State Conservation Nurseries
The State Conservation Nurseries Program was first established in 1957 to provide technical assistance and conservation plant materials – tree seedlings, shrubs, forbs and seed – to meet the conservation needs of Nevada’s private landowners and public land management agencies. The nurseries also offer custom growing services for conservation plants native or adapted to the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, and Sierra Nevada.
The program is comprised of two facilities, one in Washoe Valley and one in the Las Vegas Valley, and houses biannual plant sales at NDF’s Elko Arboretum. The nurseries produce low-cost native or adapted plant species, acclimated to the Nevada’s environmental conditions, for conservation purposes including establishment of windbreaks, wildlife habitat enhancement and rehabilitation of wildfire damaged lands or other disturbed sites.
Purchasing Plant Materials
Las Vegas State Tree Nursery - The nursery is located north of Las Vegas and supplies conservation plant materials adapted to the Mojave Desert.
Washoe State Tree Nursery - The nursery is located in Washoe County, between Carson City and Reno and supplies conservation plant materials adapted to the Great Basin Desert and the Sierra Nevada region.
Nevada Seedbank - The program provides seed, equipment and other materials to rehabilitate wildland fire and fire suppression related damages, and assists private landowners and public agencies with conservation treatments on their lands to reduce soil erosion, increase plant diversity, improve wildlife habitat and reduce the threat of wildland fire.
Custom Growing Services - The nurseries specialize in producing native and locally adapted plants for use in mitigation and revegetation projects. Many of these species are only available through the NDF nurseries. The nursery staff is available year-around by phone to assist you with your custom growing needs.
Resources for Growing Plants in Nevada
Plants Databases
The Plants Database - A complete guide to the vascular plants (and mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens) of the and its territories with more than 500 Fact Sheets and Plant Guides on the uses, establishment, and management of selected conservation plants. Find plants by state, distribution, threatened and endangered species, noxious weeds and over 40,000 plant images. Developed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Trees are Good - An educational site sponsored by the International Society of Arboriculture ISA that provides quality tree care information.
Drip Irrigation
Irrigation Tutorials - This site is a self described as the…“mother lode of free irrigation information, offering descriptions and illustrations of putting together drip irrigation systems, the supplies needed, installing drip systems on hillsides, gravity flow systems and much more.”
Climate Information
2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map - Plant hardiness zone designations represent the average annual extreme minimum temperatures at a given location during a particular time period. They do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature for the location over a specified time. Low temperature during the winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants at specific locations.
Fire and Plants
Fire Effects Information System - The Fire Effects Information System is an online collection of reviews of the scientific literature about fire effects on plants and animals and about fire regimes of plant communities in the United States. FEIS reviews are based on thorough literature searches, often supplemented with insights from field scientists and managers.
Noxious Weeds
Nevada Natural Heritage Program - This program maintains an inventory of all threatened, endangered, sensitive and at risk species, and biological communities and noxious weed infestations in Nevada.
Windbreaks
Windbreak Design - An educational article on windbreak design from the University of Nebraska. What is the best design for a windbreak? The answer to that question depends on the intended purpose of the windbreak, and the characteristics of the site where the windbreak will be located.