By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
For many local nurseries and garden centers, the spring season is a peak time of year for business.
As eager gardeners head out into the fresh air to transform their yards into a beautiful garden paradise, Greater Media Newspapers’ Spring Home & Garden section this week offers advice about places to find the best products and quality service.
One such florist and garden center is Floralscapes at 3185 Bordentown Ave. in Sayreville, a family-owned and operated business.
“We’ve been open at this location for about 20 years now and each year we keep expanding our facility,” said Scott Marcinczyk, son of Floralscapes owner Tom Marcinczyk.
Open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, the florist and garden center offers a large inventory of fresh flowers, for every season and offers contemporary and traditional arrangements, high-style floral arrangements, silk arrangements, dried floral arrangements for any occasion as well as gourmet and fruit baskets and gift baskets.
“We always say word of mouth is the best advertisement because [customers] come in and then they tell someone else and it is just a chain reaction almost,” Marcinczyk said.
At Matawan World of Gardening on Route 516 in Old Bridge, while the nursery is filled with a wide variety of plants waiting to spread their roots, the business also offers outdoor furniture, grills, pottery, statues and fountains to go along with any garden paradise.
“Quality is our main concern and we have a very large selection,” owner Alan Steiner said. “With the outdoor furniture and grills, we have the biggest display in most of New Jersey.
“There are over 100 sets of furniture on display and there’s over 40 Weber grills on display so it is pretty extensive.”
Steiner said positive weather conditions, while a bit rain filled this week, have helped business grow.
“Basically the weather has been very nice and business is good because of it,” he said. “People want to get out there and want to get planting … people get spring fever and they want to get out there and plant.”
While Steiner said regular customers have their favorites, he said customers are embracing new options.
“Our staff is well knowledgeable and can help them make decisions,” he said. “There are brands that are old-time favorites that people continuously buy year after year, but … people are always looking for new as well as the old.
“There’s a plant that fits every situation so whatever they want to do we can help them with.
“We’ve been here 15 years and every year we grow. People come back time after time and we hear very often that when they get here and go into the back where all the greenhouses are, they don’t realize how much stuff we do have and how big we are.”