Is Wilson's Garden Center Selling Mums

Ned Wilson, owner of Wilson's Garden Center, recounts the history of the family business his father, Carl, started 60 years ago. The Newark business celebrated its anniversary on Tuesday, the first day of spring.

NEWARK – It started as Carl Wilson's effort to provide for his son. Sixty years later, the father and son have since died, but Wilson's Garden Center lives on as a successful family business and legacy of a father's love.

Owner Ned Wilson paid tribute to his father's vision at Tuesday's 60th anniversary celebration of the landmark business on the eastern edge of Newark.

"The reason my dad started the business was so my brother, John, had a place to work and people to care for him," Ned Wilson said. "John had a big heart, but was mentally challenged, and dad felt no one would hire him at another business."

Wilson's Garden Center, which started in 1958 as a vegetable stand, provided employment and a place to go for John Wilson until he died in 2010. Carl Wilson died in 1997, but the business continued and grew under Ned Wilson's leadership.

"I was 10 when my dad started selling the garden produce we grew to the public out of a converted chicken coop at the end of a dirt lane," Ned Wilson said. "He was a generous man who gave me a wonderful start. There's nothing else I'd rather do.

"The Lord has always blessed us. At times, the weather is not cooperative, but we've had steady growth over the years. We've had our challenges, but that's part of the business."

Ned plans to pass off the business to his son, Brian, 40, to continue the family tradition. He said Brian keeps up with the newest technology, including automatic temperature controls for all the greenhouses.

"We're so dependent on technology any more," Ned Wilson said. "It's not like when we started 60 years ago."

The anniversary celebration included tributes from Mayor Jeff Hall, State Sen. Jay Hottinger, Licking County Commissioners Duane Flowers, Rick Black and Tim Bubb and Park National Bank chairman Dan DeLawder, who recalled helping the business for its 1978 expansion.

"Back in those days, I was a very young commercial lender," DeLawder said. "What a great idea you had and a great location, and a sense of business propriety you had. It's been our great pleasure to be a partner with you in this great endeavor."

Wilson's Garden Center employs about 40 people during its busy season, and more than 1,000 have worked there during in its history. The business has 100,000 square feet under roof, 28 greenhouses and about 1.5 million plants.

Its departments include annuals, bird care, fruits, herbs, interior plants, lawn care, perennials, roses, trees and shrubs, vegetables and water gardening.

One of Wilson's customers during the celebration was Lori Flanagan, a Marne resident, who gets her seeds and plants from Wilson's every year.

"It's my 24th wedding anniversary today," Flanagan said. "He's in bed sick with a cold."

Dinah Green, employed at Wilson's for six years, said she's enjoyed the experience.

"It's been really nice," Green said. "It's like I adopted a second family. I see all the things people buy and it makes me want to get something for my yard. So many choices and varieties."

Ned Wilson said it's been a very satisfying career because there are so many benefits to plants.

"Plants provide joy to so many people," Ned Wilson said. "They provide life-sustaining oxygen, cool the climate around us, soften the noise, and excite our eyes. The act of gardening relieves stress, gives us healthy exercise, and connects us intimately with the earth and the environment around us."

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8545

Twitter: @kmallett1958

Timeline

Following are some of the dates of historic significance during Wilson's Garden Center's 60 years in business. The business is located at 10923 Lambs Lane, Newark. For more information, call 740-763-2873.

1958: Carl and Helen Wilson begin small, family-owned farm market.

1978: One of the business' first large greenhouses built.

1986: Farm market discontinued and display gardens established.

1997: Founder Carl Wilson dies.

2010: New garden center opens on the same site.

2018: Celebrate 60th anniversary of the business.

Is Wilson's Garden Center Selling Mums

Source: https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/2018/03/22/wilsons-job-son-turned-into-60-year-family-business-wilson-created-opportunity-son-now-60-year-famil/443375002/

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