Spotlight on Business: The Secret Garden

I can still vividly remember that aha moment when my husband and I made the decision on a career change that would launch The Secret Garden. He was working 6 days a week running a successful restaurant in midtown Sac and I was helping him while raising our four children here in Elk Grove. That was about this time of year in 2001, and we began looking for a location for our new garden shop. We wanted something close enough for the kids to be able to stop by after school, a place where we could all be a part of the community. So we settled on a little run down house on ¼ acre of land right in Old Town Elk Grove. We opened for business just in time for the Western Festival Parade in May 2002 and happily grew our new venture, The Secret Garden, into something we could be proud of.

As the recession was winding down we made the decision to put ourselves where we would have more space and greater visibility to a larger market. We moved The Secret Garden to our current location on West Stockton Blvd in 2010. This current location offers 2 acres of freeway frontage and has achieved what we were aiming for back when we looked to move. It allowed us to still be in Elk Grove and close to the client base we had developed in Old Town, while drawing in new people daily.

The Secret Garden is a different business model that most garden stores. We have always come from the décor angle rather than the plant angle. Our focus over the past 14 years has been in helping our customers create outdoor living spaces that are an extension of their home. The backyard can be so much more than a concrete slab surrounded by grass, only used for the occasional bbq. Instead we truly believe it can actually be the best room in the house.

Over the last 3 years, as we all learned that water was a commodity to be used wisely, we began to carry drought tolerant plant choices for our region. Our nursery offering grew to include a fabulous selection of succulents, salvias, grasses, lantanas and other plants that we can successfully grow in our hot summer sun. We also made the decision to only use, and offer to our clients, organic fertilizers and organic insecticides. We make a point of only selling organic vegetables, organic seeds, and help educate clients on some of the principles of greener gardening.

We have also made a strong commitment to carrying American Made goods when possible. From our wind chimes to our candles, from our concrete statuary to our locally handcrafted Christmas ornaments, we believe that if we’re going to ask you to support small business and #ShopLocal, then we should be doing the same thing.

The Secret Garden is family owned and operated and proud to be a part of Elk Grove’s diverse community. We are always looking for ways to continue to enhance our offerings to our customers, and this year, starting on Small Business Saturday (Nov. 26) we’re offering Christmas trees for sale. So make plans to visit your favorite small businesses this holiday season and let’s have another great year in Elk Grove!

The Secret Garden is located at 

8450 West Stockton Blvd

Elk Grove, CA 95758

Phone: 916-682-6839

Hours: 

Open 10-5 Sun & Mon

Open 10-6 Tues-Sat

Secret Garden website

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