A plant nursery is designed to look after new plants during the early stages of growth. These nurseries contain greenhouses that protect new plants from conditions of excessive temperatures of heat or cold. Furthermore a plant nursery is also a retail outlet for the public or a wholesaler for other nurseries in the sale of plant life.

Opening a plant nursery is no easy thing. Firstly you should get an understanding of growing and harvesting of plant life. This can be obtained either through taking various classes but arguably the best way to learn is with a hands-on approach by getting work within the plant nursery business environment. This way you understand what is required to open a nursery and the general day to day running of it.

So now you understand what it takes where do you start? Choosing your location is very important. Things to take into account are that you have an area which does not have competitors offering the same products you do. Alternatively you could be starting your nursery from your own back garden.

Once you have decided on an area you must assess the land to see if it possible to use for the nursery purpose. Things like soil contamination, water quality and pollution from other entities must all be tested to see if cultivation of plant life can be achieved in this area.

If the area passes all these tests the next aspect as in all businesses is to set a plan, this will include the size of the nursery, equipment required, number of staff and estimated revenue and costs. Obviously it is paramount to set yourself a limit on your budget and try and keep within it.

You will obviously have to approach insurers about cover. Your premiums will rise due to factors such as size of the operation and the amount of employees you have. If you are solely running a small operation for example from your garden or even from inside your house you could approach your current house insurers to see if it is covered.

The size of the project will determine the size and type of equipment that you will require for industrial purpose large greenhouses would be an option for plant cultivation, against that of indoor cultivation which surrounds the use of grow tents. These tents are available to all people who wish to start a nursery on a very small scale and arguably have no access to a garden. Grow tents are made of a high quality lightproof and flame proof material. It also has a reflective inner surface which maximizes the light to the plants. These are fantastic for home cultivation.

Tools vary upon the size of the operation. Home plant nurseries can be maintained with pruners, shovels, rakes and additional tools such as hammers, wrenches and screwdrivers. The bigger the operation the more industrial the tools get ranging from wheelbarrows to skips to tractors.   

There is a National Plant Board which has set up guidelines that you have to abide by which covers aspects such as pest risk analysis, plant quarantine and nursery inspection. But these guidelines are more aimed at larger operations.

So whatever the scale of you plant nursery please take in to account all that we have discussed. Whether it be a small personal project or a large scale business take care and pride in what you are doing and enjoy growing.

Greens Horticulture is a business in the UK that caters to the needs of people looking for grow tents and other specialist growing equipment.