CHESAPEAKE CITY, Md. – Due to the continuous surge in housing starts, commercial development and a rising affinity for gardening, the green industry continues to produce at least $50 billion in economic output in the United States, which is a good thing for landscape contractors’ growing installation businesses and rising needs for plant material, according to Moon Nurseries of Maryland’s research.
Even as drought continues to diminish local demand for new plant material, demand in general continues to grow about 7 percent each year – drought or no drought, Moon Nurseries pointed out.
Despite dry conditions, East Coast nurseries have prepared for harsh conditions and the plant material is in good stead, explained Moon Nurseries, which operates 800 of Maryland’s 10,000 acres of nursery production, making it one of the principal players in Maryland’s $286 million wholesale nursery industry. In fact, nurserymen from Japan and Spain set up meetings with Moon Nurseries this summer to address a global demand for nursery products, proving the drought can’t hurt every segment of the industry.
The author is Managing Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at nwisniewski@lawnandlandscape.com.