Economy, Drought Spur Tree Shortage

"If I had 3,000 trees I could sell them in one day," said Dan Mooney, a sales representative for Robert W. Baker Cos. in West Suffield, Conn. He was among hundreds of participants at a nursery convention meeting in Columbus this week.

Joe Zampini of Lake County Nursery in northeast Ohio said he had 15,000 fewer trees to sell last summer after the drought pinched their growth. Zampini said he has seen a lot of frustration over growers’ inability to meet high demand after two consecutive years of drought in his part of the country. "It may take anywhere from five to 10 years to recover, to have enough product out there to recover for cities, landscapers and garden centers," said Zampini.

Powell Dykes is a grower from McMinnville, Tenn., which advertises itself as the nursery capital of the world, boasting more than 400 nurseries in the town and surrounding Warren County. "The economy’s been so good, there’s so much building going on, people are buying everything they can get hold of," Dykes said.

Dozens of wholesale nursery growers from up and down the East Coast and the Midwest showed off their greenery at the three-day "CENTS" Show in Columbus Jan. 24-26.

Many said they’re still feeling the effects of last year’s drought, and won’t know until summer – when trees have bloomed and put out leaves – the full extent of the damage. The most harm was to trees’ growth. Trees that didn’t grow enough weren’t ready for sale, worsening the shortage.

But the economy is the real culprit, they say.

In the early 1990s, a glut of ornamental trees pushed prices down from about $100 to $50 or $60 a tree, said Brian Champion, president of the Ohio Nursery and Landscapers Association.

Growers, tired of giving the trees away or burning them, cut back production. Now, they can’t provide enough, said Champion, of Herman Losely & Sons Inc. in Perry, Ohio.

Trees in especially high demand include shade trees such as maple, oak and ash and several ornamental trees and shrubs including Vibernums – a fragrant flowering shrub – crabapples and flowering trees, such as service berry and magnolia.

Joel Albizo, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based American Nursery & Landscape Association, said the shortage has branched out to retailers as well. "It’s wonderful that people are coming into the garden center and buying – that they have money to spend," he said. "But it’s not so wonderful if you don’t have plants in the store."

Gretchen Mallory, a retail landscaper in Columbus, said dealing with the shortage means careful planning. "You have to be more aware of what you can offer someone as a customer, and what the cost is – you might be eating it because of the expense," Mallory said. "Making the customer aware is half the battle. Be up front, ‘There is a shortage. I think this would be the best for you, but I’m going to have to find it.’"

Meanwhile, Mallory has more to worry about than just the tree shortage. Last year’s drought has also caused a shortage of sod, she said.