Greyhaven Gardens enters third generation of family business in Londesborough

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

In the middle of Huron County, Greyhaven Gardens is the go-to garden centre for many and its recent expansion has helped that along. However, the business’ reach has far exceeded its coverage area for many years, to the point that they’ve had to scale it back recently.

 

Greyhaven Gardens began as a humble family business nearly 40 years ago. Gladys and Jerry Greydanus founded the farm as vegetable growers, selling their bounty at local farmers’ markets and throughout the area. Their son Derrick grew up around the business, learning it as it evolved and expanded to fold in their love of flowers, which is what the farm is known for these days.
That transition happened slowly but surely and the success of the flower-growing and greenhouse work at the farm helped to keep the business profitable and successful over the years. Michelle Greydanus, Derrick’s wife and half of the team that now manages the storied location, says that word-of-mouth has carried the business farther than they ever thought, with their fans and customers happy to do their advertising for them thanks to how happy they are with their products.

 

That is evidenced in many of the flower contracts that the business held for many years. Greyhaven had been brought on to beautify towns big and small over the years. They have worked locally in towns like Clinton and Wingham and villages like Blyth, as well as larger, farther-afield city centres like Streetsville (just west of Toronto), Stratford, Orangeville and more.

 

The farm sold at the St. Jacob’s Market for many years as well, but that has come to an end in recent years due to the amount of work. It was that work that first connected them with Streetsville and, eventually, others. A gas station in the Kitchener/Waterloo area had bought some of Greyhaven’s hanging baskets to help spruce up the station and someone gassing up that day inquired as to who was to thank for the beautiful decoration. 

 

It just so happened that the person was charged with the beautification of Streetsville and got in touch with Greyhaven as soon as possible, bringing the locals on as partners to help keep the community beautiful. Then, as that person moved around, Greyhaven came with them, all while retaining those early contracts.

 

Michelle and Derrick both agree that it was good work for a time - they do still keep up a handful of those kinds of contracts - but that the workload soon became too much. Michelle said that in the summers they had to essentially double their staff in order to meet the demand and, after a while, it just wasn’t worth the work that was being put into the contracts, so they let a few of them go, including Stratford, a contract Michelle had coveted for many years, so, when Greyhaven finally got it, she was happy for the business to put its best foot forward there.

 

However, in recent years, Michelle and Derrick have focused more on things at home, aiming to build their business in Central Huron and cater largely to Huron County and its immediate neighbours. This includes the expansion of a large sales building that has greatly expanded the business’ offerings, expanding into home and outdoor decor, food and drink, wall art and more. 
Michelle says that the idea of the expansion was already beginning to percolate in her mind ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, but then that put the brakes on things for a while. It was eventually completed, with a grand opening during a time in which Greyhaven was seeing a marked uptick in patronage due to the aforementioned pandemic. When many businesses were closed due to public health measures, garden centres were not. People were looking for something to do and ways to be social, but in a safe way, so locations like Greyhaven saw a lot of people the owners had never seen before. And, for the most part, they have continued to come back.

 

Michelle said that, around that time, people were spending so much time at home, so there was a real focus on beautification at home and making your house, farm or apartment as nice as it could be. While the world has opened up and people are back out into the world, that sentiment has held and many of the people who found Greyhaven in those days, not only locally, but from cities within a one-hour radius, have continued to shop with Greyhaven and make the trip to Londesborough when their house needs some sprucing up.

 

The expansion was born out of Christmas, when Greyhaven had started to host a small market ahead of the holidays. They would do so in one of the greenhouses, which wasn’t being used due to the time of year. As it expanded and interest grew, Michelle said, they thought about a permanent space for such a market, just year-round. As it was delayed due to the pandemic and their eyes got bigger and bigger, its footprint continued to expand and now they are where they are.

 

As part of turning the farm into more of a destination, Greyhaven has increased its event offerings in recent years, hosting an annual ladies’ night in conjunction with other area businesses, among others. Coming up, there will be a food truck on site for Mother’s Day and then a fundraising barbecue on the Victoria Day long weekend. They also offer a robust schedule of workshops, which are all detailed and available to book on their website.

 

However, as the offerings have expanded and the customer base has grown, Greyhaven Gardens has very much remained the family business that it always has been as Derrick and Michelle have brought the third generation of the family along with some of their children working at the farm when their schedules allow for it.

 

For more information on Greyhaven Gardens or to book a workshop, visit greyhavengardens.com.