Les Bork, Sr. and his wife, Ruth, founded Bork Nurseries in 1946. As time progressed, their three sons became part of the family business. It all began with a borrowed truck, a rented two-acre plot, and Les’ garage as a warehouse. In 1948 Les purchased a tractor and seven acres of land on which he constructed the first storage building completed in 1949. To this day, a part of the business is on that original property in the small rural town of Onarga, Illinois, 90 miles south of Chicago. With this close proximity to a large metropolitan area, Chicago has proven to be a good market area for their nursery stock.

Through diligence and hard work the business prospered – the two acre rented plot has grown to production from 800+ acres of farmland property, all in the Onarga locality. The soil in the area is conducive to growing good nursery stock. Many changes in the nursery’s operation have occurred over the past 60 years, including the growing of many more varieties of plants, implementing container growing into their bare root and balled/burlap methods, and the employment of over 80 people. The employees have been a great strength in the nursery’s success, and their loyalty is evidenced in averaging over 15 years of dedicated service.

Bork Nurseries continues to strive for good quality plants, always seeking the newest and best innovations in the industry. The company looks forward to future progress in meeting the needs of their loyal customers.