Green Velvet Landscape: 50 years and growing

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PORTSMOUTH — If you’ve ever walked by the back entrance of Piscataqua Savings Bank, chances are you’ve taken the time to stop and smell the fresh flowers.

The outdoor arrangement, which over the years has served as a background for many photographs and constant praise from passersby, consists of everything from rudbeckias, echinaceas, petunias, marigolds and begonias.

As the person responsible for the upkeep of the many perennials and annuals, Jim Piper said that each and every time he watches someone stop and admire the flowers, he is reminded of why he continues to operate his landscaping business, Green Velvet Landscape.

“People stop me and say the gardens are so beautiful,” Piper said. “That says it all.”

Having tended to the downtown gardens for the past 35 years, Piper said it’s not uncommon for between 15 and 20 people to stop him while he works in the flower beds throughout the week.

The admiration, mixed with a love for landscaping, is what Piper said keeps him doing what he’s doing year after year.

Piper was only 14 years old when he started working at Green Velvet Landscape, which was founded in 1963 and run by Gordon Gaskell.

After putting in his time at the landscaping company, Piper went into business with Gaskell in 1970. A decade later, Piper took over the business, and a short time later, sold a burgeoning garden center on Central Road in order to concentrate on the landscaping side of the company.

This year, Piper is celebrating the company’s 50th year in business. Now 63, Piper said he credits the company’s longevity to not only the solid foundation built by Gaskell, but also to the continued attention he pays to the detail and quality of his landscaping.

“You do it because you love to do it,” Piper said.

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