About Hortech

During June of 1983, after graduating from Hope College with a degree in biology, my former partner and I started Hortech. Initially, we propagated shrubs and ground covers, and during the first few years held full time outside jobs. Most of our production work was conducted during evenings and weekends, often with the volunteer help of parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters. To say the least, we worked very long hours.

Eventually we phased out of our other jobs and developed a non-seasonal staff. We also discontinued producing shrubs, but added vines, ferns, perennials and grasses, items more closely related to our niche as a ground cover specialist. In time we earned a reputation for high quality and superior service and to this day continue to serve the original customers who first put us in business.

An overhead view of our main facility

Today, Hortech is operated as a corporation with 100 seasonal and non-seasonal associates utilizing approximately 60 acres. At Hortech, we are committed to providing superior plants and service and are dedicated to the development of our business as it relates to your specific needs — varieties and services as well as quantities. We take a great deal of pride in our work, but most of all we are proud to have you as our customer.

Thank you for participating in our past and warmest wishes for the future,

Dave MacKenzie

Hortech Mission Statement

Our mission is to enthusiastically serve independent Green Industry Professionals in the Midwest by providing the very best, most beautiful, most utilitarian Grown Earth Friendly® plants in the industry. We aim to be knowledgeable, responsible, innovative and uncommonly service minded as we foster a greener world.

What Drives Us

At Hortech we love plants, people and the planet, and we express this by providing amazing plants and timely, honest thoughtful service and support.

Customer Focused

  • Our Focus: Our Grown Earth Friendly brand is available only to independent green industry professionals, not mass merchants or “box stores”.
  • Commitment: We endeavor to be your supplier as long as you are in business. Today, Tomorrow, and in the Future!
  • Responsiveness: We are the most customer responsive ground cover/perennial specialist in the Midwest.

Expertise & Professionalism

 

  • Continual Improvement: We manage for continual improvement; Quality, Services, Customer Support and Marketing.
  • Identity: We know our niche- Premium Plants and Steadfast Service, and our staff is specifically trained to make it a reality!
  • Internal Sales Staff: Our sales and customer service people work here. They are not independent brokers. They have a first hand awareness of your plants, and they take great interest in the future corporate success of you and Hortech.
  • Industry Support: Our managers regularly give lectures to educate homeowners and gardeners, or serve on councils such as the Michigan Invasive Plant council, as a means of safeguarding the future of our industry.

Marketing & Sales Support

 

  • Marketing Aids: We offer custom bar coded 4-color locking labels, and unpriced catalogs, as well as a user friendly website.
  • Custom Pricing: We can apply custom pricing to your plants at the time of shipping for orders of 300 flat equivalents.
  • Sales Training: We provide sales training with our sales training DVD. In addition, we provide on-site staff training, and merchandising assistance.
  • Professional Marketing Support: Our staff, many of whom are MGIP, regularly support your sales success through public speaking.

Predictable Quality

 

  • Consistent Grades: Our plants are gathered and shipped according to stringent size and grade specifications.
  • Contemporary Products: Our product line is contemporary but not risky. It consists of popular time proven favorites and superior new introductions that we have personally tested in our trial garden.
  • Special Niche Items: We carry many special plants that help solve unique landscape problems.

Exceptional Communication

 

  • No Surprises: We call you in advance, in the event of expected deviations from normal patterns of service or quality.
  • Delivery Tracking: Our trucks are tracked in real time so we know just when and where your product will be delivered. And, naturally our drivers carry cell phones so they can communicate with you in a timely manner.

Reliable Deliveries

 

  • Driver Retention: Our drivers work for us full time so they can become familiar with your location, traffic patterns, your personnel, and special needs – allowing for a more productive relationship and a higher level of customer service!
  • Regular Delivery Day: Deliveries occur on a regularly scheduled day each week, to help you plan and manage your purchasing and inventory.
  • Job Site Delivery: We are pleased to deliver right to your job sites!

Grown Earth Friendly

 

  • Biological Methods: Because we grow our plants using biological methods with minimal chemical input, our plants pose little risk to the environment or to you and your staff, when handling them. And, because our products are not continually bathed in fertilizers and pesticides, they adapt and establish quickly into the landscape setting.

Ready to place an order?