Seasons Garden Center • Leander

Seasons Garden Center • Leander

Written by Mark Collins Monday, 24 March 2008

Drew Demler’s love for horticulture stemmed from a lifetime spent around trees and plants.

“I started out in the nursery business at 16 as a Christmas tree salesman,” said Drew, co-owner of Seasons Garden Center. “I’ve just always done this, always. My whole adult life has been working with plants.”

Drew was born and raised in Baton Rouge, where his father, Carl, owned a tree farm. The duo had long talked about opening a garden center in Louisiana, but when Drew saw the potential for growth in Leander, he recognized a location ideal for a young business.

“It’s something I had my eye on doing for a long time, and when the time was right, we jumped,” Drew said. “When we first moved out here, you could look around and there weren’t a lot of people yet. We wanted to get in here, get our feet wet for a couple seasons while things were growing up.”

That was in 2003. Five years later an H-E-B is down the street and Lowe’s will soon be competing with the Demlers for business.

“I’m not concerned at all. I think having those landmark stores around you really helps increase the traffic flow,” Drew said. “Not to sound crazy, but it would be great if they opened a Home Depot right next to us.”

Seasons is a full-service garden center that provides more than 50 different species of trees and a wide array of plants, flowers and soils. The center also provides delivery service, tree plantings and landscaping consultation.

For a small fee, Drew will meet with homeowners at their residence and walk the property to coordinate flower beds and other landscaping. Drew takes the sketch back to the garden center, where the customer joins him to pick out plants and work on the design together. The arrangement allows the customer to see exactly what they’re getting and make changes with an expert’s advice.

“Our services set us apart,” Drew said.

The nursery’s specialty is fruit trees. Drew has appeared on PBS’ Central Texas Gardner program multiple times and has 14 different types of pear trees growing on the property, in addition to plum and apple trees.

The father-son team has worked well together though the years and is considering expansion to the property behind Seasons.

“We’ve definitely made a lot of good friends here,” Drew said of Leander.

Plants fit to live in Texas

Seasons Garden Center makes a point of helping customers choose trees and plants that will thrive in the local climate. Here are a few things to look for when planting in Central Texas:

• Drought tolerant: Plants must withstand long stretches without rain and not require water on a daily basis.
• Tolerant of rocky soils: Plants are planted in garden soil but trees have to be able to survive in the less-than-ideal terrain.
• Heat tolerant: Plants must be able to withstand hot summer sun.

Seasons Garden Center, 11892 FM 2243, 528-0830, www.seasonsoftexas.com