By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — Internet sales of nursery stock have grown exponentially over the past several years, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) is warning consumers to be careful when making such purchases.
The agency is especially concerned about the spread of pests such as emerald ash borer, which over the past several years has decimated the ash tree population in much of the Midwest. The department also wants to promote the state’s nursery industry, which is the fourth largest in the nation, according to MDA nursery program manager Mike Bryan.
Bryan heads up a program to make sure online and other nursery sellers are licensed, which he believes is key to keeping the industry healthy and honest. He said inspections are mandated by law and that budget cuts to the department haven’t eliminated or reduced yearly inspections. Spot inspections, however – which aren’t required by law – have been scaled back because of budget cuts, he said.
“This is a priority item for us, so the inspections continue. We’ve not cut any corners with regard to this program,” he said.
Bryan said there are quite a few hobbyists who are selling online, even people who just want to unload a few plants from their backyard. He advises consumers to avoid such sellers. He said people should contact the agriculture department in the state where the seller is located to make sure the company is legitimate, avoid companies that don’t list a street address and make sure the company is licensed and certified free of any pests or diseases.
He also said a company with a good website is more likely to be legitimate, as opposed to someone who is selling on, for example, eBay or Craigslist.org
Bryan said the department can’t control a dealer outside the state, but part of his job is to inform other state agriculture departments when he has evidence someone in that state is unlicensed, and other agriculture departments do the same for him. All state agriculture departments have nursery dealer licensing requirements, except Alaska. He said getting plants over the Internet is “a growing thing, and it’s a good way to get plants. To get the new varieties, that’s the way to go.”
Amy Frankman, executive director of the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Assoc., said online nursery stock selling is a pretty new thing.
Her organization represents mainly wholesale nursery growers. She said it’s mainly retail growers who are selling on the Internet.
“The plants are higher-priced over the Internet, which is a good thing for some nursery growers,” she said. “You Google a plant, and they show you a picture of a beautiful plant, but what you get in the mail is something entirely different.”
She talked recently with a wholesale grower in the state, who said wholesalers are being affected by Internet sales, indirectly. It negatively affects some local retailers directly because people will buy a plant online instead of going to a local plant seller, but the loss of the sale to an Internet purchase moves up the chain to the wholesaler.
Bryan just hopes people in Michigan and elsewhere in the region with a similar climate will buy nursery stock from companies in the state. While that would be good for the state’s economy, it would also increase the likelihood that a plant will survive the winter, he said.
Frankman agreed that buying locally is the best way to get healthy plants.
“We advocate a ‘right plant, right place’ philosophy,” she said. “What is okay in South Carolina might not be okay here.”