WILTON – A nursery and landscaping business got the green thumbs-up from the Planning Board on Thursday night.
Construction is expected to begin today on Rocky Hill Landscaping and Nursery at the southwest corner of Wilton and Cemetery roads, John Black said. Black, who has been landscaping for 10 years, plans to build a two-story, 24- by 30-foot building with a cathedral ceiling and glass wall facing busy Wilton Road. In addition to retail and office space, he hopes to be able to offer a meeting place for local garden clubs in the building, he said.
Entrance to the 10.5-acre lot will be off Cemetery Road. Customers will be able to purchase a variety of small trees, shrubs and perennials as well as “hardscape” materials like paving stones. The business will also offer landscape design and construction of such things as walkways, retaining walls and ponds. Black also owns 40 acres behind the lot and plans to grow some of the trees he’ll sell there.
A native of Wilton and a Mt. Blue High School graduate, Black started mowing lawns in high school. He went on to study plant and soil science at Southern Maine Community College and landscape horticulture at the University of Maine.
He currently employs five full-time landscapers during the busy summer season. He expects he’ll need two more and a retail manager next spring, he said.
His project has been two years in the planning.
“I’ll be excited when it’s done,” he said.
He isn’t worried about competition from a proposed Home Depot up the road in Farmington.
“People will come if they want quality,” he said.
Black hopes to open by November so he can sell Christmas trees and wreaths there.
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