lazygardens: I have measured that distance. The driver is 15 feet back from the edge of the pavement when trying to merge into traffic, so can't have anything tall in that first 15 feet. There are three large trees (2 Sycamores that are 30-40 feet and a mature Horsechestnut) set back 25 feet from the road. So that leaves just ten feet that could have taller planting on the way to the trees. I understand your idea of gradually increasing heights from perennials to shrubs to low growing trees to the big trees, I just don't think there is room to implement it. I have seen people try to fill in a line of shrubs between existing tall trees and that always seems to look wrong, so the more naturalistic idea does make more sense. Yardvaark: Yes, I did fail to profess my love of the house! It is lovely and I would hope whatever we end up doing adds to that. I would certainly agree that the existing plantings don't show off the house and the yews are certainly not doing it any favors, but haven't had the budget previously to deal with this. Old houses and upkeep, you know! Remember that photos always focus your eye on what is close up in a way that you don't do in real life, so the house is more visible that it appears above. So I think you are saying that you don't think it's right to try to make the front private at all? I do feel that these old places are sort of in the public domain. On the other hand, for fourteen years I've been able to go grab the paper in the morning without getting dressed. Now that the lilac hedge that did run the length of the house is gone, I'm finding that lack of privacy irritating. So what would you do to complement the house in your ideal world?

We really are talking about two different creatures...general garden center vs specialty hosta grower. I agree with most of the comments about general nurseries. Most are boring and uninspiring. I rarely buy much from them, and even less likely to buy a hosta there. General nurseries usually buy in bareroot field grown stock or larger plugs, because growing TC liners to a retail size takes at least one full season. They can make more money growing 2-3 fast crops in a season with their space. And therein lies the issue of price...hostas are a relatively slow crop to produce. The longer it takes to grow a plant, the more it's going to cost. Never mind there is soooo much more cost in producing a plant, than the cost of the plant itself. Then factor in the hours spent hybridizing, collecting, cleaning, and growing seeds...and (ideally) years of evaluation...that's a whole lot of time and effort invested in a finished product that the consumer wants to pay less and less for every year. The box store growers make very low margins on large volume. Specialty growers just can not survive doing that. Expecting a specialty grower to conform to mass market prices is guaranteed death for the specialty grower. In the hosta world, it is these small, specialty growers that develop and bring to market the new, cool plants that you all keep saying you want. They need your support...and waiting for the end of the season sale is too late! moccasinlanding, in the past few years Q&Z has been introducing some of Van's plants. I can't say for sure, but I suspect Mark asked if he could put some of Van's plants into TC. From there, Q&Z sells the liners to hosta growers across the country and around the world. As for volume...not sure what an average run was for them...maybe 1000+....maybe much more. I do know some varieties are difficult to produce and were very limited (streakers, for example). Most TC contracts (a plant TCed exclusively for a retail grower) are probably around 200-500 plants. Here again, the larger quantity the lab produces, the cheaper the liners are. Most specialty growers can not sell through so many plants in a reasonable time frame. It seams the general perception the consumer has is that the specialty growers are filling their bank account from crazy margins we charge. Fact is, many growers are barely scraping by. By the way, Tony Avent shared his opinion and condolences on Q&Z in the September Plant Delights newsletter.

I don't know about Princeton Nurseries but that is certainly the case with Hines.......they have been struggling for a number of years, apparently to no avail. Much of that they brought on themselves - over-rapid expansion, a revamping of their business model away from independents and heavily to the box stores, a nearly constant restructuring of their corporate profile (thereby losing a good many longtime, valuable employees) and just a general lack of attention to their customer service. But the local landscape and nursery industry is certainly stressed, both by the weather and economics. Our truly awful spring and summer had a big impact on sales as well as a changing demographic that is moving away from serious hobby gardening to the immediate gratification of "instant" landscaping that requires no or minimal hands-on interaction. And these are the customers that tend to be most impacted by economic swings - very light business activity and no project backlogs seem to the norm for a lot of local landscaping companies. I'd expect to see more smaller companies and mom and pop independent nurseries bite the dust in the coming year. Sales of gardening products (both plants, materials and accessories) are on a declining trend.

I started my nursery business off in 2010 while I was still working a full time job. Slow, slow start, but having the acreage I do (see prior post) it was easy to just plant plants and take cuttings to sell. Really love doing this; still doing this, but not making a lot of money and could not do this if I was the only one working. I retired a few years ago, with the hopes of this taking off. A lot of work later, and I saw things slowly starting to work. I am state inspected yearly, grow only organically (not certified), and use no pesticides. So there is that yearly fee for the inspection. Remember there are pots to purchase, tags, signs, advertising, etc. etc. etc. etc........ However, life happens. My granddaughter happened. Babysitting happened and two to three days a week was taken up with this precious baby. I still have a home to keep up, supper to make, yard to care for etc....while my husband works 6 days a week at his job. I change plants that I sell periodically, if things are not selling. I sell daylily and hostas (easiest to raise and sell), perennials and shrubs. I love my gardens, but don't get enough time to do what I want to do. I'm actually thinking of cutting back and doing more online selling. It's really what you make of it, but really, the big box stores still get you, no matter what. Their prices are competitive (I had to raise my prices finally as I was actually LOSING money one year. I love the concept. I love the plants. But I'm already getting tired. All the work put into the greenhouses, area for the nursery, walkways, shelving etc. I don't want to go to waste. I do grow 99% of what I sell. That really helps. No overhead. Our property is paid for. Just note: nurseries are suffering the last few years. We've had three major nurseries close in our area alone. It's not easy. But please note. I might sound negative, but I'm still doing this! I love it but I'm only really open the warm months of the year here. I really wish anyone starting this all the luck and self fullfillment you can get. Good luck!