Home ‘To have everything’: Staunton welcomes Secret Garden for lovers of horticulture
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‘To have everything’: Staunton welcomes Secret Garden for lovers of horticulture

Rebecca Barnabi
Blake Leitch opened Secret Garden on September 23, 2023 at 1416 Churchville Ave., Staunton. Photo by Rebecca J. Barnabi.

When it comes to indoor and outdoor gardening needs, Valley residents now have a place to go on the West End of Staunton.

Bit & Bridle was previously in the same location until about seven years ago where can now be found Secret Garden.

“We’re the first [business] in here since 1985 that’s changed,” said owner/operator Blake Leitch.

The 2008 Robert E. Lee High School graduate said he has always had a green thumb and his family owns a farm in Grottoes. So opening a garden store made sense.

Secret Garden offers fertilizer, soil, veggie seeds, herbs and much more from industry-leading products.

“Everything you could imagine,” Leitch said.

Customers will also find what they need for raised beds and hydroponics.

Big Worm Living Soil from Richmond and Harrisonburg’s Mountain Gate Organics LLC’s worm castings are available.

Secret Garden opened September 23.

“I love Staunton. I can’t really see being anywhere else,” Leitch said of why he chose to open a store in Staunton.

The store also offers tools for growing marijuana now that it is legalized in Virginia.

“It can be as easy as you want it to be. It can be as hard as you want to make it,” Leitch said of the growing process.

Mushrooms are growing in the back of the store and Leitch hopes later to grow vegetables in tents in the store.

“That’s our main goal — to have everything. And if we don’t have it, I hope they request it,” Leitch said.

Secret Garden is on Instagram and a web site and Facebook pages are in the works.

Secret Garden is at 1416 Churchville Ave., Staunton. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays and Mondays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

 

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.