Olivia McClure

On a gray February day as he drove through a nursery in Forest Hill, Michael Polozola stopped his truck to pick up a special passenger: a dog named Oliver.

Polozola, the LSU AgCenter’s fruit and nut specialist, spends a lot of time at the nurseries of central Louisiana. He has befriended the nursery dogs — including Oliver, a lab mix who eagerly awaits his rides in the truck.

Although Polozola is always happy to spend time with his canine pals, it’s the connections he’s made with the people working in the local nursery industry that have proven crucial to his work, which aims to help homeowners and commercial growers alike successfully grow fruit and nut crops.

February was peak grafting season in Forest Hill, which is known as Louisiana’s Nursery Capital. Workers got busy with their grafting knives and other tools before sunrise, making the precise cuts needed to splice cuttings from various kinds of trees onto hardy rootstock to create new trees that will be strong and productive. Polozola made a point of being there for many of those long days, practicing the craft of grafting and gathering data he hopes to use to identify the best grafting methods for different species.

Since he joined the AgCenter in 2019 as a horticulture agent based in Rapides Parish, Polozola has worked hard to foster relationships with area nurseries, an endeavor he has continued since being promoted to the fruit and nut specialist position a couple of years ago.

“One thing that I find is mission critical is having the collaborative relationship with Forest Hill so that those varieties that do well in the backyard are in the propagation pipeline and people can actually buy them,” he said. “That was the No. 1 thing I discovered with pecans. I was recommending varieties for a home orchard or a low-input orchard, and people couldn’t buy them. A few years later, now people can buy those. It’s been one of my proudest accomplishments — ensuring that people can get the varieties that I recommend.”

Polozola’s job entails answering questions and developing resources to guide people statewide in growing fruits and nuts.

“That can encompass a whole bunch because we have such a wide variety of climates,” he said.

Louisiana has pecan, strawberry and citrus industries. Historically, peaches were an economic force, and mayhaws are emerging as a potential new industry. In backyards, Louisianans can grow everything from apples and peaches to persimmons and berries.

“One day I might get a call from someone wanting to grow strawberries, and the next it might be Chinese dates, or jujubes,” Polozola said.

He enjoys the variety of questions he gets from home gardeners. On the industry front, he likes being there to provide support when problems arise. He tries to identify new and unfamiliar cultivars that do well and encourages nurseries to grow them.

Polozola’s passion for plants dates back to his childhood.

“I started with my grandfather. He did camellias, but he also had a big fig orchard, so fruit trees were something important with him,” he said. “Growing up, that was how we spent time together as a family. It’s lovely to have been able to take that and transition it into a career.”

But he wasn’t always certain of his career path.

“I had shared passions for horticulture and history. I had to think about it, and I felt like with history, you’re always looking back, even though you can use it to make a better tomorrow,” Polozola said. “But with horticulture, it really is about, ‘How can I improve the world today?’ That’s how I viewed it.”

He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from LSU’s School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences. He considers former AgCenter horticulturist Charlie Johnson a mentor and credits him with sparking his interest in fruit and nut trees. Polozola went on to earn a doctorate from Auburn University, where his dissertation research focused on pecans, in 2018.

Polozola still uses some of the skills he learned from his grandfather and his mentors at LSU. For example, they taught him how to graft, which has come in handy as he works to help nurseries improve their tree production.

While he likes working with all sorts of plants, there’s something special about fruits and nuts, he said.

“I like the balance of it’s edible and it feels like you’re being a good steward,” he said. “There’s something about growing something and being able to eat from it that I enjoy.”

He also is proud of the bonds he has forged with the industry. After a chilly February morning spent recording some videos about grafting while employees worked nearby, Polozola set his tools aside and headed into the nursery office for lunch. Polozola chatted with employees and customers as Oliver and two of his dog friends lingered, hoping for a few scraps of a chicken pot pie Polozola had baked.

Soon, Oliver was ready for his afternoon ride around the nursery. Polozola opened the truck door for him, and they headed into the field. It was time to get back to work.

Olivia McClure is a writer, editor, photographer and videographer for AgCenter Communications.

This article appears in the spring 2025 edition of Louisiana Agriculture.

Michael Polozola, AgCenter state fruit and nut specialist, works closely with the nursery industry to ensure Louisianans have access to the best fruit and pecan trees for the state’s growing conditions. Photo by Olivia McClure

A dog named Oliver joins Michael Polozola for a ride around a plant nursery in Forest Hill, Louisiana. Provided photo