NURSERY
June 1st introduced the Tree and Shrub Growers of Victoria to three different
nurseries; "Suncrest Nursery" being the specific nursery of our report. Situated in
Watsonville, California, Suncrest is ideally positioned climatically to ensure the
growth of some of the world's finest trees, shrubs and perennials. The proximity
of the Pacific Ocean ensures cool offshore breezes which prevents excessive heat
waves and generally temperatures are a constant 70 degrees fahrenheit which is
idyllic for even growth.
There appeared to be a little bit of confusion as to our appointed time for
arrival at Suncrest and the chief propagator Neven Smith was unable to guide us
through the nursery. However Jim Marshall, the manager of the nursery stepped
in and gave us a great insight into the nursery's history.
Formally, Suncrest was named the Leonard Coates Nursery and was
founded by Leonard Coates in 1878, who together with one of his contemporaries,
Luther Burbank, was responsible for the hybridizing of the French prune, which is
now grown widely in the Californian area.
Leonard Coates was of paramount importance in the horticultural industry
and this company now boasts five different locations. The Hartman family owned
it up until 1985 when the third generation of Hartmans fell into bankruptcy.
Unfortunately during this time the stock ran down to nothing and the current
owners bought the company four years later in 1989.
Thus Suncrest Nursery was established with a nucleus of four former
employees of the Leonard Coates Nursery. Jim Marshall was one of these. Neven
Smith who has formed his own nursery called Wintergreen in the interim period,
Stan and a fellow called Buddy Gorman since deceased; were all responsible for
starting the company up again specialising in using several thousand unique plants
which were more or less collection plants.
The nursery we visited was 40 acres and the company had another nursery
down the road of 22 acres.
26
Suncrest were distinctively different to nurseries such as Colorama, Hinze
and Monrovia. These are all commodity growers but Suncrest bases its pride in
diversity of product and don't bother with trying to patent a plant. They grow
something if they like it and it performs well and try to maintain a continuity of a
variety of plants.
Initially the nursery was focused on trees and shrubs but now they have
transcended into perennial and herbaceous plants as the public demand for colour
had evolved but they don't grow annuals at all.
Suncrest boasts being one of the largest of its kind in the state, and they sell
only to independent nurseries such as Rogers, a more upmarket retail nursery.
The bulk of their business is in the bay area of Southern California. Most
of their marketing is done by word of mouth, but they do involve themselves in
two trade shows a year at San Francisco and Southern California.
A descriptive catalogue is published and distributed around the state and
this is one of their main references for buyers. It describes and presents unusual
showy trees; evergreen and deciduous, flowering shrubs, bamboo, hardy to
subtropical vines, flowering perennials, grassed and grass-like plants, bulbous,
cormous and tuberous perennials and ferns.
Suncrest consider themselves to be in an enviable position compared with
Australian nurseries in as much as the have access to a large diffusion of Mexican
workers who are available 10 months of the year.
They presently employ 80 workers; largely from Mexico who basically
form a very stable basis for their company. There are two main Mexican families
who Neven Smith has employed and another Mexican family who basically run
the whole nursery under Neven and Jim's supervision. 45 people stay throughout
the winter, the remainder take holidays at this time.
Basically all workers have had experience in the fields. They are trained
under a supervisor to perform set tasks. Conference rooms are provided to inform
them via films, the safety elements involved and they also provide training
programs in English and computer skills. It was very noticeable when walking
around the nursery that very little English was spoken or known.
27
Most workers work between 9 - 1 0 hours a day. Formal hours are 8am 4:30pm but in peak times it is expected that they may have to work up to 6 7:30pm so that trucks can be loaded. Usually this involves using split crews for
specific schedules. Staff work a minimum of 8 hours a day.
Two representatives from the nursery travel through Oregon and the
Mexican Border areas and deliveries are made to specific areas thus.
•
three times a week to blue area
•
two times a month to Oregon
•
two to four times a month to South California
•
once a month to Fresno - but not after it gets too hot.
Their trucks were very impressive and displayed a very attractive logo on
its side. They had:
•
Three large semi trailers
•
Two bobtails - trucks
•
Two 35 foot trailers
•
Six 28 foot trailers
•
Two 72 foot trailers
Trucks are run on a regular schedule. Once a week samples are restocked after
liasing with office staff. A fax is made available every Friday after staff have
discussed the stock.
Suncrest price according to difficulty of growing. If a plant is easy to grow
a one gallon pot would be priced at $2.85. If harder to grow it would be $3.25
and they boast at selling over a million pots per year, but did not wish to
disclose their overall revenue.
Strict regulations were enforced on forklift drivers and a special test was
provided to determine who could drive these.
Suncrest buy their soil from the largest soil mixing company in California,
which blends it to their specifications and delivers it in bulk bays, which are
shifted with fork lifts.
There are basically three mixes which are fairly porous so that overwatering can be prevented.
28
They have a regular media and a mature mix, which varies with the amount
of fertiliser used.
Division media varies in as much as it has 25 % per volume of perlite and
redwood bark in it. This is prepared in a blender. They prefer to use aged
redwood but quite often they have to double irrigate to leach if it is not mature
enough.
Their potting machine was called a Gleeson, which was bought two years
ago to pot gallons. Usually ten people operate it and each person must produce
1000-gallon pots for the day. So if 18 people are using it, 18,000 pots are
expected to be potted for the day. This machine is considered to be very
effective and because it is hydraulics it is very quiet.
A carousel potting machine is used for the five gallon or canning machine 12 people usually operate it and 4000 pots are expected to be done each day it
is operating.
The nursery appeared to have a lot of the old and the new because of
nostalgic reasons. For example in the seed house seedlings are produced in the
same way as pre 1970's days.
Sometimes helleborus can stay in flats for up to three years. Herbicides are
not used at all for weed killing. One of their largest changes has been in
dividing perennials rather than doing cuttings as in the past.
Propagation falls into the three categories:
•
30% seeds
•
30% cuttings
•
60% division
Pots are not sterilised after use.
Ground water is pumped from deep wells, which have a ten-inch tube
casing. They are currently building a 16-inch well, which is 580 feet deep, 246
feet intake 125 horse power motor pumps 15,000 gallons per minute and is
automatically regulated. Although told they don't treat their recycled water,
they do in a moderate degree.
29
The lower part of the nursery has a 7.8 pH of water which is just below the
threshold of acidity and they are happy with that. Test for disease in recycled
water is done twice a year. There is a bit of a bicarb problem, which is treated
with sulphuric acid. All the dangerous consequences of sulphuric acid are
nullified with this treatment.
All watering is done between 4 - 7 : 3 0 am. Each year they spend $15,000
treating the water to reduce evaporative loss and they also find that there is no
deposition or layer after syringing each week with recycled water.
Cuttings are not usually fertilised until they are put into bush-houses so
they don't spend a lot of money on fertiliser. They have a lot of trouble with
botritis and have found that by keeping things drier this helps.
In September to October caterpillars are a problem. March - aphids. Main
problem can be in overgrowing because of climate.
One of the features of interest was their own invention of an air mist boom
with a length of about five metres long which was attached to a large tractor.
This enabled better coverage of spray assisted by the air in the boom.
Generally the layout of the nursery was very antiquated especially in
propagation. However, the end products all appeared to be of fairly good
quality and of course were specifically grown for the drier areas.
The
availability of Mexican labour makes no demand for them to become more
mechanised. None of the workers appeared to work hard, but because of such
large numbers, tasks were completed with satisfaction.
Suncrest was a very interesting nursery to visit and as with most of those
we visited; even though this one was on a smaller scale, it still appeared to be
enormous in size.
I think everyone in the group would have found some point of interest
relevant to their own field of growing during our visit at Suncrest Nursery.
30
US STUDY TOUR - MAY/JUNE 2000
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
VANCOUVER, CANADA
OVERVIEW:
•
The University of British Columbia's horticultural department is primarily a
botanical garden with the main focus on research and education. It has close
ties with the departments of Botany, Plant Science (Horticulture) and
Landscape Architecture. It also runs education classes for the general public.
As an addition, this department had developed strong ties with the local
British Columbia nursery trades and landscape professionals with the view to
introduce new or forgotten plant varieties for a return of a royalty.
HISTORY;
•
The Gardens' beginnings started in 1912 with two acres of Essondale, east of
Vancouver. John Davidson, a highly regarded botanist and Scottish emigrant
was faced with collecting specimens for the garden and the herbarium. With
help from many local volunteers, he managed to amass a collection of 25,000
plants representing 9,000 species.
TODAY:
•
The garden today comprises about 70 acres of which 35 acres are developed
and the rest is natural vegetation. The garden was planted in the current
format in 1970.
•
The dominant species of the area are Abies grandis. Thuya bicata, Acer
macrophyllum, Douglas Fir and Western Hemlock.
•
There is a small area for parking and the gardens receive around 30,000
public visitors per year. Admission is charged.
LAYOUT:
•
The garden is broken up into smaller theme gardens. Many of the plants
within each garden are then grouped into the regions they come from. Some
of the theme gardens include the Alpine, Physic, Arbour, B.C. Native and
Food gardens. There are also extensive collections such as Maples,
Rhododendrons, and Magnolias.
31
CLIMATE:
•
The garden is located on the promontory of Point Grey in the Strait of
Georgia. To the north are the Coast Mountains, to the west is Vancouver
Island. It is in climate Zone 8b which receives temperatures between minus
10c and 30c. Rainfall is about 40 inches per year and mainly falls from
November to march. The soil is very shallow, so mulching is critical.
•
Water used is city water, there are no dams on this site.
PEST CONTROL:
•
The levels of pests are maintained by a diverse range of birds living in and
around the gardens. There are major safety issues concerning toxins in the
environment and worker and public safety. While there are problems with
certain pests such as slugs for example, these are controlled in open areas by
Ravens and in enclosed areas by stomping by the staff.
LABOUR:
•
The entire garden has 5 full time and 3 part time gardeners. This is a union
site, so the staff are paid very well at $19.00 per hour, plus health and
retirement benefits. There is almost no turnover of employees. There is no
formal training, staff are encouraged to find out for themselves if they are
interested, but it is not a requirement of employment. Some employees have
a gardeners certificate.
THE NURSERY:
•
U.B.C. also maintains a 5 acre nursery where most of the stock for the garden
is propagated and grown on, including in ground stock. It is in the nursery
where potential varieties are evaluated before being planted out.
•
The nursery is also used for research and teaching by the Botany and other
departments.
•
The majority of plants are propagated by seed.
GROWING MEDIA:
Materials used in propagation are typical peat/perlite type mixtures. These
mixes are made up as required. Peat is becoming inconsistent.
32
•
Alpines are grown in aquarium sand.
•
Materials used in potting include Redwood bark, sand and Turfaze (a clay
based product for better cation exchange and water holding capacity).
Osmocote is the main type of fertiliser used.
•
Water used is City water. There is no recycling done at this site.
U.B.C. AND THE TRADE:
As part of a way to help fund the garden, the staff are actively looking for new
(imported or bred) or old forgotten plants that are suitable to introduce to the
British Columbia Nursery trade.
•
Great care is taken with plant selection as they feel that too many nurseries
are promoting new plants for the sake of saying they are new and a fast buck,
but not for the good of gardening public.
•
U.B.C. want their name to be synonymous with quality introductions. This
will in the end make them standout in the crowd, and keep the royalties
flowing in.
•
Collection of royalties and the administration of plant licences has been
passed on to the trade, freeing U.B.C. to look for new plants.
•
A new breeder will be starting shortly to carry on a more focused plant
breeding program starting with Lonicera.
PLANT PROMOTION:
•
All new release plants are promoted by mailouts. Information includes •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cultivar
Family
Common Name
Origin
General Description
Soil Requirements
Exposure Requirements
Pruning
Uses in the Landscape
Hardiness
Propagation
Sales Potential
INTRODUCTIONS INCLUDE:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Clematis chiisanensis 'Lemon Bells'
Lonicera 'Mandarin'
Viburnum plicatum 'Summer Snowflake'
Diascia rigescents
Genista pilosa 'Vancouver Gold'
Anagallis monelli 'Pacific Blue'
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Vancouver Jade'
Vaccinium ovatum 'thunderbird'
Clematic 'Blue Ravine'
REFERENCES:
•
Information supplied by Doug Justice,
Curator of Collections
•
References include
U.B.C. Publications on the gardens history and layout]
Author - David Button, Alameda Homestead Nursery
34
29th June, 2000
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
ARBORETUM
BACKGROUND
Established jn the 1960's - founding member was Ray Collett. Overlooking Monterey Bay, the
mountains of Big Spur and the open Pacific Ocean, the Arboretum is 400-550 feet above sea
level. Set on 75 acres, it faces South/South West and is basically frost free. Species such as
south pacific conifers are grown on the highest ground and north temperate varieties on the lower
ground.
PRIME OBJECTIVE
To provide a place where botanists can research new and special forms of plants in order to make
them available to the public. Their endeavour is to be able to show people the best form of a
specific plant to encourage them to garden. The main aim is to propagate and preserve a range of
species and in some cases save them from extinction. The Arboretum has made available new
hybrids, natives and improved forms of plants to nurseries and cut flower industries. It houses
many promising genetic materials for the future.
Unfortunately for the staff at the Arboretum, it was discovered from our tour that lack of funding
is their number one hurdle. The University seems to take very little interest in their work and
provides next to no funding at all. In all areas from propagation through to potting, the set up is
very primitive. They hope to soon receive endowments from the government (which may be
similar to a grant?) to help buy basic equipment and instal new shade houses. The botanists at the
Arboretum locate species in their own time, such as holidays and weekends, for which they are
not paid.
GROWING AREAS
Five small plastic houses for propagation. Basic design - plastic and hoops. There were no fans
for ventilation. Cutting trays were on steel mesh benches, some pathways were cemented and
doorways were rolled up plastic. Two - three shadehouses displayed stock oh" benches and some
weedmat on the ground. Natural ventilation was used. Stock was watered by overhead __
sprinklers or by hand. City-water is used but is in limited supply, so much of the^stock grown is
drought tolerant. Outdoor growing areas were very poor. Pots were sitting on grass and weeds
and the surrounding areas were very overgrown.
_
'....12
- ? -
GROWINGMFD)rA
Propagation - perlite mix. Hormone powders and liquids are used and some smoking treatments.
Tubing/potting - mixture of redwood sawdust, sand (from old sand dunes at the marina), graveL
and lava rock from San Francisco. Redwood sawdust is hand watered over and over to leach
tannins. They cannot afford to buy in pre-mixed potting mixture so this was made up in a small
cement mixer by hand.
STAFFING
There are seven staff on site, three full time, 2 are three quarter time and 2 half time. Most are
botanists and some have been trained on site. As you walk around the Arboretum, especially
through the greenhouses, it is very clear that funding is low. After speaking with Brett Hall who
guided us through the growing areas, it was made apparent to us that the staff working there on
the day were actually volunteers. Local community members contribute a lot of time to come in
and propagate, tube and containerise stock.
From time to time, students from the University contribute also. Surprisingly they are not
horticultural students, but biology and environment studies students. The University has no
Horticultural classes as they do not have the faculty to support it. The Arboretum pay for one
half of the students wages and the government pay the other half.
THF ARBORETUM
There are four main gardens;
-Australia
-New Zealand
-South Africa
-California
Each garden displays it's own native plants, with a plaque under each specimen depicting the
botanical name. The Australian garden is a collection of species the largest of its kind outside of
Australia, with up to 30 - 40 varieties of eucalyptus. Other varieties include Actinodium, Banksia,
Callistemon^Darwinia, Diplolaena, Epacris, Grevillea, Leschenaultias, Melaleuca, Verticordia and
Telopea. The garden covers 25 acres in area.
—
The New Zealand garden also carries the largest species collection outside of New Zealand.
Many species are very strange in appearance, others very beatiful. Some varieties on show are
Agatbis, Metrosiders, Pseudopanax, Pseudowiritera and Sophora.
—
-
J
The South African Garden yields many varieties of Protea, Leucadendron - which flower there
mostly in winter and Leucospermum, flowering in Spring. A large number of Ericas are shown
here too much to the delight of the hummingbirds, who pollinate the plants. Seedlings often
appear in the garden.
As the Arborteum is situated in California, it portrays a true reflection of plants to be found in this
state. Cacti and succulents, California poppies and Ceanothus attract native frogs, birds and
butterflies to the area. Many other varieties are found here also. A large span of open grassland
in the middle of the Arboretum is hoping to be developed into an area housing southern
Californian species.
_
The gardens are the main focus at the Arboretum as it is here where fellow botanists are trying to
promote the awareness of natural flora through learning and research, rather than marketing.
Here we can see native plants from around the world in their true form.
The Arboretum is involved in importing stocks from around the world. Most importation comes
from South Africa and Australia. Nurseries from California such as Suncrest, Rosandale and San
Marcus help the Arboretum to import stocks to be researched. Koala Blooms in Australia is also
involved in this process. One of the most primitive of all plants - Tricho'poda Katrikoln - grows in
one of the dome houses and is one of only very few growing in the world.
NORRIE'S GIFT SHOP
The gift shop is set at the entrance of the Arboretum. Run solely by volunteers, it offers plants,
books, plant related art and craft and fresh flowers from the gardens on a small scale. The income
raised supplies much of the financial support for the Arboretum. Open to the public from 10 a.m.
- 4 p.m weekdays and 1 p.m - 4 p.m Saturday. _
Report compiled by Linda Sands
Grandview Monbulk P/L
Nursery Study Tour - USA 2000
Tour of Yamagami's Nursery, Cupertino, California
Yamagami's spokesman for our group was Preston Ohki.
1.
Background on Yamagami's
Yamagami's Nursery is situated near San Jose, California, in an area commonly known
as Silicon Valley. The nursery was originally established in 1948. The area was a
farming community in the past, with orchards, etc. The current owners purchased it in
1962, and a second generation is now also involved. They operate from this one site only
- operating on 1.3 acres, including 10,000 square feet under canopy. Within a 4 mile
radius of Yamagami's Nursery, there are 2 independent retail nurseries; Sunnyvale
Nursery, Woolworth Garden Centre and 4 chain stores; 2 Rite-Aids, 2 Orchard Supply's
and a recently opened Home Depot.
Parking for the nursery is shared with 2 other businesses & accommodates 56 cars.
Limited parking capacity was identified by Yamagami's spokesman as a key constraint
on their future operations.
The nursery is open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm during Winter and 9am to 6.30pm
from Spring to Autumn.
2.
Staff
Yamagami's employ 23 full-time staff and 30 part-time staff, depending on the season.
One of the cornerstones of Yamagami's marketing strategy is its knowledge. The skills
of their staff are fundamental to this. Yamagami's promote themselves as having 12 sales
staff with over 200 years combined experience in the nursery and landscaping industry.
Eight of these twelve sales staff are "California Certified Nursery Professionals". This is
a Californian Association of Nurserymen's accreditation scheme for retail nursery staffthe scheme promotes skill development of nursery personnel, assessment &
acknowledgement of those skills. The Manager of Roger's Garden Centre at Los
Angeles has been a prime mover of the scheme & wore a name badge, displaying his
membership & skill level in the scheme.
This trained staff enables Yamagami's to provide comprehensive advice to their
customers in their newsletter, fact sheets, and point of sale material and verbal advice.
This in-house expertise has led to the creation of a database that Yamagami's have
developed over the years. NB Point of sale material & growing advice to customer on
labels in the US is generally not as good as in Australia, placing greater pressure on retail
nurseries to meet the needs of customers for growing advice.
2.1 Training of Yamagami's staff
They hold regular, weekly staff meetings for Sales staff & monthly meetings for other
staff. Responsibility for "on the floor" nursery activities is broken down into 3
categories:
> Sales
> Facilities
> Cashiers
31
Yamagami's spokesman acknowledged that on-going training of their staff needs
improvement.
3. Sales statistics
In the printed material supplied to the group by Yamagami's, the following sales data for
1998 was provided:
% Sales, by type of Product Sold
Pottery / a
_. .
Giftware
Statuary
3/o
6%
Fertilizers /
Chemicals /
Soil
19%
Plant
material
48%
Foliage
2%
Bedding
Plants,
including
vegetables
22%
1998 Sales performance on a monthly basis:
Monthly Sales performance
.£ 15%
a
(0
. Series 1
o
Month
January = 4%
February = 3%
March = 1 1 %
April = 13%
May = 14%
June = 1 1 %
July = 1 1 %
August = 7%
September = 8%
October = 9%
November = 5%
December = 4%
32
As can be seen, peak sales occur from March to July, ie-early Spring to Summer.
1998 Average monthly sales/customer ($):
Yamagami's average monthly
sales/customer, 1998
50
40
30
~
^
~
^
^
^
^
—•— Seriesl
20
10
0 -
CD
-,
-,
Month
January = 40.42
February = 39.36
March = 43.76
April = 42.25
May = 45.25
June = 42.85
July = 44.91
August = 42.92
September = 47.45
October = 45.84
November = 42.81
December = 41.49
It is interesting to see that average sales/customer are between $40 & $50 throughout the
year, regardless of the season. During our tour, we became aware that US retail nurseries
took full advantage of the commercial potential of Christmas to boost sales during winter,
a period that would otherwise be a low sales season for plants. Yamagami's would
appear to have successfully maintained average sales/customer throughout the year.
Yamagami's big challenge, however, will be whether they can successfully implement
their "Less is More" policy (see below) to increase average sales/customer to maintain
economic viability, with possibly fewer total customers - given the increasing level of
competition in retail garden centres in their area.
4. Socio-economic background of surrounding area
The local community has grown, & has a lot of more diversity now compared to the
1960's- culturally & ethnically. Their market is made up of families living in a single
dwelling, with at least one full-time wage & often a spouse working on a part time basis.
The median annual income per household was approx. $75,672 (1997 estimate & most
likely higher now), with an estimated population of 236,960 in Yamagami's market area.
With recent growth in the IT industry, employment in the region has grown &, as a result,
the cost of housing increased by 10% last year. Mr. Ohki described his customers as
being mostly upper middle-class. Home values in the area in the last 12 months have
"gone straight through the roof - what had been $400,000 now would cost $550,000.
This has been due to a large influx of people working in computer technology & Internet
companies. Some people are commuting from central California to this area (Santa Clara
Valley)- involving at least 2 hour trips each way, getting up at 3.30 / 4am, travelling 2
hours, working for 8 hours & then travelling another 2 hours to get home.
33
As noted also by the Marketing Manager at Molbak's Garden Centre in Seattle, (within
lOKms of Microsoft's headquarters), disposable income & willingness to pay are high
amongst those who have shared in Bill Gates' success. Yamagami's customer base
would include households that have also benefited from the IT revolution.
The core of their customer catchment is within a 5-mile radius, but with the opening of a
new freeway recently, Yamagami's is starting to draw in customers from further afield.
5. Advertising & Promotion
Yamagami's feel their reputation for knowledge & service is the reason people will come
from all over the "bay area" to shop at Yamagami's Nursery. The freeway system
provides good access to Yamagami's to customers up to 20 miles away.
On arrival at Yamagami's, each tour participant was presented with a folder of
information about the company & a range of the promotional material it prepares for its
customers. These documents are listed at the end of this report. Its preparedness in
catering to the needs of our tour group indicates a forward thinking management team,
and an organization that is used to such visits.
What is particularly impressive in the customer fact sheets & newsletters is the quality of
horticultural advice provided. This reflects Yamagami's approach, in creating a
competitive edge based on knowledge & service. They recognize that those customers
that shop according to price will buy their product from the Chain stores & outlets like
Home Depot. In line with their "Less is More" policy, Yamagami's have consciously
raised the price of their product & seek to attract customers with good quality stock,
excellent advice & service. A Home Depot Centre has been set up recently, within 5
minutes drive from Yamagami's on the same highway & started operating the week we
visited. It was too early to assess the impact on Yamagami's sales.
5.1 Pictorial labels
Mr. Ohki was aware that in Australia, labels for nursery stock are larger & more colorful
than in US. They would like their suppliers to improve growing information on labels for
customers, as Customers are "hungry" of information.
We were aware of Monrovia new label series & saw them on stock at Yamagami's. Mr.
Ohki was asked whether they been successful? He replied, "Yes & No". No one else is
doing it. Information on the labels is general & not applicable throughout the US different growing conditions that require different approaches to plant care. E.g. the
definition of partial shade will mean a different situation in Seattle, with a cool climate, to
Arizona, which is semi-desert.
Customers can become confused when the advice given by their nursery (in this case
Yamagami's) was contradicted by the advice on the label. Yamagami's response to this
issue has been to produce very clear, informative Point of Purchase information. Mr.
Ohki speculated that with increasing sophistication of printing technology, it might well
be possible for label companies to produce labels & Point of Purchase information to suit
the specific needs of a particular customer or growing area.
The group discussed future trends in label production. Australian printing technology
trends are pointing to the possibility that individual wholesalers will be able to print out
their own labels on site & the label companies will supply the software & technology,
much as we print up bar codes today.
34
Mr. Ohki described the Application Service Provider computer-based concept, which is
like Internet Service Providers, leasing or renting the application from a mega-server that
is on-line. In this way, printing companies can produce the labels for you, without you
having to have the hardware of "brains" in your company to produce them.
5.2 Point of Sale Material at Yamagami's
Most of the point of sale material has been produced by Yamagami's, rather than by the
growers / wholesale nurseries. Monrovia's was the exception. Yamagami's have a
database, tied in with purchase orders to match up the material when it arrives.
6. Customer facilities
Yamagami's did not have a cafe on site, as they felt that this would attract
customers that would stay longer & occupy scarce car parking space. They did,
however, provide low key, informal coffee drinking facilities near one of the cash
register areas.
Yamagami's have set up an Information Booth, manned by sales staff and from
which their information leaflets are also available in stands for customers to help
themselves.
Some of our study group members commented that Yamagami's had an
excellent range of product. Mr. Ohki responded that Yamagami's are actually
trying to cut down on that range but at the same time, create the feel that the
customer still has an enormous selection to choose from. This is a challenge for
sales staff to implement the policy of "Less is More" e.g. pick out what are the
top 2 or 3 salvias & resist having all 200 salvias in stock.
Ecologically minded marketing
In one section of the garden centre, there were live Ladybirds, Praying Mantises
etc available as natural pest control mechanisms as an alternative to chemical
sprays.
7. Competitors
They have a tremendous amount of competition, including a Woolworths Garden Centre
next door plus a chain garden store. Yamagami's view competition as other leisure
pursuits & not just other nurseries. They have to ensure they are meeting the needs of
their customers so they come back. The greatest constraint they have is in the limited
parking space, which are shared with a Coffee Shop & Patio Shop. The amount of time
spent at Yamagami's is crucial. In response to these pressures, Yamagami's recently
adopted the policy of "Less is More"- i.e. they are aiming to do more with less customers
& to increase the average sale. Mr. Ohki felt they were succeeding.
Mark-up margins on plant materials are 64 - 67%, based on retail. This is probably one
of the higher margins in this market area. However, they justify their prices on the basis
of the knowledge of their staff, range of product available and the ambience of the garden
centre itself compared to any other retail garden centre in the area.
Home Depot Store opened earlier in May & so far, Yamagami's haven't noticed a drop
off of sales. They may have had some reduction in the number of customers, but not in
sales - their policy of promoting greater sales/customer may be working to overcome the
impact of this competition. In a way, Yamagami's are happy not to have a pricemotivated customer clogging up their scarce car parking spaces.
35
8. Pricing
Mr. Ohki was asked whether price was a big issue with customers?
His response was "Yes & No" - Price is important if it is a directly comparable product.
If it is unique or of a higher quality, then price is less relevant. However, Yamagami's
handle plants from suppliers like Hines Nurseries that also supply Home Depot. Here,
they compete on the basis of merchandising their total product - presentation, friendly
staff, & it makes a big difference.
8.1 Strategies adopted by Yamagami's to achieve "less Is Mori' policy
STEP UP THE SERVICE & STEP UP THE PRICES.
Over the last 2 years, they have raised the price of their products - previously their
margins had been at 60%. So long as they have the range of product that the customer
wants & provide the service, the customer is happy to pay a reasonable, higher price.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
They have a Message Board in the Office & anybody, from cashiers to Managers & Sales
Staff (& customers) can write comments down on the board -the "good, bad or ugly".
These comments are then tracked, analysed & a response considered. These comments
act as cues that help them focus on those things that they can improve on.
EVEN OUT PEAK SALES PERIODS
They have noticed a greater increase in traffic on Fridays & Mondays - & have
interpreted this as meaning customers want to visit them, but without the hassles of long
queues, etc on weekends.
9. Suppliers
Yamagami's have consciously limited the number of suppliers. They have
sought to develop a good relationship with their suppliers and grow with them.
They are looking for good quality & supply relationships.
9.1 Supplier involvement in product merchandising in-store
One bedding plant company is responsible for 5 tables in the centre. The supplier
determines which products are to be stocked & co-ordinate with Yamagami's "Colour"
buyer & then to set up the tables ready for sale. This means they are in the store before or
after the centre opens, restocking & has resulted in greater turnover of that product. This
marketing concept originated in southern California. Yamagami's spokesman believes
that in southern California, unfortunately, the growers have ended up giving everything
away - guaranteed sale, merchandising & the lowest price. This is not a good long-term
business strategy. Some retailers decided this was great & had 3 or 4 suppliers "come in
& butt heads" - that doesn't work either.
36
Mr. Ohki feels it is better to pay a fair price, get merchandising support & product, & get
the tables tended to regularly on a Sale or Return basis. They have an agreement with
their suppliers that if Yamagami's staff are not taking good care of the stock in between
the supplier's reps calls, & they reach a certain "dumpage" level, Yamagami's will take
responsibility for any losses arising. This is fair & necessary for any good long-term
business relationships to develop.
9.2 Does Yamagami's propagate any of their own material?
No - they learnt a long time ago they were lousy growers.
10. Conclusions
Yamagami's have been/are successfully maintaining their sales revenue, despite
increasing competition, particularly from cut-price chain store type operations. As
they identified, their most pressing constraint is parking (plus space for further
development/redevelopment).
Compared to Rogers Garden Centre in Los Angeles, Yamagami's are not as
impressive visually - lacking landscaped garden areas or high-class accessories /
gift line departments to inspire & promote products. To succeed with their "More
with Less" strategy, they may need to consider a major upgrading of the physical
layout of their centre. Molbak's in Seattle also has older physical structures, but
have still managed to create a high-class ambience while implementing a high
price strategy.
1 1 . Yamagami's Information Package
> Information Sheet;
> "What's Growing On?"-January/February 2000;
> "What's Growing On?" - May/June 2000;
> "What's Growing On?"- October 1999;
> Yamagami's Nursery 2000 Fruit Tree Catalogue;
> Yamagami's Nursery Order Form for Roses 2000;
> Leaflet - Planting Guide for Trees;
> Leaflet - Planting Guide for Most Plants;
> Leaflet - How to Plant Azaleas, Camellias & Rhododendrons;
> Leaflet - Spring Bulbs (Summer Blooming) Planting Depth Guide;
> Leaflet - Fruit Tree Care Calendar,
> Leaflet - Water Conserving Garden Color Planner,
> Leaflet by Santa Clara Valley Water District - Water Conservation Program Watering Your Lawns.
13/08/01
Study Tour USA 2000
Tree and Shrub Growers of Victoria
May/June 2000
San Diego to Vancouver
An overview for the T&S Group meeting, 15th August 2000
Prepared by David Button, Alameda Homestead Nursery
Tree and Shrub Group Represented By:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Alameda Homestead Nursery
Berwick Nursery
Clyde Wholesale Nursery
Evergreen Nursery
Garden City Plastics
Grandview Monbulk
Greenhills Propagation
Humphris Nursery
Proteaflora
Southern Advanced Plants
TGA Australia
Warner's Nursery
Monrovia Nursery, Azusa, CA
• One of three sites for this nursery, this site comprises of five hundred
acres. The Azusa region is basically sub tropical with fewfrosts,but
high summer temperatures.
• Each Monrovia site produces different plants to suit the climate in
that region. The other sites are at Oregon (900 acres) and Vicela (600
acres).
• Each site supplies plants to Garden Centres within their own climate
zone. The climate changes vastly over the USA.
• Plants are shipped across the USfromthis site in refrigerated vans.
• Main focus is on supplying retail garden centres with top quality
topiary, licensed and flowering plants at a high price. They produce
over 1200 varieties.
• 99% of the staff at this site are Mexican and the average wage is
around $6.00 per hour.
Monrovia Nursery Propagation
• Most of the propagation is done in house, with the excess sold off.
• This nursery is very keen to control the PBR rights of new or
different varieties throughout the world, to make sure that they
have exclusive access.
The method of
propagation is moving
from the traditional
cutting tray to direct
sticking into 2-2.5cm
pots. This move is
primarily to save on
labour. Most of the
tube stock we saw was
on the ground.
Monrovia Nursery
• Dead plants are thrown into
this machine. The tumbling
motion knocks out the mix
(which goes back into stock
to be reused in larger pots)
and the pots are restacked in
trays. These trays are then
steam sterilized.
• Pots are placed into the
trays by hand.
• Pots in the trays are filled
using a pot filling machine.
13/08/00
Monrovia Nursery
Monrovia Nursery Potting
• Large potting is done by
machine.
• Stock is moved around the site
by modified vans and trailers.
• The main "can" size is one and
five gallon.
Colorama Nursery, Azusa, CA
• Nursery site is about 45 acres.
• Staff is mainly Mexican and is very
stable, being made up of family groups.
• The main focus is on Chain Store
customers.
• All stock ready for sale is moved to the
loading area for quick order collation.
• Any stock not sold is thrown out or
used in color bowls.
• Orders are collated on trolleys, then
rolled onto their own trucks.
• Main lines are bloomer pots and
baskets.
• The nursery functions seven days a
week, with prompt delivery a priority.
Colorama Nursery
• Excess flowering
seedlings are used in
mixed bowls and
baskets.
• Bowls are ready for
sale almost
immediately.
• The workers are left to
their own talents to
make the bowls as
colorful as possible.
There is little profit in
this line, as some
bowls may contain
over 20 seedlings.
13/08/0(;
Colorama Nursery Propagation
• Most plants are produced
by seed.
• Seed is direct sown using a
needle seeder.
• Young plants are put
through a series of houses,
ending in a retractable
shade house.
• Watering in this area is
done with a boom. Liquid
fertilizer is the main type of
feed.
• A change technique has
resulted in an increase in
germination, and therefore
excess stock.. They will
now sow less.
Colorama Nursery propagation
• Once the seedlings come
outside, they are placed
on rolling benches under
shade.
• All outside plants are
hand watered (that's forty
acres worth!)
• When ready, plugs are
transplanted into punnets.
Some are done by
machine, but this method
still has some major bugs.
13/08/00
Rogers Garden Centre, Corona Del Mar
• Situated in a very affluent area, where the average
household income is $100,000 US per year.
• The nursery has operated for 26 years on this site.
• Total area is 7.5 acres
• 2 acres is car park.
• Main focus is on colour, both flower and foliage plants,
garden ornaments and anything in between that will bring
in the customers and turnover quickly (with a good
margin). Only top quality plants are acceptable from
suppliers.
• They do not have a coffee shop, because the customers
would stay too long, and choke up the car park.
• They do not do garden consulting.
Paul Ecke Ranch, Encinitas
• This family own company specializes in the production of
cuttings, (rooted, calloused or un-rooted) of Poinsettia and
quick rooting colour plants such as Bacopa, Petunia,
Verbena and Argyranthemum, which are PBR protected.
• This site is 35 acres, but they also have sites in Guatemala.
• They employ around 400 people company wide.
• They hold about 70% of the US Poinsettia market and
Poinsettias alone account for 40% of the nursery's sales.
• Hygiene and pest control is outstanding.
• The company has been going for over 75 years.
Paul Ecke Ranch
* Poinsettia cutting stock is planted in
raised beds and liquid fed. Light are
applied to keep the plants in the
growth phase. Cuttings are picked as
required to the right number for the
orders placed. They do not grow on
spec, as the cuttings are shipped 21
days after sticking. The cuttings
have a limited shelf life.
13/08/00
USAS
Paul Ecke Ranch
The whole Poinsettia complex is insect
proof to exclude whitefly and other
pests. When entering, there is a small
room with fans to expel any pests which
may come in on your clothes.
13/0&00
USA Sludy Tom
Paul Ecke Ranch
Cutting gro
on channel
bench with
bottom
watering.
Leaves kept
wet at all t
Daily removal of Botrytis
13/08/00
LISA Study Tour
17
13/08/OC
Euro American Propagators
Bonsall
• Growers of New and Innovative Plants.
• This nursery specializes in the production of mainly
cutting grown, direct stuck plugs. The majority are
PBR protected or Trade Marked plants.
• Grow about 30 million plugs per year, of which
some ridiculous number are Bacopa.
• Big on branding and marketing with campaigns
such as "Proven Winners" and "Euro Select"
• Environmental conscience of nursery runoff.
Euro America Propagators
The packing shed is a production line
affair, with plants ready for dispatch
being brought up to thefronton either
sliding bench tops, or layered
trolleys.They are then sorted and
packed into boxes, either loose or in
trays and shipped.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
2)
Bacopa: These few pictures show
the Bacopa cutting house. All the
plants are off the ground. The
interesting feature here is that they
are attempting to have zero runoff
from the pots. They produce
millions of white Bacopa per year.
]M)«.V)
USA Study Tour
21
13/08/OQ
This is the propagation house. It is very
open and very large (over an acre) with
traditional overhead mist. Cuttings are
stuck inside the propagation house, and
moved as necessary by sliding along the
rails as seen below. This allows vast
numbers of plants to be moved at one time
by one person. Occasionally some fal
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
23
Hines Nurseries, Fallbrook, CA
• Hines was founded in 1920 by James W. Hines Snr.
• Hines Nurseries is a publicly listed company made up of
several nurseries across the USA. They expanding,
acquiring more sites to become America's largest nursery.
• The Fallbrook site is 256 acres and caters for their
Southern California, Arizona and Las Vegas customers. It
was originally Flynn Rainbow Nursery and was acquired
in 1996
• At present, Hines holds 26 Patents and grows around 1400
varieties of container plants.
• Pot sizes range from 1 to 15 gallon.
• Hines do their own deliveries in a fleet of trucks. Their
loading docks allow for around the clock loading, to ensure
prompt delivery.
Hines, Fallbrook
13/08TO
USA Study Tour
25
Hines, Fallbrook
•: '"3p(|!ii
•
•.' >
1
!
•
A i
"t' >
'•
•• • • &
i : |
$|&
| | $
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•
•'"••£!^-2
' . : i i ' • " " •• • A s s *
>et
^9
Now that's a loading dock!!
"P*'if§ll§lff .
- ".::" 0..'l%,
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
26
Hines, Fallbrook
All pottiiig is> uuuy uy uiau
have two potting machines at this site.
They also make their own potting mixes.
1.WW/00
USA Study Tour
27
Hines, Fallbrook
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
28
13/08/00
Suncrest Nurseries
Watsonville
• Situated on 200 acres, this nursery specializes
in perennials suited to within 150 miles of the
site. The climate is very stable being close to
the coast, with no real extremes. This nursery
has a long history, with the founders learning
most of their skills by trial and error.
• The propagation methods used in this nursery
are very traditional, mist propagation and
hand tubing.
• The climate here make it very easy to grow
plants.
Suncrest Nurseries,Watsonville
Potting is done on a comet type
machine. The table to the right is a lazy
Susan design with a shaft running
through two hefty bearings. This
allows tube stock to be spun around so
no reaching is involved.
Ml stock is labeled using this sort of
sticker. Information included is the
letail Nursery name and their retail
selling price, as well as a brief
3escription of the product. Pictorial
abels were few and far between.
V.
Suncrest Nurseries,Watsonville
Stock was moved around the nurserj ;
using tractors and trailers. Orders
where put in a staging area on the
ground to be loaded.
The spraying of plants was done
using the tractor below. This blower
type sprayer was modified by the
nursery so large areas could be
sprayed at one time from the comfort
and safety of the enclosed cabin. The
spray arm is about 5 metres long.
Most of the machinery used in this
and other large nurseries is either
manufactured or modified by the
nursery.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
Yamagami's Nursery,Cupertino
• "When you want to succeed... The first time."
• Situated in the "Silicon Valley", this nursery was started in
1948, and was bought by the present owners in 1962.
• Median family income of the area is $75,700 US p.a.
• Staff make up is 23 full time and 30 part time.
• The nursery area is 1.3acres, with 10,000 sq ft under
canopy and 5,000 sq ft for building space.
• Within a four mile radius, there are nine competing
nurseries or Chain Stores. (Woolworth Garden Centre was
three doors down).
• Knowledge and Service are the key to their business
success, plus a range of interesting plants.
31
13/08/0(
Yamagami's Nursery ,Cupertino
13mm
USA Study Tour
-U
Yamagami's Nursery,Cupertino
Some examples of signs used. Most
of the plants on display had a
descriptive sign about the way the
plant grew in that area. A problem
with generic labels in the USA is
that a plant may grow differently,
depending on which Zone it is
planted.
i rs/os/oo
USA Smdy Tour
M
Home Depot Store,Cupertino
This shop is just like Bunnings.
It was just opened a week before
we visited. In one weekend, the
garden department turned over
$60,000 US.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
M
Home Depot Store,Cupertino
1.V08/00
USA Study Tour
J. Frank Schmidt Nursery, Boring
• Established 52 years ago, this nursery mainly produces in
ground trees.
• The nursery spans 6 sites with 2600 acres of in ground
stock, and a mere 70 acres of container production. They
also have another 140 acres of hand dug B&B production.
• The staff number around 500.
• The nursery produces about 500 varieties.
• This is a family run nursery, with J. Frank Schmidt III at
the helm.
• They are constantly on the search for new introductions to
expand their range.
37_
Cuttings are prepared inside, and
then planted directly into a prepared
bed. The beds are covered with
removable igloos and mist lines are
added.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
39
Large pots are rilled using this large
pot filler. The potting mix is mixed
on the way to the filling machine's
hopper.
B/on/on
USA Study Tour
40
Iseli Nurseries?Boring
• Where the beauty of nature meets the artistry of man.™
• Iseli's covers 800 acres over two sites.
• Iseli Nursery specializes in Conifers, Maples and cool
climate trees/ shrubs.
• Topiary or "Living Art" is also a major feature. All the
plants we saw were pruned or sheared for shape.
• The management are very keen on a staff incentive
program to motivate staff to perform to their maximum
capacity.
• The management are also keen to weed out customers who
do not pay on time, or place orders which they do not take
when ready. These customers are usually never supplied
again.
Iseli Nurseries,Boring
Each batch of plants is bar coded
within the nursery. The nursery
has advanced specimens of some
plants, but the Dot.comers usually
buy them, not the retail nurseries.
The minimum for delivery is
$500.00 US.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
Bailey's Nursery,Yamhill
• Bailey's Nursery at Yamhill is the propagation part
of the nursery group. The total growing area of all
the nurseries is over 2000 acres
• This nursery specializes in hardy shrubs.
• Much of the nurseries production passes through a
huge cool room, to keep the plants in a dormant
phase either prior to shipping, or to hold
indefinitely.
43
Bailey's Nursery,Yamhill
A few pictures of the growing on
fields. They stretch for as far as the
eye can see.
I.VOft'OO
USA Study Tour
The nursery has fifty poly houses
filtedRpnlgv'S
with pumice. Cuttings are stuck directly_
•*
into the pumice in lines across the hous
Each house holds about 100,000 cuttin
and is misted by traveling boom. This
allows some plants to be left dry as the
boom travels past. The pumice is
chemically treated between crops, and i
not replaced.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
45
NUTSerV
-*
46
Molbak's Garden Centre,Woodinville
• Molbak,s Garden Centre, Woodinville is a family owned
and run retail nursery of 16 acres.
• The nursery also owns and runs a growing division which
supplies the two retail nurseries. The other retail site is very
small and specializes mainly in seeds. It is located at the
Pike Place Market.
• The main feature of Molbak's is: If you want to buy it,
they've got it. They are very conscience of how to make
their customers buy more.
• Range includes: Plants, Ornaments, Cut flowers, Greeting
cards, Furniture (in and outdoor), Imitationflowers,dishes,
pots and pans, barbeques, candles, Sprays and fertilizer,
gifts, and plenty more!
The outdoor area was less colourful
but still held a good selection
plants. Wide pathways and plenty
of trolleys made for easy shopping
and bigger sales.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
49
Molbak's make up their own signs
to improve the sales of garden
plants that are out of flower. These
signs are printed in-house onto a
large weatherproof sticker, then
stuck onto green corflute. Very
effective,
il'OIS/00
USA Study Tour
50
Molbak's Garden Centre,WoodinviUe
The growing nursery specializes in
hanging baskets, geraniums, roses
and perennials. Because of the short
growing season, much of the
outdoor stock is grown in a
retractable shade house. The main
pest is the Canadian Goose.
13/08/00
~ — , - ^ . i
.
USA Study Tour
Skagit Gardens, Mount Vernon
• Founded in 1966, this nursery spans two sites totaling 50
acres.
• Specializes in perennials and quick growing crops from
512 Starter plugs to 3 gallon containers.
• Grow over 11 million "Skagit SuperStartslTM", 4.5 million
pots of annual colour, 51,000 hanging baskets and
150,000+ flats of pak annuals and vegetables per year.
• It is so cold in winter, that they have to make their own
snow to insulate the plants from an Arctic blast.
• Use heated double skinned poly houses(3 acres), glass (3
acres), shade (1.5 acres) ,retractable shade houses (5
acres)as well as 16 acres of outdoor area to grow their
crop.
51
13/08/0(
270 people work at this nursery, 140 fulltime and 130 during peak
season.
They are very keen to reduce waste, recycle where possible and use up to
date technologies such as IPM, computer driven greenhouse controllers,
and labour saving transplant equipment.
tsmm
USA Study Tour
The propagation area is traditional
mist area. Cuttings are made up and
stuck in inside the prop house. The
mist comes on in sections to
maintain pressure.
iJinilVlM«f9HgK
13/0g.'OO
USA Study Tour
53
Planting is done on a flow through
conveyor belt, starting with a pot
filler and ending on multi tiered
trolleys. All planting is done at one
site, the pots then being transported
to the other site for growing on.
13/0S/00
USA Study Tour
55
The growing on site is very flat and
exposed. The site is laid out in a grid,
so that workers can find the plants by a
number (i.e.. A10) when picking
orders. Plants that are 200mm and
greater are watered by drippers,
everything else is overhead.
13/OK/OO
USA Study Tour
56
This concludes my presentation
• Not all the place we visited on this trip were shown in
this presentation and there was a lot more I could have
shown you.
• The main conclusions drawn by the trip were that the US
nurseries are very large, and very competitive, with most
producing glossy brochures and catalogues. Within the
catalogues, many key members of staff were introduced
or mentioned and a family feeling was extended to the
customer. Some of these publications were very
informative, giving details of the nursery as well as the
plants they grow. I have used some of the information
contained in these publications to create my publication.
13/08/00
USA Study Tour
Briefly.
Production Nurseries
NOR '
United Nurseries "Colour
Your Life" Competition
ME -' - CA "•• i
submitted by Michael Kelly (Evergreen Nursery)
Going on a Production Nurseries
Tour along the West Coast of
America is a lot more than looking
at nurseries and plant forms in a
different country.
Touring is a lot more than experiencing
the variety of ways other people
manage their businesses. It's a lot more
that looking at nurseries which stretch
the imagination when it comes to
describing the sheer size of their
operations. And certainly it's a lot more
than just trees and shrubs when you
are confronted with acres of blooming
colour. It's about making new contacts,
hearing different ideas, making and
discussing plans, comparing notes,
searching out similarities and examining
differences, and all this with a group
of people from the same industry as
yourself.
But it's not all work - there's plenty of
time for play as well. The tour included
visiting places like the world famous
San Diego Zoo. Wherever the group
found itself, the friendly banter, and
some serious in depth discussions
about the day's events, kept everyone
entertained for hours.
The tour afforded all of us the
opportunity to strengthen our
professioanl relationships in an
atmosphere of industry fellowship.
We were also able to use our time
re-establish acquaintances with some
old friends and to forge links with
many new ones.
Going on the North American Tour
meant more than looking at nurseries.
It was very interesting technically and
fun at the same time.
So save up your pennies and get your
passports in order for the next great
overseas Tour.
i i i t r»\c
»W*
**•
mm
MfttSEiT mnsntr
AsocuiionoF
"•SKgr'ffi™
L-R: Vicki & John Coleman, David Button, Barry Humphris, Helen & Micheal Kelly,
Bob Allison, Lynne & Arthur Thorpe, Jane Wilkins, Use Mathews, Peter Wilkins,
David Mathews, David Sands, Fran & Ross Warner, Linda Sands and Robert Harrison
NIAV Training Sessions
We have several interesting and topical training sessions planned
for the coming months. Registration forms should be available soon
when all the details have been finalised.
2 Day Waterwork Workshop
Wednesday 11 October
9.00am-12.30pm
Friday 13 October
12.30-4.30pm
Venue:
Swinburne, Wantirna
Presenter: Chris Rolfe
Weeds in the Nursery
Thursday 19 October
2.00 - 5.00pm
Venue & Presenter: TBA
Marketing Your Product
Wednesday 22 November
6.00 - 9.00pm
Venue & Presenter: TBA
If you wish to register your interest
in any of these sessions please
contact Greg King (WIDO) at the
NIAV office.
Tel: (03) 9576 0599]
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 0419 357 182
Congratulations to Tracey Cross from
-"Horsham, Victoria! Tracey was the
Winner of United Nurseries "Colour
Your Life" competition - a family trip
to me USA valued at $20,000.
The United Nurseries "Colour Your Life"
Mompetition was launched in March
1.2000.tocoincide with United Nurseries
lie/ease of the exclusive PanolaTM
iSeries - a unique pansy viola cross.
":Th'e "Colour Your Life" competition is a
pantastic illustration of United Nurseries
distinctive approach to promotions.
iiPeter Waiter, a Director of United
Wurseries, presented the prize to Tracey
fat Horsham's Old Peppertree Nursery
mBiitured). The other forty winners of
pme" "Colour Your Life" consolation
-Mfizes of $250 each were located all
j'OVe'f" Australia
Life Style Changes
Changes in lifestyle have had a major
• impact on the garden industry in recent
'•years - so it pays to keep an eye on
overseas trends and sometimes scary
statistics.
Other food industry statistics show:
• more than 50% of Americans under
25 have never cooked a meal
. ât 4 o'clock in the afternoon 40% of
Americans do not know what they
will be eating that evening
• the average American family expects
a meal to be ready in 14 minutes.
Can you imagine these people waiting
fcria pot plant to flower let alone
waiting for a hedge to grow or tree
. to mature?.
New Partner for Seasol
jRgzitech.have created PowerFeed, a
highly refined liquid fertiliser
Ifprmutdfed specifically for the home
6
garden market, the result is an
; organically based fish fertiliser, fortified
^yith essential nutrients as well as
humic acids.
Seasol and PowerFeed are ideal to mix
together. PowerFeed is like the 'meat'
in a human diet, Seasol is all the 'fruit
and vegetables' - covering everything a
plant needs for healthy growth!
Costs for these sessions are not yet
known but will be kept to a minimum as
a benefit to NIAV Members.
Warns t l , Number 10 OCTOBER 2000
ife
Briefly...
Highlights
s-* I ,
7
'h
I Pink is in Style
United Nurseries Pty Ltd is offering a
range of attractive seedlings and potted
cotouriin a mix of cool and warm pinks.
s Of Victor!B
- Get on the Biuf! -
Indulgence ™ impatiens possess superior
"performance and masses of large blooms.
'With four plants in the range, alt with
eye-catching names. Indulgence ™
impatiens are sure to be sales winners
this spring.
submitted by David Button (Alameda Homestead Nursery)
Recently a group of nineteen
Victorian production
nursery folk ventured
off to
America to see how American nurseries do their stuff. The tour investigated
the
specialised large-scale, techniques in use in North America (USA & Canada) with a
view to adapting
at least some of these techniques for Australian
conditions. Over an intensive
unique and interesting
19-day
to offer nursery industry
Our tour commenced in Los Angeles
where straight away we learnt about
the word BIG. The first stop was
Monrovia Nursery - one of three
Monrovia Nursery sites. This nursery
was only six hundred acres and one of
the only nurseries we visited that put
any effort into marketing and branding
their product.
Monrovia Nursery produces a high
quality product in one and five gallon
cans (about 20cm and 25cm pots)
solely aimed at the Garden Centre
market. Prices for plants in this sector
of the market are high, so Monrovia
charges a premium for their product and get it.
At the retail nurseries we visited,
Monrovia plants stood out from the
rest. Monrovia market their plants as
"collections", each with a different
colour scheme in mind. Monrovia's
"collections" are displayed to the
public on four sided stands, with one
collection per side. Each plant with its
own theme label.
After we (or was it just me?) got over
the shock of the scale of the American
way of growing plants, came the way
the American consumer purchase them.
If it isn't in flower, they don't want to
know about it! One retailer used this
little saying as a guide to buying: "No
bloom, no room'.
Rogers Garden Centre, (LA) was the
best example we saw of this. This
nursery catered for the well-to-do
shopper, preferring NOT to have a
coffee shop because the customers
would stay too long, and concentrated
on colour and style in the garden. Every
plant was in perfect condition, or in the
bin. The staff are trained to serve the
customer, to sell the plants with the
TM; (03) 95510922
[email protected]
production
tour, 20 sites were visited, each with
something
sight-seers.
add ons, to satisfy all the customer's
needs. Our host at Roger's Garden
Centre was a "Five Star General" of
the plant world. Having been rigorously
tested in all aspects of plant knowledge
he wore his pips on his badge, giving
his customers' confidence that they are
buying from a garden expert.
Roger's only buys the best quality,
preferring to stick with quality growers
and paying a good price for quality
stock. In fact, some of the production
nurseries we visited proudly announced
that they are suppliers to Roger's.
Maybe there is something in that for all
of us.
The North American study tour was proudly
supported by HRDC and NIAV.
indulgence ™ Impatiens Desire is a cool pink and
prcMuces abundant strawberry pink flowers with a
cherry pink eye.
Beard Still up for Grabs
Robert Harrison (Greenhills Propagation
Nursery Pty Ltd) is still offering to have
< the bushy growth removed from his face
and head - provided $10,000 can be
xaised for charity.
I Robert's beard has been 25 years in the
making, so the offer is not a light-hearted
, one. All proceeds donated to the Royal
Childrens' Hospital. Tel: (03) 5629 2443
•Herb Fact Sheets Revamped
Herb Herbert has revamped the original
Plants Naturally herb fact sheets. The fact
sheets are available to retail garden
centres to hand out to their customers
and increase staff knowledge at the same
time.
HWSHIVINDIBreT
ASSOCIATION OF
VICTORIA
HRO
teipi"S « * SCTm r r
..foryt"" r"
!
£&
The fact sheets will be available shortly
via the website (www.herbherbert.com)
of by phoning
Herb Herbert.
j P*"
*?***
Tel: (03) 9756 7928. j
LEMON (
m
This article forms part of a series designed to
transfer information learned on the trip to
others in the industry.
ifJHerb Herbert has many
• 'Favourite Herbs' to
Itempt customers,
; Volume 11, Number 9 SEPTEMBER 2000

Study tour of North American production nurseries pdf 6 MB

Transcription

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