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With glasses in his mouth, Steve Skinner, owner of the Alameda Greenhouses & Nursery, lifts his "assistant," Sug, onto one of the tables in the geranium greenhouse as he pops the deadheads off of the vibrant flowers. "The purpose of working in the garden will always be the same - to get back to the earth," Skinner said.

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Steve Skinner has dirt beneath his fingernails and two green thumbs.

The tips of his fingers look like he became bored with sketching out a tree using Crayons and went to work on his phalanges instead.

"It's fertilizer," the owner of the Alameda Greenhouses & Nursery explained, looking down at his stained hands.

It's April, and spring has already sent a rush of gardeners into nursery outlets that have, in turn, hired extra hands in order to meet the increased demand during the peak season.

"It can be really exhausting," said Wendi Natoli, manager of Plants of the Southwest at 6680 Fourth St. N.W., comparing springtime for nurseries to Christmas for retail stores.

That exhaustion is to be expected in an industry that's at its peak season. But nursery workers also say they play an important role in satisfying customers looking for an outdoor refuge.

"Gardening is the number one hobby in the world," Skinner said. "That's the community we serve here."

The busy season

Skinner's eyes look a little heavy.

"In the spring, it's seven days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day," he said. "We make 75 percent of our revenue in four months of the year."

Skinner wakes up and arrives at the nursery at 9515 4th St. N.W., around 8 a.m.

He traverses the maze of trees and multiple varieties of plants on his nursery floor and talks with his employees. Skinner addresses customer questions with a sea of green leaves in the background. He helps load peat moss into cars.

Skinner said that, from March through June, he employs up to nine workers. The rest of the year, he only requires about six.

"It's a lot of work," he said. "A lot, a lot of work."

Originally from Chicago, Skinner became interested in plants after getting a job at a nursery when he was 16.

Thirty-six years after his first job at a nursery, Skinner now owns one himself. He purchased the Alameda Greenhouses & Nursery in 1997 when the previous owners were retiring. Skinner had already put in 10 years at the company as its head grower.

Skinner said the role of nurseries is to serve the gardening community by helping them with any gardening or plant problem.

And while the needs of the gardening community may vary with diverse climates, Skinner said people will always want a refuge from their busy lives and that the fundamentals never change.

"The purpose of working in the garden will always be the same - to get back to the earth," he said.

According to the American Nursery and Landscape Association's Web site, the United States is the world's largest producer of and market for nursery and greenhouse crops. The National Gardening Association and Harris Interactive estimated that 85 million U.S. households spent $39.6 billion at lawn and garden retail outlets in 2002, according to the latest data available on the association's Web site.

A growing industry

Using U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, the landscape association's Web site states that nurseries and greenhouses represent the fastest growing segment of the U.S. agriculture industry.

And based on sales of plants to retail and distribution businesses, grower cash receipts have grown in the last two decades and are increasing at a rate of about $500 million each year.

"It's kind of a recession-proof business," Skinner said. "People will always garden."

Jonathan Bardzik, director of marketing and industry relations for the landscape association, said the industry was responsible for about two million jobs in the United States in 2005.

Skinner said the metro area's housing growth has had a positive impact on nurseries like the Alameda Greenhousea. Growth in Albuquerque's West Side and in Rio Rancho have contributed to increased nursery sales for landscaping purposes, he said.

Also impacting the local nursery and greenhouse market was the September 2005 announcement that Rowland Nurseries Inc., which operated five stores in Albuquerque, was closing after 52 years of business.

"They've left a big void in the market, and we have picked up a lot of business," said Robb Watson, general manager of the Osuna Nursery, at 501 Osuna Rd. N.E. "As much as we can run through the store right now."

As a result, the Osuna Nursery is expanding its store by about 1,500 square feet, as well as adding a new parking lot, Watson said. The expansion will bring the store to about 5,000 square feet in total and should be completed either later this month or early next month, Watson said.

Watson said the culture among other local nurseries isn't one of competition. Instead, it's one of cooperation, where he's happy to send business to other local greenhouses such as Jericho Nursery, Alameda or others, he said.

"We don't really find them as a competitor," Watson said. "There's room for all of us in the market with Rowland's closed. We're all independent nursery businesses."

What it takes

Natoli, of Plants of the Southwest, said she started her nursery career at Osuna Nursery in the early 1990s, making about $6.50 an hour. Today, she said her employer starts workers at $9-9.50 an hour.

Natoli said wages depend on experience, but most potential employees usually have at least a minimal amount of exposure to horticulture. The industry requires a working knowledge of the art of growing, she said.

"We've taken people with no experience whatsoever, but we train them pretty extensively," Natoli said.

Plants of the Southwest pays for training, she said, which includes classes at the University of New Mexico and various related workshops. The nursery even brings in speakers for community workshops and staff development.

The nine-member staff at Plants of the Southwest currently includes a landscape architect graduate student, an organic farmer, a certified horticulturalist, a biologist and a master gardener.

Watson of Osuna Nursery, which employs about 35 people year-round and double that in the spring season, said prospective employees must be interested in the agriculture or nursery business "and a little home experience wouldn't hurt."

Osuna right now doesn't offer training, he said. But once the nursery's expansion is complete, it will have a second-floor area with a training room, he said.

Skinner said he attributes the business' success to his highly-devoted and long-term staff. He said people do not get into the nursery industry to get rich. The business, said Skinner, is demanding both mentally and physically.

"You're at the mercy of the weather a lot," Skinner said. "Growing can certainly be discouraging, because lots of things can go wrong. It takes a lot of focus, but the good thing is you're not sitting at a desk. You get to be outside and see things grow. And it's pretty satisfying to produce a good crop."

As a nursery owner and greenhouse grower, Skinner said he reads trade magazines to stay abreast of new developments and products. Nurseries also have to find a niche within the industry, he said.

Alameda Greenhouse, for example, specializes in growing its own vegetables. The nursery boasts 45 different varieties of tomatoes, including heirloom tomatoes (non-hybrid tomatoes that date back to the 18th Century and are known to be high in flavor).

Plants of the Southwest specializes in native or adaptive plants and edibles such as vegetables, herbs and nut trees. The nursery deals with small, local growers in order to buy all of its products, down to the compost, from the metro area and New Mexico. Plants of the Southwest also does not use any chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

As a faithful patron, Suzy Andrego, former president and current supervisory chair for the Council of Albuquerque Garden Clubs, said it is important that nurseries have the newest and coolest in horticulture.

"Everybody's got their specialties, but there should be a wide variety," Andrego said. "We're one of the few states that have quite a few growing zones . . . I grow things you're not supposed to be able to grow in the desert."

According to a Gallup Poll posted on the landscape association's Web site, good references and reputation were the number one considerations consumers looked for when choosing a lawn or tree care professional, followed by the satisfaction guarantee.

Skinner said his dad used to always tell him to find work in a field he liked, because that was the most important thing in choosing a career.

"I've always had a passion for plants, and I was fortunate enough to enjoy a career in it," Skinner said.

Erik Siemers, The Tribune's business editor, contributed to this story.