Jim Berry returns home: J. Berry Nursery

It’s been a speedy turnaround for J. Berry Nursery in Grand Saline, Texas. In 18 months, founder Jim Berry and his team have shaped a startup into a vital container nursery with acres of value-added plant material.

Berry, a native Texan, was a nurseryman in Alabama for 25 years. When 150 acres in East Texas became available, he saw an opportunity to take advantage of the state’s impressive growth and deficit supply of high-value plant material.

“Plants come to Texas from all over -- California, Florida, Oregon, Tennessee and all points in between,” Berry said. “There was a lack of Texas-grown, high-value plants.”

Value-added or high-value plants such as large, containerized shrubs, patented material or plants with merit command good margins, he said.

“Attributes such as drought tolerance, pest and disease resistance and interesting color, flower or leaf characteristics create value,” he said.

Quick step

Berry acquired the land in March 2006. He bought in 3-gallon material and shifted it up to 7 gallons to ramp up production. He also became licensed to propagate and sell Knock Out roses, Forever & Ever hydrangeas, and ‘Kaleidoscope’ and ‘Mardi Gras’ abelia.

The land was the home of Hawkins Nursery for some 40 years, so the infrastructure was available, but it wasn’t designed for a container nursery.

When Berry purchased the land, it came with 85 shade houses and about 20 production pads.

“The original nursery was built when labor and energy were cheap, so there were some design challenges,” he said. “The farm was set up for large trees on drip.”

But 6 1/2 months after purchasing the land, J. Berry Nursery shipped 20 tractor-trailer loads of plant material. After 12 months of operation, the nursery has shipped 191 trailer loads.

In spring 2007, Berry purchased another 20 acres contiguous to the original purchase. It has state highway frontage. Berry plans to use the new land for a loading dock.

No commodity zone

While studying the market, Berry also noticed a lack of high-value plants in the big-box stores.

“I want to be something special to the big-box stores, not another commodity shrub grower,” he said.

He shared his vision of high-value plants with Home Depot, and now ships to 270 stores from southern Mississippi to southern New Mexico and from the Texas valley up to Kansas City. He expects his distribution to Home Depot to spread north.

“Consumers are spending more for new and different products and value-added products in other categories, so they will do the same with plant material,” Berry said.

Although Home Depot shuttered its landscape supply stores, the mainstream stores will continue to be an important customer, he said.

Berry also is working hard to broaden his reach to rewholesalers and independent garden centers.

Build a brand

The nursery also developed the J. Berry brand complete with printed pots and specialty tags. The newest incarnation features a chocolate-brown container with the J. Berry logo and a consumer-based Web site for plant information (www.jberryinfo.com). Instead of a photo, the tag features an artistic rendering of the plant in bold colors. Care information is on the back in both English and Spanish. Plants with the new tags and pots will be in stores by spring 2008.

Eventually, very little plant material from J. Berry Nursery will be in a basic black pot.

“The market is hungry for branded material, but we’ve got to sell the perceived value and make sure the ‘real value’ is apparent over time,” he said.

The nursery screens plants before they receive the J. Berry brand.

The screening process focuses solely on one question, “Will this plant outperform for our consumers?”

For more: J. Berry Nursery, (903) 962-6590; jim@jberrynursery.com; www.jberrynursery.com.

Nursery makes water efficiency a priority

J. Berry Nursery’s water comes from a 70-acre reservoir adjacent to the property.

The original distribution system from the lake was not energy efficient, and owner Jim Berry plans to upgrade the system over time. The first upgrades were a continuous-pressure system with new pumps and more efficient sprinkler heads that produce smaller droplets.

About 95 percent of the nursery’s water is recycled with plans to increase that percentage.

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“2006 was a terribly dry summer and 2007 was a terribly wet summer, but all of our plants grew beautifully both years,” Berry said. “That’s a testament to the quality of our water.”

- Kelli Rodda

Founded: 2006 by Jim Berry in Grand Saline, Texas.

Production space: 173 acres total with 15 acres covered and 15 acres open field. 78,000 square feet of gutter-connected houses are under construction.

Products: Containerized evergreen and flowering shrubs, trees, ornamental grasses, roses and perennials. Crops include patented and branded material.

Market: Big-box stores, landscape distribution centers and independent garden centers.

Employees: 65 full-time. Berry’s son, Jonathan is vice president; Chuck Riley is production manager; Jon St. Clair is sales manager; and Jeff Plank is site development/shipping manager.

Philosophy: Make sure the plant will “outperform” for customers.