Loma Vista Nursery Employee Features

We at Loma Vista Nursery are not only proud of our plants, but we are also proud of our operations and the people who work here, which is why we are featuring blogs and videos about the people who make up our incredible team and how we run our nursery.

Introducing: Duane Huss

Duane is our operations manager, so he is in charge of every operation that happens at our nursery. He oversees our section heads, inventory, shipping, workers, and most importantly, he oversees our plants. To say that Duane is a plant expert would be an understatement. He knows nearly every variety of plant out there, when it blooms, how and where to plant them, differences in varieties, how to keep plants healthy and pest-free, and the growing habit of the plants. “My main responsibility is making sure we have the liners we need for sales when they need them,” Duane says. In order for our plants to be ready when they need to be, our production team has to propagate them at a specific time the year before. Duane is the one who knows how long a plant will take to grow and how to make it grow in time for the following year.

Pictured above is Duane with our crop of Junipers.

His ‘Roots’

Duane has been with Loma Vista Nursery for three years. He grew up in Bondurant, Iowa, right outside of Des Moines. Growing up, he was always interested in plants. After graduating high school, Duane attended Iowa State University (go Cyclones!) where he earned two degrees, a BS in Agronomy and a BS in Horticulture. He then went on to work at Bailey’s where he held a few different roles. He spent time as a grower, a product manager, and also a production manager. His biggest accomplishment there was that he was the first person to start two container farms. After working at Bailey’s, Duane moved down to the Kansas City area and began working at Loma Vista Nursery.

When Duane is not working, he spends a large majority of his free time fishing. If you need to know of the best fishing spots around, Duane is the person to ask. “The best perk of working at Loma Vista Nursery is that the container site’s lake is one of the greatest spots to fish,” Duane says jokingly but also seriously. He is often spotted on the middle of our rock quarry in a small boat with a fishing rod in hand. Crappies are the fish he enjoys catching the most, and he almost always just does a catch-and-release.

Loma Vista, Building a Legacy

Duane appreciates many things about Loma Vista Nursery, but there is one thing that truly sets Loma Vista Nursery apart from other places he has worked. “The best part of working here is working with the younger staff,” Duane says. “I love helping develop their skills and mentoring them.” This is an industry where Duane used to be one of the younger people who would look up to the elders in his field. Now, Duane recognizes that he has the time and experience to now pass knowledge onto the younger generations. He sees that the industry cannot survive without fresh faces entering into it.

Not only does Loma Vista Nursery have quite a few younger staff members, but the company also fosters an environment for growth. Loma Vista Nursery is education focused and stands for growth through education for our customer, our team and our industry. Duane not only sees the value in all of this, but he exemplifies this by example. Anyone can come up to Duane at the nursery, and he is always willing to help however he can.

Are you are interested in learning Duane’s favorite plants, check out his Top 5 Plants list HERE.

Come Work With Us (And Duane!)

Interested in joining our team at Loma Vista Nursery? Check out our career page HERE or contact us for general inquiries. Email: sales@lomavistanursery.com Phone: (785) 229-7200

Check out Ryan’s Top 5 Plants Here!