ONHN was established is October 2021 as a provider of diverse vegetation native to Ohio and the surrounding region. The idea of providing a native plant nursery specific to Ohio has never been more apparent than it is today with the constant habitat loss and dominance of invasive species.
The initial growing operation in the spring/summer 2022 consists of two – 840 square feet cold frame hoop structures providing optimal growing conditions for the emergent vegetation and a portion of our woody shrub stock. The vegetation within the cold frame hoop structures is grown in Styroblock containers consisting of 77-10 cubic inch plugs. In addition to the indoor operations, tall forestry pots (4”x14”) of woody vegetation are grown in our outside nursery areas. The 10 cubic inch plugs are filled with a combination of local compost and perlite for added moisture retention and healthy root development.
Jason McKenney, President
In 2000 Jason began his career in Moscow, Idaho working at the Wildlife Habitat Nursery (formerly “Wildlife Habitat Institute”) while attending the University of Idaho. At WHN, Jason assisted with greenhouse operations and was a restoration technician on several stream and wetland restoration projects in northern Idaho. The greenhouse operations included harvesting willow poles along headwater stream valleys and prepping the stems for plug establishment in the Styroblock trays. Jason also assisted with preparing seeds of the emergent species that were used in wetland and stream bed plantings. Jason is bringing this experience from WHN along with his experience in environmental consulting to the Ohio Native Habitat Nursery.
Jason is also the ecological manager at HZW Environmental Consultants, LLC which provides wetland and ecological consulting along with providing other environmental services. Jason’s time as a consultant has given him a wide range of professional experience assessing Ohio’s habitats. Based on the assessments, the need to improve Ohio’s native plant diversity has become apparent. Segmented and degraded habitats are the dominant features on the landscape so providing a means to create and improve habitat is one of Jason’s goals at Ohio Native Habitat Nursery.
