[shager]

I am currently doing some landscaping but want to get into growing trees and bushes. I have the land to do it on but didn't know what would be be best trees to start out with or how good of a market there may be. i am about 30miles outside of charlotte nc.
any advice would be appreciated.
thanks steve

[VoodooChile]

So you want to start a nursery by Tony Avent is the best book/advice/consultation you can buy before you take the plunge.

He runs a very successful specialty perennial nursery in Raleigh, N.C. and will really open your eyes to the dollars and sense, or lack thereof, in starting a nursery.

[GLAN]

You might also want to find NCSU who is a member here......he is growing ornamental grasses.........he's down you way.....search the members listings and send him a pm.

[NCSULandscaper]

Tony Avent (Plant Delights Nursery) just does small container perennials and hostas, not FG material which is a whole nother business and alot more work. In NC, unless you can grow in massive massive amounts, you cannot compete in the B&B tree market. I deal with nurseries all the time that have great prices on large material, no way i could ever grow something that cheap. They have 300 and 400 acre fields of nothing but trees and grow on large scale. If you want to be sucessful in the nursery business now, you need to find a niche market which is what i did growing container and field grown ornamental grasses like Glan mentioned. To my knowledge, the closest nursery selling B&B grasses is located in nashville, tn.

[VoodooChile]

It's a great book with plenty of general information that applies across the board to starting a nursery, and Plant Delights Nursery's success is due in part to following your advice NCSU. They specialize.

[Stonehenge]

B&B Grasses? Wow, that is a niche. Kudos to you for giving it a run, and making it work.

[VoodooChile]

Here are a couple chapter titles: "Selecting Your Land", "The Liner Nursery", "The Catalog", "Insurance", and "Employees: The "E" Word".

Spiderlilly and I contemplated buying a 9 acre, $250,000 pasture immediately adjacent to us this past year, and starting a cut-flower, or organic produce farm. After lots of research and soul-searching, sanity returned. The bottom line was without plenty of help, like winning the lottery, we weren't gonna make 24k a year in mortgage payments, and keep the business liquid.

I would take NCSU's advice to heart, and consider the economics and market closely before taking the plunge...

[NCSULandscaper]

here is some pics of our operation, we first planted this spring with 2.25" liners and have gotten over 4' of growth out of some varieties already, we will grow these one more year to get a mature specimen and then dig them.

[VoodooChile]

That's one immaculate looking nursery!

[Greensmith]

Must be a pain in the arse keeping that weed free since you cannot use most weed killers around orn grasses.

BB Grass! You must be the first I have heard of doing that.

[NCSULandscaper]

its really not that bad, we have row crop tractors with cultivators that keep the weeds stirred up, then go in every week or so and hand pull weeds next to the plants.

[LandArts]

Hey Matt-do you get your liners from Hoffman's? I think Panicum 'Northwind' would be a good choice for field grown.

If'n I was to start a nursery I think I'd specialize in large container-grown trees, select varieties.

[NCSULandscaper]

yes, we buy from hoffmans and also do our own liners, ill have to check out Northwind Switchgrass, do you use that alot? I can grow in either containers or field grown.

[NCSULandscaper]

Originally posted by LandArts
If'n I was to start a nursery I think I'd specialize in large container-grown trees, select varieties. [/b]

Have you ever heard of Worthington Farms and Tree Source down in Greenville, NC? They are a field grown and container tree nursery that grows up to 200 gal tree material thats phenominal

[VoodooChile]

Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' is a great ornamental grass. It takes a little shade, grows fast, thrives on neglect, makes an effective 4-5' screen, had nice feathery flowers & yellow fall color, and stands tall all winter, even taking some snowload.

I'm not sure what its southern temp/humidity tolerance is though...

It was selected a few miles down the road from us by local native plant guru Roy Diblik of Northwind Perennial Farm, and is a staple grass round here, second only to Karl Forester.