 For Kuenzi Turf & Nursery in Salem, Ore., the grass is greener on the other side. On the other side of the sod farm that is. Kuenzi’s is proof positive it pays to diversify and be horizontal instead of vertical in business, especially during tough times.Owner Myron Kuenzi said at his company, his crew has never wanted to grow the “easy” plants. His philosophy has been to grow what is more difficult because he feels there will always be a market for those items. And so far, this has held true during the most recent economic struggles in the U.S. Building a better mouse trap Kuenzi acknowledges the horticulture world is changing, and to survive, his company must also change. “Change is constant, relentless and the only game in town,” he said. “If we don’t change, we’ll be out of town, out of luck and out of business.”
Kuenzi’s had been growing specimen trees in a 21-inch, in-ground fabric bag for years. From that experience Kuenzi’s knew first-hand the benefits the bag system provided and how it improved root structure and transplant survivability. Working with its fabric bag supplier, High Caliper Growing Systems of Oklahoma City, Kuenzi’s decided to scale down the bag to a 10-inch size and try this production method with oak liners.  What’s on the inside countsAnother component to why oaks are successful in the bag is what’s in the growing medium. Rather than a soilless media, Kuenzi’s uses field soil, which provides a seamless transition for the tree. The tree doesn’t even realize it’s been picked-up and moved from Oregon to the customer’s fields, he said. “The oaks grown in the in-ground fabric bags provided us plants that easily re-established roots after transplanting,” said Tom Demaline, president of Willoway Nurseries in Avon, Ohio. “The Kuenzi trees that were planted March 2011 rooted in and had exceptional growth after they broke dormancy. In fact we were able to trim the new growth in mid-June.” Field soil is certainly heavier, but it also means once a grower takes the bag off and plants the tree in the field, it’s there to stay. Trees won’t suffer from tipping, which is more likely to occur with a soilless media. The root-bag oaks help reduce growing time in the field.
“Kuenzi’s oak liners have excellent branch scaffolding as well as a perfect central leader. The trunk caliper is quite large for a liner oak, which means turn-around time to a finished product is quicker,” said Bob Pettorini, vice president of production at Lake County Nursery in Perry, Ohio. Evolution of a numbers man Kuenzi graduated from Oregon State University with a business degree and a concentration in accounting and a minor in industrial engineering. After passing his CPA exam, he practiced in the public accounting field for about six years before becoming CFO and general manager for a multi-state sod growing farm. In addition, his family had been operating a u-pick/we-pick strawberry farm close to Salem along with a 5-acre Japanese maple B&B nursery. After eight years in the sod industry, he did a small startup of 35 acres of sod, and gradually added other shade trees to the mix, growing to its present size of 600 acres of sod, shade and ornamental trees. Two of his six children are active in the day-to-day family business. His oldest daughter Sara is the office manager. His oldest son Zach primarily focuses on contractor sales and service for the sod and the finished shade tree divisions. Kuenzi guides his company with what he refers to as “salt-of-the-earth values.” “Plants are our ambassadors; they represent us,” he said. Because of this philosophy, he firmly believes the nursery can’t possibly skimp on anything that will help his plants thrive and survive since they’re the reason customers come back. “At their core, Myron and his family are farmers, yet are very mindful of their growing practices,” said Steve Taber, co-owner of Southwest Wholesale Nursery in Dallas. “They evaluate their procedures regularly to maintain an efficient method of growing quality trees and turf.”
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