Category: Production Manuals

Native plant production manuals

Raising Native Plants in Nurseries: Basic Concepts

Posted on by Tuula Rebhahn

Authors: Dumroese, Landis, Luna (US Forest Service) Date: July 2021

Growing native plants can be fun, challenging, and rewarding. This booklet, updated from the 2012 edition, introduces important concepts for getting started with growing natives. It can also be helpful to more experienced growers interested in starting a nursery. The second chapter provides basic information about collecting, processing, storing, and treating seeds. Chapter three focuses on using seeds to grow plants in the field or in containers using simple but effective techniques. For those native plants that reproduce poorly from seeds, the fourth chapter describes how to start native plants from cuttings. The final chapter provides valuable information on how to successfully move native plants from the nursery and establish them in their final planting location.

Download: Raising Native Plants in Nurseries: Basic Concepts (pdf; 10 mb)

RNPP / TUI Seed Production Business Plan

Posted on by admin

Title: RNPP | TUI Seed Production Business Plan

Date: September 2021

This business plan was developed to help land managers appropriately plan their future seeding efforts both in terms of time management and seed-cost projections by taking into account the full life cycle of seed production. We hope this business plan will also help local farmers have realistic expectations about seed pricing and production timelines. 

Author: Kathryn Prive

Download: RNPP | TUI Seed Production Business Plan (1MB)

Native Thistles: A Conservation Practitioner’s Guide

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: The Xerces Society Date: 2016

Native thistles are a largely misunderstood and wrongly maligned group of wildflowers. These diverse plants fill a variety of significant ecological niches, similar to cone flowers, prairie clovers, camas, and compass plant. Native thistles are not only resplendent – with sublime blue-green foliage, interesting stem and leaf architecture and gorgeous blossoms – they are hardy, thriving in dry and disturbed habitats.

Download PDF: Native Thistles: A Conservation Practitioner’s Guide (3MB)

Why Grow And Sell Native Milkweed?

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Monarch Joint Venture Date: unknown

Milkweed plants (family Asclepiadaceae) are the only food source for monarch butter y caterpillars. However, milkweed has severely declined in North America due to drastic changes in land use or management, like agriculture and development. Milkweed losses and other stressors are associated with declines in migratory monarch butterflies over the past 20 years [1, 6, 7]. To compensate for the loss of milkweed, gardeners across North America are helping monarchs by planting native species of milkweeds, and by keeping milkweeds safe from pesticides.

Download PDF: Why Grow and Sell Native Milkweed? (839KB)

Reducing Phytophthora

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Authors: Parke, Jennifer (OSU) Date: 2010

Phytophthora species are some of the most problematic plant pathogens in nursery production systems. The quarantine pathogen Phytophthora ramorum has received the most notoriety, but many Phytophthora species pose a challenge for nursery growers.

These pathogens cause trouble because of their persistence and spread in infested soil and water, and their ability to attack a wide variety of plants. Some species cause root rot, whereas others cause foliar blight and shoot dieback. Several species can infect plant parts both above and below the ground.

In collaboration with Niklaus Grünwald and Val Fieland of the USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, Carrie Lewis and I (Oregon State University) recently completed a three-year project to determine the most common sources of Phytophthora contamination in nurseries. We applied a systems approach to identify three critical control points in nursery production systems: contaminated soil/gravel beds, contaminated irrigation water, and used pots. Another potential source of Phytophthora spp., not included in our study, is nursery stock brought in from off site.

So what is the take home message for growers? Here are the top 10 practical tips for nursery growers:

Download (PDF): Reducing Phytophthora (2MB)

The Woody Plant Seed Manual

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Authors: Bonner, F.T. and Karrfalt R.P. (eds.) Date: 2008

The major audience for this book, as for its two predecessors, is those who are involved in the growing and planting of trees and shrubs. Their involvement can be collection and sale of seeds, production of nursery stock (both bare- root and container), or planting itself. Planting for commercial forest production is the traditional mainstay of tree planting, but planting for wildlife food, watershed protection, urban environmental improvement, ornamental enhancement, wetland mitigation, and carbon sequestration are all on the increase. Ecosystem management, now commonly used in the management of many federal and other governmental forest lands, has decreased the use of planting to regenerate the forests and has increased the role of natural regeneration. Those who apply these practices will find this book useful also in the data on flowering and seed production. Although the book is not intended to be a detailed textbook on seed ecology and physiology, there is sufficient scope and depth to the material included to make it useful to anyone who studies seeds.

Download (PDF): The Woody Plant Seed Manual (21MB)

Use of Mycorrhizae for Native Plant Production

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: St. John, T.

The mycorrhizal symbiosis is well known, but not yet in widespread use in the com- mercial nursery trade. The often-cited mycorrhizal growth response is in not the most signi cant mycorrhizal effect. Instead, the important effects are performance in the eld and improved nutrition and disease resistance in the nursery. These bene ts may be of use in meeting regulatory requirements related to fertilizer runoff and pesticide use. A nursery mycorrhiza program requires modi cation of some current practices and careful choice of appropriate fungi.

Download (PDF): Use of Mycorrhizae for Native Plant Production (120KB)

Techniques to Determine Total Viability in Native Seed

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Vivrette, N.

The deep dormancy exhibited by seeds of many native plants can lead to the under estimation of total viability in laboratory tests. Pre-treatment of dormant seeds with gibberellic acid to break dormancy prior to testing for germination or total viability can give a more accurate assessment of seed quality.

Download (PDF): Techniques to Determine Total Viability in Native Seed (93KB)

Salvaging Plants for Propagation and Revegetation

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Buis, S.

Salvaging native plants is the act of rescuing plants from a construction or disturbance site before they are destroyed. We have not found salvage to be a cost effective method for obtaining most of the plants we sell in our nursery or use in our own projects. However, we do sometimes salvage plants, either to obtain plants that are dif cult to propagate, to increase the genetic diversity of plants in our nursery, because they are unusual species that we don’t have access to otherwise, or to preserve plant genetics on a disturbance site for future replanting. Factors important to consider in salvaging plants include species, size, site access and soil type, whether to use hand or mechanical techniques, time of year, available crew, etc.

Download (PDF): Salvaging Plants for Propagation and Revegetation (275KB)

Ruminations and Ramblings About Native Plant Propagation

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Landis, T.D.

Native plant nurseries face different challenges than traditional forest and conservation nurseries. They must educate their customers to the practical limitations of propagating native plants such as the poor availability of seeds or vegetative propagation material. The unusually long amount of time to collect propagules, treat seeds or cuttings, and grow the seedlings emphasizes the need for crop planning well in advance of the outplanting date. The concept of “source-identified, locally-adapted” planting stock must continually be stressed when dealing with native plant customers. New products mean new markets so nurseries should try to produce a range of species and stock types and show them to prospective customers. Native plant nurseries and customers should establish networks to better exchange information. Although there are few incentives to do so, both nurseries and seedling users should strive to share techniques about collecting seed and cuttings, seed treatments, and cultural techniques. Attending professional meetings and presenting propagation and outplanting information is one of the most effective ways to network. Publishing propagation protocols on the Internet is an exciting new way to share technical information.

Download (PDF): Ruminations and Ramblings About Native Plant Propagation (313KB)

Propagation of Interior British Columbia Native Plants from Seed

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Authors: Hudson, S. & Carlson, M. Date: 1998

Abstract: British Columbia’s considerable diversity of soils, topographies and climates have given rise to a rich variety of native plant species. Many commercially valuable tree species have well established protocols for seed collection, planting stock production, seedling handling and planting. Comparatively little is known about these activities for non-commercial shrub and tree species. Many of these deciduous shrub and tree species are being used for watershed restoration and rehabilitation of eroded slopes, road edges and landings. Demands for planting stock are increasing each year.

Download (PDF): Propagation of Interior British Columbia Native Plants from Seed (275KB)

Native Plant Propagation and Restoration Strategies

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Haase, D. and Rose, R. (OSU) Date: 2001

Abstract: Propagation and planting of native plants for habitat restoration is a multi-faceted process. There are many issues over which there is general agreement among restorationists, but there are a number of subjects that cause disagreement. For example, restorationists often agree that native plants should be emphasized, but disagree over where seeds or transplants should come from. In this paper, I examine four areas of controversy: the use single or multiple sources of a species at a given restoration site (the SOMS debate), source distance of plant materials, the use of native plant selections, and the importance of one’s definition of “native plant.” I conclude that some of these issues may be resolved through careful research, while others will remain a matter of personal opinion, and can only be resolved through a clear statement and scope of objectives of each restoration project.

Download (PDF): Native Plant Propagation and Restoration Strategies (3MB)

Native Seed Production

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Tucson Plant Materials Center Date: 2004

Details information on seed certification, site selection and preparation, weed control, diseases and insects, seed harvesting, processing native seed, and seed production guidelines on a few specific native plants.

Download (PDF): Native Seed Production (899KB)

Nursery Manual for Native Plants: a Guide for Tribal Nurseries

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Authors: Dumeroese, Luna & Landis (eds.) Date: 2009

This handbook covers all aspects of managing a native plant nursery, from initial planning through crop production to establishing trials to improving nursery productivity into the future. It was written to assist Native Americans in growing native plants and draws extensively on tribal activities for the many photos and specific examples in the text.

Download (PDF): Nursery Manual for Native Plants: a Guide for Tribal Nurseries (3.7MB)

Native Seed Production Manual

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Tallgrass Prairie Center (Iowa) Date: 2007

This manual provides basic information for native seed production of nearly 50 species of the tallgrass prairie flora of the upper Mid-west. The information presented is compiled from published accounts coupled with native seed production experience at the Tallgrass Prairie Center at the University of Northern Iowa.

Download (PDF): Native Seed Production Manual TPC (5MB)

Native Seed Production Manual for the Pacific Northwest

Posted on by Lilia Letsch

Author: Corvallis PMC & Amy Bartow Date: 2015

The Native Seed Production Manual for the Pacific Northwest contains detailed, species-specific information for 17 grasses, 60 forbs, and 7 sedges and rushes found throughout the Western regions of Oregon and Washington. It also contains information on all aspects of seed production, from establishment and weed control to harvesting and seed processing. The back section features an equipment overview, which explains the various types of equipment used at the Corvallis Plant Materials Center.

Download (PDF): Native Seed Production Manual for the Pacific Northwest (31.6MB)