How do I find a plant or tree nursery for sale?

A nursery can mean a shop that sells plants to the public, or a grower that raises stock for other businesses. The two look alike from the road and run very differently. Settle which one you want before you start looking, because it changes who you talk to, what a listing should tell you and what you will be buying besides the land and buildings.

Retail and wholesale growing are different jobs

A retail nursery depends on location, display, service and the seasonal rush. A wholesale grower depends on a few large customers, a production plan and the care of stock over several years. Many sit between the two. Ask any seller how sales split between walk-in customers and trade accounts, and which of those relationships would carry over to a new owner.

Who hears about a sale first

Landscapers, garden centres that buy from nurseries and suppliers of containers, soil and plant material often know when a grower is thinking of stepping back. Horticultural associations and local growers’ groups are worth contacting too. Tell them what you want, then check listing sites and sector brokers on a regular schedule.

Timing the search around the season

Standing stock is a large part of what a nursery grower owns, and it changes with the season and the year. Visiting in the growing season shows you what is healthy, what is crowded and what has been neglected. Ask for a stock list by species and age, and ask who counted it. Be careful with any plan that depends on stock you have not seen.

• Is the business retail, wholesale or a mix?
• Which customers would stay after the sale?
• What stock is in the ground, and how old is it?
• Which staff know the growing methods and the customers?