The gardeners are coming out! This time of year, it seems like every drive through a neighborhood will offer the sight of someone out working in their garden beds getting ready for summer. Although it's still too early to plant those annuals, the spring clean-up is in full swing. Leaves are being removed, dead plants trimmed back, and mulch is being refreshed. Of course, many Clay residents plan on at least one trip to Gravina Gardens and Ace Hardware on Buckley Road as part of their planting ritual, and with good reason.
“Spring is our favorite time of year. People enjoy working outside after our long winters,” said owner Marty Mulrooney. That is very evident from the hustling, bustling atmosphere on a weekday afternoon at Gravina. Wheelbarrows and carts full of springtime treasures abound as customers consult with the knowledgeable staff about when to plant certain types of plants and where they will do best. Many times, though, customers are unsure of where to start. They often rush the season a little by being so eager to get back outdoors and begin getting their front yards fixed up for the summer season. To avoid this Mulrooney suggests that people use this time to check for winter damage to plants and the lawn.
Gravina Gardens and Ace Hardware also offers a wide variety of goods and services that many local residents may be unaware of. In addition to the garden center stocked seasonally with good quality plant material like annuals, perennials, evergreens, flowering shrubs and trees, the full-service Ace Hardware is available for home repair and improvement needs. Gravina Gardens also sells bulk mulch, topsoil and stone; plus there is a landscaping component offering design services, hardscapes, walls, walks, patios, sod and hydro-seeding.
Lifelong residents of the Clay area know that Gravina Gardens has been in its current location for many years, and that Mulrooney has been the proud owner of the operation for the last six. After working in the industry for 20 years, he knows the ins and outs of a nursery operation and applies that knowledge to make sure that Gravina offers the best quality plant materials at competitive prices.
“We are a full service garden center and hardware specializing in service and giving value to our customers,” he said. Repeat customers, who build a relationship with the staff at local stores, are the goal of every business. Therefore it is important to make sure that every customer feels that they can not only get the products they need at the center, but also the advice and guidance that they might want. To that end, Mulrooney makes sure that every season, “We have a knowledgeable, courteous staff that is ready to help our customers with their garden projects and hardware needs.”
Every season seems to have a trend, and this one is no different. This year, there seems to be an increase in the number of customers asking about and planning vegetable gardens.
“With the current economy, our customers are doing more home projects. Vegetable gardens seem very popular,” Mulrooney said. Children love to grow and eat their own food, and adults love to see their lower grocery bills at the end of the season as they plan dinners around the fresh tomatoes, squash, beans and peas that they are bringing in each week.
These gardens can be started from seed early in the season, or gardeners can choose to purchase and work with small plants to get a head start. Gravina offers both of these options in addition to all of the rakes, hoes, topsoil and fertilizer that a veggie-growing hopeful could ask for. This is a great time of year to get the soil turned over, planning done, and preparation complete so the plants can go in at the first sign of the weather significantly warming. That way you'll have a great yield at the end of the summer. So drop by Gravina Gardens…then get planting and happy gardening!
May
05
Gravinas grows flowers and business
Christina Lackey 05/05/09
CATEGORY: General Business