New Garden Center A Dream Come True For Stratford Family

STRATFORD, CT — The opening of a new garden center is a dream come true for a Stratford family.

The owners of Shannon Lawn & Landscaping are expanding the family business into the retail market and are celebrating the grand opening of Shannon Landscape & Garden Center over Mother’s Day weekend.

Shannon Lawn & Landscaping, which started in 1987, is owned by Michael Shannon, his wife Christine Shannon and Michael’s brother, John Shannon — all of Stratford.

The landscaping business recently relocated to 111 Honeyspot Rd., across from UPS, in Stratford, which paved the way for the new garden center.

“The planning for Shannon Landscape & Garden Center was always a dream of ours that came to light about a year ago when we found the property at 1111 Honeyspot Road that could support this expansion into the garden center market,” Christine Shannon told Patch.

The family celebrated the grand opening with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Laura Hoydick on Friday afternoon.

Shannon Lawn & Landscaping’s service business features all aspects of landscaping including planting design and installation, lawn fertilization and insect treatments, pruning and mulching, masonry installation, property maintenance and irrigation and landscape lighting systems.

Christine Shannon said the company currently services more than 2,000 customers and has 35 local employees.

“We recently moved our company to a larger facility which was necessary to support the growth of our service business,” she said. “Each year, we bring in plants and materials for use in our landscape installations and lawn care services. We only select plants and stock that do well in our region based on decades of experience in the industry. Our new location offers us the space to showcase our beautiful plants and trees, giving us the opportunity to begin this new adventure into the retail market and to provide an easy, serene shopping experience to a new customer base.”

While they were searching for a new space for the business, Shannon said it was important for the family to stay in Stratford.

“The search for our new home to suit our expansion plans initially included surrounding towns,” she said. “However, Stratford is our hometown and staying close to home became very important to us for the sake of our families and employees and also to supply our local landscapers with products.”

The new garden center features many products available for outdoor projects, including a variety of trees, shrubs, vegetables, flowers, fertilizer products, seed, tools, sod, mulches and soils, according to Shannon.

“Our newly renovated building and landscape garden is a great place for our clients to see first-hand the materials we will be using when planning our design and installations at their homes,” she said. “We have industry experts on staff to answer questions while shopping and are happy to provide full-service design and installation upon request.”

While some aspects of the business remain a challenge during the coronavirus pandemic, Shannon said they’ve made the most out of trying to help people enjoy their time at home.

“While the pandemic has kept everyone at home, our company helped people in our community beautify their outdoor spaces, so they can more fully enjoy their yards,” she said. “We installed many patios, fire pits, plantings, lawn and water features during the pandemic. Material availability continues to challenge us due to the pandemic, but we do our best to manage customer expectations while we continue to offer premium products and services.”

For more information about the business, visit here.

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