
Women In Horticulture September 2022
September 29 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Summer Field, Spring Meadow Nursery

Summer Field is a propagation manager at Spring Meadow Nursery in Grand Haven, MI. Born and raised in northern Illinois, Summer’s passion for horticulture is a result of taking various high school agriculture related courses, being a member of The National FFA Organization, and attending horticulture and floriculture judging competitions.
Summer earned an Associates of Science Degree from Rock Valley Community College. It is during this time that she gained experience working with plants in the landscape at Anderson Japanese Gardens, one of the top Japanese gardens in the United States. Summer gained more greenhouse work experience working as a greenhouse attendant at Meridian Nursery in Rockford, IL where she scheduled tree installments and mulch delivery, to watered and deadheaded plants, and propagated vegetables and perennials. She originally wanted to become a landscape architect, but after transferring to Southern Illinois-Carbondale, quickly learned she wanted to work more closely with plants and pursued a degree in horticulture with an emphasis in landscape design. Summer gained those hands-on experiences working on a 3-month long research project studying the effects different growing medias have upon lettuce and spinach germination and growth in a Hydroponic NFT system. After college, Summer joined Spring Meadow Nursery as an assistant propagation manager. She has learned everything from deciding when it’s the perfect time to take a cutting off an ornamental shrub liner to production and labor planning.
We’ll discuss how mentors have helped Summer navigate her career, motivated her, and aided in her success, and how she hopes to mentor others entering the industry.