2007 Nursery Grower of the Year: Carolina Nurseries

It’s rewarding to watch a seed grow and become a beautiful plant. It’s gratifying to watch a child grow and become a fruitful adult.

Think how J. Guy, president of Carolina Nurseries in Moncks Corner, S.C., feels when he sees how Novalis has grown and succeeded. A mere five years ago, Novalis was just an idea in Guy’s head. Now it’s a large, thriving network of growers providing premium lines of plants to independent garden centers.

For his actions, J. Guy has been named the 2007 NMPRO Nursery Grower of the Year, sponsored by Agrium Advanced Technologies. This award also recognizes Guy’s leadership and achievements in employee safety.

In July 2006, lightning struck Carolina Nurseries and five employees were injured. Guy has since consulted with national experts and created a lightning safety program that could set the standard for the industry.

Novalis is born

Guy is humble when asked about how the Novalis network came about. It was a reaction to several market forces at work, he said.

Monrovia Growers, headquartered in Azusa, Calif., had purchased Wight Nurseries in Cairo, Ga. That helped get the ball rolling.

“When Monrovia bought Wight I knew we had to do something. They’re great, tough, good competition,” Guy said. “We needed something to fit that IGC [independent garden center] channel.”

Guy had seen the success that Anthony Tesselaar USA had had selling Flower Carpet roses and other products. The Flower Carpets were sold in pink pots and were backed with an extensive consumer marketing campaign.

“Tesselaar taught us that this thing could go. This marketing thing -- the colored pots, all of that -- works,” Guy said. “Plus we were a little envious. We weren’t a Tesselaar grower and we wanted something like that in our stable.”

Guy decided he had to do something. For a nursery his size (320 acres in production), the prospects weren’t bright for what Guy calls a “me too” nursery.

“A new plant comes out and we buy liners just like everybody else. Then we have that plant for sale, too. That’s what a ‘me too’ nursery is,” Guy said. “We had to get our hands on our own genetics and, at 320 acres, we weren’t big enough to do that. So we knew we’d have to join forces with others.”

The charter members of Novalis were Carolina Nurseries, Willoway Nurseries in Avon, Ohio, Conard-Pyle Co. in West Grove, Pa., and Imperial Nurseries in Granby, Conn. Novalis has now grown to 10 grower members. The newest, Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minn., announced it’s joining the group just this month.

Better plants, better program

Novalis receives exclusive rights to produce popular new plant varieties. Examples are Pink Double Knock Out rose, ‘Big Daddy’ hydrangea and Empress of China dogwood.

Programs that Novalis has include:

* Plants That Work -- In the Shade. About 35 varieties of shade-loving plants.

* Plants That Work -- Bring on the Heat. Perennials and shrubs that thrive in hot areas.

* Plants That Work in Nooks & Crannies. About 200 small-stature plants sold in 8-pack carrying cases.

* Twice as Nice Daylily Collection. Two dozen repeat-blooming daylilies.

* Evison/Poulsen Garden Series Clematis. Free-flowering clematis varieties with large blossoms.

Novalis products are available to independent garden centers. Novalis also provides retailers wooden display racks and other promotional materials.

The most recent program announced by Novalis is Plants That Work by Color. Next spring, Novalis will offer plant collections by color, and the program will include about 150 plant varieties.

Novalis will be adding color growers to the network to produce the large amounts of annuals and perennials needed for Plants That Work by Color to succeed.

Getting started

The first person Guy approached about starting the Novalis program was Tom Demaline, president of Willoway. Demaline was immediately impressed.

“In the first conversation I had with Tom -- and I didn’t know Tom at the time -- I told him, ‘I don’t want to tell you how to run Willoway,’” Guy said. “I explained how I saw the system working. Before we hung up the phone, Tom said, ‘When do we start?’”

Convincing other members wasn’t quite so easy.

Imperial Nurseries deliberated for six weeks. Greenleaf Nursery, headquartered in Park Hill, Okla., mulled over the idea for years, Guy said. But, as fuel costs have increased, a network of growers spread across the country makes more sense.

“Freight isn’t getting any cheaper. To provide just-in-time delivery and all the other services we want to provide, we needed geographic diversity,” Guy said. “We need to get product quickly to Columbus, Ohio, and Atlanta, Ga., at the same time.”

There is overlap in the sales area of many Novalis members. But this competition isn’t necessarily bad, Guy said.

“We talk about that in our meetings and I say it’s a good thing,” Guy said. “All garden centers have their favorite places to shop. If a customer buys from another Novalis grower instead of me then shame on me.”

The way the program is set up now, with the diversity of growers producing Novalis product, garden centers can extend their sales periods. They can buy from southern Novalis members early in the spring, then from northern Novalis members in late spring and summer.

Guy’s original plan called for 10-12 Novalis members to supply most of the United States. Now with 10 members, and a handful of color specialists coming, Guy’s prediction was about right.

When asked in what markets Novalis was lacking, he mentioned only the need for a shrub producer to supply the California market.

“There are 38 million people in that market. Armstrong is a very strong annual and perennial finisher, but I think we need a shrub finisher in that market,” he said.

Lightning initiative

On July 6, 2006, between 2:30 p.m. and 2:40 p.m., disaster hit at Carolina Nurseries. A lightning bolt from a fast-moving storm struck the nursery, injuring five employees waiting for a shuttle to take them to shelter.

Three were taken to the hospital in ambulances and two walked in. At the end of the day, four had been released but one remained in intensive care for more than a month.

The lightning caused internal burning. Fortunately she had a full recovery.

This incident called Guy to action. He contacted the National Lightning Safety Institute, a nonprofit organization in Louisville, Colo. The nursery was given a safety audit by NLSI founder Richard Kithil.

Kithil educated Guy on lightning and provided him with information specific to his area. He found out that, at 700 total acres and his coastal South Carolina location, the Carolina Nurseries property averages 32 strikes to the ground per year.

“We found out that our incident was textbook for our area,” Guy said. “It happened in July -- the No. 1 month people get hit. Most people are struck between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Ours took place a little after 2 p.m.

“And two thirds of the people struck are ones that leave shelter too early. While ours hadn’t gotten to shelter yet, the storm had already pretty much blown through. It came in super fast and looked like it had already passed.”

One of the first recommendations by Kithil was to get rid of some inexpensive pocket lightning warning devices the company was using. He called them a waste of money. Instead, he advised subscribing to a reputable service.

Guy chose DTN/Meteorlogix weather service, which actually provides much more than lightning alerts.

“You go on the Internet and you can set up your own profile. You can set it up to warn you if a hailstorm is coming, or if wind gusts of certain speeds are detected,” Guy said. “We have five people on the farm that get a warning if there’s a lightning strike detected within a 10-mile radius. Then they get a notice when we get a 5-mile strike.”

Proper shelter

With its 700 acres stretched over a narrow strip, Carolina Nurseries extends more than 2 miles from end to end. The company needed lightning shelters spaced in intervals so employees could get to them quicker.

The company purchased 6 metal -- yes metal -- reconditioned shipping containers and placed on the property.

Guy learned that metal is actually the ideal material for a lightning shelter. The bolt will take the path of least resistance to the ground. If it strikes the shelter, it will follow the outside shell of the metal structure.

“That’s why cars are safe. It’s not because of their rubber tires, it’s because their shape deflects the lightning around you,” Guy said. “Of course, a lot of the new cars aren’t made out of metal anymore and they’re not as safe as they used to be.”

Guy had originally planned to erect wooden pole barns or picnic-type lightning shelters. Kithil told him that wouldn’t work. Kithil also inspected many of the nursery’s other structures. Some buildings, like a metal canning shed, was certified as lightning safe. Some buildings, like wooden sheds, were not.

“We’re putting out signs on these wooden sheds that say they do not qualify as a lightning shelter,” Guy said. “We don’t want people going in there to get out of the elements when they’re still at risk.”

For more: Carolina Nurseries, (800) 845-2065, www.carolinanurseries.com; www.novalis.com. National Lightening Safety Institute, (303) 666-8817; www.lightningsafety.com. DTN/Meteorlogix, (800) 328-2278; http://www.meteorlogix.com.

{sidebar id=2}

- Todd Davis

Novalis members

* Carolina Nurseries, Moncks Corner, S.C.

* Willoway Nurseries, Avon, Ohio.

* Conard-Pyle Co., West Grove, Pa.

* Imperial Nurseries, Granby, Conn.

* Greenleaf Nursery, Park Hill, Okla.

* Armstrong Growers, Glendora, Calif.

* Fisher Farms, Gaston, Ore.

* Hackney Nursery, Greensboro, Fla.

* Windmill Nursery, Folsom, La.

* Bailey Nurseries, St. Paul, Minn.

Landscapers want Novalis product

While Novalis is designed to provide independent garden centers with premium, branded plants, landscapers also want the product.

J. Guy said the new plants offered by Novalis are an attraction to design/build contractors. Novalis is developing a program exclusively for this market.

The program won’t include the marketing materials used for the retail sector. More likely the products will be produced in some type of eco-friendly biodegradable container.

“A full 20 percent of what we ship out of Carolina Nurseries right now goes to rewholesalers or direct to landscapers,” Guy said.

Looking to see if landscapers would pay extra for premium products, Carolina Nurseries conducted a survey. It asked landscapers, “What would a plant have to do for you to pay 20 percent more for it?”

“Seventeen percent said they wouldn’t pay 20 percent more if the plant planted itself. We expected a percentage to say that, but we didn’t know how many,” Guy said. “The good news is that 83 percent gave some reason that they would pay that 20-percent premium.”

The No. 1 response was durability. Landscapers indicated they’d pay extra if they knew they didn’t have to go back and replace the plant.

Other top reasons listed were extended seasons of interest, such as fall color, and disease and pest resistance.

Founded: Sept. 1, 1984, by J. Guy, Steve Wise, David Johnson and Robert E. Guy.

Location: Moncks Corner, S.C.

Products: Premium container trees, shrubs and perennials up to 15 gallons.

Acres: 700, with approximately 320 in production. The company has approximately 35 miles of access roads.

Inventory: Averages about 11 million units on the property at any given time.

Employees: 50 salaried employees and 325 hourly. Peak-season employment exceeds 400 people.

Customer base: Primarily retail garden centers, landscape distribution centers and landscape contractors.