If you’ve lived in Grandmont Rosedale a while, you might just know Tina Castleberry, owner of The Garden Bug, our newly opened gardening store at 18901 Grand River. Tina has lived in Grandmont Rosedale for more than 16 years and has landscaped many gardens and lawns throughout the neighborhood. It’s not a stretch then, for Tina to open her own shop specializing in all things beautiful and necessary for your garden and yard. As she takes a moment to stretch in one of the outdoor furniture sets she carries at her store, she is surrounded by rhododendron, geraniums, hanging flowers of pink and yellow and blue. Tina looks quite at home.
Tina has known gardening all her life. Growing up in Highland Park, some of Tina’s earliest memories are of helping in her mother’s gardens. Tina remembers how her mother loved roses, azaleas and especially geraniums, “her favorite,” according to Tina. While one might doubt just how helpful a little kid can be in a garden, Tina is certain that helping in her mother’s flower and vegetable gardens is where she acquired her own love of gardening. “I love the dirt – the feel and smell of it, I do,” she says. Once she had a home and family of her own, Tina started on her own garden, and then on others’ gardens all over Grandmont Rosedale. Through the friends she made sitting game side at Stoepel Park watching her kids play baseball, Tina started meeting people who needed landscaping done and thus started a landscaping company. She eventually had over 35 clients. Her kids are old enough now that they have decided they prefer soccer to baseball, and Tina’s arthritis announces itself more often than it used to, so Tina decided that having a gardening store might just be a lovely way to transition to something still garden related, but less strenuous.
You might think she was serious about taking it easy if you were sitting with her among the flowers and bushes she has for sale outside her store, but once you walk in, you know Tina’s ambition is not interested in rest. Tina’s husband Larry Castleberry’s reaction when he saw the inside of the former doctor’s office that had been empty for at least 10 years was “You have a very creative imagination.” Tina chose to read this an encouragement and has, in just over two months, had joists replaced, new cement flooring poured, dry wall installed, new electrical installed, replaced glass bock windows with windows that offer a sunnier view both inside and out, and she is currently working on the plumbing. Once finished, Tina sees a complete, ADA accessible gardening store that will carry new and used tools, new and used garden furniture, gardening gloves, clogs, plant food – just about anything a gardener might need. Tina also sees a space for shoppers to sit and enjoy a light lunch or a cup of tea.
For now, though, Tina is happy to beautify Grandmont Rosedale by selling flowers, bags of mulch and dirt, shrubbery, and patio furniture under the trees at Grand River and Avon. It’s a lovely, well-chosen spot for a gardening store and a place where Tina is quite happy to help customers choose which plants will work best in their gardens. You shouldn’t hesitate to stop by. Tina loves dirt, but she’s not fond of snow so, she’ll only be here until mid-July, 7 days a week from 9am – 7pm. She plans on spending the colder months in her warm house but welcomes anyone to rent her building to sell cool weather gardening supplies such as hay bales, pumpkins, even Christmas trees and poinsettias. If you are interested in renting Tina’s space at 18901 Grand River, let her know at lcastleberry@sbcglobal.net or 313-530-5296.
You can like The Garden Bug Facebook page and visit https://thegardenbugdetroit.com/about/