Find sustainable solutions

“Every plant we sell is wrapped in a piece of garbage.”

Hyperbole, maybe. But the context of that nurseryman's quote is that too many of our plastic pots are ending up in landfills. For an industry that prides itself on creating products that beautify the landscape, provide food and shelter for important pollinators and generally make the world a better place, that’s a tough pill to swallow.

But the container question we cover in this month’s issue is only one facet of horticultural sustainability. It isn’t even the full picture for plastics, as the many nurseries that buy poly for overwintering their hoop houses know so well.

In last month’s cover story, John Stanley encouraged our industry to promote the sustainable quality of our products. But for that to happen honestly, horticulture needs to be ready for the closeup. There are plenty of nurseries that have been producing plants in a sustainable manner. That’s good, because research shows consumers care about whether a product is healthy for the environment. And several states have passed laws requiring producers to use post-consumer recycled content or pay hefty fines.

As I started to explore the topics surrounding sustainability in the nursery industry, I quickly realized there was no way to effectively cover all of it in one issue. So watch for more articles about growers producing plants in a more sustainable manner in upcoming issues of Nursery Management. In the meantime, I hope you get some ideas or inspiration from these articles.

On page 8, Lyndsi Oestmann goes into detail on Loma Vista Nursery’s sustainability efforts. On page 14, see how Monrovia grows sustainably in the central valley of California. On page 16, see the latest top picks from the American Rose Trials for Sustainability and find out how the judges determine winners. On page 22, we’ve got an article about the current conversation around plastic plant containers. It’s a real can of worms. Find out how we got here and where we could go next. On page 30, learn about the Climate Ready Plant Trials. This multi-state effort aims to evaluate how recent introductions perform with high, medium and low water treatment levels in different regions.

Over the next few months, we’ll cover other facets of the sustainability issue. After all this discussion about the pots themselves, we’ll talk about the materials inside them. We’ll go deep into how a container recycling program works for a nursery and its retail partners.

Is your nursery focused on sustainability? I’d love to hear about it.