Best Nursery/Landscape Supply: Waltons

Where: 8652 Garland Road Dallas, 75218 

Contact: 214-321-2387

By JENICE JOHNSON

neighborsgo editor

What happens when the corporate life gets you down? If you are Chuck Walton, you open a garden center.

Wanting to work for himself, Walton bought Fogle’s Nursery, located on Garland Road, 23 years ago. The establishment had been around for 42 years. Walton loved the location. He was raised in East Dallas where he attended J.L. Long and Skyline.

His shop’s location also was ideal for the fact that it is across the way from the Dallas Arboretum.

“They started a year before I did,” Walton said. “We kind of grew up together. And we buy from the same growers.”

Along with its reputation for having one of the largest Japanese Maple selections in the area, the garden center offers a mix of unusual plants that “you won’t find in box stores,” according to Walton. In addition, Walton’s GardenCenter also went all-organic six years ago.

“It was the better way to go,” said Bruce Broker, construction manager for the center.

You may wonder why a construction manager is needed at a garden center, but Walton’s isn’t just a nursery/landscape supply business. Not only does the shop do its share of landscaping, Broker also heads up remodeling work — even kitchens.

“There isn’t anything we cannot do at someone’s home,” Walton said.