NCNLA MEMBER NEWS
NCNLA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
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Hoffman Nursery Rougemont, N.C. Senior Director of Sales and Operations David Hoffman In business 35 years NCNLA member 31 years Number of employees 55 Favorite NCNLA benefits
Green & Growin’ trade show and education, newsletters, Nursery & Landscape Notes, continuing education classes
Five Minutes with
Hoffman Nursery How did you get into the business? John and Jill Hoffman started the nursery in 1986 to help supply plants for John’s landscaping business. John had always had an interest in grasses, and his enthusiasm for them was fueled by mentors like J.C. Raulston, Kurt Bleumel and Ernst Pagels. Becoming convinced that grasses were going to be popular and profitable, he dropped landscaping to focus on growing grasses and grasslike plants. Since then, he and Jill have grown the business, which now ships to wholesale customers across North America and includes a state-of-the-art greenhouse and production facility, as well as more than 60 cold frames and hot houses. I grew up working at the nursery on weekends and during summers. I earned a degree in horticulture from North Carolina State University in 2012 and then interned at Stauden Peters Nursery in Kranenburg, Germany. After a year there, I was hired as production coordinator, which was a great opportunity to learn on the job in a cutting-edge facility. I returned home in 2015 and began working at Hoffman as production coordinator and then supervisor. As my duties gradually expanded, I moved through several management positions, and I’m currently running most of the nursery’s day-to-day operations. What is a typical day like for you and your staff? A lot of splitting plants! Across the departments, we’re working on producing, managing and shipping high-quality plants. The production team manages mother stock, procuring tissue culture, seed and stock plants for division. They then transplant them into cells and hand them off to the growing department, where our growers focus on integrated pest management, keep grasses cut back, manage water and perform other horticultural tasks. The shipping department checks all the plants before they leave the nursery, and then preps and packs them for shipment. The sales team works directly with customers, helping them choose plants and scheduling orders — they’re busy on the phone and responding
10 NURSERY & LANDSCAPE NOTES || SUMMER 2021
