Layout And Design Considerations For A Wholesale Container Nursery 1

Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.CIR558Layout and Design Considerations for a WholesaleContainer Nursery 1Thomas H. Yeager, Dewayne L. Ingram2Many commercial nurseries begin as smallbackyard operations, with little thought given toinitial or future layout design. Nursery managers areoften anxious to realize a rapid return on theirinvestment, and overlook the need for thoroughnursery layout planning. Nursery managers may beapprehensive about nursery expansion or may nothave a clear perspective of nursery crop productionsystems. Consequently, an inefficient, haphazardlayout design may result which requires a costlychange later.This publication provides the framework forplanning and implementing efficient nursery layouts.Visits to nurseries with similar production systemswill be valuable, and discussions with other managersabout how they would change their productionsystems will usually give insight to an effectivelayout. A slight modification in the proposed designmay increase the flexibility for future expansion andincrease time and motion efficiency.A nursery operation encompasses many differentphases and components of production. Proper timingof operations is essential, and efficient use of landand resources is important. Layout design must beefficient if the nursery is to be productive andcompete in today's market. Facilities or activity areaswill vary with the type of nursery and specificproduction scheme employed. For example, a nurserymay produce small plants or liners that only requiregreenhouse space. Other nurseries may purchaseliners so propagation areas are not needed. The firstrequirement in planning is to determine the activitiesthat are proposed in the nursery, and the space neededfor each immediately, and as the nursery expands.Make a scaled drawing ( Figure 1 ) to ensure thatrequired areas or facilities are well planned andintegrated so that nursery activities or operationsprogress efficiently ( Figure 2 ). Appropriatejudgement of distance and arrangement of areas canbe achieved when every element is seen on the samescale. Scales of 1 inch equals 50 to 200 ft arecommon, but the dimension of the property and theavailable drawing supplies and equipment may dictateother scales.An efficient arrangement of the 8 areas thatshould be considered for a container nursery is seenin Figure 1 . These activity areas must be arrangedefficiently, considering constraints such as land form,1. This document is CIR558, one of a series of the Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food andAgricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date May 1985. Reviewed October 2003 and February 2010. Visit the EDIS Web site athttp://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.2. Thomas H. Yeager, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Horticulture, Dewayne L. Ingram, Associate Professor, Department ofEnvironmental Hoticulture, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information andother services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex,sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. MillieFerrer-Chancy, Interim Dean

Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.Layout and Design Considerations for a Wholesale Container Nursery2Figure 3.Figure 1.layout so comparisons of alternative routescan be made. Cost of travel time is of moreconcern for nursery operations located onnon-adjoining land. In this case, somereduction in travel time can be achieved bystrategically locating shipping and pottingareas near production areas.Nursery EntranceFigure 2.slope, and natural barriers. The containernursery layout in Figure 1 is adaptable tomost land shapes, the exception being verynarrow tracts. The layout for narrow landtracts ( Figure 3)requires more time to transport employees towork sites, and plants must be transported greaterdistances, either to and from potting areas or toshipping areas. Labor costs are 25% to 35% of totalproduction costs for the average nursery, and 60% oflabor is moving materials. Efficiency can also beimproved by planning travel routes. One way toevaluate equipment and personnel movement is toplot the routes on a scaled drawing of the nurseryThe organization and appearance of a nurserygives visitors and customers an impression of theoperation that directly influences sales. The nurseryentrance provides the first and most importantopportunity to present a good image. The entranceshould be accessible to the nursery office andshipping areas, and be landscaped with an attractive,uncluttered arrangement of plants including thosesold by the nursery. The entrance planting shouldcontain any special plant materials offered by thenursery, or plant materials that need to be introducedor emphasized.Nursery Office and Sales AreaThe nursery office should be clearly identifiedand located close to the nursery entrance ( Figure 1 ).Customer parking for cars must be provided, andreceiving trucks should be directed to the loadingareas by signs so drivers can proceed without delays.A sales area, located close to the office andcontaining a representative display of salable plantmaterials, enables customers to view salable plantmaterial without traveling through the nursery. Thissaves time for customers and sales personnel.

Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.Layout and Design Considerations for a Wholesale Container NurseryPropagation AreaThe propagation area is the heart of the nurseryoperation and must be located in an area accessible tothe production and potting areas. A propagation arealocated close to the office helps in communicationbetween the office staff and the propagationmanagers who must make long-range decisionsregarding the number of specific plants to beproduced. Propagation area size and design aredetermined by production type, number of plants andspecies produced, and markets.The propagation area may contain greenhousestructure designs from A-frame steel and fiberglass toquonset PVC or galvanized pipe and polyethylene.Steel frame, gutter-connected, or ridge-and furrowtype greenhouses usually cover more than 1000 sq ft.Conduit or PVC greenhouses usually cover less that1000 sq ft and cost considerably less than steel frameor ridge-and furrow-type houses. Plant species thatrequire different rooting environments may besegregated using smaller greenhouses. However,several small greenhouses will require more land thanl or 2 larger houses of equivalent square footage, andthis should be considered if less than ample land isavailable for the propagation area and facilities.Certain plant species, such as junipers, may bepropagated outdoors in small containers or raisedground beds and will not require special propagationstructures ( Figure 4 ). Because of repeated mistcycles or frequent watering, this area must be locatedon well-drained soil. Seeds may also be germinated inoutdoor beds, although structures built toaccommodate tiers or racks of seed germinating flatswill use space more efficiently ( Figure 5 ). Outdoorpropagation has the disadvantage of lacking watercontrol. Heavy rains may occur and pack the rootingmedia, destroying aeration and contributing tosoil-borne diseases.The amount of land available for propagationmay determine if plant stock blocks are maintained tosupply cuttings. Stock blocks are generally 20% to25% the size of container production areas and shouldbe located close to the propagation area. Limited landavailability requires taking cuttings from salablenursery plants and eliminating stock blocks. CuttingFigure 4.Figure 5.preparation areas may be included in the propagationarea of the layout. A protective structure allows forcutting preparation during inclement weather ( Figure6 ) and will be an advantage for the nurseryproducing large numbers of junipers propagatedduring the winter. A nursery producing primarilybroadleaf evergreens, propagated during the summer,may choose to exclude a cutting preparation areafrom the layout and require that cuttings be preparedfor sticking when cut from the plant.Media Preparation and StorageMedia mixing and potting may be accomplishedat one central location where potting media or mediacomponents are stored in bulk quantities. Pottingmedia or components are stored either in loose pilesor in open bins often constructed of concrete. Mediacomponents are usually mixed by commerciallyavailable soil mixers, manure spreaders, or front-endloaders that scoop and dump the media several timeson a concrete slab. A reinforced, raised slab, 4 inchesthick and 3 x 5 yards (2.7 x 4.6 m) will accommodate3

Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.Layout and Design Considerations for a Wholesale Container NurseryTransporting container plants efficiently to andfrom the field requires a well-designed road system.Roads should be crowned or sloped to one side andsurfaced with gravel, seashells, or other materials tosupport equipment during wet periods. Firm roadsurfaces also prevent traffic from splashing mud anddebris on plants.Figure 6.approximately 3 yd 3 (2.3 m 3 ) of media. The raisedconcrete slab prevents incorporation of field soil intothe media during mixing, and eliminatescontamination from diseases, weed seeds, andnematodes transported by runoff water.Motorized media mixing and transportingsystems, and potting machines should be covered by astructure that houses a permanent potting area for thenursery. The permanent potting area may or may notbe sheltered if commercial soil mixers and pottingmachines are not used, but in this case nurseriesusually erect a permanent V-shaped hopper fromwhich media falls onto a potting bench. Advantagesand disadvantages of potting machines will depend onthe particular operation; however, most nurseryoperators agree that potting machines pace theworkers.Number and size of production areas, roads, andwalkways may vary depending upon equipment usedand type of production. Road widths will depend onthe equipment, but when farm tractors and trailers areused, the perimeter roads should be about 30 ft (9.1m) wide to allow for turns from the narrower roadsbetween plant beds.The production area designs in Figure 7 , Figure8 , and Figure 9 have walkways that are 2 ft (0.6 m)wide and plant beds that are 8 ft (2.4 m) wide. Thedesigns contain the same amount of area in which toplace plants; however, the walkways and length ofbeds are 50% less for the design in Figure 8 thanthose in Figure 7 , and 50% less for the design inFigure 9 than in Figure 8 . The maximum distance aplant must be carried is 100 ft (30.5 m), 50 ft (15.2m) and 25 ft (7.6 m) for designs inLocating the media mixing area and the pottingarea adjacent to each other minimizes mediahandling. A very large nursery may have soil mixingand pottings areas located throughout the nursery.This reduces the distance traveled when placingnewly potted plants in the field.Production AreasProduction or plant growing areas will occupythe largest percentage of nursery land and should beadjacent to the potting area to ease the orderlymovement and placement of plants in the field. Asmall part of the production area may be used forevaluating new plant materials with market potential.Figure 7.4