Local Garden Center Blooms with Success

On a glorious afternoon of sunshine, Vicki Schlupp excused herself from the workplace of her family business, , to say goodbye to her grandchildren and daughter, Bonnie, who were returning home to Virginia after a relaxing, fun-filled week at the Schlupps' home.

Outside on the six-acre grounds of the nursery, a group of intrepid workers were watering shrubs and rearranging planters with the immediate focus on one looming reality: The garden center must be in tiptop shape for another busy spring season when a multitude of customers descend on the well-known farmstead.

“Family has always been very important to us,” Vicki reflects. “Soon we will be quite busy, and there will be little time for much else.”

In fact, those bonds of kinship are probably one of the greatest reasons why this nursery has been a success story and has remained so popular with the locals.

After growing up on a farm in New York, nursery founder William Schlupp Sr. studied at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Farmingdale, NY. He moved to New Jersey, initially worked for other plant farms, and then bought the present property on Forklanding Road in 1957.

Nearing adulthood, William's son David—Vicki's husband—began working at the garden center in the early '70s. Vicki and David met while they were students at and have been married for 39 years.

Following in his dad’s footsteps, David also graduated from SUNY with a degree in nursery management and then joined the business full-time. The couple have lived on the property more than 20 years.

“As the kids got older, they’ve been part of the team, helping out when they can,” Vicki says of Bonnie, 32, and the couple’s other three children—Dan, 33, Anna, 21, and Claire, 19.

Today, Vicki runs the business office, while David is still involved in the day-to-day agricultural ends of the nursery. And they have four employees, who are dedicated, experienced and reliable members of the nursery family.

Despite the demands of a life toiling soil, which Bonnie says has been a bounty of payoffs, the elder Schlupps have seeded a spirit of altruism in their children. 

Son Dan—who has stayed with the legacy of attending SUNY—is a third-generation graduate, but from the campus in Cobleskill, NY. He also worked for a time at the Cinnaminson nursery. But these days, he’s living in Senegal in western Africa, teaching sustainable agriculture to local farmers as a volunteer for the Peace Corps.

Before marrying, daughter Bonnie received a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and then became a member of Teach For America in North Carolina, an organization dedicated to making sure kids living in poverty get an education.

And yes, Vicki is proud of them.

“But it would be nice if they lived a little closer," she adds.

This time of year, each day is filled with a variety of duties at the nursery. A potpourri of flowering and shade trees that grow on the Cinnaminson property require special nurturing to insure vitality. Stock from many farms in South Jersey, Maryland and Oregon arrive daily for sale. And then the evergreens that are still grown on the tree farm owned by William Sr. in Hainesport need the occasional upkeep.

One of the common misconceptions customers make: “Many homeowners don’t realize that when rainfall is scarce and temperatures soar, new plantings—and even older ones—can suffer,” Vicki says. “You can’t just plant a tree or shrub and forget about it. It should be maintained.”

Like other businesses that came face to face with the sluggish economy, Vicki says they saw clients tighten their money belts, and more customers embarked on do-it-yourself projects.  

But she emphasizes, “That has turned around. We are doing the larger landscape jobs again.” 

Still, shoppers can continue to save money and reap the rewards of completing their garden jobs independently, she says. The nursery’s design team can map out landscape beds and assist amateur gardeners in picking out plants.

Currently, the nursery is offering a 20-percent-off coupon on a variety of  superior shrubs and trees.

“We have also been encouraging people to plant crape myrtle trees, which used to be considered a southern plant," she says. "But they do wonderfully here in New Jersey.”