Lowe’s gifts 92-year-old gardener with yard refresh

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Newsroom Contributor
Apr 28, 2023

Sybil Gorby is no stranger to getting her hands dirty when it comes to gardening. 

The 92-year-old former farmer and passionate green thumb has spent over sixty years kneeling in her garden, plucking, planting crops and plants alike. In fact, the West Virginia native recently received national notoriety after a Facebook post from her daughter Sandy vent viral, showing Sybil holding one of her impressively oversized tomatoes, which have been grown from the same seed lineage since 1965. 

“When I first got my tomato seeds, I did not have a garden at that time, but I knew I had to find somewhere to plant them,” Sybil said. “So, when I first got married, we bought this farm, and we finally had a place to raise the garden we wanted. Now I look forward to planting every single year, to me it means peace and gives me joy to be able to prepare fresh things to eat.”

But Sybil isn’t only known in Tyler County for her gardening expertise, she also loves giving back to her community. Sybil has never accepted money for her harvests, but gives away crops, seeds and even sauces, jams and jellies made with her homegrown produce for free to ensure, “everybody has something to eat,” according to Upworthy.

This spring, Lowe’s is aiming to unlock homeowners’ plant potential and up-level their gardening skills. When associates of Lowe’s Store 1641 in Clarksburg, WV heard Sybil’s story, they were inspired by her passion for gardening and knew they wanted to do something special for her. After connecting more with Sandy, Lowe’s learned that Sybil and her family are longtime customers of Lowe’s, driving nearly an hour and a half to their closest store over the years. Sandy confirmed that Sybil could use Lowe’s help, not only getting her garden into tip-top shape this spring, by making her garden more accessible and manageable this season. 

 

With Sybil’s enthusiastic ‘yes!’ to Lowe’s offer to help, Lowe’s knowledgeable red vest associates, Hannah Stallard, John Layton and Owen Yoke, headed out to her farm to help transform her garden area, which has become challenging for her to manage alone in recent years. 

Lowe’s team of associates built new, easy-to-access vegetable garden beds on Sybil’s terrace, installed new solar landscape lighting throughout her garden, and also planted new flowers in her front lawn to brighten her view, including a new azalea bush to replace her beloved one that died this season. In the new raised beds, Sybil plans to plant herbs, onions and beans, which will complement her delicious tomatoes nicely once they grow over the summer. Lowe’s also gifted Sybil the supplies she needs, like plant food, soils and tools, to keep her garden in bloom all season long.  

“Sybil is such an important community member in Tyler County and her tomatoes bring joy to those around her each season. We couldn’t be happier to lend a hand as her garden takes off this season to help her passion continue to grow,” said Owen Yoke, assistant store manager at Lowe’s Store 1641 in Clarksburg, WV. 

 

Sybil was overjoyed with her revived outdoor area, and her new friends from Lowe’s. 

“My daughter takes me to Lowe's a lot, and we buy our plants and things that help us raise them. It is so wonderful that Lowe’s has come in and brought all of this for me after hearing about my tomatoes. I have never had anything like this done for me before,” Sybil said. 

If you’re looking to unlock your garden’s potential this season, head to Lowes.com or your local store for expert insights and top-rated products to keep your garden thriving.