HISTORY

Possibility Place Nursery began in 1978 on just 5 acres of land near Monee, Illinois. The plant material was comprised of native and non-native trees and shrubs. In 1983 we began growing only native trees and shrubs. We now produce native trees on 55 acres with an additional two acres of trees and shrubs in five gallon containers.

We first started a typical balled and burlapped nursery operation. We had some survival issues with difficult to transplant tree (oaks) and it seemed like an awful lot of soil was leaving with each tree. In the mid-80's we introduced to a method of growing (Root Makers) designed by Carl Whitcomb at Oklahoma State. The root bags worked! Our plants were growing well and our on-site survival rate was higher than ever. We use the same bag system although the fabric has been updated many times.

In the early 90s we started growing trees in an above ground system. A study done by Western Illinois University showed that trees planted in August were far superior to spring planted trees.

In the late 90s we stared a five-gallon operation to grow shrubs as well as trees. Like all new systems we have had our trials and tribulations but we feel pretty comfortable with this system.

After years of studying and growing and testing our plants in all kinds of situations, we have tweaked every aspect of our growing system to produce plants that can adapt faster and grow more quickly on all kinds of sites. It is from our experience that to produce a strong plant, the plant should be allowed to grow to its true form. To that end, we tend to let our trees and shrubs take on a more naturalized appearance. The bags that we use promote a strong root system, the anchor of any plant, and our plants have some of the strongest around. We do prune our plants but no shaping of limbs takes place because that would remove a source of food, which might harm the plants' growth rate.

Nearly all of the woody plants we grow come from seed we have collected locally, that is to say from northern Illinois and adjacent areas. Clients regularly ask for plants that are specific for sites they are working on. We try to help everyone who calls for plants so that they can walk away from our farm with the plant they wanted or needed for their site.