The spring rush is on!
Petunias and pottery are abundant at Keep It Green Garden and Landscaping Center in Apollo Beach. Lisa Stark Photos/LisaStark.com.
By LISA STARK
Photojournalist
Although a large part of the U.S. is experiencing freezing temperatures and blizzard conditions, gardeners here in Apollo Beach are busy preparing for spring.
“The Spring Rush is on,” said Brian Grieves, owner of Keep It Green Garden and Landscaping Center on U.S. 41 N. in Apollo Beach. “It’s time to start trimming bushes, planting vegetables, and looking for the flowers you want to include in your spring garden.”
Grieves’ full-service nursery business, which is up 45 percent from last year, is twofold: selling to individual retail customers and homeowners; and developing landscape solutions for large subdivisions. With 13 full-time employees, Keep It Green is responsible for many of the beautiful landscape installations you see around Apollo Beach in neighborhoods such as Mira Bay, Southshore Falls, Bimini Bay, Andalucia, Anchor Point, Harbor Isle, Bal Harbor and Bahia Lakes. Their landscape architects help customers design their dream gardens, whether formal, natural, classical or modern.
In business for 14 years, Grieves is no stranger to “going the extra mile” for his customers.
“I have homeowners in Apollo Beach who live in other states or overseas part of the year,” Grieves said. “They know that with just a phone call I will take care of their property while they’re away” — which may include mowing, irrigating, repairing installations and keeping valuable plants alive.
Grieves also realizes that many local residents have relocated from other parts of the country and have little or no idea how to grow plants and vegetables in the Florida climate. Keep it Green prides itself on not just delivering the best plant material but on educating any aspiring gardener, no matter where he or she may be from.
Grieves’ hardworking professionals are presently stocking the nursery with a variety of annuals and perennials such as pansies, palms, petunias, snapdragons and violas, as well as a massive array of fountains and hand-painted Mexican pottery for the creative designer.
When asked the secret of his success, Grieves said: “I value personal relationships with my employees, customers and suppliers. I’ve got long relationships with growers all over Florida, and I’ve been able to keep my prices the same for 15 years,” unlike the big-box stores that continually raise prices and don’t take the same care in maintaining healthy plants. Some of his trusted local wholesale growers include Alafia Tropical Foliage, Sun City Tree Farm, and Randy Frazier’s Palms in Ruskin.
Grieves also expresses a deep sense of gratitude toward his longtime employees, many of them migrant workers from Mexico, whom he considers the foundation of his business. “I’m in favor of immigration reform, and I regularly sponsor these good, hard workers to become U.S. citizens,” he said.
Brian Grieves, center, with two of his longtime employees: Juana Perez, left, and Hautau Dal.
According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the official start of spring this year is March 20, fewer than six weeks away. Although we may still experience some chilly weather this year, there are some plants that actually benefit from the cooler temperatures. Citrus trees need cool weather to help them increase the sugar content in their fruit. Winter annuals like dianthus, petunias, snapdragons, violets and violas thrive well in lower temperatures, as long as you add a 3-inch layer of mulch to protect the roots. Cool weather helps strawberries increase their sugar content as well; however, a hard freeze can be devastating to them. Camellias, azaleas and poinsettias all set their blossoms during this time of year, and shouldn’t be pruned. Other plants that need warmer temperatures such as orchids, hibiscus, plumeria and tropicals are protected in the warm greenhouses at Keep it Green, as they await their new homes.
In the coming months, Grieves plans to increase the size of his nursery from its present two acres to four. He also plans to add a greenhouse for a complete “Butterfly House,” which will contain a variety of butterfly species along with the plants they thrive upon: milkweed, swallowtails and vincas. Grieves’ face lights up when he shows off his prized orchids, which he says were his original gardening passion and the reason for getting into the business in the first place. Grieves still enjoys personal gardening at his home in South Tampa, with wife Helen and children Brian, 20, Caroline, 16, and John, 15.
Keep It Green is at 7075 U.S. 41 N. in Apollo Beach. For more information, visit www.plantnurserytampa.com or call 813-741-3974.
