White’s Old Mill Garden Center in Chesapeake closes despite family’s efforts to keep it flourishing

The closing of White’s Old Mill in Chesapeake is like losing a well cared for plant after many years.

Sometimes, even the right soil mix and amount of water, plenty of sunshine and lots of tender loving care isn’t enough to keep it alive.

That’s exactly where things stand for the beloved nursery and garden center that has maintained 56.1 acres of property and a business that included 20 acres of climate-controlled commercial greenhouses in Deep Creek for 68 years.

After an extremely challenging operating year in 2023, with reduced customer demand and rising interest rates, the business was negatively impacted beyond repair. The business announced the decision to close earlier in June.

“The business of flowers is different from the enjoyment and serenity that the garden center brought to people,” said Tal White, son of the founder, 91-year-old Norm White.

After they learned the lender no longer wanted to back the business, Tal White said they tried to downsize by keeping the garden center along with its e-commerce shipping and an acre of greenhouses in operation, but it was not meant to be.

They had four to five meetings with a publicly traded company that showed interest in investing in the business, but cold feet prevailed, he said.

Now the family-owned and -operated business is busy auctioning off items for commercial growers, including the greenhouses, numerous plant carts and hanging basket display racks, pallets, industrial storage tanks and other equipment through SecondBloomAuctions.com. The online auction ends on July 1.

“It’s not the direction we wanted to take,” Tal White said. “But we’re trying to take care of all of our obligations.”

Coke bottles — close to 2,000 used for drip irrigation — are a hot commodity that locals are requesting as White’s Old Mill mementos.

As for the future of the property, Tal White said the family is taking it one step at a time.

“This is literally our life and our work in our backyard,” he said.

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com