MEMBER PROFILE 



The OP Speedway 



A GOOD DEAL AND FUN 



"The old Speedway. Just down the road from 

 Wal-Mart. Tou can't miss us.'^ 



Unintimidated by its larger neigh- 

 bor, the foursquare wooden struc- 

 ture built fifty years ago is now a 

 garden center. Surrounded by activ- 

 ity and color, it has adjusted well 

 to its new situation. 

 Tim Lanphear started the business 

 four years ago. He'd bought the old 

 gas station On Route 9 in 1985 (he 

 used his savings; there is no mort- 

 gage) and had rented it out while 

 he himself worked selling recondi- 

 tioned cars in various dealerships. 

 Then the City of Concord decided 

 that it didn't want a gas station 

 situated above an easily contami- 

 nated city-owned wetland. Tim said, 

 "Okay." The gas tanks, as well as 

 two 10,000-gallon fuel oil tanks, 

 were removed. What was left was 

 an empty building on a 2.2 acre tri- 

 angular lot. 



Tim decided to go into business 

 selling plants — he'd never done it 

 before, but he liked plants — he'd 

 worked at landscaping once. He de- 

 cided "to just do it totally," learn- 

 ing as he went along. He kept the 

 name, "The Ol' Speedway" ("People 

 know where we are"), removed the 

 hydraulic lift, cleaned up the place, 

 and opened for business on IVlemo- 

 rial Day weekend, 1994. It's a family 

 business — his father, Dennis, and 

 his step-father, )oe, are there full- 

 time. 



Antiques and collectibles were 

 originally a large part of the busi- 

 ness (something to sustain it in the 

 off-season), but it was the plants 

 that sold — and held Tim's interest; 



today, plants account for 90% of 

 sales. Most of the remaining col- 

 lectibles are tools and farm imple- 

 ments people like to use as garden 

 ornaments. 



Immediately to the right of the 

 old gas station, the land dropped 

 steeply, down twenty-five feet to 

 marsh. There was room to set up a 

 12'x42' wood-and-plastic display 

 shelter (in October, it was filled 

 with pottery and wicker items on 

 sale), but little more. Raising the 

 level of the land to that of the road 

 became a major objective. Tim put 

 out a call for clean (no cement or 

 plastic) fill. This spring, a stone re- 

 taining wall was put up at the back 

 of the property, solidly stabilizing 

 the newly created ground. 



Enough land has been created to 

 put up a 17'x64' greenhouse and 

 create a perennial display area, a 

 place for bagged goods, and addi- 

 tional parking. 



The land slopes to a lower area 

 where perennials (until |uly first) 

 and then mums are grown on weed 

 mat and with drip irrigation. Here 

 also, landscapers are allowed to 

 dump leaves and brush — this will 

 someday be compost; there's also a 

 pile of topsoil removed when the 

 gas tanks were taken out. Tim uses 

 this mixed with Pro-lV\ix in flower 

 beds by the road. And a well — only 

 28 feet deep, gives "all the water I 

 need " 



"ANNUALS AND perennials will be 

 our specialty." They sow seed by 



hand in January, start it on the 

 sunny side of the greenhouse; cut- 

 tings (without rooting hormone) are 

 on the shady. Seedlings are trans- 

 planted into 48-plug flats. 



In winter and early spring, the 

 6'x64' outside display tables be- 

 come cold frames. Short pieces of 

 PVC pipe set into the ground 

 alongside the tables hold ribs onto 

 which a ridge pole is fastened. This 

 PVC pipe frame is then covered 

 with plastic. These cold frames hold 

 the flats of new seedlings as well 

 as bare-root stock potted in one- 

 gallon containers — stacked two- 

 high. On warm days, the plastic on 

 one side is folded back. In summer, 

 the plastic's removed completely. 

 In May, the seedlings are planted 

 in one-gallon containers for sale 

 later that season. ("1 don't grow 

 anything that doesn't bloom the 

 first year") 



In late fall, any perennials left are 

 pruned back, set on weedmat, and 

 covered with microfoam. Next 

 spring they will be repotted into 

 two-gallon containers. 



Although they grow as much as 

 they can themselves, space is lim- 

 ited. Most material is bought in. 

 They buy in all bedding plants; 

 they grow only 150 hangers and 

 buy in the rest; many of their pe- 

 rennials come from Ledgeview 

 Greenhouse in Loudon. 



Vegetables — "just the basics: 

 corn, tomatoes, peppers, cukes, 

 squash — summer and zucchini" — 

 come from McQuestin Farm in 

 Litchfield Winter squash, pump- 

 kins, Indian corn, and gourds are 

 available in the fall. 



Herbs are big year-round — the 



DECEMBER 1997 & JANUARY 1998 



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