Profiles in Business: Oliver Gardner: 4 Seasons Garden Center

Oliver Gardner will always be an adventurer. When he was young, Gardner, now 55, fell under the spell of a television show called "Adventure in Paradise."

"Gardner McKay sailed the schooner Tiki," Gardner said. "He sailed the waters of Tahiti and had these wonderful experiences where he would survive storms and relationships with attractive Tahitian women. He wore a little tiki around his neck. And I carved one when I was 12 years old, and wore it for two years. Then I put it away, but I kept it. Since 1984 I've sailed about 24,000 miles at sea, and I've always worn that same tiki."

What makes the adventuring side of Gardner's life remarkable is that in 1977, he was diagnosed with a degenerative nerve disease of the spinal cord.

"I'd probably had it since childhood," Gardner said. "I got the wheelchair just for distances in 1990. Since March of 1997, I use the walker for short distances and otherwise am in the chair. On the boat, I support myself with the standing rigging to move about."

The boat, Panacea, a 38-foot Cheoy Lee sailboat built in Hong Kong in 1993, is now docked in Hawaii, and Gardner has embarked on an adventure closer to home than Bora Bora or the San Blas Islands.

On January 29th, Gardner, long-time owner of the Four Seasons Gardening Center in Williston, moved his business from Industrial Avenue to an awardwinning new building in Taft Corners Park. His goal? To make this high-end gardening store "the preeminent garden center in New England."

Meandering around the new, spacious, high-beamed Four Seasons, it is easy to see Gardner's plans in action. He has turned the store into a sensual experience, with exquisite flowering orchids, house plants so healthy they shine, imported pottery, garden decorations, tools, gardening books and gifts. It's fun to watch the children in the special children's play area. A small cafe invites people to take a break among the foliage.

In November, as the Christmas decorations were going up, a strong scent of pine from wreaths and potted trees filled the barn-like building. Even the bathrooms are beautiful, with tile designs by Gardner's wife Gayle Critchlow, who owns North Country Tile, also in Williston. After walking around Four Seasons, it becomes quite clear that there is more to the contemporary gardening business than a few split-leaf rhododendrons and some hanging ivy.

"People are accessorizing their gardens much as they do their bedrooms," Gardner said. "People want their gardens to reflect their lifestyle. They think of their gardens as an outside room." Gardner, who jokes that his last name has nothing to do with his current profession, is a good-looking man with a close-cropped beard, a ruddy, weathered face, a determined nature and a dry wit.

His desk faces posters of the mountainous islands of Bora Bora and Morea surrounded by turquoise waters. "I try to keep my eyes closed so I'm not distracted," he jokes. Snapshots from his travels hang on every wall, along with a poster of the first page of "Moby Dick," which he reads to his crew before every passage.

One of Gardner's best friends, Ray Clavelle of the Hazelett Strip-Casting Corp, describes him as an adventurous optimist. "He's not afraid to take risks," Clavelle said. "When he started with the first Four Seasons he was a schoolteacher, and it was very bold of him to start from scratch like that. I don't know if it's a bold move because he's adventurous or I'm conservative, but for him, at his age, to embark on the new Four Seasons is a challenge."

Clavelle also remarked on Gardner's wry sense of humor.

"I have two young boys, 16 and 21, and they would get interesting post cards from time to time from Oliver's stops," Clavelle said. "Topless women in canoes. He would send the post cards to freak my wife out, but she's not easily scared by Oliver. He's a very good friend and a very nice guy."

Gardner's philosophy of life is simple; enjoy every day. "Everything I've done over the years was based on what I would enjoy doing the most," Gardner said. "I've been blue water sailing for more than 20 years. My dream is to sail around the world. I still own the boat, and the dream is still alive. But for right now I get more enjoyment out of my business."

The Business

The nursery, greenhouse and home gardening center businesses are the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture.

"While the number of U.S. farms of all types has declined over the last two decades, the number of nursery and greenhouse farms has increased," says the American Nursery and Landscape Association Web site (www.anla.org). "In 1997, nursery and greenhouse operations had sales of $10.9 billion, up 43 percent from 1992."

Eighty-five million, or 79 percent of US households, claim they participate in one or more lawn or gardening activity, said Larry Sommers, vice-president of the National Gardening Association in Burlington. "It's one of America's most favorite outdoor activities," Sommers said. "Or at least it's in the top three, along with walking and swimming."