历史沿革
Merrifield 花园中心由 Bob Warhurst 与其妻 Billie Jean、挚友 Buddy Williams 夫妇于 1971 年 4 月 9 日在弗吉尼亚州梅里菲尔德 (Merrifield) 创办, 起点是 29 号公路与加洛斯路 (Gallows Road) 交汇处一座小谷仓、一间小店和不到一英亩的苗圃用地。Bob Warhurst 幼年在阿拉巴马州拉塞尔维尔 (Russellville) 一个没有水电的小镇长大, 7 岁起照料母亲和弟妹, 1955 年元旦后随兄长 Lee 北上弗吉尼亚当砌砖工, 1962 年秋在维也纳镇 (Vienna) 骑 Ponymar 马结识邻居 Buddy Williams 并结下终生友谊; 两人 1971 年合开花园中心时, Bob 已是当地小有名气的砌砖工和垃圾清运商, Buddy 是志愿消防员, 1979 年又用 33 英亩地在费尔法克斯 (Fairfax) 拿下第二家店用地。花园中心至今仍由 Warhurst 三代家族经营, 是弗吉尼亚北部最具规模的综合性花园中心之一。
三店与版图
梅里菲尔德 (Merrifield) 总店位于 29 号公路沿线的福尔斯彻奇 (Falls Church), 是 1971 年的原址; 费尔奥克斯 (Fair Oaks) 店在 29 号公路沿线的费尔法克斯 (Fairfax), 1988 年 12 月在对面临时开业、1993 年 12 月搬入 33 英亩永久园区, 1995 年主店连上 1 万平方英尺温室, 此后又增建一年生与多年生植物温室; 2004 年 7 月再购 40 英亩土地建设盖恩斯维尔 (Gainesville) 第三店, 2004 年 10 月由 12 位员工赴欧洲走访园艺中心和温室厂商取经, 2008 年正式开出美国东岸规模数一数二的现代化花园中心和温室群。三店均为宠物友好, 允许牵绳犬进入, 鼓励客人穿不怕脏的舒适鞋履慢慢逛。
经营范围与商品
花园中心既是苗圃也是园艺超市, 货架常年分门别类: 工具类有洒水器、软管、铲子、耙子、耕耘机、吊具与手动工具; 播种类备有蔬菜与花卉种子、托盘、栽培土和加热垫; 花园服饰有帽子、手套与园艺围裙; 喂鸟用品包括鸟种、鸟屋和喂食器; 花园装饰涵盖雕像、长凳、基座、鸟浴、浮木、喷泉、装饰花盆、容器和窗框; 花园结构有棚架、乔木支撑、竹竿、吊篮钩、苔藓衬垫、番茄笼和牡丹支架; 草坪用品有草种、草坪食品、肥料与石灰; 水景园备有鱼类、水生植物、水泵和过滤器; 土壤覆盖物涵盖表土、有机肥、混合栽培基质和各种覆盖物; 控制品包括除草剂、杀虫剂和病害药剂; 石材区有铺路石、石板、踏步、联锁墙、墙石、砾石和装饰砂。店内还有 Merrifield 自有品牌的草种、草坪肥、混合肥和栽培土等。
课程与社区
店内常年举办公开课与活动, 内容从新苗栽种、移栽、堆肥到草坪全年养护和家居园艺装饰, 部分课程在费尔奥克斯店和梅里菲尔德店单独开班, 此外还有线上课程和专题工坊。博客按家庭活动、节庆家居、室内植物、操作指南、景观设计、草坪、本土植物、植物护理、蔬果香草和野生动物传粉者等 12 个主题持续更新; 每月还有园艺小贴士和种植指南推送。免费植物诊所 (Plant Diagnostic Clinic) 由园艺专家值守, 客人可带照片或装在透明塑料袋里的植物样本到场咨询; 网站同时接受园艺俱乐部聚会和讲座邀约申请。
家族传承与规模
Warhurst 家族如今由 Bob 与 Billie Jean 的全部 5 名子女、其中 2 位的配偶、全部 11 个孙辈以及其中 3 位的配偶、加上 Bob 最小弟弟一家人共同打理, 团队超过 600 人, 包括园艺师、景观设计师、施工工匠和零售能手, 是弗吉尼亚北部规模最大的家庭经营花园中心之一。Bobby Warhurst 与 Buddy Williams 分别于 2015 年和 2011 年辞世, Buddy 之妻 Doris 于 2021 年辞世, 但家族第三代已经进入管理层。店内常年允许牵绳犬进入, 节假日照常营业, 仍以 1971 年定下的高植物品质和顾客至上原则为准绳, 持续为弗吉尼亚北部、北弗吉尼亚与华盛顿都会区家庭提供一站式园艺服务。
History
Merrifield Garden Center was founded on April 9, 1971 by Bob Warhurst and his wife Billie Jean alongside their lifelong friends Buddy and Doris Williams, on a weedy, junk-strewn lot at the busy intersection of Route 29 and Gallows Road in Merrifield, Virginia. Bob Warhurst grew up in the small rural town of Russellville, Alabama, in a house without running water or electricity, and became the man of his household at the age of seven, working at the local grocer and growing vegetables in the backyard. He moved north to Virginia in January 1955 to follow his older brother Lee, worked as a bricklayer, and in the fall of 1962 met Buddy Williams on a one-lane dirt road in Vienna, Virginia, where they built a lifelong friendship. What started with a quaint red barn, a small store and less than an acre of plants is now one of the largest nursery and landscaping companies in the country.
Three Locations and Footprint
The original Merrifield store is located on Route 29 in Falls Church, Virginia, on the very site where Bob and Buddy opened in 1971. The Fair Oaks location, also on Route 29 in Fairfax, Virginia, opened in a temporary facility across the street in December 1988 and moved onto its permanent 33-acre site in December 1993, with a 10,000-square-foot greenhouse added by 1995 and additional annual and perennial houses in the years that followed. In July 2004 the partners purchased 40 acres in Gainesville, Virginia, and after a study tour of European garden centers and greenhouse builders in October 2004, opened a state-of-the-art garden center and greenhouse in 2008. All three stores are pet friendly and welcome leashed dogs, with comfortable walking shoes recommended.
Product Lines and Inventory
The garden center stocks a full spread of gardening categories: tools such as sprinklers, hoses, shovels, rakes, tillers, hoists and hand tools; seed-starting supplies including vegetable and flower seeds, trays, soil and heat mats; garden apparel with hats, gloves and aprons; bird seed, houses and feeders; garden décor ranging from statuary, benches, pedestals and bird baths to driftwood, fountains, decorative pots, containers and window boxes; garden structures such as trellises, tree stakes, bamboo, hanging basket hooks, moss liners, tomato cages and peony supports; lawn products with grass seed, food, fertilizer and lime; water garden supplies including fish, aquatic plants, pumps and filters; soils, mulches and amendments such as topsoil, organic matter, blended mixes and mulches; control products covering herbicides, insecticides and disease controls; and stone materials including pavers, flagstone, steppers, retaining wall systems, wall stone, gravel and decorative sand. The store also carries a Merrifield private label line of grass seed, lawn food, fertilizer and potting mixes.
Classes and Community
Classes and events run throughout the year at the Merrifield, Fair Oaks and online locations, covering topics such as planting new shrubs and trees, mulching, composting, year-round lawn care and home garden styling, alongside dedicated workshops and an online lecture series. The blog publishes how-to guides and tips in twelve categories including Family Activities, Holidays and Events, House and Home, House Plants, How-to and Instruction, Landscape Design, Lawn Care, Native Plants, Plant Care, Plant Picks, Vegetables and Herbs, and Wildlife and Pollinators, complemented by monthly gardening tips and planting guides. The complimentary Plant Diagnostic Clinic invites visitors to bring photos and small plant samples in clear bags for diagnosis by horticultural staff, while the website accepts speaking and garden-club gathering requests.
Family Legacy and Scale
Today the Warhurst family continues to operate the business: all five of Bob and Billie Jean’s children, two of their spouses, all eleven grandchildren, three of their grandchildren’s spouses and Bob’s youngest brother with his family are all actively involved, supported by a team of more than 600 experienced horticulturists, landscape architects, designers and skilled craftsmen. Buddy Williams passed away in 2011, Bob Warhurst in 2015 and Doris Williams in 2021, but the third generation of the family has taken on management roles. The garden centers welcome leashed dogs throughout the year, stay open on holidays, and remain committed to the high standards of plant quality and customer service that Bob and Buddy set when they opened their small red barn on a one-acre lot more than fifty years ago.
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