History
Green Thumb has been a garden fixture in San Marcos since 1965. But the company didn't start there. In 1946 Dale Bergquist set out on his own in Canoga Park by purchasing a small, dilapidated nursery. The sale included a shovel, one wheelbarrow, plants and an old seed shed. He called the new nursery Green Thumb. Back then, bedding plants were sold one at a time and were boxed up for customers in shoe boxes. Dale and his partner, Errol Newton, built a mailing list by driving around Canoga Park neighborhoods and jotting down addresses. New homes were being built in the region, more and more people were moving to Southern California in the 1950s, demand exceeded supply, and the business grew to five stores. But it didn't always grow in a gardening direction.