Make money selling plants from your own backyard nursery

A backyard nursery can be a profitable home business for the new grower or would-be small farmer. I found out this spring that people seem to pay more for ornamental plants than the ones they can eat! You can take advantage of this odd fact by growing and selling plants for money.

I ventured into the backyard nursery business on a small scale a couple years ago; I wanted to test the waters before I bet the farm on a new business (to mix a metaphor.) Here's what appealed to me about growing plants for money:

• I could start on a small scale and learn without a huge investment
• The equipment requirements and start-up costs were low, and most of the equipment was reusable
• I was growing my own transplants for the market garden anyway, and could make use of the same infrastructure
• Selling plants could bring in additional money before my regular season
• And of course, the somewhat surprising fact that plants you can't eat seem to sell for more than those you can. Higher margins, more cash in my pocket.

A 'low tech' plant stand in my backyard nursery

These facts convinced me to give the business a try. Here's some pointers if you are thinking about starting your own home-based nursery business.

Getting started in the backyard nursery business

If you've read anything on my site about starting a market garden you know that I strongly recommend a four-step process to start any business. The four-step process is Planning -> Marketing -> Management -> Production. This process is no less valid when starting a backyard nursery business.

The planning phase is where you set targets for your business, estimate your sales and expenses, research the kinds of plants that are popular in your area, and what they sell for.

You also need to to look into local bylaws and zoning restrictions that may affect your business, as well as any licensing requirements. Don't neglect the fact that you will probably need liability insurance.

DO NOT start without taking this step; you don't want your fledgling business shut down by the guv'mint just as you are making some money.

It would be a good idea to go to a couple local farmer's markets or flea markets that have plant sellers. Take a look at their stock, and see what advice they can give you.

First lean-to greenhouse we built to start plants for sale

Selling your plants

Let's say you've figured out that you would like to start your backyard nursery business by selling 100 each of the 10 most popular bedding plants in your area. Based on our research, we grew marigolds, nasturtiums, sweet pea and a miniature sunflower that turned out to be our bet seller.

Marketing is all about finding the buyers for your plants. Where will you sell your plants? When will you sell your plants? Will you sell plants all season, or just try to hit the peak early summer period, and sell out in a few weeks? (That's what I did, by the way.)

With these goals in mind, now comes management. This is all about figuring out your schedules and location and methods for growing and selling your plants profitably.

When do you need to start your plants to have them at optimum age for display and sale? What kind of care will they need? Who will do the work?

Finally, with all this figured out, you start production: the day to day care and feeding of your nursery plants.

CAUTION: do not start this process the other way around; that is, by growing a bunch of plants and then trying to figure out how to sell them. This is a sure way to failure for your small business.

Suzie selling sunflowers (not at the sea shore)

Growing your backyard nursery business

Once you have (at least) one season under your belt, you might be thinking about expanding your business. This will be a lot easier if you kept good records of sales to find out which plants were most popular. (In my case this was a beautiful little dwarf sunflower; I wish I had grown a thousand of them!)

Before you re-launch your empire, make sure your market can accept more of your nursery plants. Will you have to sell at more than one market to make your sales goals? Remember that time spent at the market is time you don't have for caring for your plants.

Also, be aware that growing a few hundred plants of limited varieties is very different than growing the many thousands of plants that are found in a commercial nursery.

Our 20x30 greenhouse on rails fully planted

Our latest mini-greenhouse just 8' x 12'

Your home-scale growing techniques may not be efficient at a larger scale. You may have to invest in a greenhouse, automation e.g. irrigation systems, misting boxes, thermostatically-controlled fans. Be sure this investment will pay off.

Free Reports from New Terra Farm

Get my FREE One-Acre Farm Plan and learn how to raise pigs, chickens and more, integrated with an organic market garden, to make more money from your small property.

Imagine building a profitable and sustainable mini-farm even on a small piece of land.

Download your free mini-farm plan here

And you can download more free reports here, only from New Terra Farm

More like Backyard Nursery

• 

  A 5 acre farm plan for the small property owner

  You can have a profitable, sustainable business even on a 5 acre farm. Here's how , , ,

• 

  Start a micro farm for food and money on your small plot of land

  Is a micro farm in your future? Learn how to get started

• 

  A quarter acre farm plan for the small grower

  What can you grow on a quarter acre farm to make some income?

• 

  How to increase farm income for the small operator

  Statistical evidence indicates that net farm income is in decline. Can this trend be reversed?

• 

  Raising farm animals the New Terra Farm way

  Here's a few things we've learned about raising farm animals over the last couple decades

• 

  Build a farm business plan for your bootstrap market garden

  Failing to plan is planning to fail! Start with a strong farm business plan for your bootstrap market garden

I wrote some books...

Based on 20+ years of gardening and farming experience, I wrote some books that show you practical approaches to gardening and raising small livestock. If you want to fill your freezer and cold storage with your own healthy, nutritious food, and provide some real food security for your family, it might be worth a look here.

I just put together two special book deals:

1. If you are a new 'country dweller' or homesteader (or soon to be), check out my Homesteader Book Bundle
2. If you have ambitions to start a small mixed organic farm of your own, take a look at my Complete Start Farming Pack