Peter Knippel Garden Centre…your local source for all things garden since 1979.

Peter Knippel emigrated from Germany in 1953, having completed a 3-year apprenticeship in horticulture, and several years of work experience in the field. In 1961, Peter Knippel Nursery was born, providing plant material and landscape services to the public. In 1979, he and Joan Johnston opened the garden centre at its current location, 4590 Bank Street, Ottawa.

In 2001, Kennedy Johnston, Joan’s son, joined the garden centre as general manager. Once surrounded by farmland, the garden centre is now at the heart of several vibrant new communities and, under Kennedy’s leadership, Peter Knippel Garden Centre has been growing right along with them.

Peter Knippel Garden Centre in the 1980s, looking from the parking lot toward the entrance.

Annuals on the ground outside the greenhouse, circa 1980.