Editing Plant nursery (section)

{{Short description|Facility where plants are propagated and grown to usable size}}
{{about|places where plants are grown before sale|businesses that sell them, known in the US as nurseries|Garden centre}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:Cutchogue - Oregon Road - Plant Nursery.jpg|thumb|Plants in a nursery]]

A '''nursery''' is a place where [[plant]]s are [[plant propagation|propagated]] and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, [[forestry]], or [[conservation biology]], rather than [[agriculture]]. They include [[retail]] nurseries,<ref>{{Cite web |access-date=March 27, 2024 |title=Silver Leaf Nursery & Garden Centre, Landscaping |url=https://www.silverleafniagara.com/}}</ref> which sell to the general public; [[wholesale]] nurseries, which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and commercial [[gardener]]s;<ref>{{Cite web |access-date=March 27, 2024 |title=NVK Nurseries |url=https://www.nvknurseries.com/}}</ref> and private nurseries, which supply the needs of institutions or private estates.  Some will also work in [[plant breeding]].

A "'''nurseryman'''" is a person who owns or works in a nursery.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dictionaries |first=Oxford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYicAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA492 |title=Paperback Oxford English Dictionary |date=2012-05-10 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-964094-2}}</ref>

Some nurseries specialize in certain areas, which may include: propagation and the selling of small or bare root plants to other nurseries; growing out plant materials to a saleable size, or retail sales.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McDaniel |first=Gary L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eU8jAQAAMAAJ |title=Ornamental Horticulture |date=1982 |publisher=Reston Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8359-5348-1 |page=346}}</ref> Nurseries may also specialize in one type of plant, e.g., [[groundcover]]s, shade plants, or [[rock garden]] plants. Some produce bulk stock, whether seedlings or grafted trees, of particular varieties for purposes such as fruit trees for orchards or timber trees for forestry. Some producers produce stock seasonally, ready in the spring for export to colder regions where propagation could not have been started so early or to regions where seasonal pests prevent profitable growing early in the season.