Last year I embarked on a quest to start my own nursery business. One of my dreams for a long time has been to own my own nursery and I began putting plans together around a couple business ideas that I could do from home. I researched all over the internet to find resources and advice on how to start a nursery but really had trouble finding much that gave me any good insights. There is one book that I’ll tell you about at the end of this post that was very useful but it wasn’t a how to do it all type book. It’s more of a “this is what you’re in for” type of book! It is a must read for anyone even considering starting a nursery and I’ll tell you more about it later.
Like I said, the internet didn’t have much to offer on actually starting the nursery business at the time. I found article after article describing things like how to make money from a nursery but the posts were not very helpful. There were people out there who offer nursery systems too but it always costs something. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, in fact I would do the same thing, but I’m also the DIY kind of guy who wants to see how well he can do it on his own. I like to learn from my experiences and have the satisfaction that comes with accomplishing something special. I have failures as well as successes but I value both experiences.
Now I’m going to share a few things with you that I learned from starting my nursery business. I’ll try to do this over the next few Thursdays. I hope my experience is helpful if you are interested in starting your own nursery business. I named my nursery Blue Shed Gardens after the blue shed I built with my dad who passed away from cancer in 2011.
Over the next few Thursdays I’ll talk about my business, the plants I produced, my plant growing setup from last year and what my plans are for this year, where to sell the plants, and ultimately where I want my dream to go. It’s a lot to talk about and I definitely can’t cover it all in one post so I hope you’ll join me for this series on Beginning a Nursery Business from Growing The Home Garden. I don’t consider myself an expert at this by any means, but I do want to share my experience so that may you can learn and be successful if you choose to begin a nursery.
At the beginning of this post I mentioned a book that is a must read. So You Want to Start a Nursery (aff.) IS a must read if you are planning on starting a nursery. Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery has the experience and the knowledge to give you a good, realistic start for your business. His most important message is to set realistic goals and expectations. A lot of gardeners, myself included, have an idealistic image of what owning a nursery is like. If you enjoy working with plants, working with people, being outdoors, and can depend on yourself to do what must be done when it must be done then a nursery business might be just the thing for you!
More from the Starting a Nursery Business Series
from Growing The Home Garden
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I look forward to reading your posts. I live on a half acre that needs to be productive and always wanted to start a small business. It's just finding the right niche.
I can't wait to read what your experiences are and I have ordered Tony Avent's book right away.
Wow, Dave. What a dream come true. Congratulations.