Hampton Tradition XXXIII - Marders Nursery

By T.J. Clemente

Charlie and Kathleen Marder, owners of Marders Nursery in Bridgehampton, have been providing their expertise and services to Hamptons residents for more than 30 years. Usually wearing his trademark suspenders, Charlie is ever ready to handle the largest trees of the Hamptons, whether to be planted, relocated or removed. In fact, he holds the record for the widest load moved by the Shelter Island South Ferry. He loaded a tree onto the ferry in North Haven and picked it up on Shelter Island. He recalled, "The tree was wider than the ferry, and was sticking out on both sides."

Charlie and Kathleen met at Ripon College in Wisconsin, married in 1976 and then moved to Springs, where Charlie grew up. At first, Charlie sold firewood from the back of his pickup truck. When he leased a hydraulic tree mover for a week, it changed his life. Charlie mastered the technique of problem solving when it came to moving and replanting large trees. He credits his first substantial customer, Alfonso Osorio, for helping him establish the business. Charlie worked with the legendary artist to create one of the most renowned private tree collections on an estate.

Forever modest, Charlie forged great knowledge and skill from this era that now benefits his present customers. This spring, he will have over $4 million worth of trees in inventory at the nursery, including a 50-foot Copper Beach with a 30-foot trunk that sells for just under $80,000. He roughly estimates that his 28-acre spread has about 2,000 trees and shrubs on it. He credits Warner LeRoy as the greatest influence in growing his collection of trees and shrubs.

The current location of Marders Nursery on Snake Hollow Road is far and away from the original space on Main Street. "It was Kathleen's knowledge of rare and unusual plants, which we had quite a collection of at that time, that also propelled us into purchasing the present space," said Charlie.

Charlie is known as "the tree-moving guy." He talked of successfully moving cedar trees, what he was first known for, but since then, his expertise has been called in to move trees at both New York City's Central Park and The Botanical Gardens. Charlie believes the largest tree he has ever moved was a 90-foot Dawn Redwood about six years ago. Marders now has five to six trained crews for moving trees such as giant beech or large redwoods.

Meanwhile, Kathleen has become renowned for her garden shop where you can find unusual flowers that Charlie said, "You can't find anywhere else." He added that her communicative skills along with her use of plants are "pretty spectacular."

Looking around the large two-story barn that is the nerve center of the nursery, I noticed supplies such as Happy Frog Bat Guano Fertilizer, Alaska Fish Fertilizer, Golden Trophy Pine Bark, Hampton Estate Premier Compost, and, my favorite, bags of Cockadoodle Doo Weed Control. The barn also has a fine collection of gardening reference books for sale including A Pattern Garden, House Plants and The Flower Gardener's Bible. The beautiful wooden floors of the barn give it an authentic feel. And with the classical music creating a soothing atmosphere inside the barn, it's easy to see why Marders Nursery has a loyal upscale clientele. The great service, selection and wisdom that Marders offers are known in the highest of gardening circles.

Kathleen and Charlie have four sons, Silas, who has an art gallery at the back of the nursery, Mica, who is an accomplished artist, Dashiel, who is described as an "outdoors man," and Tucker, who is still in high school and has a great future in film making.

Charlie and Kathleen appreciate every single customer they've had over the years. They stressed that it was a privilege and honor to be able to work with every single one of them, whether it was a selection or the solving of a huge tree problem.

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