When Circle D Nurseries opened its Leander location in 2012, the 5-acre property on San Gabriel Parkway was set up with efficiencies such as quick service and water management in mind, manager Bill Jensen said.

The family-owned wholesale nursery sells plants, such as shrubs, trees, perennials, native succulents and bedding plants, to commercial customers for use in local landscapes. The company also offers mulch, bedding mixes, materials such as steel edging, and rainwater harvesting equipment.

Professional landscapers are the company’s primary customers, Jensen said. Other customers include homebuilders, other nurseries and the general public on a limited basis.

On Saturdays the nursery is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon.

“We allow the public to come in and have an opportunity to buy the same high-quality plants and materials that professional landscapers buy ... at a price comparable to the big-box stores,” Jensen said.

The family’s original store, located in Bryan, opened in 2008. Owner Jed Waltemathe said he chose to open the second store in Leander in part because of the area’s projected population growth.

Before opening for business the family made improvements to the property, such as adding driveways that are 25 feet wide to accommodate large trucks and trailers, Jensen said.

“It’s a drive-thru system here,” he said. “We designed the place so people could get by each other. No one is going to get pinned in.”

“I would say Circle D is absolutely the [most] navigable nursery in Austin,” said Josh Cerda, owner of Immaculate Outdoor in Leander.

“Time is money for us. If I spend 2 1/2 hours at a nursery and not 2 1/2 hours on the job, we’re not making money,” said Cerda, who has been a Circle D customer since the business first opened in Leander.

Cerda also said he appreciates the plant quality, consistent pricing and knowledgeable customer service at the nursery.

“They have some really great plants,” Cerda said. “When we go to [other] places to buy plants, the trees aren’t as big, [and] the plants aren’t as healthy-looking.”

The nursery buys about 50 percent of its plants from large growers and small specialty farms throughout the country, Waltemathe said. The remaining inventory is grown on-site in a 24,000-square-foot greenhouse that was built by the property’s previous owner. This approach keeps costs down and also helps supply products for the Bryan location, he said.

The climate inside the greenhouse is controlled by an automated system that can open the building’s sides and roof when temperatures rise, or close them and activate the heating system to protect the plants from the cold, Waltemathe said.

The greenhouse is also equipped with a computerized watering system that can be programmed to specifications for each zone. This feature helps conserve water by watering only the sections that need it, Waltemathe said.

Any excess water, or runoff, in the greenhouse is collected in a cistern and pumped to a holding tank for future use. When the outdoor plants are watered, a drainage system is able to capture about 90 percent of the runoff for reuse. And when it rains, the tanks can capture up to 40,000 gallons of water Waltemathe said.

“With the situation that we’re having with our local lakes, it’s no doubt that we have to be responsible users of the water and do whatever possible not to allow any waste,” Jensen said.