Eagle Lake Nurseries Ltd. was incorporated in 1970 by Tony and Anne Heuver. Today their daughter Anita Heuver has continued the family tradition and is part owner of the company.
The nursery began its operations on 400 acres of land on the west side of Eagle Lake, and has now expanded to over 800 acres, with two more growing locations on the east side of Eagle Lake. The nursery has 400 acres of field grown caliper trees and shrubs, 25 acres of container grown shrubs and pot-in-pot trees, and 300 acres in crop rotation. There is also 30,000 sq. ft. of greenhouses for propagation and perennial production.
Irrigation is one of the reasons for the success of the nursery, in the dry Southern Alberta climate. Water is supplied to all the locations via the Western Irrigation District. Many types of irrigation systems are used, overhead sprinklers, various drip irrigation systems, wheel moves, and a pivot system.
The nursery produces about ¾ million plants, including over 500 varieties of trees, shrubs and evergreens and 600 varieties of perennials. Deciduous and coniferous shrubs are grown in #1 to #5 containers. Trees and evergreens are grown in our in-ground pot-in-pot system and in the fields as large caliper trees. Perennials are produced in 10cm containers up to #2 containers. We also produce bareroot trees and shrubs for hedging and shelterbelts.
Eagle Lake Nurseries market is 85% wholesale and 15% retail. The retail market area covers 40% Strathmore and area, and 60% Calgary and area. Calgary is the main wholesale market, but we also ship throughout Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan, as well as Montana, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, and Alaska.
The nursery has 20 year round employees, and up to 65 seasonal employees. The dedication of our staff at the nursery is another reason for success. Many employees have formal training in horticulture, while others have gained experience through years of hands on practice. For personnel that do not have a formal horticultural background, in-house training is provided.
At Eagle Lake Nurseries one of our goals is to stay abreast of the advancements in our industry. We take an active role in trade associations both in Canada and the United States. We regularly attend trade shows, conventions and management workshops, continually exchanging information and ideas with other's in our industry. Some of the organizations we are involved with include: Landscape Alberta Nursery Trades Association (LANTA), Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA), American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA), Montana Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA), The International Plant Propagators Society, Western Nursery Growers Group (WNGG), Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation (COPF), and several local service groups.
Eagle Lake Nurseries strives to keep up to date with the ever changing tastes and sophistication of area gardeners, landscapers and architects. We stay abreast of market trends, new plant selections and improved production methods. We are proud to be a leader in the prairie horticultural industry and work hard to maintain this with responsible and ethical business practices, quality products, customer service, as well as innovative production systems.
We invite you to come and visit the nursery. Our knowledgeable staff is always prepared to help with all your gardening needs.
Tony Heuver, President
Anita Heuver, Manager
HISTORY
A lot of changes and growth have taken place, in the industry, the market and at the nursery, since 1970 when Tony and Anne Heuver incorporated Eagle Lake Nurseries Ltd.
How it all began
In 1959 Tony Heuver immigrated to Canada from Holland. After working on a farm in the Calgary area for about a year and a half, Tony started a landscaping company. In 1962 Tony's brother Henry also emigrated from Holland, together they incorporated the landscaping company and became partners. In 1966 they purchased land by Strathmore, to start a sod farm and nursery. They worked together landscaping and growing for a number of years, and in 1970 they decided to divide the company. Henry stayed with the landscaping company and Tony and Anne moved with their young family to Strathmore and incorporated the nursery and sod farm as Eagle Lake Nurseries Ltd.
The 1970's
Throughout the 1970's the Nursery grew and improved to meet the needs of the developing horticultural industry in Alberta. The selection of plants improved, the garden centre developed, buildings for storage and potting were added, and greenhouses were built.
Eagle Lake Nurseries has always been proactive and is continually seeking better production techniques. Because little information or research was available for growing plants on the prairies, developing new production methods often meant on site experimentation. One of the major achievements in the early years was the move to growing containerized shrubs. Eagle Lake Nurseries was the first nursery on the prairies to produce plants in containers. The early container yard was fondly referred to as "the swamp," because the pots were always under water. Through the years the container area has been dramatically improved by providing proper drainage, slope, better watering methods and a graveled surface.
The 1980's
The highs and lows of the economy in the 1980's were very challenging for businesses in Alberta. Eagle Lake Nurseries philosophy has always been "controlled growth" so the up and down cycles were manageable.
The coldstorage was built in the 80's, it greatly improved the storage of bareroot plant material and provided much needed space for potting.
In 1988 Tony purchased a new parcel of land, now called the East Farm, the nursery was ready for expansion. With more land available, better crop rotation methods could be implemented, the sod and caliper tree production was increased, and new production methods were implemented. The new nursery was setup with a drip irrigation system for the production of caliper trees. This was another first for nurseries in the prairies.
In the late 80's a second generation of Heuver's, Eric and Anita, became involved with the nursery full-time. Both had completed schooling in horticulture, worked their way through the ranks and secured positions over the next several years.
The 1990's
The 1990's were a time of growth for the industry as well as the Nursery. The growth of Calgary impacted the development of the nursery.
Pot-in-pot production was started in the early 1990's; there had not been an attempt at this production method on the prairies before. Other growers in the province have now begun using this production method and have benefited from some of our trial and error. This method of growing trees has been very successful and has improved the quality greatly.
The nursery also expanded its greenhouse area over the last ten years to increase the production of perennials, which have seen a great growth in popularity. The container growing area was also expanded. Container growing has now almost completely replaced field production of shrubs.
Some other areas of growth in the 90's include: the successful use of an all inclusive computer program that includes bookkeeping, as well as, inventory control and cost analysis. Eagle Lake Nurseries also established its own trucking fleet for not only sod, but for tree and shrub deliveries as well. The marketing area expanded into the United States. Also Eagle Lake Nurseries set up a brand for their plants under the name "Northern Classics" which has lead to the development of a picture tag program. In 1999 a new potting and storage building was built and the existing cold storage building was expanded.
In 1998 Tony's son Eric purchased the sod division which has been running successfully under the name of
Eagle Lake Turf Farms. The separation of the sod farm and nursery has helped to improve the service we provide to our customers. Many of the changes at the nursery over the past number of years, have been in organizing our production methods to improve and make our systems more efficient.
2000
The new millennium has continued to be a time of growth for the nursery. With the growth of Calgary and area, the demand for plants has increased proportionately. Our commitment to efficient production systems and improved production methods has helped the nursery to progress and stay abreast of our growing market.
Over the past five years Anita Heuver has joined in the ownership of the company, and purchased another parcel of land for the expansion of the caliper tree production. The container production yard has also been expanded by several acres over the past five years. With the expansion of our tree production on the east side of the lake, in 2004 a storage and work shop was built on the East Farm and the shipping yard was re-designed to improve our shipping efficiency.
The stewardship of our land and environment has always been a priority at the nursery. Over the last number of years we have been working with an Integrated Pest Management consultant, to improve pest control methods. We are also working with an agriculture consultant on soil fertility and management.
The future looks exciting for the nursery with continued interest in gardening, the growth of our market area, and the ever increasing professionalism of the horticultural industry. The opportunities for our customers, employees, and business look great. We are proud of our success over the past 35 years and look forward to many more years of growth.
