Not all learning takes place in the classroom. This summer, I had the opportunity to apply my knowledge of ornamental horticulture in a real-world setting during my internship at Sun Nurseries in Howard County, Maryland. My name is Anna Rodgers, and I’m an Ornamental Horticulture major with the Institute of Applied Agriculture. Over the course of my internship, I had hands-on experience with propagation, potting, weeding, pruning, fertilizing, and working with customers. These tasks helped me improve my skills in teamwork and customer service while strengthening my knowledge of overall plant care. The balance of production and sales provided valuable experiences that I will carry into my future career and confirmed my goal of one day running a plant nursery.
One of my main tasks at Sun Nurseries was taking cuttings for propagation. Cuttings are typically taken twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter. This summer, I worked alongside one of my managers to learn the process of propagation from start to finish. I was taught how to take cuttings properly, store them for short periods of time, prepare them for propagation, and care for them afterwards. All propagation takes place in a single, covered hoop house, located in the production end of the nursery, away from the customer display. The cuttings I took this summer will be transplanted into one and three-gallon pots this winter.
In addition to propagation, another important responsibility I had throughout the internship at Sun Nurseries was potting plants. I potted plants from both plug trays and from small one-gallon pots. I usually spent about a week at a time working on specific groups of plants, numbers ranging from 100 to 600 per group. Over the course of the summer, I potted a variety of chamaecyparis, azaleas, andromeda, figs, sarcococca, and hydrangeas. The process of potting plants involves mixing soil, often with a skid steer to make large batches of soil, potting the plants, fertilizing, laying pre-emergent weed control, and topping with sawdust to further prevent the spread of aggressive weeds. Once the plants are finished being potted, they are placed in their respective locations.
While propagation and potting taught me valuable skills in the production part of the nursery, customer service was also a central part of my internship experience. Whether I was propagating or potting in production, I was always on call to assist customers in the main display area. Throughout the summer, I was the backup for the main display, which allowed me to interact with customers and strengthen not only my plant knowledge by asking questions over the radio, but also strengthen my customer service skills. My supervisor would always remind me and those whom I worked with, “We’re here for the customers. Customers come first over busy work in the production area. They travel out of their way to visit us instead of a chain store, so it’s our responsibility to make their time well spent.” This mindset taught me that customer service is just as important, if not more important, than the production work.
My internship at Sun Nurseries taught me that success in a horticultural field depends on more than just healthy plants. Whether I was propagating, potting, or helping customers in the display area, I learned how every role contributes to the success of the business, especially leadership. These experiences have strengthened my vision for my future career of running and operating a plant nursery of my own, where employees feel valued, and customers leave with confidence in both their plants and knowledge.
