From Humble Beginnings: 35 Years of History

Pinelands Nursery started as a simple “side-hustle” and evolved into a thriving, sustainability business. In 1983, Don Knezick was working for the NJ Department of Forestry in the Lebanon State Forest, surrounded by blueberry farms. He had an idea to pot-up some blueberry bushes to sell at Rutgers Cook College Ag Field Day. When a landscaper purchased every last plant, Don realized that this could be a viable wholesale business. Don & Suzanne officially opened Pinelands Nursery in 1984. They erected a small greenhouse in Don’s parents’ backyard and started to grow. That small greenhouse, and a few hundred blueberries, led to a thriving little nursery marketing container grown blueberries, raspberries and grapes to garden centers in the Mid-Atlantic States. In 1986, the Knezicks purchased a 16 acre property in Columbus, New Jersey, which would become Pinelands Nursery’s permanent home. Initially, there were only a few small greenhouses. To save money, the driveway was paved with free prune pits from a local processing company.

While the business proved to be very successful, by the late 1980’s the Knezicks were looking to expand their product line. The idea of growing wildflowers led Don and Suzanne to start attending Native Plant Society of New Jersey meetings. It was here that they were introduced to Bob Swain, President of the Dawson Corporation. Bob explained to the Knezicks that many companies, like his own, needed a local source for native plant material for ecological restoration projects. With the adoption of federal and state environmental legislation, such as the Pinelands Protection Act, the Clean Water Act and most recently, NPDES Phase II stormwater regulations, contractors were searching high and low for native plants. This is where the future path for Pinelands Nursery was born.

Shortly thereafter, Pinelands started to carry erosion control material like coir matting, silt fence, and coir logs, helping to popularize the latter in the Eastern United States. With the added product line, Pinelands Nursery was due for a name change, becoming Pinelands Nursery & Supply. There was expansion at home as well when Don and Suzanne welcomed two sons, Tom and Steve, in 1989 and 1990.

Pinelands Nursery & Supply grew quickly in the 1990s and early 2000s, adding more plants to their repertoire and adding more greenhouse space to the property. As one of the only ecological restoration focused nurseries on the East Coast, the nursery’s only business limitation was how much it could produce. However, as the millenium

Overhead view of the nursery in 2001

One of the first catalogs for the nursery

Don & Suzanneselling blueberry bushes at Rutgers Ag Field Day

wound down, a few other nurseries began to enter the market. Many of these nurseries were bringing in plant material from other parts of the country to sell as native plants. While the plants were native by name, they were of a different genetic source than the Mid-Atlantic. This led Pinelands Nursery to open 2 new locations, Toano, Virginia in 1997 and Gloversville, NY in 2003. This allowed Pinelands to obtain local seed sources for many plants in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, something that set them apart from their competitors.

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck the southern New Jersey Coast. Much of the Mid-Atlantic coastline was left in disrepair. However, the damage was far less in areas protected by green infrastructure. As communities looked to rebuild, much of the focus was placed on creating salt marshes and vegetating sand dunes, all using native plants. Pinelands Nursery was able to provide the plant material, while helping these communities get back to their previous way of life.

In 2015, Pinelands Nursery started producing local ecotype native seed, expanding the total operation to nearly 200 acres dedicated to nursery and agriculture. Native seed was the perfect compliment to their existing product lines. In addition to being beautiful, the land dedicated to wildflower production has created lots of habitat for birds, bees ,butterflies and other pollinators and wildlife. It was amazing to see how a relatively small land investment could provide such a big impact for the planet.

Today, Pinelands Nursery has expanded to 30 acres of nursery production and 60 acres of seed production with lots of room to grow. There are over 60 greenhouses on the property, and the operation continues to grow, now offering larger size trees and shrubs in addition to the herbaceous plugs and smaller containers that made them so popular in the industry. While Don retired at the end of 2018, Suzanne has stayed actively involved by taking over the role of President. Their two sons, Tom & Steve, are active in the nursery, and are both part of the leadership team. While many things have changed in Pinelands Nursery’s history, their focus for the last 30 years has remained the same: to grow native plants for a healthier planet.

Don & Suzanne at Rutgers Ag Field Day

Tom & Steve Knezick leaving for school.

Don Knezick in a greenhouse he built at Pinelands Nursery

Don Knezick potting trees.