Who We Are
A Family Owned Landscape Supply Company
Our Story
The beginnings of Martin Landscape Supply can be traced back to the summer of 1973 when Raymond was 15 years old. He got a job with a local landscaper by the name of Homer Helfelfinger. Most of the work consisted of mowing yards and weeding flower beds: mulch was unheard of at that time.
A few years later one of his coworkers started out on his own and began using mushroom soil for weed control in flower gardens. Raymond, having access to his dad’s six wheeled farm truck, began hauling mushroom soil from the local mushroom farms for him.
As others heard of the value of using mushroom soil for vegetable gardens and for weed control in flowerbeds, Raymond’s clientele began to grow. Hauling mulch became a sideline job for Raymond as he worked on the family farm.
Because of the PH content of mushroom soil, it could not be used around shrubbery and leafy evergreens. Bagged Southern Pine Bark and Cyprus Mulch began to be introduced at convenience stores and garden centers as a mulching product. Raymond hauled his first load of bark mulch in 1980. He took a load of cattle to Georgia for his brother-in-law and needed to find a load to bring back to Pennsylvania. He and his co-driver hand-loaded bagged pine bark into a double deck cattle trailer and delivered it to a K-Mart near Philadelphia.
Around 1986, Raymond purchased his first tub grinder and began purchasing bark mulch from sawmills in central and western Pennsylvania and putting it through a grinding and aging process to create a premium grade of bark mulch, which is still the #1 choice of our clients today. In 1988 Raymond purchased his first live floor trailer to keep up with the demand in the wholesale market.
As the business grew, so did Raymond’s two sons and three daughters. As they grew older Raymond’s two sons, Philip, and Neil, became partners with Raymond in the operations and management of Martin Landscape Supply and Raymond’s daughters, Marilyn, Dorcas, and Dawn, each worked for a period of time as secretaries in the office.
In 2019 Martin Landscape Supply moved its retail operations just down the road from the original location to a larger property where it is currently located today. We have also expanded our inventory line over the years and are now processing and offering various grades of mulch, including black and brown dyed mulch, as well as several grades of topsoil. We also offer several varieties and sizes of decorative gravel as well as lawn seeding supplies such as grass seed, fertilizer, and straw.
In 2022 Raymond passed the business on to the next generation and though he is still very much involved, Martin Landscapes Supply is currently owned and operated by Raymond’s son-in-law, Thomas Schrock, and Raymond’s son, Neil Martin. We still have some of the same customers that purchased Mushroom Soil from Raymond way back in the beginning, including the one who needed the mushroom soil hauled on the farm truck. Martin Landscape Supply continues to supply mulch, topsoil, and stone to homeowners, landscape companies, and garden centers in the local and surrounding communities, with clients as far away as Ohio, Delaware. and New Jersey.