About Us > History
Realizing they shared a love and knowledge, as well as a green thumb for gardening Ken Lapp and Norman Glick; who were brother-in laws, founded Kens Gardens in 1972. This would become a true family business with sisters, wives, mothers and fathers all working side by side growing vegetables, herbs, annuals and perennials.
The first location for the business was in Intercourse Pennsylvania on Newport Road and they would transport their products to the local farmers markets in downtown Lancaster, Delaware and New Jersey. As their reputation and success grew they realized an opportunity to sell their hardy plants to the local community. In 1974 a small retail store was opened at Intercourse; however they were only open for the Spring and Summer months. During 1975 Ken’s Gardens took over the retail operations of Glick’s Plant Farm located on Old Philadelphia Pike in Smoketown, PA. It was a small building with retail counters outside and a small inviting porch.
With two locations now running full swing it was decided by Ken and Norman to sell their plants wholesale in addition to the farm markets and their retail locations. All this success started to demand more and more of the family’s time and they decided to stop going to the various farmers markets and focused solely on their wholesale and retail business.
By 1984 the retail business had grown so large that a new building was built at the Intercourse location and it is the same building being used today. This large facility now made it possible to be open all year round. Shortly after that in 1986 a new building was constructed at the Smoketown location which included an indoor retail area and also provided the opportunity to be open year round. With the added months they were now open Ken and Norman soon found they were too busy to run both a full time retail operation and a wholesale operation. In 1990 they decided to drop the wholesale side of the business and focus solely on providing top quality plants to the retail customers who had become so loyal to them.
The business kept growing and so did Ken and Norman’s children. In 2004 it was decided to turn operations over to the next generation.
One of the first improvements this new generation added was the addition of offering flowering shrubs to their existing selection of perennials, annuals, vegetables and herbs. From their humble beginnings to their present day operations one thing has remained the same at Ken’s Gardens. They are still a family owned and operated garden center who is committed to providing the best quality plants at an affordable price for generations to come.