A common purpose

Ryan Doty, owner of Doty Nurseries, was exposed to the horticulture industry at an early age. He remembers growing up on a farm, attending local nursery meetings and getting to know the people in the industry. Consequently, he witnessed passionate people who cared about what they did, and they enjoyed being around each other.

His father and the nursery’s grower, Ken Doty, has been in the industry for over 50 years and he continues to be an integral part of the nursery’s operations.

Ken started working at a local nursery as a young child and continued through high school and college. He went to college and majored in business administration. Then he returned to that nursery as a manager and developed its growing facility for many years.

He was active in the American Association of Nurserymen, now known as AmericanHort, and he took Ryan with him to the meetings as a child. Ryan met people from all over the country, both owners and their children, with whom he still maintains relationships.

“My Dad has certainly had the biggest impact on my life,” Ryan says. “We have worked together my entire life, and sometimes when that happens you lose sight of that impact. But when you stop and look at it and how amazing that is — it’s pretty neat. We have done so much, and in the process, I have learned so much.”

Ryan received a finance degree from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois in 2003, and he interned with an international banking company in Chicago.

“It was great, but just not for me,” Ryan says.

“I took [Ryan] around and introduced him to too many nurserymen that love what they do,” Ken says with a laugh.

Ryan took several horticultural classes as electives, but having grown up in the industry he was fortunate to receive on-the-job training. The owner of the nursery where Ken worked offered Ryan a job, and he worked there for 10 years. But Ryan knew he wanted his own business. He was at a crossroads in his career and was looking at a handful of opportunities.

Ryan knew Peter Orum, founder of Midwest Groundcovers, since he was eight years old, so when he began to look for other opportunities and wanted to buy a business, Orum helped him evaluate them. After several evaluations, they decided the best option was for Ryan to purchase the nursery Orum ran with Paul Pedersen.

“I will never forget the day we talked about it,” Ryan says. “We made the plan, we were going to do it, then had to figure out how to make it happen. It was a great experience, and I learned so much. From there we shared so many experiences over the next 12 years because of our common bond.”

Ryan purchased what was PP&O Nursery from Orum and Pedersen in 2013. They founded the nursery in 1990, and over the next 25 years they dedicated themselves to growing quality trees to serve the landscape market in the Chicago area.

Ryan acquired a nursery that had a pipeline from liners to products that were being actively sold. His desire was to take what Orum and Pedersen started and build upon its foundation.

The nursery

Doty Nurseries, located north of Elburn, Illinois, specializes in B&B field production, with above ground holding yards at each farm. Two hundred sixty acres are in production, and the nursery ships primarily in Chicago and to surrounding states.

The original 150-acre nursery is in Maple Park, Illinois, and an additional 110-acre nursery, located in Huntley, Illinois, was purchased in 2021. The previous owner of the Huntley location was nearing retirement age and didn’t want to close the nursery, so he reached out to Ryan to see if he’d be interested in buying it.

Both locations are about thirty minutes apart but service different local areas around Chicago. Ryan plans to expand the Huntley location to 140 acres over the next three years. Acquiring the second location has allowed Doty Nurseries to expand its production and reach new customers.

The nursery employs 26 people. Ryan and the team focus most of their energy on their pruning practices and personally select all the trees for their customers per order to ensure that customer’s need is met.

“If you’re around Ryan, you can’t help but notice his note pad; he makes sure nothing falls between the cracks and everything gets taken care of,” says Bob Tures, a grower who works in plant health care at the nursery. “His first concern is the employees and their welfare, and he is an excellent communicator which really helps everyone get their jobs done more efficiently and without confusion.”

Over the last 12 years, the nursery has experienced controlled, manageable growth, which has allowed Ryan’s team to focus on the service and quality. They are constantly refining their processes.

“It’s funny because you will come up with something and really think you got it, then as you get into it, the process evolves and your initial lightbulb idea, in retrospect, may just be a small piece of what it becomes,” Ryan says. “That’s the neat thing of working together with a smart team of people. You start with one thing, but through collaboration, come up with a plan that really works.”

Diversified customer base

Customer experience is very important to Ryan, and his goal is to make it as smooth as possible. He works closely with the customers to have their orders ready when they arrive to minimize loading time.

Ryan shares that sales have been strong this year. Though this spring was slower than spring 2024, the summer was strong.

“It’s been an interesting year,” Ryan says. “Some larger orders that we usually get in shifted and weren’t quite as robust as they were in the prior year, so we had to pivot and diversify our customer base.”

Growing customer count has been one of the nursey’s biggest goals over the last five months, and because of this effort, the nursery is pacing around 10% ahead of last year.

“For a nursery our size we pride ourselves on our product mix,” Ryan says. “We may not grow hundreds of everything, but as far as diversity in product line goes, we really think we have a lot to offer.”

This year the nursey’s top selling plant was evergreens, but with the push for increased tree canopy in its service area, shade and ornamental trees have also become an important product.

The nursery grows shade trees, evergreens, ornamental trees, shrubs and edible fruit trees, and while Ryan is proud of the diverse product line, he explains that they are slightly limited by not selling containers. Because of this, his team has worked hard to diversify their customer base by selling to contractors, municipalities, re-wholesalers and IGCs. Within the contractor segment, the nursery has products that serve the high-end residential market and products that serve production landscapers.

“We’re a growing company that’s expanding our acreage, and every year it seems like we have more product to sell,” Ryan says. “You’re never done. It’s a constant ‘What’s the plan this year? Where do we want to sell this stuff? How are we going to move it?’ But going forward, I’m very optimistic. If we can continue to build relationships with people and continue to satisfy their needs, we hope that we can be successful. That’s the goal.”

Not I, but we

Ryan believes creating a place that employees can enjoy coming to every day is the key to a successful business, and building a team of people that work well together is also something he is proud of.

He tells his crew every year, “Something compelled you to be here, whatever it was — and if you don’t like it, you should do something else.”

Ryan believes it’s important for a person to enjoy the work they’re doing and be motivated to work with the team. The company culture at the nursery is one of respect, trust and collaboration.

“My goal is to build and run a business that I — and the people who we work with — can be proud of,” Ryan says. “If we do that, everything else should fall into place.”

He explains that being in this business isn’t the easiest profession, and there are many uncontrollable factors, but one aspect that can be controlled is choosing where to work and who you’ll be working with.

“Everyone we work with, for whatever their reason, is compelled to be involved in this industry, and that provides us a common purpose,” Ryan says. “It’s not a job; it’s a lifestyle.”

The nursery is comprised of a team that knows when to have fun and brings a contagious energy of wanting to be the best. The people are what make the nursery special, and interestingly the nursery has only advertised one full-time job at the company, the chief financial officer (CFO). Everyone else that works at the nursery has known someone from the nursery and came to be a part of the team from a mutual desire to work together.

Ryan’s biggest challenge is making sure he keeps an eye on the company’s culture, service and growing practices while the business continues to expand. He believes being able to grow while maintaining one’s values and keeping finances in check is paramount to a nursery’s success.

“He fosters an environment that feels like working with family, where every team member is valued and supported,” Erik says. “Ryan is approachable and always willing to listen to feedback, whether it’s a concern or a new idea. Instead of micromanaging, he trusts his employees to excel in their areas of expertise, which allows each person to flourish in their role.”

Ryan is not only dedicated to running a successful nursery, he is dedicated to creating an enjoyable work environment for his employees. While he is highly driven and committed to providing excellent service to customers, he consistently puts his employees first.

“I believe so strongly that it is not I, it’s we,” Ryan says. “Yes, I purchased the business, but we did all these things. And without we, without Peter, without my dad, without the entire team, I am nothing — just the guy sitting in the corner shuffling paper.”