Iowa garden center celebrates milestone

Culver’s Garden Center & Greenhouse marked 25 seasons in retail and 40 years in the lawn and landscape industry with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, April 21.

Four decades ago, at the young age of 12, Todd Culver started his entrepreneurial journey by mowing lawns and creating Culver’s Lawn Mowing business. Two years later, he met his wife Tami in Cedar Rapids. This year, the couple will celebrate 32 years of marriage. Together, they own several entities in the community, and employ over 200 people annually at Culver’s.

The company broke ground at its current location in 1997 following Tami’s graduation from Mt. Mercy. They opened for retail the following spring. The business continues to evolve, including several major construction projects over the last couple of years.

“After the derecho did considerable damage to the property, we decided to remodel along with the repairs,” said Tami Culver. “This set us up for future growth and success.”

The 26-acre campus encompasses 14 greenhouses, a full nursery, landscape design center & maintenance building, and a one-of-a-kind retail gift shop that is open year-round. Over the years, the company has grown from Todd’s original Culver’s Lawn Mowing business into three industries — Production, Service, and Retail. The production team grows over 100,000 annuals, vegetables, herbs, and perennials each year.

The service department includes lawn maintenance, landscape design & installation, and snow & ice removal for both residential and commercial properties.

Culver’s retail department proudly offers an unbeatable “in-store” shopping experience. Rooted in the community, Culver’s has continued to listen and respond to people’s needs over the last 40 years and will continue to do so.

“Our growth in the retail department has drawn upon 25 years of collective staff experience,” added Culver. “Our team genuinely cares about the industry, our mission and our customers. Every day they strive to serve our customers in the best way they can, helping them find products that will make a statement for each season of the year.”

Todd and Tami have five children who have all worked in the business growing up. This past year, they proudly announced their daughter, Katie, as the director of Marketing & Business Development. Katie graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in marketing, management, and psychology.

“She’s passionate and loves everything about this business. Her energy is going to help us continue to grow in the right direction.”

In addition to the ribbon cutting, Culver’s hosted its 25^th Annual Spring Open House on April 23 and 24. At the event, customers could find spring specials, giveaways and enjoyed the scenic beauty of Culver’s-grown annuals. For more information visit www.culverslandscape.com or call 319-377-4195.

You can read more about Culver's in this feature from the January 2022 issue of the magazine.