NURSERIES, FLOWER GROWERS AND 
LANDSCAPING CONTRACTORS –
BEAUTIFYING LONG ISLAND HOMES!
Flower Growers, Nurseries, Landscapers…further beautifying the Beautiful Isle!
Long Island is blessed with a large number of growers producing flowers, shrubs, trees and other decorative flora, retail nurseries conveniently located in both counties, and landscaping contractors to install and maintain “outdoor rooms” – at your home!
Experts agree that landscaping – outdoor home decorating – adds considerable value to Long Island homes.
Local gardeners also count on Long Island Farm Bureau members to help them get and keep their green thumbs with expert advice and a steady supply of garden goodies.
This continues a long tradition -- did you know that very the first nurseries in the new land that would become the U.S.A. were right here on Long Island? The first large commercial nursery – Prince’s Nursery -- was established in Flushing in central Queens County (then a robust farming community) and provided fruit trees, seed, flowers, shrubs, and other Old World and New World flora all along the Atlantic Seaboard.
Robert Prince’s Nurseries began with eight acres in 1738 and ultimately planted more than 100 acres by the time of the Civil War. Even George Washington visited the nursery and bought plants for his estate in Mount Vernon! Flushing soon became a community of nurseries, including the Parsons Nursery (today’s Parsons Boulevard remains), growing rhodies, dogwood and azaleas.
Later, Floral Park in Nassau County was the site of the John Lewis Childs’ nursery operations – yes, growing seeds for millions of flowers was a big business in the hamlet (it was literally a “floral park” in its day, first called Hinsdale). Another Childs’ operation was on the North Shore of Suffolk County – in “Flowerfield,” near Stony Brook that was … yes, featuring fields of lovely flowers!
In 1730, America’s first commercial apple tree nursery was established in Oyster Bay. A generation later, the very first “Newtown Pippins” apples were shipped from our Island to Benjamin Franklin in London.
At the end of the 19th Century, as wealthy “off-Island” folks came to build mansions on Long Island, Hicks Nurseries in Westbury launched the modern era of Long Island nursery and landscaping industries. (Hicks began operations in 1853 and continues in the family today with a large nursery in central Nassau County.)
After World War I and especially after WW II gardening, lawns, landscaping and outdoor “decorating” became everyone’s dream – and an affordable and reachable one at that! Many Long Island houses today have landscaping and gardens valued in the tens of thousands of dollars; these investments pay off not only in added beauty for family homes, but also in higher resale values.
Today, Long Island has tremendous industries providing nursery and landscape-related products and services to homeowners, commercial and office buildings, hospitals, government buildings, airports, parks, and other facilities, including:
- Greenhouses
- Flower Growers
- Nurseries (trees and shrubs)
- Nursery outlets (at retail)
- Landscape Designers
- Landscape Contractors
All are important members of a tremendous “greens and flowers” industry that beautifies our Island communities.