by Kelly Gates When Frank C. Hetz discovered that he was allergic to the lead-based paint he used as a professional painter in the early 1900s, he was forced to take his life and career in a completely different direction. According to his great grandson, Hagan Hetz, after visiting a choose-and-cut Christmas tree farm with one of his children, Frank chose to establish an evergreen growing operation in 1911. This same business still supports more than 11 Hetz family members today. “He acquired a loan of $5,000, a large amount at that time, and started planting trees for a Christmas tree business,” said Hagan. “The company remained a retail operation for many years. But after World War II, there was a big housing boom that led him to begin growing evergreens for sale into the wholesale market.” Over the years, the Hetz family transferred ownership and operation of Fairview Evergreen Nurseries from one generation to another. The current shareholder group includes Frank’s grandchildren, great grandchildren and other extended relatives, representing four generations in total.
Together, the Hetz’ steadily acquired acreage, increasing their total land to around 3,500 acres of plant production. They also farm 1,000 acres of property, planting corn, oats and wheat as part of the nursery’s crop rotation program. Situated within Western Erie County, near the shores of Lake Erie, the growing grounds are rich with sandy, loamy soil. “There are many varieties that grow well in this type of soil,” noted Hagan. “Yews are one of our specialties-we grow around one dozen varieties of those. We also grow holly, boxwood, juniper, arborvitae, viburnums, burning bush, hibiscus, hydrangea and a wide range of shade trees, including ginkgo, which is our most popular shade tree.” The nursery is large enough to not only offer a number of different varieties, but also various sizes of plants and trees. Yews range from 15 inches to six feet tall. Arborvitae are shipped to customers when they are three feet to eight feet in height. And shade trees vary from 1.5 inches to four inches in caliper. The Hetz family boasts an in-depth propagation program with many plants started from
Founder, Frank C. Hetz, circa 1940s. Frank started Fairview Evergreen Nursery (as it was originally called) in 1911. Photos courtesy of Fairview Evergreen Nurseries
Page 3 - Section A • COUNTRY FOLKS GROWER • February 2012
Fairview Evergreen Nurseries
Our family of shareholder-employees. Front (L-R): Mike Wassink, Hans Hetz, Tammy Bendure Harrington, Christine Hetz Phillips, Steve Hetz (retired), Richard Hetz, Fred Bendure, Kurt Hetz. Back (L-R): Hagan Hetz, Tom Bendure, Chris Hetz, Tim Hetz.
seeds collected on site. “Ginkgo is one of the varieties that we start from seeds harvested in our own fields,” Hagan told Country Folks Grower. “With evergreens, we take cuttings from plants here and stick them in greenhouses before putting them out in liner row spacing beds, with three to five plants together. Then, after a few years, they go into more formal field rows.” The established evergreens are root pruned while they are transferred to the field rows. At times, the nursery even sells some of its bare root liners to wholesale growers, he added.
As peak season rolls around each year, Fairview Evergreen Nurseries prepares to fill orders for its customers in an ever-expanding territory radiating outward from the eastern seaboard. “We ship as far west as Kansas City and eastern Nebraska and down as far south as Tennessee,” explained Hagan. “We also have a growing customer base in Ontario and Quebec, both of which have been really taking off in the past six years. Our customers include landscapers, re-wholesalers and garden centers.” In the future, Fairview Evergreen Nurseries plans to
Fairview Evergreen employees use a "wiggle hoe" to cultivate between plants in a block of young Canadian Hemlock.
introduce a retail division into the mix. The existing 12 propagation houses will not be enough to accommodate the major shift, however. So a whole new series of indoor growing structures will soon be added to the infrastructure at a different site. “We will be building 50 new poly greenhouses on a new property within the next few years,” said Hagan. “This is part of a big effort on our part to sell to more retail oriented customers like garden centers.” Retailers like this tend to want plants with a lot of color, he said. Consequently, the new greenhouses will be used to grow hydrangea, hibiscus and a vast array of ornamentals, along with standard landscape and garden varieties. The nursery’s headquarters will then be relocated to the site to create efficiencies. Hagan’s cousin Tammy, who currently manages the propagation houses, will continue to supervise the crews inside the 50 new greenhouses. “It is interesting to look back on the past century and see how the family business has gone from growing for the end consumer to the wholesale market and now, we are increasing our retail push,” said Hagan. “Our aim is not to shift our entire product mix. Rather, we want to offer a wider selection of color plants to compliment the evergreens which are our specialty.”