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16 CapitalPress.com August 19, 2016 Bigger is better at this nursery By JANAE SARGENT Capital Press Janae Sargent/Capital Press Anthony Kinen, owner of Kinen’s Big & Phat Special Plants, stands by his favorite tree on his nursery, the monkey puzzle tree. Anthony Kinen grows the same plants as a lot of other nurseries, he just does it big- ger. “We grow the weird stuff bigger than anyone else,” said Kinen, owner and manager of Kinen’s Big & Phat Special Plants, near Gresham, Ore. Kinen’s nursery special- izes in growing large speci- men-style trees. The idea came from his father, Norbert, when he started the nursery in 1998. “He wanted to grow the N16-4/#5 trees larger so people didn’t have a delayed gratiication when they bought them,” An- thony Kinen said. He now grows more than 450 specimens of trees at the 16-acre nursery. Rather than growing large quantities of plants, Kinen said he grows only one or two samples of each type to sell to specialty garden centers, wholesalers and landscape architects. “We’re pursuing a different look, something that’s weird that people haven’t seen be- fore,” Kinen said. Kinen relies on his relation- ships with other farms and ven- dors to decide which new spec- imens to bring in. He also looks online to ind gaps in the mar- ket for large specialty plants. One of his favorite trees is the 10- to 15-foot-tall monkey puzzle trees. They are native to the high mountains of Chile and Argentina. Kinen said a few nurseries in the region grow monkey puzzle trees but none as large as he does. He described his start in the nursery business as an accident. His father died in 2011, the summer after Anthony gradu- ated from Portland State Uni- versity with a degree in interna- tional business. Kinen said he never planned to take over the nursery but de- cided he would give it a shot — and really enjoyed it. Having never before worked with plants, Kinen said it was a big challenge. Kinen also attributed what he learned and some of his suc- cess to neighboring nurseries. Customers, vendors and neighboring farmers taught him new things as well. “We can be ierce compet- itors but at the same time, it’s like a family,” Kinen said. “I wasn’t expecting how willing people would be to share in- formation when I got into the industry.” N16-4/#7
