The nurser y site
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Nursery site and location Nursery site characteristics Slope Sloping sites will require earthworks for buildings and terracing for areas to place plants. Earthworks can be expensive and you may require the services of an engineer and permits from your local government authority. Drainage Speak with neighbours about drainage in the area and consider all parts of the property. Flooding Is the site prone to flooding? Many councils and local government organisations will allow you to search their records to determine whether the site is flood-prone. Bushfires Find out whether the site is in a high fire-risk area. If it is, your local government authority may ask you to prepare a bushfire management plan. Access Can you get onto the site easily and is it easy to move around the site? If you are planning to have customers and service people visit the nursery, consider the type of access they will need. Is there enough parking for your anticipated number of customers? Existing facilities Are buildings and infrastructure already present? How much will you need to invest to improve the site’s facilities enough to operate a nursery? Microclimates Trees provide shade, and frost or sun protection, but can restrict light and reduce growth rates. This is an advantage with some plants, and a disadvantage with other plants.
Factors affecting location The location of a nursery is determined primarily by the following factors. Proximity to markets Retail nurseries and garden centres rely on direct sales to customers so they are best sited in close proximity to a town or housing subdivision with a reasonable size population. Market proximity is not so important for specialist and wholesale nurseries. Specialist retail nurseries usually sell a sizeable proportion of their plants through mail order; the remainder are sold to customers who are generally more willing to drive long distances to buy their plants. Large production nurseries are usually located on the outskirts of towns and cities where land is considerably less expensive; in fact some of the largest wholesale nurseries are hundreds of kilometres from cities, where large tracts of flat, inexpensive land and good access to water and other services offset the costs of transportation to city markets. However, the cost of transporting stock to market must be considered.