I loved my garden centre career

BY ART VANDEN ENDEN

I would like to introduce myself and share my goal for providing valuable and timely information with Landscape Trades readers as a new regular columnist.

My name is Art Vanden Enden, and I have recently been appointed as the chair of Landscape Ontario’s Garden Centre Sector Group. Earlier this year, I retired from Sheridan Nurseries, where I served as the vice president of garden centre operations. Before joining Sheridan, I spent 25 years with Weall and Cullen Nurseries. My time with both organizations was thoroughly rewarding, and I can honestly say that I loved my career right up until the moment I left.

While I am proud to say I had a 44-year career in retail, my love for plants and horticulture started many years before. My dad and uncle built and operated a greenhouse business in Ontario’s Durham Region. Our only product was hot house tomatoes. Generally, we grew two crops per year.

This was a pure family business. My parents, uncle and aunt, as well as seven siblings and four cousins performed all the work. I was in the greenhouse working in some capacity when I was in my early years of school. We were convinced it was fun. It was probably a combination of helping and parental supervision.

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There were many activities performed by the kids. Four times per week, either before or after school, we would pick tomatoes. Assembling the boxes for packing was made into a game to see who could make their 50 or 100 boxes the fastest. Packing tomatoes after school or on a Saturday morning was always a job that lasted a few hours. Sorting tomatoes by size and grade, weighing, packing, and labelling the boxes was also part of the fun.

We would finish by loading the truck around 8 p.m. If it was not a school night, one of us was allowed to go with my uncle to the food terminal the next morning at 3 a.m. to deliver and unload the truck. When I went, I was rewarded with a honey-glazed doughnut for my efforts.

When my brothers and sisters and I each turned 10, we were given a watch for our birthday. The next day, we were each put on water duty for the irrigation system, which meant we had to manually switch the zones in the greenhouse that were next for irrigation. It also meant the person on duty was not allowed to leave the property in case something happened. There were up to 72,000 plants in each crop — a huge responsibility for a 10-year-old! There was no single person who would dare to make a mistake or take an easy way out.

My siblings, my cousins, and I have very fond memories of this when we get together and share stories and laugh. I think one of the most important things I learned from this is a sense of responsibility, accountability and knowing that work does not always follow a clock. You work until the job is done, and the job can only be done right. No exceptions.

Being from a large family meant there were always many hands to share the work. I was surprised when I was allowed to find a job outside of the family business when I was only 15 years old. I ended up working at a nearby Weall and Cullen Garden Centre on Hwy. 2 in Whitby while still in high school. Very quickly, I was able to transfer many of the skills I had learned at home to make myself a valuable team member. Within a year, I was working a few hours before school as well as after school during peak season.

I loved being at the garden centre. It is important to share that while I feel blessed with how my beginnings in this industry started, by no means was it a requirement to being successful. I have seen many people join the garden centre as a new, inexperienced employee and develop into a successful leader for their operation.

The Vanden Enden family tomato greenhouses.


I also fondly remember a pivotal moment early in my career which played a big role on my path in the business. When working for Weall and Cullen Nursery, I asked to speak to Mark Cullen personally about some questions I had. I wanted to know if it was reasonable to think there could be a career in working in garden centres. Like many people, I had personal aspirations of raising a family and owning a home. I was just not sure if I could achieve those things doing what I loved, which was working in a garden centre. While Mark was honest and wise in his answer, he did tell me about other people several years older than me who were achieving those dreams. There are no promises in life, however, if you work hard and really show that you care, there can be a career for you.

Retail is not for everyone, but I can honestly say I have come across hundreds of people in the profession who are doing just that — sharing their passion for gardening, inspiring homeowners to expand their horticultural knowledge, and teaching new and engaged young people to help ensure the future is bright. Yes, you can make a career out of this. But remember, do not wait in line for handouts. You need to own your destiny; you need to manage your lifestyle.

For many years I have been given an opportunity to address a group of new employees at spring training orientation sessions. I always wonder who in the crowd may be there for the long haul. Some may only last a few weeks, some a few months or even a few years. Whoever you are in that audience, I am confident your time in a garden centre will provide you with life skills, horticultural knowledge and hopefully a lifelong passion for gardening.

I look forward to sharing more stories and really digging into the garden centre business in future columns.
 

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Art Vanden Enden loved every minute of his 44-year garden centre career with Weall and Cullen and Sheridan Nurseries. In retirement, Art enjoys giving back to the profession with Landscape Ontario’s Garden Centre Sector Group, and sharing his experience with Landscape Trades readers in the Art of Gardening column.