Nursery (horticulture)
435078
214623592
2008-05-24T13:18:43Z
Folks at 137
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add detail on methods
{{Unreferenced|date=May 2007}}
{{otherusesof|Nursery}}
[[Image:Cutchogue - Oregon Road - Plant Nursery.jpg|thumb|Plants in a Hothouse]]
[[Image:Orchid plants.jpg|thumb|An [[Orchid]] nursery]]
A '''nursery''' is a place where [[plant]]s are [[plant propagation|propagated]] and grown to usable size. There are [[retail]] nurseries which sell to the general public, [[wholesale]] nurseries which sell only to
other nurseries and to commercial [[landscape gardener]]s, and private nurseries which supply the needs of institutions or private estates. Some retail and wholesale nurseries sell by [[mail order|mail]].
Nurseries grow [[annual plant|annual]]s, [[perennial plant|perennial]]s, and woody plants ([[tree]]s and [[shrub]]s). These have a variety of uses: decorative plants for [[flower garden]]ing and [[landscape gardening|landscaping]], garden [[vegetable]] plants, and [[agriculture|agricultural]] plants.
Nurseries often grow plants in a [[greenhouse]], a building of glass or in plastic tunnels, designed to protect young plants from harsh weather (especially frost), while allowing access to light and ventilation. Modern greenhouses allow automated control of temperature, ventilation and light and semi-automated watering and feeding. Some also have fold-back roofs to allow "hardening-off" of plants without the need for manual transfer to outdoor beds.
Some nurseries specialize in one phase of the process: propagation, growing out, or retail sale; or in one type of plant: [[groundcover]]s, shade plants, fruit trees, or [[rock garden]] plants.
Most nurseries remain highly labour-intensive. Although some processes have been mechanised and automated, others have not. It remains highly unlikely that all plants treated in the same way at the same time will arrive at the same condition together, so plant care requires observation, judgement and manual dexterity; selection for sale requires comparison and judgement. A UK nurseryman has estimated (in 2003) that manpower accounts for 70% of his production costs. The largest UK nurseries have moved to minimise labour costs by the use of computer controlled warehousing methods: plants are [[pallet]]ised, allocated to a location and grown on there with little human intervention. Picking merely requires selection of a batch and manual quality control before despatch. In other cases, a high loss rate during maturation is accepted for the reduction in detailed plant maintenance costs.
Business is highly seasonal, concentrated in spring and autumn. There is no guarantee that there will be demand for the product - this will be affected by temperature, drought, cheaper foreign competition, fashion, etc. A nursery carries these risks and fluctuations.
Annuals are sold in trays (undivided containers with multiple plants), flats (trays with built-in cells), peat pots, or plastic pots. Perennials and woody plants are sold either in pots, bare-root or balled and burlaped and in a variety of sizes, from [[lining plants|liner]]s to mature trees.
Plants may be propagated by [[seed]]s, but often desirable [[cultivar]]s are [[plant propagation#Asexual propagation|propagated asexually]] by [[budding]], [[grafting]], [[layering]], or other nursery techniques.
[[Category:Gardening]]
{{horticulture-stub}}
[[de:Gärtnerei]]
[[es:Vivero (jardinería)]]
[[fr:Pépinière]]
[[pl:Szkółka leśna]]