Like a healthy perennial, Down to Earth Garden Center has blossomed to life this spring bigger and better. The garden center on Eau Claire’s south side has just completed the first phase of a multiyear expansion project, doubling the size of its retail greenhouse space. The result? More annuals, more perennials, and more shrubs than you can shake a green thumb at.

In addition to adding another greenhouse, Down to Earth has expanded its checkout area, added more annual plants, and has cleared land to allow for overflow parking and more landscaping materials. In the coming years, the business plans even more greenhouses, a revamped sales yard, and additional room for private events, which include planning parties, bridal showers, and even fairy garden tea parties.

“We’re one of the larger garden centers in the Eau Claire area, but we wanted to make that experience even better for our customers” -Ben Polzin, Down to Earth Garden Center

“We’re one of the larger garden centers in the Eau Claire area, but we wanted to make that experience even better for our customers,” explains Ben Polzin, retail operations vice president for the family-owned company.

FAMILY BUSINESS

Down to Earth was founded in Cadott in 1997 as a lawn and landscaping business by John and Sandi Polzin. (Their son, Ben, and nephew, Dominic Paull, are now vice presidents.) The Polzins began to grow plants as part of the landscaping business, and demand from customers eventually led them to branch off (no pun intended) into retail plant sales. Their limited hours grew and grew, and Down to Earth eventually decided to plant a full-scale retail and growing operation in Eau Claire, opening it in 2010 at 6025 Arndt Lane.

Now, six years after that first planting season, Down to Earth’s Eau Claire business includes a huge garden center filled with plants of all sizes, décor, tools, and landscaping materials plus a gift-filled country store and the Five and Two Café, which features drinks, soups, sandwiches, and pizzas. The business maintains a base of operations in Cadott at what it now calls its “growing farm,” where tens of thousands of annuals and perennials are grown each year.

TOP TRENDS

Overseeing Down to Earth’s retail businesses gives Polzin a good perspective on gardening trends in the area. This spring, he says, succulents of different shapes, colors, and textures – both indoor and outdoor – are selling well. So is anything colorful – shoppers are gravitating toward big, bold flowers, he says – as well as shrubs, especially dwarf varieties of familiar species such as berberis and hydrangeas. In addition, he says, indoor plants are making a comeback (which should come as a relief to those of us who prefer to keep our greenery inside).

As the planting season progresses, Polzin is optimistic about Down to Earth’s growth. “We’re already seeing an increase in the sales from the expansion this spring,” he says.

There are trends bigger than a new greenhouse at work, however: Polzin says there’s a strong correlation between a growing real estate market and demand for plants and landscaping. According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association, home sales grew by nearly 26 percent in Eau Claire County between 2014 and 2015, and businesses like Down to Earth felt the positive impact. An increase in new home construction has also increased demand, he adds.

Gardening is also on an upswing nationwide. Whether it’s a yearning to return to our rural roots, the rising popularity of locally grown food, or just a desire for a rewarding hobby, an estimated 90 million households took part in do-it-yourself lawn or garden activities last year, according to the National Gardening Survey. Overall, lawn and garden spending grew 26 percent in 2015 to $36.1 billion, the survey reported.

In more ways than one, that’s a lot of green.