Ever wonder what really happens on a plant nursery? In this installment of our continuing Site Tour Series, we will take you on a blog tour of various aspects of the Loma Vista Nursery growing sites.

We produce in-ground trees for business-to-business sales at our tree production nursery in Willow Springs, Kan.

Loma Vista Nursery has two plant growing locations. The first is in Ottawa, Kan., where we produce containerized plant material and where our company’s main office is located. The second is in Willow Springs, Kan., located about 15 miles south of Lawrence. At Willow Springs, we produce in-ground trees for business-to-business sales – and this is where our blog tour journey is now taking us.

Founded in 1956 and located in Douglas County, Willow Springs gets its name from a small watering stop along the Santa Fe Trail. That was a famous 19^th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Mo., with Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Manuel Lopez is Loma Vista Nursery’s long-time tree farm manager.

Meet Manuel Lopez, our tree farm manager. He has been with us since the start of our tree-growing business, back when it was a farm located in Grandview, Mo., in 1992 . We then moved it to Olathe, Kan., and after that to a location in Baldwin City, Kan. Working hard to find the best possible ground for producing high-quality product for our customers, Loma Vista Nursery finally found the ideal home for its tree farm in 2003, in Willow Springs.

Our tree farm occupies more than 650 acres of premium farmland.

The Tree Farm at Willow Springs occupies more than 650 acres of premium farmland, chosen for its soil composition. Prior to Loma Vista Nursery’s occupancy, the working farm produced high-crop yields year after year.

“We currently plant about 20,000 trees each fall and spring,” Lopez says. “To fill customers’ orders during the start of growing season, we remove trees by machine and place them in a wire basket that is lined with burlap. We ensure the best quality trees by personally hand-selecting what we are selling.

In our production practices, our goal is to produce trees that have straight trunks and healthy canopies.

“We spend a lot of resources staking and pruning trees in our field, so we are able to select trees that have a straight trunk and that have an evenly spread-out canopy,” he says. “After trees are placed in burlap, we staple the burlap shut and the trees are ready to be loaded onto the trailer to prepare for delivery. Then, we plant new trees in spring to replace those heading off to customers. But the work to prepare for that is done now, in the fall.”

The high-quality loam soil at Willow Springs produces healthy evergreens and deciduous and ornamental tree varieties. The soil composition also helps our healthy products make the transition into their new planting sites.

Northern Red Oak is among the many varieties of trees we produce annually.

“In the fall, there is less digging and more preparation for the next growing season as we prepare for new inventory,” Lopez says. “Although we are busy pruning our trees in the fall, we’re also undertaking our winterizing tasks. These include preparing the ground for trees we will plant in the coming spring.”

Not only is Willow Springs high-quality farmland, it’s also a beautiful site full of timber landscapes and water features. Our in-ground tree production facility is a dry farm, which means we do have a way to irrigate on-site, but we do not have a permanent irrigation system in place. When necessary, we use tank water to nurture plant material. Our large tanks hold between 1,000 and 1,500 gallons of recaptured water, which allows for consistent supply for use as needed during periodic hot/dry spells.

Taylor Juniper (Juniperus virginiana ‘Taylor’) stands tall in the soil this fall as it awaits harvest in the spring.

The site is also an unusual, protected rattlesnake habitat. Although venomous, the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is a protected species in the State of Kansas. The snakes are typically found on the eastern side of the state and are not usually seen west of Flint Hills, which is one of the last remaining tallgrass prairie ecosystems in the world.

Timber rattlesnakes are found in and along heavily-vegetated rocky outcrops in partially forested areas. This makes our farm a really great habitat for the species, which earned its protected status in 1993 when it was listed as a Kansas Species in Need of Conservation (SINC). Now, we’ll bet you’re glad this is a “blog tour!”

Learn More About Loma Vista Nursery’s Landscape Plants

Loma Vista Nursery grows a variety of trees, shrubs and perennial plants for Midwest independent garden centers, landscape contractors and wholesale distributors. Our staff members – all experts in the field – love helping people learn about plants and the healthy varieties we grow.

Review Loma Vista Nursery’s plant catalog for information and visit our website to learn about our values and best practices as a Midwest plant grower. For help with orders and plant-related questions, send an email to sales@lomavistanursery.com or call (785) 229-7200.