A History of Service Throughout Southern Ontario

The Beginning

Greenhorizons' vision for a greener, more sustainable community dates back to over 200 years ago when the Schiedel family's ancestors trekked by horse and buggy from Pennsylvania USA, to a new opportunity to flourish on rich Canadian soil. In those days, the new settlers purchased large tracts of land along the Speed and Grand Rivers in and around what is now Kitchener, Ontario.

Fast-forward to the turn of the century where the family's pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit continued into a successful dairy and grain farming business. Implementing small changes over the years allowed the farm to evolve until the late 70's when it transitioned into a sod farm. In 1975, Richard, Shirley and their two sons, Ronald and Steven, formed our flagship company: The Greenhorizons Group of Farms Ltd®. We grow and harvest grass on over 4,000 acres of land, having farms in Cambridge (formerly Compact Sod), Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Sod), London (formerly Middlesex Sod) and a specialty natural turf farm in Burford Ontario. We also own and operate an outlet in Oakville\Mississauga (formerly Ontario Sod). Since then, we have added several other outlets throughout Southern Ontario, as well as continually expanded our land base to take advantage of various Southern Ontario micro climates and unique soil types.

Where We are Today

Today, Greenhorizons Sod Farms™ is a producer and marketer of sustainable, environmentally beneficial products and services blending world-leading technologies with century-old techniques. Greenhorizons continues its vision for a sustainable green world. Greenhorizons brands range from LEED accredited turf grass blends to IPM produced specialty turf grass for the golf industry and cutting-edge natural sports turf pitch systems and designs to outperform synthetic artificial fields.

Our Family First culture from ownership continues through to all Greenhorizons leadership and staff. The current operating company is proud to be in its 4th generation with 3 generations shown here; Shirley Schiedel, Ron Schiedel, Steve and Christine Schiedel and Michael Schiedel.

In addition to Sod Farm Production, Greenhorizons own and operate Willow Valley Golf Course, an architecturally designed course located in Hamilton, Ontario. This is a great example of the company’s commitment to natural green space!

BigYellowBag® is an anchor brand of Greenhorizons who delivers hundreds of years of soil management experience in a convenient one cubic yard package to the general public. Since 1994, BigYellowBag provides an easier, cleaner way to get Premium Quality Black Garden Soil delivered right to your door. Greenhorizons is making our communities greener, healthier places to live by making gardening accessible to everyone with BigYellowBag.

BigYellowBag has further expanded the BigYellowBag brand to trusted partners across North America, partnering with like-minded natural green space companies. Premium Black Garden Soil is now available in over 60 licenced territories across North America!