Our Story

It all began back in 1996, with a small lawn maintenance company called Total Lawn Care. Mark and Karen Packard got married and lived in a small house in Ashburnham, Massachusetts (MA). They ran a landscape maintenance company out of their home. The neighbors were very tolerant of the equipment in the driveway and would even let Mark borrow their sons for extra labor from time to time. After a couple of years, Karen moved out of the office and into the field doing planting jobs and delivering materials to the crew. By the year 2000, Total Lawn Care was offering installation of plants, walkways, walls, and water features. Mark and Karen outgrew their home based business and needed a place to expand, so they packed up the 2 kids, sold the house, and moved into the Sterling Greenery. For 4 years Karen and Mark lived at the Greenery with 2 kids, and slowly rebuilt what was once a great garden center. After their family outgrew the living space at the greenery, Mark and Karen bought a house in Sterling just minutes from the garden center.

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After helping Mark grow the business, Karen decided to follow her dream of being a real estate agent and quickly fell in love with her new career. She loves helping people sell and buy houses and has become the number one agent in Sterling. Now after 20 years, Karen and Mark still live in Sterling. Mark runs the garden center with the "Green Team" and Karen is the owner/broker of Karen Packard Real Estate Inc. specializing in residential real estate in the Wachusett area. Her office is just across the street from the Greenery. You can see her listings here.

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Now 25 years later, their daughter Kali works with Mark at the garden center and has become integral part of the operations. Kali is the office manager and handles everything behind the scenes to keep the Serling Greenery running efficiently. Their son, Kyle, found his passion with his own handyman company, Handy Heroes. He services central Massachusetts with 'No Job Too Small'. Take a look at his company here.

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Sterling Greenery's Paxton and Sterling, MA, locations are open 8am to 6pm every day, and offer a 3-year guarantee on all trees and shrubs. We offer delivery service, installation of plants, ponds, and patios, and a unique design service "Mobile Landscape Design Service." Sterling Greenery has grown to be one of the top distributors of Aquascape pond supplies and offers top quality plant material. Come check us out for all your outdoor gardening and landscape design project needs. It will be worth the trip!