LAYTON — A former west Layton farm that grew crops like alfalfa and onions has transformed during the past century into one of Utah's largest suppliers of trees, fertilizer, poinsettias and more.
The operation started as a World War II surplus Army barracks next to the family farm, but J&J Garden Center has grown into 150,000 square feet of greenhouse space, 70,000 square feet of warehouse space and 150 acres of land.
The nursery and garden center, which is owned by brothers Jerry and Dave Stevenson, is Utah's largest producing nursery.
And Jerry Stevenson said the center, located at 1815 W. Gentile St., is always expanding and changing.
"We're running out of space, so every square foot we can find here we'll fill with something," Stevenson said.
This past year, the garden center transformed 10,000 square feet of its cold space into heated, covered greenhouse space. It also bought several greenhouses from Mitchell's Greenhouse in Salt Lake City, which during the next few weeks will have shade cloth draped over them.
The two additions give the garden center 20,000 more square feet of covered space.
A couple of years ago, the garden center demolished its first greenhouses, made of wood in 1972. New greenhouses were put up in their place and now provide 10,000 square feet of boutique space.
Stevenson said the center has been under constant expansion since it opened.
"When you are a farmer, you farm by the acre, when you are in the greenhouse business, you farm by the square foot," he said.
The current site of the garden center was farm land that belonged to Jerry and Dave's father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and they used it to grow crops like alfalfa and onions.
Jerry and Dave's grandfather owned 80 acres in west Layton, but after he died the land was divided up among various family members. Now, all but two of those 80 acres have been pieced back together as part of the nursery and garden center.
The nursery owns an additional 50 acres, which makes the total 130. But it leases about 20 more acres for production.
The center has about 100,000 trees available for sale on the 150 acres.
"No one is doing (production) on this scale in this state that I know of," Jerry Stevenson said.
Today the nursery also sells a plethora of gardening supplies, including pest-control products, packaged and bulk vegetable flower and grass seed, sprinkler supplies, pond equipment, statuary and fountains. It produces on site its own fertilizer brand, Utah's Finest, which is sold in bulk to many Utah golf courses.
The nursery is also a major grower of poinsettias. This winter, it will have at least 40,000-50,000 poinsettias for sale.
Stevenson said he is proud of what the nursery has become.
"It's quite an accomplishment," he said.
With recent construction on Gentile Street, getting to the garden center has been more difficult, but yellow signs posted on the side of nearby roads make customers' visit a little easier. Maps and additional information are available on the garden center's Web site: www.jjnursery.com.
The nursery is open year-round, and during the peak spring and early summer season its hours are Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
E-mail: nclemens@desnews.com