Huntree Nursery History

Huntree Nursery has a long history. Way back in the 1930's after Michigan timber had been clear-cut, there was a demand for seedlings with which to reforest the bare land. All the trees possible to be used for timber had been cut and turned into lumber. Walter Studley came to the area to develop the Pier Cove ravine and then began raising conifer seedlings. His nursery, began in 1932, was the first private nursery in the state of Michigan to raise large quantities of evergreen seedlings.

In 1954 Howard Hunt purchased the nursery from Mr. Studley. He was involved in planting Christmas tree seedlings around the state and decided that he should begin growing his own seedlings. Huntree Nursery was born. It wasn't long before he began selling a few blooming azaleas on the front steps. One thing led to another and Howard was in the retail garden center business,growing ornamentals as well as seedlings.He was never satisfied with the status quo. One good idea led to another. He began to grow plants in containers, using discarded tin cans from the Michigan Fruit Canners and Lloyd J. Harris pie factory.A greenhouse was added in order to produce rooted cuttings. There was a disastrous fire in 1961 that nearly wiped out the nursery.  A new building was built as the retail store to replace the house which the Hunts worked out of. As the area grew, so did the business. An important part of their staff was the Hughes family,(all 13 of them), who came in 1962 and worked many years at Huntree. They began coming up from Texas for a few years and then became permanent residents here in Ganges township. Elvira, the oldest daughter, is still our best (and favorite) employee. She has been working here for 40 years!

In 1971 Jan and David Landry came to work after just graduating from Michigan State University. Nine years later they purchased the business from Howard and Sally. By this time the business was a full-fledged garden center, landscaping service, and wholesale nursery. Improvements have been made through the years with the renovation and remodeling of the store, addition to the barn, construction of shade structures and poly houses. We continue to expand and improve our selection of ornamental plants in order to offer our customers the newest and most exciting varieties. The three Landry children, Laura, Matt and Anna have survived growing up in the business and we're thrilled that Matt has decided to become an integral part of the business. The nursery now covers 30 acres of land. At one time the land extended west almost to Lake Michigan but the expressway was built which dissected the land, leaving a portion inaccessible on the west side of I-196

2346 Blue Star Highway - Fennville, Michigan  49408 (269)543-3761 - fax (269)543-8771 huntreenursery@gmail.com