Nursery startup thoughts

[TreeVB]

I have briefly been thinking about the pros,cons and obstacles of starting a nursery. All of them around me suck! Today I was offered 6 acres to start a nursery free of charge! Is it pretty hard to start one? I love climbing and I also absolutely love structure pruning younger trees and feel this could potentially be a great avenue for my future. Any thoughts?

 

[JD3000]

Whats the soil like? Drainage, pH, texture, structure, nutrients etc...

Whatcha gonna grow based on the soil type?

Do you enjoy weed control? It's not fun.

How will you irrigate that acreage?

You'll need equipment to dig and do the B&B process and a holding yard for them.

Pest and disease control in nursery rows in large areas is a bugger. Conventional sprayers or misters/blowers? Systemics when u can?

 

[tex-moto]

JD- what do you think about the above ground grow bags? Looks like it would minimize weed control and reduce/eliminate balling and burlapping

 

[TreeCo]

The big chain stores with their on staff lawyers have driven almost all of the small nursery's out of business.

It is fun to grow plants but hard to market and sell them at a profit.

 

[JD3000]

There's a market for harder to find and harder to grow species in my area.

Grown woodies that have been structurally pruned would would be lovely too as would container stock that has been root pruned for every up-potting.

Grow bags show promise as do some of the aerated pots

 

[TreeVB]

All great things to ponder. Sounds like a sizable operation would require quite a bit of startup capital.

 

[Serf Life]

Update or more insight @TreeVB ?

 

[TreeVB]

Update or more insight @TreeVB ?

Decided against the nursery for the time being, although the opportunity will always be there. Started a small tree care company instead. A couple of solid guys and being able to stick with science based pruning as well as necessary removals has been pretty good to me. As the business grows I may Re-visit the nursery idea.

 

[flushcut]

I know a guy who does fairly well for a one man band on one acre. He brings in small bare root and itty bitty baby trees and woody shrubs. Let’s them mature for four years and b&b himself nearly all retail sales with an odd land scraper looking for the more unusual cultivars.
It’s lots of work but if you put everything on a rotation it helps with getting overwhelmed.

 

[Serf Life]

Plant lover’s dream, probably like a cook wanting to open a restaurant…oh shit I’m broke!

 

[flushcut]

Starting from scratch if going to be tough for a few years until you see a ROI.

 

[VenasNursery]

Starting from scratch if going to be tough for a few years until you see a ROI.

Like any other businesses