History
About the Owner
Eric Hall with R. Keith Harrison Receiving Full Patent Rights for Inground Container Installation Apparatuses and Auger Blade Assemblies, October 2020.
Owner Eric Hall began his career in nursery science at age 16. He earned his degree in Bachelor of Science in Forest Management at Stephen F. Austin State University.
Eric specializes in improving efficiency by eliminating labor-intensive tasks. This is evident in his innovations in fabric-pot technology, making the traditional method of manually planting in-ground grow bags obsolete for tree growers.
Starting in 2014 with the help of local fabricators, he built a safe, straightforward, and cost-efficient growbag installing machine that would change the trade forever and save other tree farmers from the upfront installation costs of in-ground fabric pots.
Wisdom from a Trailblazer
In the words of a true innovator, Eric says, “Change is difficult for most people. That’s what separates the most successful businesses from the rest of the crowd. If you’re not constantly adapting, if you’re not improving safety, quality and efficiency, you’re going to get left behind.”
He adds, “You’ve got to evolve. And I think we can truly say that any tree farm that uses Monarch Auger will become a flagship in this industry and a model of what can be achieved — not just with grow bags, but with fearless innovation.”
The Monarch Auger
Eric invented the Monarch Auger back in 2014, a piece of augering equipment that installs growbags. The process is easy: When the auger retracts after making a hole in the ground, it traps the soil inside the cylinder surrounding the blade and releases it after the grow bag is placed in the planting hole.
Monarch Augers and Smart Hall Tree Nursery Consulting
Those that purchase a Monarch Auger become consulting clients to Eric’s tree nursery business on tree farming using in-ground fabric containers or grow bags. With growers wanting to be more effective and productive, he passes on the benefit of his decades of knowledge and experience in the tree nursery trade, including the management of soil, water, and light resources (biotic and abiotic factors).
Seeing others experience significant financial gains in their tree farms, usually between 20% and 40%, makes Eric more purpose-driven and satisfied with his work.