David Van Klaveren, Stanislaus County nurseryman

By David Van Klaveren, Stanislaus County nurseryman 

We grow ornamental trees and shrubs for retail garden centers and some landscape. It’s a more traditional season this year where spring is busy, summer slows down a little, and then fall picks back up. We had a hot week a couple weeks ago, which slowed down the fall uptick. We saw growth in the second quarter, still some growth in the middle of June, and then things slowed down due to the economy, summer vacation and drought. Water hasn’t been an issue because our irrigation districts have a decent supply.

With the high heat, there was burning of foliage in some items. Plants shut down. There are two dormancies in what we grow—the winter dormancy and a heat dormancy. We’ve seen the summer’s growth slows way down when it gets to be above 95 degrees.

People are looking for plants that require less water, but drought tolerant is a cliché because California is a unique state where we have many different (U.S. Department of Agriculture) hardiness zones. Most of what we grow, once established, doesn’t require water every day and is much more drought tolerant than lawn. Most plants, after a year or two of establishment, may require only three waterings a week.

Finding employees from somewhere other than a labor contractor was difficult, but it’s starting to lighten up. We’re getting more applications week by week, maybe due to word of mouth. Rising costs and labor issues facing manufacturers also slowed down the supply of some materials, such as plastic containers in which we grow most of our plants and a select few specific pottery items.

I’m still pretty optimistic. We’re still seeing some good demand in California. We believe people are going to take care of their properties and spruce up their yards in the coming year. Housing sales were up, so even with the increase in interest rates, there’s still a demand.