09/02/2026
I just wanted to let everyone know that George’s Green Thumb Garden Center will be changing ownership on Tuesday September 1st. The location will be the same and Rachel will still be in charge of everything. Cory Thompson is the new owner and the name will change to Thompsons Garden Center. Cory has some great ideas for updating the business and plans to expand. They will still carry the same quality plants we have always had and will have all the mulches and soil for delivery or pick up, along with new items to enhance your garden. Please stop in and see what is going on.
I want to thank everyone that has supported us for the past 50 years. Either as a customer, through the Landscape Co., the Garden Center, or as an employee. It has been a great ride. We have met so many great people and had the pleasure of working on some of the finest properties in Talbot County. We are trying to calculate the number of employees that have passed through here over the years. Right now the estimate is over 150. Some of their children have even worked here. Many went on to study horticulture in college and make that their career, some became our friendly competition and many came back to tell us that they were able to landscape their own house based on a summer job here. So often they stop in just to say hi and tell us about their experience here and to meet their families. We have made so many friends over the years. That has been a wonderful bonus.
This all started when I took a summer job at Hilly’s Garden Center in the early seventies. After a stint in college studying ornamental horticulture and design, I decided to start my own company. At that time Talbot County had not been discovered. The existing landscape companies were Wye Nursery and Eastern Shore Nursery. Wye Nursery went to wholesale only, Norman Fisher of Wye was a great mentor to me, sadly he recently passed. Eastern Shore went to retail.
Starting with my dad’s El Camino and then purchasing a 1965 Chevrolet pickup from a local mason ( I offered him $500, he said $300 was plenty) and later converting a wrecker to a flat bed. (No dump) from a family member and hiring Chris Wegener as my first employee. I remember going to Nevius Hardware on the corner of Washington St. and Goldsbourgh St. and asking Mr. Nevius if I could open a charge account. He looked at me, asked who my Grandfather was and issued me credit. Green Thumb was up and running. I soon was notified that there had been a Green Thumb in the area before and left town owing a lot of people money. So we pivoted, Threw George’s in front of it and we were good to go. One of our first customers was a lady in Oxford name Mary Hanks. She happened to be the beautification chairman for the town. I think she may have been the only member actually. She was tough to please but we managed to impress her and she went around town telling the local residents that their yards were a mess and they needed to call me. We did not leave Oxford for quite a while. Thanks to her.
My sister Della was doing my books part time. The first year she got a bicycle as her pay. The next year I do not remember but it was something similar. We decided to open a Garden Center way out of town. Back then our neighbors were cows. We still have pictures from opening day. We were quite busy. Della continued to run the Garden Center and when I married Nanci in 1985 she came on as well. Together we have managed to stay busy for these 50 years and still get along
There of course has been so many memorable moments throughout the years. With this chapter in my life closing I have been running through the rolodex of events. Things like retrieving a riding lawnmower from the bottom of a pool, saving a dog from choking on a bone, digging multiple pet graves, moving giant trees with cranes into tiny spaces. The one that keeps coming up is a young man working here as a summer job was bet by the crew that he would not swallow a live goldfish for one dollar. Of course he did. That young man went on to serve our country and become a commercial airline pilot.
Once again, Thank You for all of your support. See you around town.
George Manahan
