About Brady Nursery

It's hard to beat tradition and passion! Started in 1952 by Joe and Catherine Brady, Brady Nursery is one of Wichita's oldest and most successful nursery and landscaping business. Now it's managed by Joe and Catherine's children - Pat, Mike, Cathy and Maureen - who continue to follow Joe and Catherine's successful formula of providing their customers with superior quality, service, advice and value.

Being a family-operated business allows Brady Nursery to offer their customers benefits not found at chain stores or big retail outlets with so called "Garden Centers" within them. Want expert advice? We have expert advice! That is what growing up in the business did for us. You could say it's in our blood. The Brady family's passion and knowledge for beautifying the environment is unique and a big reason why people continue to keep shopping at Brady Nursery.

Joe J. Brady & Catherine Brady

Joe and Catherine Brady founded Brady Nursery in 1952 and were joined in the business by five of their seven children. They developed a 50-acre nursery containing over 150 varieties, including 30 varieties of crabapple trees. Joseph J. "Joe" Brady, a World War II Navy veteran, was a connoisseur of classical music, a Boy Scout Leader, and a leader in the horticultural industry in Wichita. Joe graduated from Kansas State University in 1950 and the first nurseryman in the Wichita area to have a degree in horticulture. He was a lifelong member of the KSU Alumni Association. His tireless effort helped secure the KSU-John C. Pair Horticulture Research Center for Wichita. Joe helped introduce many tree selections to Sedgwick County, including: Japanese Tree Lilac, Lacebark Elm, and American Yellowwood. Mr. Brady was a past president of the KS Association of Nurserymen and for 25 years was a host of the popular "Gard'N'Wise" Show, a local TV gardening show. Joe passed away 3/11/2007.

Catherine Brady balanced raising a big family with providing support to the family business. To this day she is involved in the family business. Mrs. Brady is a Sacred Heart College Alumni from 1944 and received the St. Maria de Mattias Award in 2009 for her life long commitment to Sacred Heart/Newman University.

Patrick F. Brady
President, Brady Nursery

As with most family businesses, Patrick got involved in the business at an early age. Patrick graduated from Kansas State University in 1978, with a degree in Horticulture, with an emphasis on Landscape Design. He began full-time employment after college in January 1979. He worked in all areas of the business including the landscape crew and helping with the tree nursery.

As the business grew, Patrick split his time between Landscape Design, Sales Manager for the Landscape Designers and General Manager of the business. He has designed and managed thousands of landscape projects in Wichita and the surrounding communities including, most recently, the Newman University Plaza, and the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church property over several years as a donation to the church. Professionally, Patrick has been a board member and pas President of the Wichita Nurseryman's Association, and has helped write the Certified Nurseryman's Manual and have been a Certified Nurseryman for 20 years.
Patrick has strived to uphold the integrity and extremely great reputation that his father, Joe Brady, built over 50 years in business. He also strives to motivate his employees to meet or exceed their customer's expectations.

Cathy Brady
Retail Operations Manager

Cathy Brady started working in her family business at age 10 doing various cleanups and organizing. Her father, Joe Brady, always taught the kids by explaining, "Why you did a job right the first time". In her young teenage years, Cathy was assisting customers with their plant and flower choices and even doubled Brady Nursery's Christmas tree order while still in High School. Cathy has been a Kansas Certified Nurseryman for over 20 years, and while attending Wichita State University she constantly thought about projects that needed to be finished at Brady Nursery and started working full-time in the fall of 1978.

Cathy's duties include purchasing of all dry goods, fertilizers, bulbs, sprays, seeds, grass seed, Christmas trees and hardware. Cathy also works with sales representatives, oversees the buys of flowers and perennials, trains the retail staff to provide knowledgeable and quality service.

Some of Cathy's extracurricular activities include: Timely Tips with KAKE TV, supporting KMUW, being a Zoobilee Committee member and past board member of Botanica & Wichita Garden Show. In 2005, Cathy and her family were involved in ABC's Extreme Makeover show, which became one of the largest landscape projects ever in the history of the show.

The best part of Cathy's job is talking with her customers and fulfilling their wants and needs. From the lifelong customers who watched her grow up, to the new customers who tell her it is their first visit to Brady Nursery, Cathy wants to help educate them just like her father, Joe Brady, did.

Mike Brady

Mike Brady began working at Brady Nursery with his father and mother at age 10. He learned about growing trees and began helping the field crew at age 16 by digging and planting trees in the growing field. Mike attended Wichita State University where he studied fine arts and business. He is a Kansas certified Nurseryman and began working full time in 1978.

Each year, Mike tries the newest cultivars, to test them for the Kansas climate, and Brady Nursery is now known to grow many rare and unusual trees in Specimen sized, from 6' tall to 8" in diameter. In 1952, Brady Nursery started with only 2.5 acres. Mike greatly expanded Brady Nursery's tree growing operation in 1992, with the purchase of 160 acres between Wichita and Goddard. Brady Nursery now has over 60 acres of trees in production, with over 150 varieties.

Mike Brady tries to continue in his "father's footsteps", by planting trees that other nurseries do not know or grow! His goal is to have each tree individually pruned, stoked, and carefully grown to produce the finest quality tree possible. "Dad always said: To have the finest trees, we have to grow our own!"

Maureen Brady

Maureen Brady is the youngest of the Brady children. Maureen attended WSU. Like the other Brady children, Maureen has been immersed in the family business since she was young and started working full time in 1987. She helps out in different areas of the business, but is mostly responsible for the administrative part including the website, Facebook and Twitter. She provides the background support that a family business such as Brady Nursery needs to run smoothly and also takes care of the nursery cats - Bombay & Caleigh.