Long-time Annandale plant nursery will close this summer

After serving the Annandale community for 68 years, the Campbell & Ferrara nursery on Little River Turnpike will close in late spring or early summer. The company isn’t shutting down for good though; the landscaping and garden design center is relocating to 8357 Richmond Highway in Alexandria. The new place will have a much smaller retail component.

The property being vacated by Campbell & Ferrara will become a housing development.

“Although it’s sad to move, it’s a very exciting time to enter the next chapter in the evolution of the business. This space has served its best use and now it’s time for another use,” says Donna Campbell, who owns the company with her husband, Jim Campbell.

The property has been sold to a developer.

The business was started as a farm for nursery plants by Ed Campbell, Jim’s father, and John Ferrara, Ed’s brother-in-law, in 1945. “Everywhere you look, there’s something we planted,” says Donna, who notes that the company did the landscaping for the Masonic Temple in Alexandria and other projects all over Northern Virginia.

Annandale is not only losing a long-time family-run business, but also community benefactor that has been a generous contributor to local schools and nonprofit organizations.

The company hopes to sell all the large trees on the Annandale site and as many other items as possible before the move, so everything will be on sale. New flowers and plants will be delivered for spring planting. “We will have a full spring,” says Donna. For coupons and information about weekly specials, sign up for the Campbell & Ferrara newsletter.