Which three plants do you most commonly recommend for installations?
We’re in upstate New York, so we’re limited to the types of plants we’d use. Winterberry and holly do OK. Dogwoods we can’t use. We use a lot of red twig dogwoods, ornamental grasses and perennials, burning bush, winterberry holly for winter interest, hibernum and rhododendrons. We use those because a lot of customers are looking for low-maintenance stuff that’s going to be around for a while.
Where do you buy your plants?
We have a couple of wholesale nurseries we deal with locally, Northern Nurseries and Wells Nursery in Albany, and we have a grower that we deal with out of state, Feeney’s in Pennsylvania, for larger stuff.
Why do you buy plants there?
There’s the availability at Northern. They have a huge variety of plant material. They can turn stuff around generally within a couple days, depending on when we need it. They have facilities in New York and Connecticut where we can pull from.
With Wells, they’re local. They’re a mile from our branch office. We try to do as much local buying as possible – we want to make sure we’re giving back and putting money back into the local growers here. We also use other, smaller growers for about 5 percent of our business throughout the year.
Picking plants
Landscape distribution centers are one of the most important suppliers to a design-build contractor. Here’s a short list of companies across the country that you should know about. If your supplier is great and you think they should be on this list, send their contact information to Lawn & Landscape Managing Editor Chuck Bowen at cbowen@gie.net.
Alabama
PDSI/Flowerwood Nursery
17325 County Road 68
Loxley, AL 36551-3201
P: 251-964-6778
F: 251-964-6759
www.plantdevelopment.com
California
Belmont Nursery
7730 E. Belmont Ave.
Fresno, CA 93727-9718
P: 559-255-6645
F: 559-255-4040
www.belmontnursery.com
Colorado
Arbor Valley Nursery
18539 WCR 4
Brighton, CO 80603-9414
P: 303-654-1682
F: 303-654-9946
www.arborvalleynursery.com
Connecticut
Imperial Nurseries
90 Salmon Brook St.
Granby, CT 06035-2603
P: 860-653-4541
F: 860-653-2919
www.imperialnurseries.com
Florida
Skinner Nurseries
9150-4 Philips Hwy.
Jacksonville, FL 32256-1308
P: 904-880-4344
F: 904-880-5663
www.skinnernurseries.com
Georgia
McCorkle Nurseries
4904 Luckey’s Bridge Rd. S.E.
Dearing, GA 30808-2106
P: 706-595-9702
F: 706-595-9678
www.mccorklenurseries.com
Illinois
Lurvey Landscape Supply
30560 N. Russell Dr.
Volo, IL 60073-9650
P: 815-363-4420
F: 815-363-4251
www.lurveys.com
Indiana
Brehob Nursery
4316 Bluff Road
Indianapolis, IN 46217-3400
P: 317-783-3233
F: 317-783-0544
www.brehobnursery.com
Kansas
Loma Vista Nursery
1107 E. 23rd St.
Ottawa KS 66067-8659
P: 785-229-7200
F: 785-229-7201
www.lomavistanursery.com
Kentucky
Ammon Wholesale Nursery
6089 Camp Ernst Road
Burlington, KY 41005-8305
P: 859-586-6246
F: 859-586-6183
www.ammonplants.com
Maryland
Angelica Nurseries
11129 Locust Grove Road
Kennedyville, MD 21645-3644
P: 410-928-3111
F: 410-928-3044
www.angelicanurseries.com
Massachusetts
Sylvan Nursery
1028 Horseneck Road
Westport, MA 02790-1392
P: 508-636-4573
F: 508-636-3397
www.sylvannursery.com
Michigan
Landscape Supply
24300 Brest Road
Taylor, MI 48180-4024
P: 734-946-7000
F: 734-946-7037
www.landscapesupplyinc.com
Minnesota
Bachman’s Inc.
6010 Lyndale Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN 55419-2289
P: 612-861-7645
F: 612-861-7745
www.bachmanswholesale.com
New Hampshire
Millican Nurseries
187 Pleasant St.
Chichester, NH 03258-6324
P: 603-435-6660
F: 603-435-5039
www.millicannurseriesinc.com
New Jersey
Tuckahoe Nurseries
RR 605 & Tarkiln Road
Tuckahoe, NJ 08250-0576
P: 609-861-0533
F: 609-861-0383
www.tuckahoenurseries.com
New York
Bissett Nursery Corp.
323 Long Island Ave.
Holtsville, NY 11742-0386
P: 631-289-3500
F: 631-289-4192
www.Bissettnursery.com
Oregon
Teufel Nursery Inc.
100 S.W. Miller Road
Portland, OR 97225
P: 503-646-1111
F: 503-646-1112
www.teufel.com
South Carolina
Parsons Nursery
PO Box 1230
Georgetown, SC 29442-1230
P: 843-527-3416
F: 843-527-1977
www.parsonsnursery.com
Texas
Southwest Wholesale Nursery
2220 Sandy Lake Road
Carrollton, TX 75006-3407
P: 972-245-4557
F: 972-242-5360
www.southwestnursery.com
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