Hello, all!
I'm Connor Hardiman, and I am the new(ish) owner of St. Lawrence Nurseries. We specialize in cold-hardy fruit and nut trees, and I know that there are lots of folks in this community that have ordered from the Nursery over the years. Because of the number of people here that have bought trees from us before, I figured this might be a handy platform to give a little nursery update for anyone who cares.
When your business is trees, you have to think FAR ahead; the trees we plant in a given Spring season will usually not go out our doors for 3-4 years. Our past 3 ordering seasons have been challenging in many aspects due to this delay of effort to fruition. When Bill and Diana (the previous owners) retired, they passed on a nursery who's future had been very uncertain. For several years leading up to their retirement, production and re-planting was greatly scaled back; why keep propagating plants for a nursery that seemed destined for imminent closure? It made sense. At the last minute, I was able to step in and continue the nursery, and it was both an advantage and a disadvantage to take over a nursery with such diminished inventory. It was an advantage because it allowed me a little time to ease into my new role (I was only 19 when I took over, though I had worked for the MacKentleys for 5 years), and allowed me not to become totally overwhelmed. It was a disadvantage because the very project of re-building the inventory while running the business only on what was left in the nursery from Bill and Diana's final few years of ownership seemed extremely daunting, if possible at all.
Well, I have now captained the nursery through three seasons. Three seasons of creative solutions, of unbelievable hard work and dedication from my crew, and of wonderful advice and encouragement from Bill and Diana. Three seasons later, we are finally digging the stock that we planted the year that I first took over, 2015. It is a very proud "moment" for me, and I thank anyone who has helped keep the nursery alive through these first few smaller years. I know that our selection has been seriously diminished from the hay days of the MacKentley ownership, but I just want to assure you all that I am working (along with my awesome crew, and under the guidance of previous ownership) to continue to bring in as many new plants as quickly as I can! Many of you will be glad to know that crab apples are a serious priority. We have a hard time keeping up with that demand, but like I said, adjusting plant/tree inventory is a long game, and I hope you will all start to see the first significant 'fruits' of that effort in the 2019 catalog!
Thank you all for your love of fruit trees and of the environment at large, and thank you to anyone who has stuck with us through these first few tricky years. Please don't ever hesitate to get in touch with questions.
Many thanks!
Connor Hardiman
St. Lawrence Nurseries
www.stlawrencenurseries.com
connor@stlawrencenurseries.com
315-261-1925
Edit: For all who are interested, the new catalog will be going out in December; if you'd like to get on the mailing list, please email or call me with your address!
There will also be some form of limited pre-sale in October (online only), so keep your eye on the site if you're interested. Thank you!
The response to this post is humbling and encouraging; it is wonderful to know that a lot of our trees are going to people who appreciate them as much as we do around here.
I'm Connor Hardiman, and I am the new(ish) owner of St. Lawrence Nurseries. We specialize in cold-hardy fruit and nut trees, and I know that there are lots of folks in this community that have ordered from the Nursery over the years. Because of the number of people here that have bought trees from us before, I figured this might be a handy platform to give a little nursery update for anyone who cares.
When your business is trees, you have to think FAR ahead; the trees we plant in a given Spring season will usually not go out our doors for 3-4 years. Our past 3 ordering seasons have been challenging in many aspects due to this delay of effort to fruition. When Bill and Diana (the previous owners) retired, they passed on a nursery who's future had been very uncertain. For several years leading up to their retirement, production and re-planting was greatly scaled back; why keep propagating plants for a nursery that seemed destined for imminent closure? It made sense. At the last minute, I was able to step in and continue the nursery, and it was both an advantage and a disadvantage to take over a nursery with such diminished inventory. It was an advantage because it allowed me a little time to ease into my new role (I was only 19 when I took over, though I had worked for the MacKentleys for 5 years), and allowed me not to become totally overwhelmed. It was a disadvantage because the very project of re-building the inventory while running the business only on what was left in the nursery from Bill and Diana's final few years of ownership seemed extremely daunting, if possible at all.
Well, I have now captained the nursery through three seasons. Three seasons of creative solutions, of unbelievable hard work and dedication from my crew, and of wonderful advice and encouragement from Bill and Diana. Three seasons later, we are finally digging the stock that we planted the year that I first took over, 2015. It is a very proud "moment" for me, and I thank anyone who has helped keep the nursery alive through these first few smaller years. I know that our selection has been seriously diminished from the hay days of the MacKentley ownership, but I just want to assure you all that I am working (along with my awesome crew, and under the guidance of previous ownership) to continue to bring in as many new plants as quickly as I can! Many of you will be glad to know that crab apples are a serious priority. We have a hard time keeping up with that demand, but like I said, adjusting plant/tree inventory is a long game, and I hope you will all start to see the first significant 'fruits' of that effort in the 2019 catalog!
Thank you all for your love of fruit trees and of the environment at large, and thank you to anyone who has stuck with us through these first few tricky years. Please don't ever hesitate to get in touch with questions.
Many thanks!
Connor Hardiman
St. Lawrence Nurseries
www.stlawrencenurseries.com
connor@stlawrencenurseries.com
315-261-1925
Edit: For all who are interested, the new catalog will be going out in December; if you'd like to get on the mailing list, please email or call me with your address!
There will also be some form of limited pre-sale in October (online only), so keep your eye on the site if you're interested. Thank you!
The response to this post is humbling and encouraging; it is wonderful to know that a lot of our trees are going to people who appreciate them as much as we do around here.
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