What is a liner?

 

In the nursery world, the plants that eventually make it to your Lowe's, Walmart, and retail nurseries, begin life as a seed or tiny cutting. There are some huge nurseries that propagate millions of tiny plants, which then sell to growers as a liner that will be "lined out" or grown out for anywhere from months to years before they are ready to go to retailers! Some are grown in pots all of their young lives till sold. Others are lined out in fields and grown till sell-ready size. They are then machine dug and either have their roots wrapped in burlap, or they are popped into pots and sold to retailers and landscapers. 

So, a liner can be a tiny cutting that has roots, or a one or two year old starter plant or tree. I propagate, then sell all of those sizes. I will mainly be selling all of my plants as plugs, or as 1-2 year old produced and grown-out liners/starter plants. They are sold as either bareroot and dormant in winter, or as actively growing with foliage, roots wrapped and kept moist during shipping. I have had 2 gallon plants available locally, and most likely still will, but in smaller numbers. Eventually those will mostly all be hydrangeas in either shrub form, or trained as small trees. 

I'm focusing on propagating, selling online, and shipping smaller plants at this time. My nursery is literally our backyard! I have sand beds for propagating and as a place to move newly propagated trays to. Some things are propagated under mist in the growing season, and others as hardwood cuttings started in late winter. I have a small greenhouse, a growing area under shade cloth, and a covered hoophouse type area to protect the things that need it a little more than others. I'm in my second growing year. (2023)

I appreciate all of you who have purchased plants from me as a small business owner/grower! So many things have stopped being produced here in the U.S...we need to help and support each other as American producers of every sort!