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Bobby Waite
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Bobby Waite
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Bobby Waite
By Chrysa Smith
An old Chinese proverb says, “Life begins the day you start a garden.” That may be true. There’s nothing like working with nature to soothe the soul and energize the spirit. And that is perhaps what gives Chris Stout of Bye-Way Gardens in Lambertville that perfect combination.
On the corner of Bridge Street and Rt. 29 sits what seems like another urban building—but it’s quite a bit more. Because during growing season, Chris says it’s a virtual paradise of both outdoor and house plants that stretch around the corner and down the side of the block.
But Bye-Way isn’t just about selling plants. That’s one third of what’s happening there. Because it’s a three-fold business that includes garden design, a florist, and a gift shop. Ambitious? I should say so. Officially reopened last year, smack in the middle of a pandemic, Chris says that when it comes to business, it’s been a great year. “Everyone has gone back to putting time and energy into homes and shopping locally.” And that has certainly helped the company grow, not just in Lambertville, but also through much of New Jersey and into Bucks County.
While the landscaping segment of the business accounts for slightly less than one third of sales, it’s steadily growing. And that is a testament to Chris’s work. “Versed in organic treatments and herbicides,” Chris says, the jobs range from postage size lots to six and eight-acre parcels. While much of Lambertville itself has smaller gardens, Chris’s French style of design, as he calls it, is visible throughout projects large and small.
Sure, he uses plants that are native to the region. Skill comes naturally, as he worked for Judy Glattstein, a well-known teacher at the New York Botanical Gardens. “For quite a few years,” he says, “I served as head gardener at her property in Frenchtown.” He also worked with a renowned doctor from the Hunterdon Medical Center, Dr. Gerald Barad, on one of the biggest collections of cacti and succulents on the east coast. “I was paid for my education under them,” Chris notes.
His French style is hard to describe in words. But certainly, evident in photos. I’d call it mostly fluid and flowing, with landscapes that look like they are natural to the grounds but with a European twist. There’s texture. There’s color. There’s style. In one landscape project, there are patches of flowing colors that wind down a field, traversing from pink to white to yellow to purple. It’s soft and subtle to the eye, weaving different plant properties that look perfectly coherent. Another landscape boasts texture and soothing shades of green, as ferns mix with mass plantings of purple Siberian Iris to create an inviting, shaded outdoor space. Chris advises those in the market for a landscape designer to “Do your research.” Look for someone who’s been around, will be around and has a style and working relationship that meshes with yours.
By now, you get it. Chris is pretty diverse. And that’s why he also serves as florist to many venues throughout Central New Jersey. “You won’t find a carnation in my arrangements,” he proudly says. Not that there’s anything wrong with carnations. It’s just that Chris likes to do things with a twist. “I did some vocational schooling and taught myself,” he says of his floral abilities, and sits perfectly positioned in an area with some beautiful wedding venues. While the floral side was slow to take off, it’s coming around. “I’ve done about 20 weddings before opening the business and two since opening less than a year ago—again, during a pandemic. But the florist side of the business encompasses more than weddings and corporate events. Chris also has some experience with merchandising, gained while working for a nursery in Northern New Jersey. This has enabled him to put together some elaborate functions. “I did a huge bar mitzvah a few years back. Camping was the theme.” So, he had hand-cut Christmas trees brought into a hotel, along with teepees, firepits with battery-operated flames and smore-roasting stations for marshmallows. He brought in bales of white pine straw (not just ordinary hay) and claims the gala was a great success, even if the hotel cleaning staff was a tad overtaxed.
The gift shop is the third aspect of Bye-Ways Gardens. Speaking with Chris, you get the very strong sense that a natural offshoot of working with flowers and plants are other things beautiful, natural and in harmony with nature. So, the shop, opened at the same time as the other two business segments, is stocked with organic teas, olive oil, balsamic vinegars, honey, jams, jellies, candles, handcrafter blankets from Nepal, and of course, lots of pottery. His mom, who he said intended to retire many years ago, has made a comeback as a tender to all things in the shop.
So, with a few components of a business, you might wonder why it is simply named By-Way Gardens. It’s because gardening is in his blood. His great-grandparents started a nursery back in the 1940’s up in Bethlehem. There was an empty lot on a byway, hence the slightly shifted Bye-Way Gardens. It sold mostly unusual perennials and bulbs. At some point in time, his grandfather took the shop to Easton, where it was predominantly a mail-order shop. “I also had a green thumb,” Chris says, “as do my brothers.” The business sat dormant since his grandfather’s passing in the 1980’s—that is, till last year, when Chris got the bug to start it up and expand it all over again.
“I’d love to continue to grow the landscaping end,” Chris says. “When I was looking for a location, I looked in Califon, New Jersey, but it was too big to tend. About 12 acres.” He landed in the town of Lambertville, where he says, storage is an issue, but he’s expanding his shop to an entire floor. In the shop where the original Bye-Way Gardens sign hangs. And he’s confident that the family business will continue uninterrupted for a long, long time to come.
Bye-Way Gardens is located at 77 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ. For more information, call 609-460-4803 or visit www.byewaygardens.com.
Chrysa Smith is a regular contributor to the magazine, a container gardener, and an admirer of those who design with the beauty of nature