Our Roots
CTF begins as Cattle, Trees, and Firewood.
A family owned nursery. A love for resilient plants. A Colorado story growing since 1977.
What began as Cattle, Trees, and Firewood became a nursery with deep roots in Colorado.
In 1977 CTF was founded by our parents and stood for Cattle, Trees, and Firewood. Mom and dad quickly filled a niche in collecting native trees and other nursery stock thus changing the name to Colorado Tree Farm.
Grandpa and Grandma (Hank and Evelyn) minded the retail store of Chapel Hills Nursery in the early years, while Dad (Jerry) collected native trees for wholesale customers and produced nursery stock for the retail nursery. Dad was a nursery encyclopedia, and we are lucky to have had him as our guide. Today us “kids” run the nursery.
All of us siblings have helped in growing and handling nursery stock since we were toddlers!
From our first roots to our next chapter.
CTF begins as Cattle, Trees, and Firewood.
Chapel Hills Nursery opens at the mall, operating under that name until 1999.
We move to our 10.5 acre retail and wholesale nursery on Woodmen Road.
Both nurseries become Heidrich’s Colorado Tree Farm Nursery LLC.
16.5 acres east of Highway 24 mark the next phase of expansion.
Growing up in the nursery. Growing it together.
Our favorite part about the nursery are the people we work with. We have an amazing team that is more like a family than a place you “go to work”. We both graduated from Colorado College where we met. We have two kiddos Cooper and Piper. We enjoy camping, hiking, family trips, working in our yard, shooting sports, Bronco games, and spending time with our family! Levi grew up working in the Nursery with his Dad. Heather got “volunteered by marriage”.
We want to continue to grow our nursery but not by sacrificing time with our family or the quality of plants we provide to our customers, and by maintaining a very high standard of customer service and value. Levi served on the ALCC Southern Chapter’s Team for 8 years, was awarded the Outlook Emerging Leader Award in 2013, and served four years on the CNGA Board of Directors.
I graduated from Colorado College with Heather with a degree in Anthropology, and then went on to complete my BSN. I worked at Penrose Main for a short time as a nurse (which is handy working with Levi and Joel), but realized how much I missed working outside with my brothers doing what I truly love. I returned to my roots at the nursery where I keep the office running smoothly. I live in Falcon with my husband Rick and our four awesome daughters McKenzie, Hailey, Penelope, and Zoey.
I love spending time with my family and being a mommy. It is great to be a part of a small business that incorporates the best parts of life!
I’m the youngest of my four siblings. I’ve also been working in the nursery since I was a little kid. I enjoy working with my family and our great team to continue to grow our business. When I have spare time I enjoy shooting my guns and spending time with my lovely wife April, sons Isaiah and Zach, and daughter Lily. I help keep all the equipment maintained and am the closest thing we have to an IT guy.
Dad was the founder of Heidrich’s Colorado Tree Farm Nursery. His hard work and determination planted firm roots that allowed the nursery to grow and thrive. We are extremely lucky to have learned from him. Dad was a graduate from University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!), but before that he played football for the Air Force Academy. He did many things before he settled in Colorado including teaching, coaching, and food service.
He grew up in Kansas and enjoyed spending his summers on the family ranch in Oklahoma. He knew someday he wanted to get back into agriculture and from there he ended up in the nursery industry. Dad passed away in January of 2025. His legacy will live on in the “roots” he planted in his children, grandchildren, and literally in hundreds of thousands of landscapes and commercial jobs throughout Colorado.
Grandma and Grandpa ran the retail nursery at The Chapel Hills Mall in the 80s and early 90s. They would travel from their home in KS and stay here during the busy spring and summer months. Today we still have customers that remember buying trees from them at the mall. Grandma passed away in 2008, and Grandpa passed away in 2013. They both will be missed dearly and we are very lucky to have had them for as long as we did.
They instilled their values in their family, and if there were more people like them today the world we live in would be a much better place. We love and miss them both.
We are very lucky to have the team we do. Without these amazing humans, our nursery would not be where it is today!
We plan to expand our business without losing our family touch, meaning we are always looking for “family like” help. If you are interested in being “adopted,” talk to us, or check out the Employment Page on our website. It has job descriptions and a job application. Please apply in person at the nursery! There are job descriptions and our job application located here.
Our goal at Heidrich’s Colorado tree farm Nursery is to provide our customers the hardiest, toughest, healthiest plants that we can. In addition we want them to experience customer service that is hard to come by this day and age. We are here to help, so please if you need anything, just ask!
7440 Templeton Gap Rd. · Colorado Springs, CO 80923