Many people these days are looking for ways to make more money. They wish to supplement the income from their jobs or their retirement checks. Work at home businesses are very popular. Although that phrase usually brings up images of people sitting behind a home desk using the personal computers, part of your home is also your backyard. People who enjoy working with plants can make a part-time income by starting a tree nursery.
Plan on Two Years
The one drawback to offering nursery trees for sale is that it takes a year or two to produce a return on your investment. You must start the plants from seeds and cuttings. Seedlings that are one-year-old have a market, but the best price will come from selling seedlings after they are two years old.
Therefore, it’s a long-term investment that will not make you rich quick. You need to have a current income to pay your expenses through the next two years, but the nursery itself will not cost much, perhaps a few hundred dollars.
Space
You do need a backyard, but it doesn’t have to be large. A tiny big-city yard probably won’t work, but the average suburban yard of 100 square yards or more will do. You can place a pot holding a shrub or compact tree every square yard.
What to Grow
When they think of nurseries, most people think of flowers raised in beds. That requires a poly-tunnel, and flower shops buy from China. Backyard nurseries can, however, raise shrubs and compact trees.
Shrubs include: berberis, dogwood, potentilla, honeysuckle and cotoneaster.
Compact trees include: Japanese maple, bonsai, Italian stone pine and Elwood cedar.
Equipment
You can start out with just a few tools that you probably already own. You’ll want a wheelbarrow for carrying pots and mixing potting soil. You’ll need shovels to dig with, a square-point and round-point. And you’ll need clippers to prune the trees with.
Soil
It must provide hold moisture and provide for good drainage. You can buy large bags of premixed potting soil or blend you own from sand, peat and topsoil.
Containers
You try growing the seedlings in your ground, but you’ll probably have more success with plastic pots.
Fertilizer
Time-released fertilizers nourish the young trees through a year, which saves you a lot of labor.
If you need help at this project or just want ready-to-go nursery trees for sale, call Caledon Treeland at 905-880-1828. We have plenty of evergreens and deciduous trees ready to put into your yard.