Why Corporate Social Responsibility is Important When Buying Plants Online
It's a question of corporate social responsibility for nurseries․ What does the nursery actually care about‚ and is it truly concerned about the land‚ about the plant‚ about the people who are growing this plant? Or is it just a catchphrase? For plant buyers‚ it's the difference between whether your trees live or die from transplant shock‚ whether or not the milkweed you purchased actually supports monarch butterflies‚ and whether the cardboard box you received on your doorstep is something you feel good about tossing in the recycling bin․
Forbes recently wrote about how TN Nursery approached this topic‚ and when you're considering how directly CSR practices impact what is delivered to a customer's door‚ it's easy to see why․ This isn't some side conversation within the plant industry; this is baked into how plants are grown‚ shipped‚ and sourced day in and day out․
What CSR Looks Like in a Working Nursery
Sustainability claims from many companies are vague․ Nurseries' version of corporate social responsibility is measurable․ It includes things like:
It measures whether plants are grown for the hardiness zone they belong to instead of what sells fast․ Tennessee is mostly in USDA zones 6b through 7b․ A responsible nursery grows and tests stock to suit‚ rather than shipping tropical varieties to customers in zone 5 with a note telling them to figure out why nothing survived the winter․
Reducing water waste during production․ Field-grown trees and shrubs raised in well-drained Tennessee soil do not need as much irrigation compared to container stock grown in hotter‚ drier areas․ This causes reduced water consumption at the farm level․
Providing native ecotype host plants‚ such as Common Milkweed and Swamp Milkweed‚ instead of ornamental milkweed hybrids‚ which provide little nutritional value for native bees or butterflies․ Monarch butterflies use milkweed exclusively as a host plant․ A nursery producing measurable quantities of milkweed is directly contributing to the conservation of a species in measurable decline․
Where possible‚ we ship plants bare-root to help reduce plastic waste and to avoid the expense and energy of shipping heavy‚ sodden soil across state lines․
Why This Is Appealing to Customers
The Forbes piece TN Nursery was recognized for touching on a few of the mechanisms behind this‚ and they hold up under scrutiny․
Trust is developed before the sale and is important‚ as customers ordering trees and perennials online cannot see the root ball and inspect for disease when they purchase․ If the nursery is open about where they obtain and grow their trees and the environment in which they are grown‚ it is more likely that what the seller writes is what will be received in the mail․
They remember who they bought it from‚ and the bloom‚ and the first or second spring when they got it‚ planted it correctly‚ planted it in well-drained soil in full sun, because they now know what to do‚ and they assumed it was because of the company‚ because the companies that are more CSR driven give real care instructions‚ not boilerplate․
Ethical sourcing is no longer a nice-to-have‚ but a filter for making purchasing decisions․ This has been on the rise for more than a decade․ All of these customers are also looking for sustainably grown or native species nursery stock for pollinator and rain gardens‚ and erosion control planting․ A company that can show that they propagate and grow their Milkweed Perennial stock from seed (not wild-collected stock) will have an advantage over its competition with regard to these types of buyers․
These nurseries rely on a continuous stream of repeat customers and operate on very low margins and harvest times; for example‚ it can take years for a tree to reach saleable size․ The best companies set up long-term‚ trusting relationships with customers who have come to expect and rely upon the quality of goods delivered and the ethics behind these goods and services through their CSR techniques․
What to Actually Look For (Beyond the Marketing Copy)
If you want to assess the validity of a nursery's CSR efforts‚ then instead of blanket statements‚ ask them specific questions:
Where is the stock actually grown? A company growing its own trees and perennials on Tennessee farmland has more control over conditions than a company drop-shipping from a wholesale broker three states away․
Specific examples include hybrids such as Magnolia Jane (a hybrid between two late-flowering Magnolias) that are smaller and flower later in the season and are therefore acceptable to sell without being considered wild collected native or intrusive․ A good nursery will tell you all of that up front․
The plant is shipped bare root and burlapped; this reduces plastic waste relative to shipping nursery pots wholesale․ It may also reduce the weight in shipping, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation․
Does the company give you real growing zones‚ or just say hardy in most climates? Vague hardiness claims are a strong indicator that a company hasn't done the regional testing that responsible growers do․
The Bigger Picture
Every single tree a nursery sells and every single tree a customer plants does‚ in a small but real way‚ contribute to carbon sequestration‚ soil stabilization‚ and habitat restoration․ A single established shade tree can sequester as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year․ Established native perennial plant bed entails less erosion of topsoil than does a lawn․ Environmental benefit is increased because nursery business models that favor growing more of these plants means that less of their inventory is shipped․
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