Carolyn Sullivan and her husband, Terry, purchased 10 wooded acres in Mechanicsville in 1990 and set their sights on building their dream home.

But before the foundation was even laid, Carolyn Sullivan was hard at work on another project. She was clearing land for a garden.

"Priorities, you know," she said with a smile.

Eighteen years later, her small landscaping project has turned into a way of life. A few years after completing their home, the Sullivans opened Carolyn's Garden to the public.

What started as a small nursery with about 20 varieties of plants has blossomed into something much more. The business features more than 750 varieties of perennials, daylilies, shrubs, hostas and vines.

"Some big companies started this way," said Dr. Jerzy Nowak, who heads the horticulture department at Virginia Tech. "But these days, nursery and landscaping has become such a big business that it's hard to make much of an income from it as a hobby."

The Sullivans prefer to remain small. They propagate most of the plants on site, which enables them to sell them at a lower price than most greenhouses. Potted perennials start at $3.

"Are we going to grow anymore? No," Carolyn Sullivan said. "If we got any bigger, I don't think we could care for it properly."

The entire yard is a showcase garden, where the Sullivans try out new plants. Those that do well are divided, placed in pots and moved to the retail side of the property. They often dig up plants for customers who don't see what they want in pots.

"We like to try the plants first to see how they do," Carolyn Sullivan said. "That way, we know what to recommend."

Sullivan, who worked for 15 years at the Great Big Greenhouse in Chesterfield County, sold a few plants from her home in Chester before opening Carolyn's Garden. She and her husband, who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, started their business with the most basic plants, including hostas and black-eyed Susans.

"They were the most popular plants -- they still are," she said.

Slowly, the couple added more plants to their inventory, including hydrangea, aster, cardinal flower, coneflower, peony, columbine, goat's beard, ornamental grasses, penstemon, phlox, verbena, sedum, poppy and a variety of herbs.

"It's amazing all that she has," said Cathy Easter, a customer for about two years. "I typically go once a month. It's always, 'I'll stop and look.' But it's hard to look and not buy.' "

Keeping up with inventory takes hours of work each day. The Sullivans, as well as Carolyn's sister, Marti Proctor, and a few part-time volunteers, weed, deadhead, water and divide every day. They also contend with the mess squirrels leave. The critters like to dig through pots of plants to bury acorns.

"It can be a lot of hard work, but I love it," Carolyn said. "You have to to do this."

She's been known to disappear in the yard until darkness forces her inside.

"I'd rather be at the lake fishing," said Terry Sullivan, who drives a senior citizen van three times a week. "But gardening relaxes her. It makes her happy."

The love affair does have its drawbacks.

"My hands, they are shot," Carolyn said as she peered at her broken fingernails.

A small price to pay for happiness, she said. Not only does she enjoy digging in the dirt, but sharing her gardening secrets. She offers workshops and seminars at home, with the next -- shade gardening -- set for June 28 at 10 a.m.

"We can take people around and show them examples of what we are talking about," she said. "We can show them what the small potted plants will look like in a few years."

That's important, she said, because many gardeners don't plan ahead. They buy a plant and plop it in the ground with little thought for how large it will one day become.

"She can tell you just about everything about any plant," said Terry, who admits he doesn't share his wife's gift.

"My job is to do anything she asks me to do," he joked. "I just don't go for the weeding."

He did remove about 60 trees in one corner of the property so the hostas would have a home.

"This started as a hobby and that's what it will continue to be," he said. "If it gets any bigger . . . it would be too much of a headache and take away the joy. We don't want that." Contact Janet Caggiano at (804) 649-6157 or jcaggiano@timesdispatch.com.