About Us

Peter Knippel completed his three-year horticultural apprenticeship training in West Germany, and then spent one year working in landscape maintenance for the City of Frankfurt. Following this, Peter spent a year in Sweden, working in the private nursery for the curator of the Botanical Gardens.

In 1953, Peter immigrated to Canada. He was sponsored by a family acquaintance, Cecil Hahn, who at that time owned and operated a nursery and landscape company in the Ottawa area. In 1961 Mr. Hahn wanted to start a new venture in sod farming, and sold his nursery business to Peter. The new company was called Peter Knippel Nursery Ltd.

In 1965, Peter relocated the business to a larger property in Blossom Park, focusing on plant material and the landscape division. In 1972, this property was sold and the company closed.

Joan Johnston had worked for Peter Knippel Nursery during the summers, first as a high school and then university student. After completing her degrees, then working as a business teacher, Joan and Peter incorporated and reopened Peter Knippel Nursery Inc in 1978 at its present location: 4590 Bank Street in Ottawa South. The new site offered good access to all parts of the city and was the semi-urban location required for a nursery/garden center operation.

Joan's eldest son, Kennedy Johnston, joined the business in 2001 after completing a degree in Finance from the University of Ottawa. Kennedy then went on to become a Certified Horticultural Technician through an apprenticeship program at the University of Guelph.

Following in his brother's footsteps, Marty Johnston joined the business in 2005 upon graduating from Dalhousie University with a degree in English and Polical Science. Marty also completed his certification as a Horticutural Technician through the apprentice program at the University of Guelph.

Unlike many other garden centres, that carry everything and anything, Knippel's specializes in supplying quality nursery stock and top-of-the-line customer service. "More and more people are researching what they want before they come to the garden centre," said Joan, "and we need qualified staff on hand who can point the proper material out to them, or suggest good alternatives when necessary."

Within the horticultural marketplace, Peter Knippel Nursery Inc. has remained true to its small-scale roots and created a more personalized atmosphere, in which plants and people will always come first.