Iconic boutique nursery finds new life, new owners

Quartet hopes to reopen Gardens, a Central Austin store that first opened almost 30 years ago.

Image by: Pam Penick

One of the coldest winters in Austin in recent years felt colder still when Gardens - the iconic Central Austin boutique nursery and home décor retailer that helped define an organic-modern aesthetic - closed its doors in January.

Now for the breath of spring, or end of design dormancy: Four buyers are in final negotiations to purchase Gardens. Vivian and Russ Wilson and Ellen and David Lake have made a bid on the property and expect to be the new owners.

This is good news for many longtime customers who have been lamenting the closing of Gardens, the 35th Street landmark opened by James David and Gary Peese nearly 30 years ago. The two sold the business to Bill Bauer in 2006, wanting to simplify their life, Peese said. They still own the galvanized metal building and operate David/Peese Design at a separate location.

Bauer closed the Austin business and a second Gardens location in Dallas earlier this year. "The economic forces that brought down so many other businesses in Austin and around the country were the cause," he said.

Robert Leeper, who worked at Gardens in the late 1990s and now owns Robert Leeper Designs, said Gardens and the David/Peese vision changed Austin.

"Gardens has always been the pinnacle of exceptional landscape design in Austin. … They created a sanctum that was like traveling to another country; they literally brought the best of the world's design elements and ideas to Austin. … They raised landscape design to a level that was on par with great architecture, not just an afterthought," Leeper said.

Gardens' clientele went in search of sophisticated and unique items they couldn't find anywhere else - handcrafted Italian terra cotta, Santa Maria Novella potpourri (a centuries-old tradition), or heirloom tomato plants and hard-to-find Southern bulbs treasured by gardeners.

Two of the new potential owners, Vivian Wilson and Ellen Lake, were among Gardens' devoted customers, but didn't know each other until each expressed an interest in purchasing the business.

"I've been in Austin 11 years and I've gone once a week for several years. For me, going to the store was a wonderful respite," Wilson said. "You knew that whatever you got you would have for a long time, and you would never see it anywhere else.

"Ellen has been shopping there since they opened. She is the quintessential Gardens customer. Every single thing she owns is from Gardens, so she is especially excited because her only source of shopping isn't going to be gone!"

Both women have designed items ranging from architectural garden ornaments to furniture and stationary. They, along with former co-owner James David and well-known architect David Lake of Lake/Flato Architects, will likely be developing exclusive product lines. Russ Wilson, a vice president at a technology company, brings expertise that could be used to create additional online sales.

Bauer will continue to operate the Gardens landscape design and construction business, and most, if not all, of the staff will be rehired, Wilson said. Nurserygoers will find handpicked plants at the peak of health when the store reopens.

She said it is too soon to anticipate when that will be. "We want to put all our effort into making this store as amazing as we can. Our goal is to get this done as quickly as possible so that people who rely on it will not be disappointed."

News of the store closing had brought in streams of customers who shared their sadness at the business' closing, Bauer said.

"The support has been wonderful and touching. There are so many people who treated that store as their personal retreat and escape to find those items that couldn't be found anywhere else," he said.

"Gardens was a trendsetter … in creating a retail genre that you see all over the country, but also in establishing a way of living," Bauer said. "It offered a lifestyle that was about surrounding yourself with things of quality, both inside and out - and living and entertaining outdoors much in the same way as you might indoors."

Gardens' prices certainly turned some potential buyers away: Blogger Jean McWeeney (www.diggrowcompostblog.com) summed up the business as "too expensive, always inspiring." In the end, it couldn't survive the economic downturn.

"Despite what people may have thought, Gardens was always a small business like so many others that was always just getting by," Bauer said. "When sales drop as they did - dramatically and quickly - it's pretty hard to survive."

Wilson said she believes operating according to the boutique nursery's core values while expanding sales (and parking) will put Gardens back at the center of Austin design for homes and landscapes.

Leeper, like other fans, is "holding out hope that it returns. I don't want to talk about it like the Armadillo World Headquarters or Las Manitas - as part of what was great about Austin - but as one of the many places that makes Austin great today. Viva Gardens! Long live Gardens!"

Julie Bonnin

For the Austin American-Statesman

Published Sept. 20, 2012