Backyard Nursery Resources Guide.
Backyard Nursery Resources – here is a collection of many sources and links to save you a lot of time and money. You will find our resources guide helpful when Starting a Backyard Plant Nursery and even years after. We hope we can help you when you start and also as you grow and increase your operation. Check back often as we do update this page often.
We do make a small affiliate commission on the Amazon.com products listed below. That helps keep us going! Building websites is a lot of work and we have done considerable research into our list of recommended products. Please note, we only recommend products we have bought and actually use. Amazon has become a real business partner to our nursery, we get what we need quickly, order from our arm chair, products arrive on time, and the prices are very good. We use the Amazon Visa to get 5% back on every order and at the end of the year most of our purchases are all organized on the one credit card. It works perfectly for us.
Video Reviews
Nursery Containers
One of the items you will consume almost as much as water in your Backyard Nursery is plant containers. Potting Up Plants is the number one activity in your Plant Nursery Retirement Business. We have tried many sources including online nursery wholesalers but they aren’t always your best resource. Here are the sources we use most as they offer good quality products, free shipping and excellent prices. That is advantageous especially if you aren’t retired yet and out all day at work. We order everything shipped in and it is then there for us by the weekend so we can get right to work.
Our preference is to sell our plants in a new, premium quality container. The non woven, fabric grow bags, with handles are just perfect for us and customers love them. In some cases they are less than plastic pots too. The primary sizes we use are 3 and 5 gallon. None are actually a true 3 or 5 gallon in capacity. They are “Trade” size which is a term nursery people have adopted. That said they are a little less than 3 and 5 gallon in size. You may want to purchase even larger grow bags, these are available up to 10 gallons.
We buy almost all our containers larger than 1 or 2 gallons in the non woven fabric pots. We love the handles, and customers love the fabric pots.
You can have these delivered right to your backyard nursery from Amazon.com – Prices can vary but we pay on average $1.35 to 1.60 for the #3 and #5 but if you hunt you can get them for a little less at times. Then buy a lot!
Gardzen Non-Woven Grow Pots – 20 Pack Buying these in 20 bag quantities is the most economical.
Plastic, trade gallon plastic nursery pots.
Buying pots. We buy almost all ours at the moment from Amazon.com. They arrive quickly, the price is good and they are almost always in stock. Since prices change often, we encourage you to shop around on Amazon and elsewhere. These are the trade gallon pots we buy and prefer: 50 Pack 1 Trade Gallon Plastic Nursery Pot They come in at around $0.60 each with free shipping which is very good.
You might find you have a local company that makes plastic pots. You could then go and pick them up. This saves you money as the cost of pots is largely related to transporting them.
It is good to also watch Amazon for deals. We catch deals here and there like these:100 Pack 1 Trade Gallon Plastic Nursery Pot includes shipping so at $55.00 per hundred these are $0.55 each. But sometimes they are $59. for 100.
Rectangular, non woven, fabric, nursery raised beds.
We use these large containers for Planting and Propagating, often when rooting cuttings. They are also excellent for holding or healing in bare root plants before we can pot them up. You can also buy these with integrated PVC frames to make them stronger and configure for a cover of shade cloth or white plastic. The approximate 2′ x 4′ size is perfect – top frame doesn’t need to be as tall as shown – just cut it down to your liking. You buy with or without the pvc frame and thus optionally make your own frame of 3/4″ pvc pipe and fittings. We plan to experiment with a hinged plexiglass top for a couple large propagation beds.
Gardzen Raised Garden Bed – Planter Box Comes with Pipe Frame – These come right to your door, shipping included right from Amazon.
Backyard Nursery Resources | Weed Prevention Fabric or Weed Mat / Weed Barrier.
We don’t have to buy this too often but have bought several rolls of this specific 6.5 X 150 feet Heavy Duty weed barrier fabric. These materials come in different gauges and the 3.2 OZ has proven to be excellent for us. You don’t want to replace it often, so go with a heavier duty gauge. The 6.5′ x 300′ covers 1,950 sq ft so that goes a long way. Different sizes are available. Order right here and have it delivered to your door: Premium Weed Barrier Landscape Fabric Heavy Duty
Speaking of Weeds | Pre-emergent Weed Preventer
We talk about weeds a lot and a pre-emergent weed preventer helps a lot. We buy in the larger bag and it goes a long way. Preen Garden Weed Preventer You will thank us later, it does help.
Backyard Nursery Resources | Fertilizers
We use only professional quality, slow release fertilizers in our backyard nursery. Plants will be burned and die if you use anything other than a slow release fertilizer. Better for you also, fertilize once in the early spring and maybe once more in the Fall. Easy and effective. Here are the fertilizers we use.
Osmocote Classic 3-4 Month 14-14-14 Fertilizer 50 Lbs Delivered to you from Amazon
A controlled release fertilizer engineered to help deliver bigger, greener plants. Only one application of fertilizer is needed for the season. Composed of water-soluble nutrients. Granular formula is coated with a film of plastic resin. 3-4 months for annuals, perennials, and short term crops. 50 lb bag.
Osmocote 19-5-8 Slow Release Fertilizer
Great for outdoor production of woody plants.
This Osmocote fertilizer blend contains nitrogen
(19%), phosphorus (5%), and potassium (8%) along with high amounts of magnesium (1.5%) and sulfur (8.1%). Osmocote fortifies this fertilizer with STEP Hi-Mag micronutrients. This slow-release fertilizer is water-soluble. Each bag contains 50 pounds of fertilizer.
Osmocote 19-5-8 is great for general purpose outdoor production. It offers a consistent release over 8 to 9 months and across a wide range of temperatures. Its dual-coated design reduces nitrogen leeching and decomposes with minimal environmental impact. You can incorporate 19-5-8 directly into the growing media or apply it as a top dress. See application rates below.
Osmocote designed this fertilizer to be both effective and affordable. It delivers nutrients in a highly efficient manner. This process results in robust growth and maximum yields.
Order it here from Amazon, delivered free, 50 lbs bag: Osmocote Pro 19-5-8 Minors 8-9 Month
Rooting Hormone for Rooting Plants
Hormodin 3 Rooting Compound 0.50 lb Container!
This is our go-to rooting hormone as we root mostly woody plants.
Great for softwood and hardwood cuttings.
From the manufacturer. The most convenient, effective rooting compound you can buy! Over the years, thousands of nurserymen and gardeners have come to rely on Hormodin as one of the most dependable rooting compounds available. There’s no measuring or mixing required. Just dip the cuttings into the powder, tap off the excess and plant. It’s that simple.
We use one 0.50 lbs container about every other year. It goes a long way.
Buy here: Hormodin 3 Rooting Hormone
Backyard Nursery Resources | Tools
Hand pruners we really like, the quality and Leather holster of the FELCO F2 Professional Pruning Shears with Leather, Clip or Belt Holster is just amazing. With care, these Swiss made pruners can last a lifetime.
Buy them here: Felco 2 Bypass Pruner and Leather Holster – Bundle 2 Items
A more budget friendly priced Pruner by GARDEN V PRO that we purchased from Amazon. We found it is quite good and much less expensive. Professional Titanium Pruning Shears is a pretty outstanding value at under $20.00. Ours even came with a replacement blade and a spare spring. At $15 to 20.00 just buy a couple at a time.
Garden scissors, a Backyard Nursery must have item!
Garden scissors/shears are mentioned in our Backyard Plant Nursery Resources as people forget to buy them. These Fiskars Multi-purpose Garden Shears are available on Amazon. We find these indestructible and up for any task we have. The half’s even separate leaving you with a handy garden knife. Our main activity with these is pruning roots of plants just before potting. Roots often have some dirt on them but that does not seem to dull these tough shears.
Potting Soil Scoop
A potting soil or grain scoop in the 82 oz size is an invaluable tool for your backyard nursery. The large size is perfect for filling #3 and #5 containers. The 32 oz size is great for filling smaller containers. These are durable, come in several colors and sizes and last a long time. The flat bottom design is perfect and the durability is a must. You’re going to use a lot of these scoops, so consider buying them 2 at a time. This one is our top recommendation: Remco 6500X Color-Coded Plastic Hand Scoop – Commercial Grade – Extra Large 82 Ounce Size – Asst Colors
Stainless-Steel Soil Knife
Super useful Soil Knife from Fiskars!
- Fiskars Hori Garden Tool is designed to weed, plant, split, transplant and more, with extended tang for added durability
- Dual-edged knife has a stainless steel, precision-ground edge for multi-purpose cuts, as well as a serrated edge for sawing through thick growth
- A forked tip allows for easy weeding, while easy-to-read measurements can be used to accurately determine plant depth
- Softgrip handle for comfort and included hard plastic sheath with belt loop for convenient storage and portability
- Full lifetime warranty
Our recommendation is the Fiskars Garden Hori Knife with Sheath
Backyard Nursery Resources Guide | Carts
There really are no end to the number of carts available, and we certainly have not tried them all. One that stands out and we have tried is the Gorilla Carts GOR1400-COM Heavy-Duty Steel Utility Cart with Removable Sides and 15″ Tires. It features a 1,400-lbs. capacity. Another feature we love is the convertible handle so you can pull it or tow it with a tractor or ATV.
We like these to tote items around the nursery and to let customers gather lots of plants to buy. Get at least 1 or 2 as soon as you are Starting a Backyard Plant Nursery, you will be glad you did. Purchase here: Gorilla Carts for your Backyard Plant Nursery
Nursery Resources | Shovels and Hand Tools
We do not plant too many plants in the ground but we use shovels and hand tools every week around our property. Our recommendation is to buy a good quality, long handle or short handle digging, round point shovel. In addition, you should own at least one flat shovel for moving potting soil around and loading your wheelbarrow from piles. Then we use all types of picks, hoes, rakes and hand tools around our property. We like the Truper Brand as the quality is great and prices are reasonable. You can see their entire line here: Truper Hand Tools for Your Backyard Plant Nursery
Backyard Nursery Resources for watering equipment and hoses.
This Melnor oscillating sprinkler is ideal when your plants are placed out in square or rectangular pattern. This is the case in many nurseries, small and large. Will water up to 3,900 sq ft and the spray pattern is adjustable for both width and for how far it will throw. These are well constructed, reasonably priced and one head can water hundreds of plants from one position. To water 1,000 to 2,000 plants may only require you water from just two positions. We like the spike as we push it in a container filled with soil to raise the head up a little. You can see more sprinkler options or order one here: Melnor 65031-AMZ MiniMax Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler – Spike
Hoses, Nozzles and Wands
When starting a backyard plant nursery, you will soon need some good quality hoses. You need to be able to water before you buy, plant or propagate any plants. Later you might construct some a simple Backyard Nursery Irrigation DIY system using more permanent piping such as PVC piping but almost always, you will still need to feed sprinkler heads with some regular flexible hose. Hoses are always needed to distribute water especially if you want to hand water.
You are going to need to be able to get water around to all of your plants. In addition to hose, you will need hand and wand nozzles, and perhaps several splitting or manifold valves to get water to all of your nursery.
Some watering gear that we like:
We love this watering wand:
Dramm 12502 ColorMark Rain Wand 30-Inch Length stands up well and has an on or off flow control valve at the base of the handle.
No more squeezing a trigger. This nozzle is well made and well priced.
High Pressure Fireman’s Spray Nozzle
We love the Flexzilla hoses as they are fairly lightweight, durable, don’t kink easily and the bright color is a plus for visibility. Various lengths are available from 3 to 100 feet. Flexzilla Garden Hose 5/8 inch can be purchased here: Flexzilla Garden Hose
A water manifold can save you lots of time by getting water to a central spot and allowing you to split the water to 4 outlets. Do yourself a favor and get one of these. Splittars 4 Way Garden Hose Splitter Solid Brass
Backyard Nursery Resources | Soil Amendments
We use lots of Perlite and shop around for it. For just a couple bags or even many, buying from Amazon is still often less expensive than many nursery supply centers, we recommend: Viagrow VPER4-2 4 cu ft Perlite 2-Pack – White
When buying to mix with our potting soil in large bulk it is best to go to a Nursery Supplier and buy 10 or more bags. That said after shipping often Amazon is still more competitive. We have bought 10 and 20 at a time of this brand as well: PVP Industries 4 Cubic Foot of Organic Perlite
Deer Repellent
Deer Stopper II Garden Animal Repellent – Safe & Effective, All Natural Food Grade Ingredients; Repels Deer Elk, and Moose; Easy to Use, 32 fl. oz. Liquid Concentrate
We have deer and used this for many years with great success. It stays on even after it rains. Apply about once per month with just a heavier duty spray bottle or pump sprayer.