GRANBY – For this year’s spring/summer season, the Class Grass Garden Center on 140 West State St., Route 202, have in store a vast selection of decorative plants and vegetable plants for residents to transform their backyards into their new hang out spot during COVID-19.

The Class Grass Garden Center is a family run business that has been around for 29 years. They sell a full line of trees, shrubs and flowering plants, vegetable plants and flowering and hanging ornamental grasses. Owner John Duda explained to Reminder Publishing that the garden center is a unique destination with a wide variety of decorative items. They carry unique statuaries and wide selection of bird baths and hummingbird feeders, as well as carrying a beautiful line of chimes, coil pot, water gardening supplies and an extensive selection of perennials, annuals and shrubbery.

Duda said it was his idea to open the center and built it from the ground up. The concept behind the garden center was to be able to be a one-stop shop and cater to the homeowner and the do-it-yourselfer. Duda envisioned the center to be a place where people can come and ask questions. He wanted to educate the average homeowner and help them be a successful gardener and make a successful project in their home. Before opening the garden center, Duda had a landscaping business called Class Grass Landscaping for 11 years.

He responded, “I wanted to build the garden center so that I could be in one spot and not on the road every day going to different jobs with the landscaping business. The garden center gave me a home base.”

During the pandemic, Duda said the center has been doing very well. They were able to open and provided vegetable seeds, vegetable starter plants and propane for customers that either heat or use it for their kitchen cooking or for their grills. Duda found that being more in the open air, customers felt a little safer to come with their masks on and be outside the shop; to fill that void customers had for shopping.

“We’ve made a tremendous amount of new customers last year and we are hoping to be able to retain those customers,” Duda said. “We were able to help a lot of people who never really did any gardening in their yard and took them to the next level. Now, they can continue their success in their own planting landscaping and creations.”

He continued, “Our intent is just to continue to give them the quality and the good service that they have come to expect over the last 29 years. We want to be reliable for them.”

Duda shared, “We’re finding that a lot of people are putting decorative white lights up in their backyard, getting some canopies and entertaining their friends and family outside so they can social distanced, but yet still be together in the same area.”

He went on to say, “This year, we are introducing some tropical varieties of mandevilla. We’re finding that the mandevilla vine, people are using it to put in pots on their patios. A mandevilla will have hundreds of flowers throughout the season.”

The Class Grass Garden Center is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit their website at classgrass.com or call at 467-7979.