About Don Shadow
A fourth-generation nurseryman, Don has operated his own nursery in Winchester, TN, since 1973. He is an active participant in numerous industry associations and works closely with several university and arboretum breeding programs to evaluate new plant material for the horticulture industry.
Don Shadow doesn’t like to use the word "unique" in describing the plants that he grows. He believes words like that can be misleading and even create anxiety among gardeners who might think that they wouldn’t have the necessary skill to grow such plants successfully.
"I focus on species and cultivars that I describe as new and useful," explains Don. "These could be plants that are ideally suited to a particular location due to their color, form or growing environment."
Don travels extensively and has noticed that Americans are beginning to move towards planting styles already popular in countries such as Japan and England where space is a limiting factor. "Smaller spaces need trees and shrubs that match the scale of those spaces," he points out. "Large trees just don’t work in the smaller landscapes we’re now seeing in many new home developments." Many of the "new and useful" plants with which Don is working reflect this trend.
Color, too, is an important aspect of the plants that Don chooses to grow and promote. "Colorful blossoms and foliage continue to be important," he says, "But I’m also seeing interest in plants with colorful or exfoliating barks, or branch structure that are attractive in the winter landscape. Examples of these can be found throughout the spectrum of cultivars available through Shadow Nursery.
While Don is widely recognized, nationally and internationally, as both an expert plantsman and horticulturist, his interest and expertise extends beyond plants to the animal kingdom. There are more than 600 animals in 60 different species living and breeding under Don’s watchful eye. He may not like the word 'unique' applied to his plants, but it certainly applies to him.
Shadow Nursery is a wholesale nursery specializing in quality liners, deciduous shrubs and trees, flowering dogwoods including Rutgers hybrids, native and hard-to-find plant material. Field-grown specimens, field-trials, propagation beds, as well as a container operation, include tried-and-true plants of merit, hard-to-find rarities and exciting new introductions that have potential as remarkable landscape plants.
Many of our liners are grown from vegetative cuttings in ground beds utilizing the Phototektor mist propagation techniques developed by the late Mr. Harvey Templeton. Mr. Shadow and the propagation team have refined the process for various genus, species and cultivars through experimentation and careful observation to provide you the highest quality at a competitive and affordable cost.
Most bed grown liners are held for two years to establish an extensive root system that helps ensure survival and rapid development once they are placed into a container or planted in the field. The beds are closely monitored for insect and disease activity and treated accordingly. Most are covered in winter and harvested as close to your desired shipping date as possible. When that isn’t practical, the liners and carefully packed and placed in cold storage until they are shipped. Our goal is to help you provide the highest quality plants you need to satisfy your customers’ needs.
Shadow Nursery also produces a wide selection of field grown, grafted material including such species Amelanchier, Cornus, Cercis, Hamamelis, Liquidambar, Metasequoia, Taxodium, and Zelkova.
We start with top quality understock that is root pruned at planting and then irrigated as needed to ensure adequate growth and optimum conditions for budding or grafting. These field grown liners too, are harvested as closely as possible to your desired shipping date or placed in cold storage or ‘heeled in’ until you are ready. Since Shadow Nursery also grows finished material and has a container operation, we fully understand the challenges of ‘planting time’ and will attempt to accommodate your needs as best we can.
Shadow Nursery’s Container Division, located in Huntland, Tennessee encompasses approximately 12 acres and includes both above ground production as well as a pot-in-pot section and houses for shade and winter protection. Several popular perennials, ground covers and native plants have recently been added to the already extensive list of shrubs and small trees. Although we realize we cannot practically grow everything, the objective of our container operation is to provide ‘one stop shopping’ for growers and landscapers.
Shadow Nursery, Inc. is proud to be an active member of the American Nursery & Landscape Association, Southern Nursery Association, Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Association and affiliated with numerous other industry organizations and societies promoting horticulture and dedicated to providing new, useful and interesting plants to the discerning customer. Shadow Nursery, Inc. is located in Southern Middle Tennessee, classified as USDA Zone 6B.
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| American Nursery & Landscape Association | Southern Nursery Association | Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Association |