A Practical Look at How the Industry Is Quietly Shifting — And How to Stay Ahead

As the season winds down, conversations across the nursery supply chain naturally shift toward planning: what worked, what didn’t, and what needs to happen before spring hits full stride again. In talking with growers, wholesalers, distributors, and field teams, a clear theme keeps coming up — the pace of day-to-day work has changed, but the way information moves hasn’t quite caught up.

The industry still runs on availability sheets, phone calls, and quick texts, and those tools remain important. But they don’t always reflect what’s happening right now. Inventory changes throughout the day. Pricing updates more frequently than it used to. Material that seemed plentiful a week ago may start moving faster as projects line up. The work moves quickly, and staying informed takes more effort than it once did.

That’s where real-time visibility becomes valuable: not as a buzzword or a trend, but simply as a clearer picture of what’s available at the moment you need to see it.

Fall is the season of transition—and opportunity. While leaves turn and temperatures drop, it’s also when buyers and installers can add lasting color, texture, and structure to their projects. From evergreens that anchor the landscape to fall bloomers and foliage that pops, these ten plants deliver impact when it matters most.

And with LandscapeHub, sourcing them is simple—find trusted suppliers, compare availability, and build your fall cart in minutes.

How Nurseries Can Cope with Labor Shortages Without Losing Efficiency

Labor challenges aren’t new to the nursery trade — but they’re getting harder to ignore. Many growers and rewholesalers are running leaner than ever, struggling to find skilled help while demand continues to rise. Fewer seasonal workers, higher wages, and tighter margins have made “doing more with less” the new normal.

Anyone who’s been in this industry long enough knows tagging isn’t just some extra step, it’s how you make sure the right trees end up on the job. Walking rows, checking the canopy, meeting the grower, you can’t fake that. And while ordering online makes life easier, it doesn’t mean you lose that part of the process. With LandscapeHub, you get both.

When you’re sourcing hundreds of plants for a commercial project, there’s no room for guesswork. Consistency in size, shape, and quality is what makes a landscape look polished from day one, and it starts long before the truck arrives on site. Getting every plant to match the spec might sound like a tall order, but with the right process, it’s easier than you think.

Labor shortages aren’t just a headline, they’re the daily reality for large landscape contractors across the country. With crews stretched thin and project schedules tighter than ever, the margin for inefficiency is razor-thin. Every wasted trip to a nursery, every unclear substitution, every uncoordinated delivery translates into lost time and higher costs.

As an industry built by and for green professionals, we know what it takes to keep jobs moving under pressure. Over the years, we’ve seen contractors adjust their operations in smart ways to adapt. The most successful firms are leaning on new sourcing strategies that free up valuable labor and keep their teams focused on installation, not administration.

Here are five proven approaches that contractors can use to stay ahead.

Most people think of online platforms as “point-and-click” tools. You browse, you place an order, and that’s where the service stops. But the green industry doesn’t work that way, and neither do we. At LandscapeHub, submitting an order is just the start. Our team steps in to make sure your plants not only leave the nursery but arrive on your job site, on schedule, and in top condition.

In the green industry, time and accuracy aren’t just nice-to-haves; they’re the difference between a smooth install and a costly delay. Yet, too often, contractors and buyers are forced to work with outdated spreadsheets, incomplete price lists, or inventory that’s no longer available by the time an order is placed.

The result? Project timelines slip, budgets take a hit, and client trust is eroded.

With a spotlight on C.R. Nelson Wholesale Plant Supply and the people behind the plants

At LandscapeHub, we’ve built technology to make sourcing easier, but the heart of what we do is rooted in relationships. The trust between growers and contractors, between buyers and reps, is what keeps projects moving.

As the green industry continues to evolve, so do the materials that power it. The 2025–2026 landscape season is being shaped by regional climate shifts, evolving design standards, labor constraints, and growing sustainability demands, all of which directly impact how contractors and buyers source landscape materials.

Here are the key trends shaping what’s being specified, stocked, and shipped in the months ahead.