Four generations in, Gaar’s Nursery began in Milton, Indiana when William Henry Gaar purchased a small nursery from his friend David Lee.William Henry ( often referred to as Billy) operated the Nursery with the help of his son, Milton Henry (16 yrs old). The nursery soon moved to East Germantown where William Henry grew and sold plants until he retired. His son, Milton (picture below) added landscaping in 1910 and moved the Nursery to Cambridge City, Indiana.

Milton Gaar, Second Generation

As landscaping grew in demand, Milton decided to open a branch in Chesterfield, Indiana in the year 1928. Milton’s son, Howard Gaar, graduated from Earlham College and began to work with his father in 1932.

Now with two locations buzzing, the Great Depression came with a bang. The business was thrown into receivership by a foreclosure suit and Howard was hired to sell out the nursery stock at Chesterfield while his brother-in-law was hired to sell out the nursery stock in Cambridge City. Determined to save the much appreciated Gaar’s Nursery, Howard and his wife Mildred purchased what was left at Chesterfield while Howard’s sister Evelyn and husband Campbell Brower purchased what was left at Cambridge City. They both continued to operate business independently.

Howard Gaar, fourth from the left, receiving the "Green Survivor City" award.

In 1942, during World War II, Howard was draft age and in a business non-essential to the war. Accordingly, he went to work at Delco Remy in a war-related job. In order to keep the business from closing, Howard’s wife Mildred kept the office open. There was one landscape crew installing plants that Howard could sell in off-hours from Delco, and two or three men working in the field. Howard gave notice at Delco the day the Japanese surrendered. Mildred continued to work in the office until she was 90.

As Chesterfield began to grow physically and throughout the community, Barry Gaar (son of Howard Gaar) continued the fourth generation to own and operate Gaar’s Nursery after graduating from Purdue in 1959. Phil Gaar, graduation from Purdue in 1961, also stepped in to help own and operate the family business.

Phil Gaar, to this day, working out in the farm

Through trials and tribulations, Gaar property still operates in the same location, but now as “Affordable Trees” . We are lucky to still have Phil Gaar on board with us, working and teaching employees. With his help we have lined out our first set of bare-root trees on the property in the summer of 2009. The legacy of Gaar’s Nursery will continue to be a topic of conversation at our farm. Can you think of a nursery as long lived as Gaar Nursery?