Wholesale Growers to the Trade and Retail Sales to the Public
What sets Heartwood Nursery apart from other nurseries is that we are propagators and growers. We have over 35 years of expertise in highly successful woody propagation, particularly of trees and shrubs native to the eastern Piedmont and transitional regions.
We’re also the leading propagator of American Holly (Ilex opaca) in the United States.
Our holly propagation has earned us the Holly Society of America National William F. Kosar Award, given to “an outstanding plantsman for contributions to the evaluation, selection, and introduction of Hollies.”
Almost all of the container plants we sell at Heartwood originate in our own greenhouse, as cuttings or seeds we harvest right here on this property. Whether you’re a retail or wholesale customer, when you purchase plants from Heartwood Nursery, you can be assured the plants have passed through a long chronological sequence of care and maintenance to promote their quality and longevity.
How You Know You’re Getting a Strong, Healthy Plant: We Grow Our Own Propagation Stock
The stock plants from which we harvest 90% of our cutting wood for propagation are our own plants grown here at Heartwood. Growing our own cutting stock ensures that our plants have strong, healthy root systems, because:
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The cutting wood harvested is from source plants that are acclimated well to the present environmental conditions and
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The cutting stock is eco-friendly, meaning clean and organic. We never spray the cutting wood we grow at Heartwood Nursery with chemicals. Our entire operation is completely organic.
Our use of local organic cutting stock and seed sources ensures that future generations of the species we’re growing will sustain natural diversity. In turn, this natural diversity helps future naturally occurring generations of a species adapt to changing environmental conditions.
We follow the same practice in harvesting seed from field-grown plants on the property.
We use organic, sterilized soil media to grow our plants and clean and sanitized equipment. Our facility is inspected yearly by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
In a select few instances where we’re short material on the property, we source local material and plant stock from businesses that pride themselves on the same clean propagation techniques we use here. Members of the Holly Society of America are also generous in providing healthy cutting wood from their collections.
The Science, Art, and Technical Skill of Plant Propagation
Propagating is a complex process, one that takes years of practice, evaluation, and evolution of expertise beyond proper preparation and cutting techniques.
Once the cuttings are properly prepared and stuck into the soil media, their success in rooting is not ensured. Rooting takes a few to many weeks, depending on the species, and during that time, we monitor for multiple factors to ensure successful rooting. Most cuttings require proper misting, adjusted based on temperature, humidity, and stage of rooting. Many cuttings also require bottom heat and other factors, including proper light and air circulation. Once the cuttings are well rooted, we begin to wean them off misting and bottom heat, eventually moving them out of the greenhouse and outside into transitional areas.
Most cuttings spend their first winter in the peat pots they were propagated in. We adhere to careful overwintering practices to ensure that the newly rooted and more vulnerable cuttings survive their first winter, to be potted up the following spring.
Successful propagation isn’t cookie-cutter. It’s a process that requires the expertise and judgment of highly skilled professionals. Propagation is based entirely on environmental factors, from what’s happening in the field to the parent plants to what’s happening in the greenhouse. These environmental factors change on a daily basis, making propagation an exceedingly valued specialization.
Holly cuttings in the propagation house at Heartwood Nursery.
Great laurel (Rhododendron maximum) propagation from seed at Heartwood.
American Holly (Ilex opaca) propagation: preparing the cuttings, sticking the cuttings, and misting cuttings in the propagation house.
Left: Seeds we collected from Redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) here at Heartwood. Right: A mature Redbud in bloom at our nursery.
Sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) seeds harvested at Heartwood.
Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) seeds harvested at Heartwood.
Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) seed flats that have germinated at Heartwood.