Lothian Production Facility 

In the spring of 2005, we closed our production facility at Largo, and built a new greenhouse range and nursery at Lothian, Maryland. The location does not have a retail garden center, but our Poinsettia, Easter Lily, and other fundraisers operate out of this location. To contact our “Poinsettia Desk” or “Easter Lily Desk”, please call: 240-473-6701.

Here is an article from 2005 about our move from Largo to Lothian……

A Commitment to Grow
By Larry Hurley, Perennial Specialist


Behnke Nurseries New Production Facility at Lothian

(Above) View of our Lothian Greenhouses; late Spring. Constructing and growing, simultaneously.

The year 2005 was a big one for Behnke Nurseries’ nursery and greenhouse production. After almost 30 years at our Largo, Maryland location, we decided it was time for a move. The Largo property was sold to the Glen Arden Baptist Church, which already occupied the adjoining property.

Throughout the spring, we continued to grow and ship plants to our garden centers, as crews worked to dismantle the greenhouses. The majority of the dismantling was done over a three month period, during the height of spring and into early summer. We felt strongly that we must remain a nursery that grows much of what we sell, and it was critical that we rebuild. To this end, we located a new piece of land that was perfect for a nursery. This land is near Lothian, Maryland, along the Patuxent River in Anne Arundel County.

The Lothian property had been operated for many years as a gravel pit, and much of the paving material for the Washington Capital Beltway came from here. We purchased 153 acres, including Spyglass Island in the Patuxent River. The most recently mined area became the foundation for our new greenhouse ranges, while much of the land is to remain as conservation stream buffer. All water used at the facility comes from on-site ponds, and all run-off water is recaptured for reuse. Additionally, we are working with state and federal officials to set aside wildlife areas, as there is unique habitat on the property that many native bees and other insects find inviting for nesting and whatever else insects do to pass the time.

When you turn onto this property from Sands Road, you basically see nothing but a small trailer. Driving in a few feet more, you see the nursery spread out 50 feet below you-not in a pit or quarry, but on a gently sloping plane that ultimately reaches the Patuxent. Being a bit off the beaten path, and completely hidden from view, we decided that this site should focus on growing rather than retail, so it is not open to the public for sales.

We quickly set up to grow perennials, shrubs and trees at Lothian: we have a good crop ready to ship to our garden centers for Spring. But the real race for time was to construct greenhouses, which were to be a combination of reconstructed houses from Largo, and new houses.

The first to go up were the two new houses, the “Transport House” and the “IBG” House. These modern facilities are very tall and depend on natural ventilation for much of their cooling: in fact, the IBG House (cleverly denoted because it was manufactured by IBG) is a glass house with a roof that can be fully opened, to allow maximum light and easy cooling. Watering is done by computer-controlled booms rather than hoses.

The Transport House is a “head house”, a long house that is perpendicular to the attached greenhouse ranges such as the IBG, allowing sheltered entry, a place to pot and ship from, and so on. The Transport House is pretty neat; it is 552 feet long and 41 feet wide, with an automated track system for hanging baskets overhead (enough room to grow 6,000 hanging baskets!).
We reassembled 28 free-standing greenhouses, each of which holds 3,000 square feet of plants.

These are used to overwinter and grow some shrubs and perennials, but are mainly for poinsettias and various annuals. Two of the large greenhouse ranges from Largo were also reassembled (77,000 square feet), for poinsettia production and annual flowers production. Due to permitting and construction delays, this phase of the project came in about a month behind schedule, which resulted in a one-time shortfall in our poinsettia production.

This was a real heart breaker for Behnke’s as we worked with our wholesale customers to identify alternate sources for 2005.
As of this writing in mid-November, construction is done and grower Sissy McKenzie and staff are working to bring you lilies for the Easter holiday and annuals for Spring.

All in all, we wound up with a facility of which we are proud. Charlie Breitschwerdt, Vice-President for Production, Darrell Lively, Maintenance Manager, and a host of others devoted a year to the move and the construction; maybe more like three years squeezed into one. On one of those warm Spring days, when you are at the garden center thinking about how lucky nursery employees are to have “outside jobs,” think about drilling holes in frozen ground for greenhouse supports. We do, every time we unload a truck of Behnke Signature plants from Behnke Nurseries at Lothian.

Another view of the Lothian greenhouse.