By Jacob Lange
NKyTribune intern
Ammon Nursery has been helping people and businesses in Northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati area create beautiful landscapes for more than 50 years.
The nursery, located at 6089 Camp Ernst Road in Burlington, is the largest in Northern Kentucky with 250 acres in production.
With more than 750 varieties of trees and shrubs, 160 varieties of perennials and 35 varieties of ornamental grasses, Ammon Nursery has something for every landscaping projects of every size.
Late in 1950, Dick Ammon established Ammon Landscaping Inc. with his wife Shirley and began peddling his services door to door around the Florence area. In 1951 the couple settled on land owned by Dick’s father in the area of Mall Road.
Over the years, Ammon became somewhat of a trendsetter for landscaping in the Florence area. According to the nursery’s website, Ammon recalls working on 30 houses in one day and implementing new ideas, such as putting in hedges to separate property lines, and hiding foundations with straight lines of shrubbery.
In 1968 the Ammon family purchased 100 acres of farmland near the intersection of Camp Ernst Road and Kentucky 18, where the nursery is located today. The farm is now home to Ammon Landscaping Inc., owned by Dick and Shirley, Ammon Landscape Supply, partially owned and managed by son-in-law Rick Frederick, and Ammon Wholesale Nursery, owned by Dick’s son Greg Ammon.
The nursery is more than just a workplace for the Ammon family.
Dick Ammon, his son Greg, and grandson Clay, all have homes on the land and have raised their families on the nursery property.
“The Ammon name means a lot in the landscaping industry,” Greg Ammon said.
Ammon Nursery has been involved in many big projects at iconic sites such as Coney Island, Miami University, Cincinnati Zoo, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Greg Ammon said when work began on King’s Island, his father was in charge of a group of employees and helped with the landscaping and design of the entire park.
Dick Ammon also played an integral role in the landscaping of the Boone County Arboretum. The Arboretum encompasses 125 acres and includes 950 trees and 1,500 shrubs planted and identified throughout the trail. The foliage in the arboretum is irrigated by a 41,000 linear-foot irrigation system that ensures the plants will survive through the rough droughts that can occur throughout the seasons.
Ammon Nursery has numerous grow houses for its different plants, separating them by how much sun exposure and water is needed to keep them healthy. The nursery receives plants and trees from Oregon, multiple states in the northeast, and southern plants from Florida.
Having plants from many different climates gives the nursery a wider selection that can survive in Kentucky’s different seasons.
With such a wide selection of trees, perennials, shrubs and more, Ammon Nursery strives to have something for everyone’s landscaping and gardening needs. The nursery has recently added a retail component, so the general public can roam the nursery and choose the plants that are best for their projects, whether it’s one small hydrangea or a large hull of different perennials.
Greg Ammon pointed out that the end of the summer season doesn’t require landscaping to be put on hold.
“Fall is a very good time to start planting,” Greg Ammon said.
Planting in autumn, he said, allows the roots to grow easier and allows them to establish with the help of the softer soil that accompanies the season.
Ammon Nursery prides itself on being an informational resource to the people of the Greater Cincinnati, similar to the services the Boone County Extension Office offers the people of Boone County.
“The experience and knowledge we have here make what can be an intimidating project fun and easy,” said Margie Witt who has worked at Ammon Nursery for two and a half years.
The Ammon Nursery hosts a catalog of plants that the nursery has on site and is something the workers are very proud of.
“The nursery website in itself is a resource,” Witt said. “Our catalog of plants is something we put a lot of work into to help our customers make their project easy and fun.”
The catalog allows visitors to sort by height, scientific name, category, foliage, flower color, blooming season, and more.
The nursery’s Facebook page includes daily posts of flowers and different plants to let customers know which of its beautiful flowers are blooming. Along with the daily posts, customers can visit the page and go through photo albums that showcase the many choices available.
The Facebook page also includes a customer appreciation album filled with photos of landscapers and their company trucks that frequently visit the nursery. This photo album provides customers with easy access to some of the best landscaping companies in the Greater Cincinnati area.
The family atmosphere allows customers to feel relaxed and Witt says being at the nursery is “less of a job and more of a love.”
Jacob Lange is a senior journalism major at the University of Kentucky and an intern for the NKyTribune, from Northern Kentucky.