Disappearing Nurseries

[Martin Baxendale]

It looks like I'll be doing it all the wrong way round - I may well have to start a mail order nursery selling my snowdrop seedlings to fund my "retirement" unless my book sales pick up considerably (thinking of moving into publishing my books electronically for Kindle book readers, since Amazon are now selling more Kindle books than actual paper ones! Shame you can't propagate snowdrops electronically for virtual gardens!)

[Anthony Darby]

You can Martin, it's called the Forum. You can only make money if you propagate virtual snowdrops and sell them on Ebay.

[Lesley Cox]

Growing plants for the love of growing them is an addictive occupation and one can't just stop, to do something else. It becomes over time, a matter of mental health as much as anything else. All true plantspeople NEED to have their hands in the soil, potting mix or whatever. I remember when I first went to the UK and was away from home for about 9 weeks, I gradually became sick. Not physically ill but maybe what could be called heart sick. I didn't feel quite well, or happy or relaxed even though I was having a brilliant time with marvellous people. I had headaches and aches through my body. Though I was seeing plants every day, I wasn't working with them. The day I arrived home I walked up the front path, put my suitcase down and started to pull weeds near the front door. Within an hour I was perfectly well again and felt absolutely fine, which continued. The theraputic properties of "getting one's hands dirty" are real and for a gardener, vitally important. My nursery is in waiting at present but I'll never retire from it, or only do so in order to have more time to garden.

I know a person north of here who sold her small alpine nursery with all its stock and equipment, and within 6 months she was propagating again and starting to sell, which was very naughty of her as she had an agreement with her buyer that she would NOT sell again, in the same area. But she literally could not refrain from propagating, and once she had the plants she had to do something with them.

[Martin Baxendale]

You can only make money if you propagate virtual snowdrops and sell them on Ebay.

  True dat! I'd forgotten about all those "virtual" snowdrops that were appearing for sale on ebay this year.

[fermi de Sousa]

I know a person north of here who sold her small alpine nursery with all its stock and equipment, and within 6 months she was propagating again and starting to sell, which was very naughty of her as she had an agreement with her buyer that she would NOT sell again, in the same area. But she literally could not refrain from propagating, and once she had the plants she had to do something with them.

A similar thing happened with a perrenial grower out of Melbourne who decided 10 years ago to retire and sell up. On the weekend we went to his place (not a million miles away from his old nursery) and he had a similar, though smaller set up to what he had before! Even at over eighty (and after triple by-pass heart surgery) he walked around with us and dug up the plants we wanted (but I had to carry the tray!) then washed them and packed them in a box for us to take home. At $6 per clump (plus a few freebies) it was a bargain! And he doesn't advertise now - it's simply word of mouth. I guess it gives him a reason to keep going.
cheers
fermi

[Tim Ingram]

Since this topic is close to my heart, we are working hard to make our small nursery reappear next spring! I would like to thank the SRGC forum, and particularly those who run it, for providing a lot of the inspiration. Small specialist nurseries rely very much on the two way traffic that goes on between gardeners and growers, since most of us are both of these things at the same time! Gardeners in the South may remember the famous (to the cognescenti) Ramparts Nursery, that specialised in silver foliage plants many years ago. These plants suit our dry and warm garden well so will be amongst those we propagate.

We have a little way to go(!) as the images of the nursery show, but propagation is well underway and is a good counterweight to the heavier work!

[Maggi Young]

Tim, this is excellent news!  We wish you the very best of luck.... and I am sure the Forumists will be more than delighted to become customers .... especially if you can manage mail -order! (Oh dear, that's landing you with yet more work, isn't it?  )

You will keep us updated with progress, won't you.... there is little so satisfying as watching other people work!!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

.... and.... I believe you are located in Faversham Tim ?... That's within "hopping range". ! 

[Martin Baxendale]

Supporting small nurseries, especially those specialising in alpines and small bulbs, should be (out of self interest as much as anything else) a priority of the SRGC, and it's great that small growers are allowed to be publicised in the threads.

I just went to the main SRGC site to double-check what exposure and guidance is given there re small suppliers and note that it's a case of clicking on "links" to find website addresses. I guess most people now know to look under "links" for that sort of stuff these days, but (just a suggestion) might it be a good idea to tweak the main site with a more prominent and eye-catching section on suppliers of alpine (and related) plants, especially to catch the eye of casual visitors - particularly those who have not yet caught the alpine bug, for whom one of the best things we can do is to point them with a blood great arrow towards reliable alpine nurseries, to get them interested with their first few plants and to help maintain trade to keep growers going?

[Maggi Young]

Good point, Martin and something that we have in mind when time permits.

With an interest in alpine and rock garden plants it is absolutely vital that the specialist nurseries are given what help we can to keep them afloat, after all, aprt from the Seed Exchanges, where else would we source these plants?

(As I wrote that I was thinking of the huge amount of swapping that goes on amongst Forumists! But generally speaking the nurseries are essential!!    )

[Martin Baxendale]

Yes, swapping is probably a major source of new plants for more established alpine gardeners, who are also likely to know who and where the nurseries are. I suppose I was thinking mainly of newer and less experienced visitors to the website.

[Martin Baxendale]

But also informing more experienced alpine gardeners of new and upcoming commercial sources and guiding people towards them. I imagine the first year or two in a new nursery's existence are the hardest.

[Martin Baxendale]

It's just that I keep seeing references in threads on here to nurseries and growers I didn't know about, especially the more specialist ones, and keep bookmarking them to look at when time permits. But if I didn't read the forum I'd miss a lot of that useful commercial sourcing info. And I'm probably missing loads more in threads that I don't have time to read. I just thought that (and I know it'll be a lot of work) creating a good commercial sourcing resource on the main society website might be a good way of drawing new people in.

[Maggi Young]

I imagine the first year or two in a new nursery's existence are the hardest.

I don't think it gets any easier, Martin, ever. 

I just thought that (and I know it'll be a lot of work) creating a good commercial sourcing resource on the main society website might be a good way of drawing new people in.

That's the crux of the matter, isn't it? Getting a volunteer to do the work....... never easy. 

[Maggi Young]

I do try to keep the links page from the Forum as up to date as I can..... but that's not easy, either

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=links   .... anyone can suggest a link for those pages, of course, in which case my task is lightened!