Research & Development

In the U.S. and Europe, our Research and Development centers lead the efforts to continuously improve our products, formulations, packaging and processes.

Our technical experts in agronomy, chemistry, biology engineering, packaging engineering and other disciplines collaborate to bring simple, safe and sustainable developments to market. Our resources also include an 18,000-square-foot research greenhouse, one of the most advanced of its kind in the world, which is used in new product development and to test the Company's diverse line of Scotts® seed and fertilizers, Miracle-Gro® plant food and growing media, and Ortho® controls. Climate-controlled rooms simulate virtually any light, temperature and humidity combination in the world, ranging from the Amazon rainforest to the Sahara desert to the Canadian Rockies.

The greenhouse is situated on a 150-acre outdoor research area used to study turf, ornamentals, vegetables and fruit plants, trees and shrubs. The entire 800-acre campus also serves as one of the Company's primary research centers for studying wild birds' feeding behaviors and testing feed formulas.

For larger scale field testing, the Company operates a seed testing site in Oregon and a turf testing site in Florida, where a variety of tests evaluate weed and insect control, lawn and garden fertility, growing media color retention and packaging durability, among others.

The Company also operates two European research stations—Levington, United Kingdom, and Morance, France—that support both the consumer and professional businesses in the region. A formulation development and analytical laboratory in Heerlen, The Netherlands, serves European and global projects.

The quest for making the lawn and gardening experience more successful, safe and easy is what drives ScottsMiracle-Gro scientists and researchers every day. And generations of consumers have been loyal to ScottsMiracle-Gro brands because of our focus on results through product improvements.