Should you engage a contract grow for your project?
- rick9162
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
What is a contract grow?
A contract grow is when we engage in a contract with a nursery to grow specific plant types and quantities just for your project, rather than depending on market availability at the time of installation.
Why arrange a contract grow?
Quality Control, Guaranteed Availability, Price Control
Your project size is one of the largest factors, but it is important to consider your project schedule, cost, and the state of the market and nursery trade.
If the nursery trade reduces planting quantities in an economic downturn, it can take years to build the supply back up.
Having your finger on the pulse of the professions is quite important.
If you are using rare, or even uncommon plants in large quantities, you may need to contract grow.
Case Study
My awakening happened when a contractor was ordering 900 1-gallon plants of a single species of grass, a couple of weeks before one of our projects, just to learn that a new sports stadium had consumed most of the available crop.
We ended up with orders from multiple vendors for the same-sized container, with wildly different sizes and qualities of plant material.
We had prepared the clients for this, as it was the only way to keep on budget and on time, so we all agreed to do it.
In the end, the plants caught up in size, but the appearance upon installation was less than ideal.
Not the way I like to do it.
Secured Plants Early and Saved Money Doing it
Fast forward a few years
We designed a garden that covered an acre of land, and Elder Creek was hired to provide contractor onboarding services and construction observation throughout the build.
Our cost analysis showed that reducing most of the fast-growing perennials from the standard 1-gallon to a 4" container size would save $32,000. A significant savings.
Depending on your contractor's pricing structure, the savings come not only from the reduced material costs but also from reduced labor costs.
However, the available 4" plant supply was not likely to meet our plant quantity needs, as most of the market chooses 1-gallon sizes, and therefore most of the nursery trade focuses on that size.
In order to ensure the quantities we needed at this size, we secured a contract with a local nursery specializing in 4" plants, worked with our contractors' schedule, and paid for additional bed space at the nursery to provide us a scheduling buffer.
Will this work for your project?
There are a few things to consider
Quantity of plants/Timing
For very large quantities of a single species, it is usually worth it.
The other angle to consider is timing. If you have a hard completion date and simply cannot risk plant availability, contract the grow to ensure supply at the time of planting.
Planning and Teamwork
The tricky part is timing the grow with the contractor. Assuming your Landscape Architect is procuring your plants, they need to be in lockstep with your contractor.
You will want to have an agreement with your grower to rent bed space in their nursery. This maintains that plant care is under their control and responsibility until your contractor is ready to plant.
This ensures quality plant material when it arrives and allows the contractor to stay focused on the task at hand rather than caring for living material too early on in their process.
This bed space will eat into your savings and should be considered carefully during planning and cost analysis but the risks associated with taking responsibility for plant care too early can be substantial.
Pay for the bed space. The risk is too high not to, as once the plants arrive on site, the nursery is not liable, and you have already paid in advance.
When plants arrive
It is critical to inspect the plants as they come off the truck.
Your LA should do the on-site inspection with your contractor present, as your contractor will assume responsibility for the plants from the time they arrive through the end of the warranty period.
We actually visit the grow a couple of times throughout the process as well.
Summary
Contract grows are a great way to control plant availability, quality, and cost.
Your decision should be made by weighing multiple factors
Plant Quantities
Plant Type
Cost savings minus table space fees
Overall timeline of your project
Is your team organized enough to make this happen without losing your investment
As always with my work, nuance and project specifics play key roles in decision making.
Rick Taylor RLA
