Sebastopol nursery renowned for bonsai, cactus

Good things come in small packages.

At this point, these six words might as well be the mantra at Lone Pine Gardens nursery in southwest Sebastopol.

While the 4-acre nursery is a full-service wonderland with cacti, succulents and unusual ornamentals, the destination specializes in the practice of bonsai, and has become renowned across the Bay Area and beyond for its approach to cultivating small trees that mimic larger trees in the wild.

Put simply, for wholesale and retail, Lone Pine is the place to go for bonsai, hands down.

“We grow a wide variety of different plants, and we’ve been here a long time,” said manager Stephen Price. “As far as family businesses go, you can’t really ask for much more than that.”

Starting ‘small’

Technically, Lone Pine got its start in Farnham, England, about 50 miles from London. Price’s parents started the business, and co-owned that iteration with his aunt and uncle, who was a renowned bonsai artist. Back then — the 1960s, to be exact — the business was called Price & Adams Bonsai and they would sell at the Chelsea Flower Show in London every year.

Still, Price’s father, who was English, had other plans. He dreamed of opening a nursery in California. So he ventured here in the late 1960s, met Price’s mother, who is Welsh, and the two of them started putting his dreams into action.

Finally, after a few trips back and forth (and Stephen’s birth in 1973), the Prices moved to Sebastopol full-time in 1974 and opened Lone Pine in 1976. The nursery celebrated its 45th anniversary this year.

“When my folks bought (the nursery), it was one home with an open field,” Price said. “All the buildings and trees and greenhouses you see here today were planted by us.”

The Price family cultivated what they knew best: Dwarf conifers, maples, elms, and other trees used for bonsai. They built several greenhouses to nurture starts and identified mother plants for propagation.

In the beginning, Price’s parents operated Lone Pine as a wholesale-only business, meaning they sold only to other nurseries. Price remembered driving with his father in the pickup truck from nursery to nursery to see if they wanted to buy anything. At first, sales were tough. Over time, people got to know the family and grew to appreciate what they had to offer.

“My dad’s idea was to have a really interesting selection of plants,” said Price, a graduate of Analy High School. “It was a daring thing to do at the time, since nobody lived out here, it was the mid-1970s, and nobody really knew what bonsai was all about.”

Growing the business

Once the wholesale business took off, Lone Pine grew its retail business. They added some parking spaces. They blazed trails through the property. They put in benches for people to sit and take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the property. If you look hard enough, you might even find a few water features.

The experience of shopping at Lone Pine is informal. There are few signs, and guests are pretty much welcome to walk anywhere. It’s intimate. It’s quiet. It feels like home.

Sometimes, you might even have to poke around a bit to find someone to help you.

Price said he and his wife, Amy Meadows, try to cultivate as much as they can on-site. They grow maples from their own seeds. They collect acorns for oaks. The nursery also sells everything one would need to grow bonsai — shrubs, starters, miniature plants, pots, even soil.

The nursery has a burgeoning cactus and succulent business, and most of these specimens come from mother plants in a cactus garden out back.

“Even if you’re not looking to buy anything, the cactus garden is beautiful to admire,” Price said.

He added that because coastal Sonoma County isn’t the ideal situation for growing cacti, which like it hot and dry, many of Lone Pine’s cactus specimens are “frost-hearty” and “popular with people who want them for dry landscaping.”

Price’s father died two years ago, and before he did, Price asked him what he thought of the nursery and how it had grown. His answer: He never imagined it would become such a big and beautiful spot.

Local bonsai experts have taken notice. Jonas Dupuich is a bonsai teacher and owner of the Bonsai Tonight blog. When asked about Lone Pine, Dupuich raved, noting that he has shopped at the nursery for more than 25 years.

“Lone Pine Gardens (has) a great selection of trees that have been grown for development as bonsai, (as well as) container-grown trees, field-grown trees, and refined bonsai,” said Dupuich, who is based in Alameda. “Their field-grown material provides great starting points for enthusiasts looking to improve their skills, and the family (is) fantastic to work with.”

What’s next

The way Price sees it, Lone Pine Gardens will continue to provide bonsai lovers with quality product for years to come.

He said he fully expects the nursery to reach its 50th anniversary, and exist well into the future.

Beyond that, however, Price isn’t sure what’s next. His mother still owns the nursery, but Price, his wife, and their staff of three run it. That means the burden is on them to stay on top of what’s trending in the world of horticulture and gardening while staying true to the mission of specializing in certain species.

He added that he doesn’t want to make too many changes to the nursery, since so many customers see it as an oasis for peace and calm.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, Price noticed that customers were coming to the nursery and drawing out their visits so they leisurely look at plants or sit on a bench and meditate. Price said that this is a huge part of the Lone Pine Gardens experience, and is something he will fight to protect for years to come.

“People need somewhere they can reliably go to feel comfortable,” he said. “That never gets old.”

Matt Villano is a freelance writer and editor in Healdsburg. Learn more about him at whalehead.com.