Staff

Muchtar (Owner)

After raising eight children (yes, he truly is a master at propagation), my dad returned to school and earned a degree from Cal Poly S.L.O. in crop science (he graduated Summa Cum Laude). He has donned many hats in his life, including flagman, house painter, pizza maker and teacher, but today he is running his baby, emerisa gardens. Work and family come first for my dad and anyone that meets him can see that right away. It is his dedication and hard work that has made the nursery into what it is today. Starting with a two-acre nursery in 1990, hard work, long hours and a couple droplets of sweat and tears, have turned it into a 20-acre affair.

The nursery is enriched by his lifetime of experiences gathered from his birth on the Island of Java in Indonesia and living and growing up in Indonesia, Holland, Virginia and, eventually, California. Truly a family man, he named the nursery after his parents - Emerson and Marisa.

The Emerisa Family Connection

Here is the connection between all the family members here: Muchtar (owner), Rohana (Muchtar's wife), Simon (Muchtar's brother), Mardiana (Muchtar's niece), Lutfi (Muchtar's son), Farlan (Muchtar's son), Hassanah (Muchtar's daughter), Arifah (Muchtar's daughter), Cheryl (Muchtar's daughter-in-law and Farlan's wife) and last but not least, Ryan (Muchtar's son-in-law and Hassanah's husband).

We can all be found working in and around the nursery in one of the following areas listed below, whether it be in the cab of one of the delivery trucks, behind a desk with a phone on one ear, cleaning the bathrooms, running a computer, assessing inventory, or building something in the tool shop, we are here and have an integral part in the nursery.

Office

Our four main office employees are all family members and put in long hours to keep up with orders, phones, faxes, customers, computer glitches, telemarketers, the mail, keeping the office cat happy and any other thing that can be thrown their way. They have a combined 37 years with us and we really appreciate all the hard work they really do. When you give us a call, they are the ones that help you and do their very best to fulfill your needs.

Department Heads

emerisa gardens wholesale nursery supervisors

Our four main department heads are very loyal and dedicated to the company (shoot 3 of them are family members)! They are kind of like fireman because they must be quick and put out any "fire" that may arise during the day, be adept in first aid (remedying any broken cogs in the Emerisa wheel) and able to carry a heavy load. The four of them have a combined 56 years here and we are happy they are able to shoulder the workload for us.

Delivery, Orders & Maintenance

emerisa gardens wholesale nursery delivery orders and maintenance

These guys are the jack-of-all-trades here. We keep them very busy and the ten of them are real troopers. They must keep the nursery looking good, maintain the handcarts, nursery carts and delivery trucks, pull and load orders, maintain and groom the plants as well as keeping up their own personal grooming! We feel very fortunate to have them here and an occasional bribe of a pizza party keeps them happy. They have a combined 72 years here.

Production

These nine ladies work very hard and their hard work shows. They take cuttings, sow seeds, do divisions, do planting, labeling and moving plant material all-day long! Heavy work, especially for an all-woman crew! You go girl(s)! What can I say, other than this is just a great crew. Between them, they have a combined 52 years with us.

Retail

The Nursery at emerisa gardens has 4 part-time staff members. All are long-term employees with extensive gardening and horticultural backgrounds. We are fortunate to have such a friendly and dedicated team to represent our nursery. The four of them have a combined 27 years here since they opened in 1997.