Zelenka Nursery has a rich heritage as a family-owned nursery. The nursery has been under the ownership of the Berry family from Tahlequah, Oklahoma since October of 2003. Bob Berry and his two sons, Burl and Brian, are active in the day-to-day operation of the nurseries. Bob, a life long nurseryman, is thrilled to have Zelenka as part of his family’s operations. Zelenka Nursery's locations in Michigan, North Carolina, and Tennessee along with Tri-B, Park Hill, and Sanders Nurseries in Oklahoma and Judkins Nursery in Tennessee make up the Berry Family of Nurseries.

The Berry family looks forward to guiding Zelenka's growth as we begin a new chapter in our history. The geographic locations and diverse product selection of the various nurseries provide you, our customer, with greater product selection, expanded seasonal timing of crops and improved distribution efficiency to fulfill your year-round needs in a very responsive manner.

Zelenka Nursery was founded in the early 1940's when John Zelenka planted his first small seed bed of pine and spruce on the family farm in Grand Haven, Michigan. However, his real commitment came in 1945 after he returned from the U.S. Army and made the decision to start a nursery business. He harvested his first seedlings in 1947, which were sold for the purpose of soil conservation plantings, reforestation and Christmas tree production.

John’s love for plants led him to begin propagating other ornamentals in his uncle’s greenhouse. By 1949, he sold his first ornamentals to a retailer (garden center) in Detroit, Michigan using the unorthodox method of harvesting a ball of earth containing a very fibrous root system and placing it into a container ready for market.

Continued innovation through the years has enabled Zelenka Nursery, LLC to become an industry leader. We have been creative in growing techniques, containerization, colored picture labels, polyhouse winter storage, rolling rack shipping systems, and quality labor housing. We are committed to excellence as we manage our business, provide exceptional customer care, and help our customers make good buying decisions.