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  Hydrangea Liners

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Established by Dale and Liz Deppe in 1981, Spring Meadow has become the North American market leader in potted shrub liners. 

We currently grow over 600 different cultivars.

Large and small nurseries from across North America look to Spring Meadow to do their propagation and to bring them new and exciting plants. 

Overview:

Strictly a propagation nursery: grow and sell potted liners.

·     18 acres of greenhouses 

·    14 full time and 3 part time employees

·    Our specialty is shrubs particularly flowering shrubs

·    Computerization: Windows xp, and UDS accounting / billing / inventory software

Propagation Department:  

    . All of our propagation is by cuttings. We do not seed or graft.  

·     10.3 million plants propagated in 2007

·     82,000 sq. ft. (approx. 2 acres) Stuppy gutter connected greenhouses and a 1 acre range of Westbrook open roof style greenhouses.

·     Heated concrete floors, for minimum heat and bottom heat rooting.

·     Gemlink computer controlled environment: mist, heat, vents, fog.

·     Mist and water by traveling booms.

·     20,000 sq. ft. of prop. house with Mee fog for humidity control and cooling.

·     Horizontal air flow fans to reduce disease and homogenize the environment.

·     80% of plants are direct stuck in 2 ¼" or 4" celled trays, 40% plugged, then transplanted to finished size. 

.     Custom media 50% perlite:30% pine bark: 20% peat plus lime, triple phosphate, potassium nitrate and Osmocote 15:9:12 slow release w/ minors.

·     All cuttings are taken to size and bundled at stock plant site. Rate is 1050 / hr.

·     At peak we can stick and process 86,400 plants per day, 25 flats per man hour.

·     Propagation takes place from March to August (softwood) and November to January (hardwood).

·     Over 60 acres dedicated to stock plants.

Growing Department: Over 16 acres of growing greenhouses.

·     39 polyhouses, most are 30'x150' in size, each holding between 43,200 to 76,800 plants depending upon pot size.

·     8 acres of Cravo retractable roof greenhouses.

·     Houses are Gemlink controlled for water, heat, and cooling.

·     3 acres of Westbrook flood floor / open roof greenhouses.

 ·     Polyhouses are covered with two layers of clear poly, removed yearly and covered with shade cloth in the summer.

·     Heat is delivered by high efficiency direct vent Hired Hand heaters .

·     Plants are trimmed at least twice to build a well branched liner

Sales Department:   

·     Maintain a mailing list of approximately 8,600 contacts, using ACT software.

·     2,700 active customers across the US and Canada.

·     Display at 11 trade shows: pants, cents, Great Lakes, mants, Ohio Short Course, Mid-Am, SNA, The Western, North Carolina Green, IGC and gwaa.

·     Responsible for order processing, load calls, follow up calls, monthly availability mailings, multiple catalog mailings (70,000 catalogs / year), claims, monitoring quality and customer satisfaction.

Shipping Department:

·     In 2006 we shipped to 48 states and Canada

·     Plants are shipped either UPS, common carrier, or FedEx.

·     Plant trays are packed in our custom designed waxed boxes.

·     Boxes are palletized and stretch wrapped for common carrier and FedEx.

·     We ship from mid-April to October, only actively growing plants.

Product Development: Tim Wood oversees product development. He travels widely and networks with nurserymen, plant hobbyists and plant breeders to find new and superior flowering shrub cultivars. Tim also oversees the catalog design, advertising, promotional materials and plant photography. Tim writes a blog sharing his insights on new plants and the people he meets in his travels.

Product Licensing: Spring Meadow has a new line of proprietary varieties, called Proven Winners ColorChoice. Licensing practices are open and a percentage of the royalty is dedicated to marketing and promotion. If you are interested in variety licensing contact Jennifer Holland.