A VIEW FROM THE ROAD 



Nancy E . Adams 



he chance to travel and visit 

 greenhouse and nursery businesses 

 always points out new and different 

 growing and management techni- 

 ques. Recently, eight UNH Coop- 

 erative Extension Agricultural Edu- 

 cators and Specialists took a driv- 

 ing tour down the northeast corri- 

 dor visiting ornamental and fruit 

 operations. Stops in Connecticut, 

 New York, New Jersey, Maryland 

 and Washington D.C were de- 

 signed to include both large and 

 small size wholesale and retail busi- 

 nesses. Here are some ideas that 

 you may want to adapt to you par- 

 ticular situation. 1 hope you enjoy 

 the tour! 



THE GARDEN BARN in Con- 

 necticut utilized old tires as the 

 support structures for a retaining 

 wall. Filled with soil, the tires were 

 stacked at a slight angle and have 

 remained firmly in place for a num- 

 ber of years. 



THE GARDEN BARN also places 

 container grown chrysanthemums in 

 an unused portion of their parking 

 lot. During the busy spring months, 

 the entire parking lot is full of hap- 

 py customers. As the season pro- 



gresses, the overflow lot is convert- 

 ed in useful growing space and it 

 provides a colorful outdoor display 

 area for late summer mum sales. 



MATTERHORN NURSERY m 

 Spring Valley, New York, offered 

 number of interesting business 

 ideas. Growing and selling primarily 

 water and landscape plants, their 

 customer base is upscale New York- 

 ers seeking unique and unusual 

 plant materials. 



Designed for longevity and 

 beauty, these propagation beds are 

 made from pressure treated lumber. 

 Raised beds filled with an "artifi- 

 cial" mix can be used in many 

 situations where native soil and 

 terrain are unsuitable for inground 

 propagation. 



Display gardens are an integral 

 part of Matterhorn Nursery. Not 

 only do they showcase the plant 

 material on sale at the nursery, 

 they also are used as a teaching 

 and demonstration tool. Their 

 plans call for expanding the display 

 gardens to include an arboretum 

 where customers can stroll and re- 

 lax. The beauty of display gardens 

 can greatly enhance any sales yard! 



An eight-cell decorative plastic 

 basket filled with a mixture of 

 herbs (photo left) is being sold as a 

 ready-made indoor windowbox gar- 

 den. No transplanting is required 

 by the customer and the deep cells 

 provide ample space for root 

 growth. Matterhorn also fills similar 

 baskets with annuals such as impa- 

 tiens. 



Cooling of greenhouse environ- 

 ments can be a challenge during 

 warm summer months. This is a 

 "Humidifan" (photo left) manufac- 

 tured by Jaybird Manufacturing Inc. 

 of Centre Hall, Pennsylvania. A 

 thermostat regulated the opera- 

 tion of the oscillating fan which 

 disperses a fine mist of water aver- 

 aging below 25 microns in size. 

 Matt Horn has been very pleased 

 with this cooling system. 



BEHNKE NURSERIES INC., of 

 BeltsviUe, Maryland produces a 

 large number of annual and peren- 

 nial plants as well as nursery stock. 

 To increase point of purchase sales 

 in their outdoor areas, they have 

 built moveable sheds which contain 

 seasonal dry goods such as fertilizers 

 and pesticides. For example, when 

 roses are in bloom, the shed would 



October/No VEM BER 1991 21 



