05/13/2026
McCorkle Nurseries, Inc. began as an ornamental plant grower in 1942. As a pioneer in nursery management with an emphasis on innovation and sustainable growing practices, McCorkle Nurseries is always looking for ways to improve and streamline their operations.
“We need to be focused on continuous improvement,” said Chris McCorkle, operations manager for McCorkle Nurseries. “In our business, even something small like changing the soil can result in something big. Being aware of and open to new, innovative products and production practices is important to our company.”
Since its inception, McCorkle Nurseries made minimal changes to their media mix given their success with pine bark. After learning about HydraFiber® Advanced Substrate’s water-holding capacity and comparable cost to pine bark, McCorkle conducted extensive trials. While McCorkle originally considered using HydraFiber for only a select group of plants, trials quickly showed growing benefits that compelled the company to broaden the trials to all plant varieties as well as propagation.
The transition to HydraFiber is not only simplifying irrigation practices throughout the nursery, but also reducing waste and producing better plants. With HydraFiber, McCorkle’s plants are rooting better and lasting longer, and customers are noticing.
“If we just reduce scrap by one percent, that’s valuable,” McCorkle said. “This was not an insignificant risk for us, but we are confident that we made the right decision.”
Thank you to McCorkle Nurseries for putting your trust in us!
