Nursery Stock and Landscape Plants

Production on Hawaiʻi Island

Hawaiʻi Island’s nursery stock production takes advantage of its wide open spaces and varied microclimates. There are nurseries on the island spanning dry coastal zones to cool uplands, each suited to different plant types. For example, large field nurseries in Kona and Kaʻū might specialize in palms and flowering trees for tropical landscapes, grown under full sun with irrigation. In contrast, at higher elevations like Waimea or Volcano, some nurseries focus on temperate-climate ornamentals (e.g. certain pines, protea shrubs, or blueberries) and native forest species, which prefer cooler nights. Most landscape plant nurseries grow their stock in containers (from 1-gallon pots up to huge 100-gallon boxes for mature trees), although some traditional field production (growing trees in the ground to be dug up balled-and-burlapped) exists for species like field-grown Christmas trees or large specimen trees. Key production locations on Hawaiʻi Island include areas like Pāhoa (which hosts nurseries for palms and trees on lava rock land), Hilo outskirts (where operations grow groundcover plants and ornamentals), and Hamakua coast or Waimea (where cooler weather supports certain flowers and trees).

Major Categories of Landscape Plants

This category is diverse, but can be broken into a few groups:

• Ornamental Trees: Hawaiʻi Island nurseries grow a variety of tropical and subtropical trees used in landscaping. Rainbow shower tree (Cassia × nealiae), the Honolulu city tree known for its pink and yellow blossoms, is propagated in local nurseries for street and park plantings. Monkeypod (Samanea saman), a large canopy tree, is grown from seed or cuttings into potted saplings for eventual use as shade trees. Plumeria (Plumeria rubra and hybrids), while known for lei flowers, is often sold as landscape trees (potted 5–15 gallon size) for yards – Hawaiʻi Island nurseries propagate plumeria from cut branches, offering varieties with white, yellow, or pink fragrant blooms. Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) and other palms (royal palm, foxtail palm, Wodyetia bifurcata, etc.) serve as signature tropical landscape elements; nurseries might raise these from nuts or seedlings to transplantable size for resorts and residences. Native trees like ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) and koa (Acacia koa) are also cultivated – particularly by restoration and native plant specialists on the island. For instance, there are nurseries that grow ʻōhiʻa in pots to be used in landscaping (though inter-island movement of ʻōhiʻa is now restricted due to Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death fungus). Fruit trees intended for home gardens can be counted here too: grafted mango (Mangifera indica), citrus (oranges, lemons), avocado, lychee, etc., are produced by Hawaiʻi Island nurseries to supply garden centers and orchard planters statewide.

• Ornamental Shrubs and Groundcovers: These include flowering shrubs like hibiscus (Hawaiʻian hibiscus hybrids are popular landscape plants, and Hawaiʻi Island growers produce them in bulk), crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) with their bright variegated leaves for hedges, bougainvillea vines trained into bush form (grown in pots to be planted as colorful hedges), and gardenia (Gardenia augusta) for fragrant hedges. Groundcovers such as Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata), liriope, and seashore plants (like Naupaka, Scaevola taccada) are often propagated in flats or small pots for landscape use. Grass sod (like St. Augustine grass or Bermuda grass sod) is also part of this segment – there are a few sod farms on Hawaiʻi Island, though Oahu has the largest sod operations. If present, Hawaiʻi Island sod farms harvest rolls of turfgrass for new lawns on-island (inter-island shipment of sod is limited by both cost and pest quarantine, but some does occur).

• Native and Conservation Plants: A subset of nurseries, sometimes supported by government or conservation grants, grow plants for reforestation or conservation landscaping. This includes coastal natives (like akulikuli, Sesuvium portulacastrum, a succulent groundcover for beach areas), dryland forest species (naio, Myoporum sandwicense; wiliwili, Erythrina sandwicensis), and wet forest species (mamaki, Pipturus albidus; hapuʻu fern, Cibotium spp.). Hawaiʻi Island, with its large land area, is a focal point for such restoration plant production. While these might not be big money-makers, they are important for supplying forestry projects and landscaping that emphasizes native plants (a growing trend, e.g. in public parks and some resorts seeking a sense of place).

According to the 2020 horticulture summary, the broad category “Landscape plant materials” (which includes broadleaf evergreens, coniferous trees, palms, sod, etc. for landscape use) was valued at $20.6 million in 2020 statewide files.Hawaiʻi.gov. This made it the largest component (25%) of Hawaiʻi’s horticulture/nursery industry by value that year. Hawaiʻi Island, holding roughly half the state’s nursery production, likely contributed on the order of $10 million or more of those landscape plant sales in 2020. In earlier data (2018), landscape plant material was about $22.9 M statewide, indicating a slight contraction by 2020. The 2022 Agriculture Census data show Hawaiʻi County had 123 farms selling nursery stock crops (trees, shrubs, etc.) in the open, with those sales forming a significant part of the county’s $60M nursery total. While detailed breakdown by island isn’t published post-2020, anecdotal evidence suggests Hawaiʻi Island growers are key suppliers of palms and trees for neighbor islands, owing to available land to grow them to size.

Value-Added Products and Uses

The primary “value-add” in nursery stock is the growth and care that turns a seed or cutting into a landscape-ready plant. This includes skilled practices like grafting (many fruit trees from Hawaiʻi Island are grafted onto hardy rootstocks by local nurseries, a value-adding skill that produces higher-quality orchard trees) and shaping/pruning ornamental trees for structure. Some Hawaiʻi Island nurseries offer large specimen trees that have been grown and pruned for years – these command premium prices for instant landscape installation. Sod production, where it exists on the island, is essentially value-added grass; by planting, fertilizing, and weed-controlling a grass field and then cutting it as ready-to-lay turf, sod farms provide a convenient but higher-cost alternative to seeding lawns.

Another value-added service is landscape contracting and design. A number of Hawaiʻi Island plant nurseries are vertically integrated – they not only grow plants but also help design and install landscapes for clients (such as resort developers or homeowners). In doing so, they add design fees and installation labor to the value of the plants. Even when not installing themselves, nursery producers often network closely with landscape architects, providing custom-grown plants or holding specimens until a project is ready (“pre-order” arrangements).

Inter-island and Export Use

Hawaiʻi Island’s nursery stock is used both locally and beyond. Locally, it supports the island’s needs – e.g., when a new hotel is built on the Kohala Coast, many palms and shrubs come from island nurseries. Inter-island, Hawaiʻi Island growers frequently ship plants to Maui, Oahu, and Kauai for projects. For example, if Oahu has a surge in construction (new condos or parks), Oahu landscapers might source large trees from Hawaiʻi Island where they were field-grown quickly in rich soil. Such shipments go by barge. There is some direct export out of state for certain plants: one example is Hawaiʻi-grown Christmas trees – while Hawaiʻi imports most of its Christmas trees from the Pacific Northwest, Hawaiʻi Island has a few farms growing Norfolk Island pine and Leyland cypress; these are sometimes shipped inter-island or even to Pacific territories. Also, bonsai stock trees (like junipers or tamarind) cultivated on Hawaiʻi Island can be sold to collectors worldwide, though that’s niche.

Market Trends and Competitiveness

The landscape plant sector is closely tied to the construction and development industry, as well as government and homeowner spending on landscaping. Thus, its fortunes rise and fall with economic cycles. In the late 2010s, a buoyant construction and tourism economy in Hawaiʻi kept demand for landscape materials strong (reflected in the high 2018 sales). The pandemic caused a downturn: hotels and commercial developments paused, reducing big landscape jobs, and this contributed to the dip to $20.6M in 2020.

However, residential landscaping picked up somewhat as people focused on home improvements and gardening during lockdowns. On Hawaiʻi Island, many nurseries reported increased retail sales to homeowners in 2020–2021 (people planting vegetable gardens, fruit trees, improving yards while stuck at home), while large contract sales slowed. By 2022–2023, as tourism rebounded and construction projects resumed, the landscape segment likely began recovering. The partial data from HDOA for “All Other Nursery Products” (which includes landscape plants) show an uptick from a low of $2.67M in 2021 to $5.8M in 2023 – though those figures exclude most big items, they suggest some rebound.

A major competitive advantage for Hawaiʻi Island in nursery stock is land availability. Hawaiʻi Island nurseries can grow plants to larger sizes more easily than on smaller, more urbanized islands where land is expensive. This means Hawaiʻi Island can supply mature trees and palms that landscapers elsewhere might not have space to cultivate. Moreover, the island’s varied climate allows testing plants for different zones (a landscape contractor on Maui can get both tropical beach naupaka and high-elevation koaiʻa trees from one island).

Challenges include the cost of inter-island transport – shipping large, heavy plants is costly, and sometimes Hawaiʻi Island growers lose out if Oahu growers can supply a plant (even if smaller or costlier to produce) without incurring freight. For mainland exports, strict regulation (e.g. soil quarantine) makes it tough to ship out large potted trees or any with soil; often bare-root shipping is needed, which not all species tolerate. As a result, Hawaiʻi’s nursery stock industry is mostly focused on in-state markets (the 2022 Census did not report any significant direct foreign export numbers under this category, suggesting most sales are local/domestic).

Innovations and Practices

To stay competitive and ensure quality, many Hawaiʻi Island nurseries employ advanced horticultural techniques. This includes the use of fabric grow bags for field growing (roots prune air naturally, yielding a better root system and easier transplant than field-dug), slow-release fertilizers tailored to tropical conditions, and integrated pest management to keep plants healthy without excessive chemicals (important because landscape plants can be heavily inspected for pests when moved). Some nurseries propagate difficult species via tissue culture (e.g. micropropagating native plants like certain rare lobelias for restoration use, or bananas for landscaping). There’s also an increasing emphasis on native plant production as mentioned, which can be seen as both a market trend (designers wanting native species for ecological landscaping) and a way to differentiate from imported ornamentals.

Another trend is the interest in drought-tolerant landscaping due to water restrictions and xeriscaping movement. Hawaiʻi Island, with its dry side, is well positioned to grow succulents, cacti, and dry forest natives that meet this trend. Some nurseries have started offering “water-wise” plant selections, anticipating future demand as Hawaiʻi grapples with water resource management in certain areas.

In terms of business climate, Hawaiʻi Island’s nursery stock growers benefit from organizations like the Hawaiʻi Floriculture & Nursery Association (HFNA), which often includes landscape plant issues in its scope, and from University of Hawaiʻi Cooperative Extension services that advise on pest control and cultural practices. This knowledge sharing has led to improvements like managing the Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death by educating nurseries on disease-free propagation of ʻōhiʻa, thus slowly rebuilding confidence in planting this keystone native tree safely.

Competitiveness also ties to labor and skills. Landscape plant production is labor-intensive (potting up hundreds of trees, hand-watering new plantings, pruning). Hawaiʻi Island’s nurseries face labor shortages and high wages, which increase costs. Some have mitigated this by mechanization (e.g., potting machines, hydraulic equipment to move large pots) and by training workers in multiple skills (so a smaller crew can do propagation, irrigation, and equipment operation). Retaining skilled workers is seen as critical because proper pruning or grafting techniques directly affect product quality.

Overall, the nursery stock and landscape plant sector on Hawaiʻi Island, while heavily influenced by local economic cycles, shows resilience through its adaptability and breadth. It underpins the beautification and greening of Hawaiʻi’s built environment – from resort gardens to reforested parklands. The current trend is cautiously optimistic: as tourism and construction recover, Hawaiʻi Island growers are poised to supply the plants needed, and there is growing interest in “buy local” for landscapes (to reduce the risk of importing pests on foreign nursery stock and to support local agriculture). By leveraging its space, climate, and expertise, Hawaiʻi Island is likely to continue as the state’s green nursery for large landscape plants, even as it navigates issues of cost and biosecurity.