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CapitalPress.com
August 21, 2015
Yakima nursery thrives in improved economy
By ERICK PETERSON
For the Capital Press
YAKIMA, Wash. — Hav-
ing purchased his nursery
late last year, owner Bryan
Johnson wanted to get mov-
ing quickly. He re-opened
Russell’s Nursery for the hol-
idays, selling Christmas trees,
and he has been on top of
things ever since, he said.
His enthusiasm is ex-
pressed even in the slogan for
his company: “Come grow
with us.” It is an invitation to
customers, a calling for peo-
ple to be part of a fun endeav-
or. He is excited, and he wants
his customers to be excited,
too.
That is his way, Johnson
said. He describes himself
as a go-getter who began his
work in the industry prior to
attending the University of
Nevada Las Vegas and ob-
taining a degree in landscape
architecture.
His career progressed upon
graduation, and he worked in
the industry as a manager be-
fore leaving it to become a
restaurateur.
He explained that busi-
ness ownership was a passion
of his, and there were better
opportunities in Las Vegas to
own a restaurant than to own
a nursery.
Though he feels he was
successful in restaurant own-
ership over eight years, he
missed working with plants.
Erick Peterson/For the Capital Press
Bryan Johnson, owner of Russell’s Nursery in Yakima, Wash.,
stands on the grounds of his nursery. He moved from Las Vegas to
get back into the nursery business.
Some nursery owners in-
herit their businesses, or have
things simply given to them.
“That’s not us,” he said.
When he and his wife,
Cheryl, looked around for an
opportunity to get back into
nurseries, they had to cast a
wide net. They considered
many locations before decid-
ing on Yakima, a city in an ag-
ricultural region where people
have a passion for gardening
and landscaping.
In a fashion typical of him,
he said, he picked up his fam-
ily and relocated to Yakima
within a single week. He did
not want to waste time; he
wanted to get growing.
So far, the big bet to move
to Yakima and re-open the
nursery has paid off. He re-
ports that the nursery is ex-
tremely busy and the market
is favorable to nurseries. He
began the season early by
stocking up on drought-re-
sistant plants, as he expected
Central Washington’s water
scarcity to worsen. And cus-
tomers have responded well.
“It’s been extremely tough
to keep some of our plant
material this year,” he said.
“We’re doing the best we can,
getting in as much as we can
at the beginning, but it doesn’t
seem to be enough.”
He said that several nurs-
eries closed when the real
estate market collapsed,
thinking that the economy
would not rebound. When
the economy did improve,
and people started buying
houses again, demand re-
turned.
“I’m just trying to keep up
with it,” he said.
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By GAIL OBERST
For the Capital Press
INDEPENDENCE, Ore.
— Inspiration for gardeners
sometimes comes from unlikely
places.
For years, the strip of land
along Ash Creek’s south fork was
home to Mt. Fir Lumber Co.’s log
landing, until the mill closed in the
late 1980s. The company donated
the 7.3-acre east side of the creek
to the City of Independence, and
the “park” land became a jungle
of blackberries, Scotch broom and
other weeds.
The Luckiamute Watershed
Council made the first attempt
a few years ago to restore the
creek by removing the millpond
dam and planting native shrubs
and flowers.
Online
For more information about the Master Gardeners, visit OSU Exten-
sion’s website, http: //extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/.
To help with the Inspiration Garden, email Bill Leedy, b.leedy@
minetfiber.com.
But the most dramatic trans-
formation has been at the hands
of the Polk County Master Gar-
deners. In 2012, a dedicated
handful of the group’s 150-plus
members began clearing weeds
and developing what is now the
“Inspiration Garden” at Mt. Fir
Park, a demonstration nursery
that aims at educating and in-
spiring visitors in their efforts to
plan, plant and maintain gardens
and yards.
“That’s our mission: to teach
sustainable gardening practic-
es to the community,” said Bill
Leedy, who led the effort to cre-
ate a demonstration garden in
Polk County. Oregon State Uni-
versity’s Extension Service of-
fers a master gardener course to
students who are willing to pay
for their education in volunteer
hours. Many of the volunteers at
the Inspiration Garden are also
Master Gardeners.
Leedy said the greatest gift
was the city’s cooperation: The
Master Gardeners were allowed
to landscape the park, and were
also allowed to construct a
greenhouse and a building for
storing equipment and conduct-
ing small meetings.
Today, paths that border the
creek take visitors through land-
scaped areas that range from
natives to exotics. Entering from
F Street between Seventh and
Ninth streets, visitors walk past
a new wetlands area along the
creek, planted with native trees
and shrubs. Moving south past
the community building, the pe-
rennial gardens and then the rain
garden (taking advantage of the
city’s storm drain ditches to the
creek) lead into the vegetable
garden — a display of edibles in
raised beds, all placed to demon-
strate some of the latest horticul-
tural and sustainable practices
developed at OSU.