When Tom Drew considered a career change at age 46, he wanted to start a business that would allow him to watch success grow from a job well done.

Matching his love of horticulture with a wide-open market for landscaping services and materials as development continues in the northern part of the county, Drew opened T-Bones Nursery on Meriweather Road, just two miles west of the new traffic light at Meriweather and U.S. Highway 441, to provide the Northside with the resources it needs to plant a prettier tomorrow.

“People enjoy landscaping, not to mention, it increases the value of your home between 6 and 8 percent,” Drew said. “It gives you the ability to sit on your front porch or back deck and enjoy your yard. It’s the satisfaction of knowing you’ve done something yourself and watching it grow.”

T-Bones carries all the materials a green thumb needs to begin envisioning and facilitating a change in any landscaping situation. T-Bones carries all the potting soils, mulches and fertilizers you’ll need, along with a large selection of color. And customers can receive free landscaping consultation from Drew and his helpful staff. T-Bones also carries a large variety of healthy plants at prices that won’t force would-be landscapers to choose between improving the aesthetic quality of their home and paying the mortgage. Because in addition to cultivating a business plan that addresses the landscaping needs of the northern part of Baldwin County, Drew has grown his skill in plant propagation, which allows him to offer hundreds of different varieties of plants at low prices by selling them in smaller sizes.

“In this economy, a lot of people can’t afford to pay $200 for a 15-gallon Japanese maple,” Drew said.

Drew sells many varieties of plants in a one-gallon size to save customers money, but also to give customers a plant that will adapt to its new setting better.

“I am a firm believer in planting when a plant is smaller, so that it will take hold and get established easier,” he said. “People want to landscape their own yards, and this offers them an alternative to ready-made landscapes.”

And Drew said that now is not the time to put the gardening supplies away, just because the days are getting shorter and the nights are cooling off.

“Fall is the best time to plant,” he said. “The days and ground are still warm enough for the plants to grow and get established, and they won’t have to bear through the harsh days of summer.”

Drew said he sees proper landscaping and beautification as a legacy that people leave to the generation that comes next. That is why T-Bones has donated and agreed to contribute to several beautification projects across Baldwin. Most recently, Drew donated about 30 river birch and red maple trees to the Baldwin County Recreation Department to help provide shade at the county’s new multi-purpose soccer complex on state Route 212. T-Bones will be donating trees to the Oconee River Greenway and providing landscaping drawings to local Habitat for Humanity efforts.

As a Baldwin resident who gets out to enjoy the Oconee River Greenway on a regular basis, Drew said that he wants to be able to walk on the greenway 10 years from now and know that he contributed to the natural beauty surrounding him.

For more information on T-Bones call 478) 968-0002.