Growing Plants for Fun and Profit

In our first lesson, you'll meet other gardeners who've successfully made the transition to nurserymen. You'll also learn what permits and licenses you may need as you get started. Then, we'll take a close look at climate zone maps to help you figure out what plants will grow best in your region and teach you easy ways to prepare your growing grounds. Finally, we'll show you ways to create inexpensive microclimates that will help you start your plants and expand the varieties you can grow. 

In this lesson, you'll learn what production supplies you'll need and how to find wholesale sources for them. Then, we'll focus on the three major methods used in nursery production for starting plants: propagation by seed, cuttings, and division.

In this lesson, we'll teach you the most valuable lesson we've learned in this business: How to reduce the waiting time involved in growing plant material. Then, we'll focus on growing annual flowers and bulbs, paying special attention to market timing. You'll learn how to create high-value items such as color bowls and hanging baskets. We'll also discuss vegetable starter plants and herbs. Specializing in organic growing will help you tap into a lucrative area of the nursery trade, so we'll fill you in on all you need to know about organic growing and certification.

In this lesson, we'll focus on one of the hottest topics in gardening: The particular group of non-woody plants that nurseries call perennials. Then, we'll talk about woody plants--such as shrubs and vines--that form the more permanent plantings in a landscape.

Trees may be the largest members of the plant kingdom, but they're also among the easiest and most profitable to grow. In this lesson, you'll not only learn how to propagate landscape trees, but how to greatly shorten their growing time by buying bare-root seedlings and finished bare-roots. Then, we'll provide guidelines for quality standards.