Comments on Willoway Nursery Inc., by Glenn Popieski

I signed up for the tour during the spring quarter of 1999. I had heard a rumor of the tour taking place prior to the start of classes. However, Mr. Jourdan's e-mail caught me somewhat by surprise. Initially I did not want to go. I e-mailed Mr. Jourdan explaining to him that I had visited the designated places before, and that I was interested in receiving credit. His reply was that I must attend to receive credit. I am sure glad that I attended, it was not only educational, it was quite interesting, fun, and a bit relaxing. I would say the best stop for me was Willoway Nurseries Inc. located in Avon, Ohio.

After a quick nap during the trip from Wade and Gatton nurseries, I was awakened by a large amount of nursery stock. The greenhouses, the soil area, the potting barn, and the loading docks sparked an immediate interest in me. I grew up in Lake County Ohio, but what I was seeing was a wholesale grower's dream. Little did I know that their propagation greenhouse would be one of the nicest I have seen. There were twenty-three loading docks at Willoway. Each dock had a recessed ramp for semis and a large concrete pad for a holding area with protection from the elements. According to their shipping manager, eighteen trucks is a busy day. Their main focus are re-wholesalers and landscapers covering an eighteen state region from Chicago to the east coast. They carry over 1400 varieties of material ranging from a one gallon perennial to three to seven gallon shrubs to twenty-five gallon trees.

A once family owned landscape business, Willoway has switched to a nursery. With their focus on growing material, Willoway has over 1400 varieties of plant material in a large number of container sizes. They have a staff of 350 workers. Of those, 160 are full time while the remaining are seasonal. A majority of the seasonal labor is acquired though the H2A program. This program allows nurseries to use illegal workers at a cost to the nursery. Willoway must provide transportation to and from Mexico, housing, transportation to and from work, and pay a fee. I find this program interesting and will likely look into the details to see if I like it or not. Willoway is big into mechanization of the industry. Their soil mixing area is one for the records. It is simple, yet sophisticated, and their own employees did most of the construction. They have a big mixer that they dump a combination of pine bark, comtil, peat moss, 400 grade sand, hadit, lime, and P and K for a majority of their media mixes. After being in the mixer for roughly two minutes, it is dumped on a conveyor belt and moved outside to a media holding area.

Their potting barn has a conveyor belt that moves material along to an awaiting trailer for placement in a greenhouse. This conveyor system allows the potting crew to focus on one task rather than moving the material themselves.Another interesting point is that their nursery is irrigated and there are no wells. One reason for the efficiency is that drip irrigation is used throughout their field crops. So where is the water coming from? It is recycled. All of the water they use is collected in a series of ditches and then pumped back to a service pond. They have some big ponds and some high capacity pumps, and they did not run out of water this summer. Willoway is well into container crops. Currently they are putting in a lot of pot in pot field crops. They do this by grading a section of land so that run off can be collected. They then install a four inch drain tile beneath the rows of sleeves. That trench is back filled with gravel and then the sleeve is back filled. The drip irrigation is buried just below the surface to limit damage to it during order pulling. In the bottom of each sleeve pot a block of wood is placed so the containers are easy to get apart. The pots are treated with copper hydroxide to prevent girdling. This system allows Willoway to turn a product over faster than the conventional B and B method. It also is easier for the customer to handle, thus making their product preferred. Overall I was really impressed with Willoway's operation. I found it a very educational stop. I was able to see where the industry is heading. Those outside and inside the industry might not realize the change without visiting such an establishment. A nursery like this makes me want to do it right so that someday my backyard may resemble it. I think this stop or one with similar features should be included on the tour each year.