Plant Sourcing at Your Fingertips

Paragon Landscaping spent several days last year trying to locate 16 Sassafras trees, calling a total of 37 different suppliers. Having exhausted its resources, the Massachusetts company turned to FindYourTrees.com in Laconia. Within 24 hours, the online company had located the trees and organized shipping.

That order was part of the $1 million in plant material that FindYourTrees.com sourced during its first year in business. FindYourTrees.com, which connects landscape professionals with plant suppliers, has 400 users, both buyers and suppliers, providing real-time availability and pricing. Nearly 800 people subscribe to a free monthly newsletter advertising deals from suppliers and information about the plant industry. Users include landscape architects, golf course superintendents and suppliers.

We definitely have helped track down some rare material before, says founder Colby Jordan. I think we're developing a reputation as someone who can find the harder-to-reach material because we are building a large network of suppliers and buyers. He says prices are better than through plant brokers, which his service is looking to replace.

Jordan thought of the idea for his company while working one summer for his father's landscape architecture firm. He had trouble finding the plants he needed from the firm's usual suppliers and wondered, If you can Google something, why can't you do the same with plant materials? His company answers that question, providing a space for suppliers to post available plants and their prices, and for buyers to peruse those deals. Customers can sign up for access to the site based on their needs, ranging from a single post to unlimited posts, with suppliers having the option of choosing how many special deals they wish to advertise. Membership rates are between $49.99 and $1,499.99 a year.

The biggest challenge so far, he says, is the technology, as many in the landscape industry are not as tech savvy. When members can't find the plants they need, Jordan will phone or fax requests to suppliers in a network that stretches throughout New England and as far as Maryland and Ohio. He also partners with major industry associations, and his company was a named a Bright Idea last year at NE Grows, an industry trade show. He owns the company alone but is looking to add a Web developer soon.