Hoerr Nursery has a rich history whose roots stretch down deep within the Peoria community. For 90 years, garden enthusiasts and hobbyists have experienced our love and dedication for landscaping and gardening through our excellent products, outstanding service and knowledgeable staff.

As a family owned and operated company in Central Illinois, we have taken care to grow our business just as carefully as any of the plants we sell. Over the decades, we have concentrated in developing several areas of our business—as a plant nursery, sod grower, a garden center and a lawn & landscape service provider. That is why we have also grown to include a staff of landscape architects, horticulturalists, certified arborists, and Illinois Certified Nursery Professionals.

When a German immigrant tried to make ends meet during the Great Depression, he had little idea that his humble venture would one day become a multi-million dollar family business.

David August (D.A.) Hoerr began delivering coal with his truck in 1926 to help Peoria residents heat their homes for the winter. To supplement his income during the warmer months, he began delivering topsoil, doing landscaping work, and eventually growing plants and trees to sell. For 13 years he operated a nursery business from his family home on Big Hollow Road, now the site of Bob Evans Restaurant. By 1945, D.A. dropped the trucking business and devoted his time to landscaping and growing sod.

In 1950, the first Garden Center was built across the street from the family’s house on War Memorial Drive, on the land now occupied by Steak & Shake. In 1958, D.A. Hoerr incorporated with three of his sons, Jim, John and Rudy to form D.A. Hoerr & Sons, Inc.

In 1966, D.A. acquired a piece of land on the edge of town along Route 91. The property was converted from a farm to a plant nursery. Construction began on a retail store, new greenhouses and production facilities, and opened to the public in 1974.

Now known as Hoerr Nursery, the company manages about 400 acres in the Peoria area for the production of trees, plants and sod. The family business is now run by the third generation of Hoerrs, and has grown to include a staff of landscape architects, horticulturalists, certified arborists, master gardeners, and nursery professionals.

The Hoerr family can look back and be proud of the business they built over the years. But all pay tribute to the hard work of D.A. Hoerr that paved the way for future success.

Nationally Recognized Garden Center

The Hoerr family name has a long history in Peoria. David August Hoerr, the son of German immigrants, began delivering topsoil in his truck and doing other landscaping jobs in 1926. During the Great Depression, this humble venture helped put food on the table. Nearly nine decades later, his modest company has turned into a multi-million dollar family business.

Today, the third generation Hoerr Family owns and operates about 400 acres of land in the Peoria area, which produce trees, plants and sod for homeowners across Central Illinois.

Hardy Hare: A rebirth of an old mascot

If you’ve spent any time with us, you might have noticed our official mascot, HARDY HARE. But he’s no newcomer. In fact, Hardy Hare has been around for many decades! But what’s the story behind the mascot?

“I remember that my Uncle Rudy—one of the 3 original brother partners with my dad Jim and Uncle John—was a brilliant man who could do just about anything he set his mind to. He was a self-taught architect, draftsman, landscape designer, but his real passion was building and racing stock cars, long before the days of Nascar and big money. He could draw and sketch freehand in amazing ways. Back in the ‘60s, as D. A. Hoerr and Sons was increasing in visibility and scope of services, lots of people had never heard of the business and subsequently mispronounced our last name. You might imagine how it was most frequently mis-pronounced! I’m not sure who came up with the idea, very likely Uncle Rudy, to draw a Bugs Bunny imitation and christen it Hardy Hare in some attempt to give people a clue on how to pronounce our name, all the while providing a recognizable icon for the business. It worked like a charm.” - Ben Hoerr