Celebrating Over 45 years of Growth!

    The year was 1960. Alexander Kennedy lived on Cedar Acres Road in Marshfield. There was a small nursery on Rt. 3A in Scituate and it was for sale. Alexander’s grandson, Bob Kennedy, was in his last year of horticultural study at The Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts. The Senior Mr. Kennedy saw this as an opportunity with great potential for his grandson Bob. And so it began.

    At the time, over 45 years ago, there sat one small building comprised of the current gift shop space heated by a pot bellied stove and a 20’ x 20’ seasonal garden center area. The former proprietor was a grower of perennials, trees, and shrubs selling his plants directly from the field. With youthful enthusiasm and the love of plants and gardening, Bob began expanding the scope of the business and took on lawn maintenance customers to keep the business going during his early years. Kennedy’s Country Gardens began growing right along with Scituate and the rest of the South Shore.

    The addition of the first greenhouse came several years later. Bob found this wood and glass greenhouse in New Hampshire. It was dismantled and shipped to Scituate and re-assembled where it still stands and is what we call "The # 1 House".

    It was in the early 70’s that Kennedy’s landscape design and construction department began. At that time Bob did all the landscape design and was his own foreman on the installations. As the area grew, Kennedy’s was growing and beautifying homes and businesses all over the South Shore and Cape Cod.

    It was also in the early 70’s that the now famous Paul Parent came to work at Kennedy’s while he was still finishing his education at the Stockbridge School. Upon graduation, Paul came on full time with Bob and grew with Kennedy’s for 18 years. Paul started his local (now national) garden radio show on Sundays while working at Kennedy’s. During Paul’s time at Kennedy’s Matt Sheehan joined Bob, too. And we’re happy to say Matt is with us today as our Greenhouse and Water Garden Manager.

    During the seventies and eighties Kennedy’s saw further expansion of the garden center and the addition of several more greenhouses. 

    In 1994, the next generation of Kennedy’s arrived on the scene. Bob’s son Christopher, assumed a full-time position after graduating from Penn State University with his degree in Landscape Contracting and Horticulture.

    The result of Bob’s dream and 45 years of effort on the part of the many staff members have been part of Kennedy’s over the years is what you see today when you visit Kennedy’s Country Gardens.