We Love Growing Plants
It all started with
Bob Lovejoy
"I want to sell a good plant, at a good price with good service.”
How it All Began
Bob and Kathy started Lovejoy Nursery in 1979 when they purchased an existing Nursery in the Stillaguamish Valley near Arlington, WA.
Located on the “Stilly” River, the property was a little over three acres and consisted of several greenhouses, a stock block of plants, and a small rambler, which became their home. Bob was only twenty-five years old at the time and was working full-time at a large container nursery near Seattle. In the evenings and on weekends, he did all the things that nurserymen do…. cuttings, planting, watering, and planning the growth of his own nursery. The business quickly became a family affair. His wife, Kathy, did all the bookkeeping and their young son, Mark, took an interest and helped his father in any way he could. As the nursery continued to grow Bill Lindsay, Kathy’s father, made deliveries to customers and maintained equipment. Even Kathy’s grandmother got involved and prepped cuttings.
Lovejoy’s first production was Evergreen Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Pieris, and Laurels. As they got busier, Bob hired kids from the local high school to work weekends and after school. When time permitted, he loaded the trunk of his Toyota Corolla with sample plants from his nursery and made sales calls to the local retail nurseries. By 1987, he was able to purchase an adjacent parcel to the south and an additional thirteen acres was added. This piece was planted with field-grown Rhododendrons and Laurels. With more land came the need for more help and in 1989, Bob hired his first full-time employee, Glen Miller, one of the high school kids.
The next eight years brought considerable change and growth to Lovejoy Nursery. The small three-acre nursery grew to thirty-three acres with 3 full-time employees. In 1995, Bob made the difficult, but necessary decision to retire from his full-time job and become a full-time nursery owner, which resulted in even more growth and expansion. With more land came more employees and so the story goes.
Today Lovejoy Nursery currently averages between 35-45 employees year-round and encompasses one hundred and fourteen acres, seventy acres of which contain nursery stock. The nursery stock has grown from just a few crops to a wide selection of ornamentals, trees, grasses, and perennials. The nursery is now divided almost fifty-fifty, field grown vs container-grown stock. The clientele is also a healthy fifty-fifty mix of retail nurseries and the landscape trades. Lovejoy’s customer base encompasses the Greater Seattle and Puget Sound region and while much has changed in 41 years, much remains the same. It is still very much a family-oriented nursery. Bob still makes planting lists and Kathy still does much of the bookkeeping. The first employee and the first propagator are still here today and many of those customers who bought plants from the back of Bob’s Toyota Corolla are still customers today.
If you are looking for a
“good plant, at a good price with good service” …
we hope you will consider Lovejoy Nursery as a source for your wholesale plant needs.
