High Country Nursery

Fairview, North Carolina

High Country Nursery offers an array of unique plants, including Japanese maples, mountain laurels, bright yellow and green conifers, bonsai, roses, gardenias, cold hardy tropicals, edgeworthia, camellias, and native pollinators.

They also have an excellent selection of fruiting shrubs and trees, ranging from cherries, several varieties of blueberries, sassafras, sourwood, mulberries, kiwi, paw paws, figs, and persimmons, to cold hardy banana and pomegranates. All trees and plants are hardy to their local North Carolina climate.

Owner Tom Ross—who holds a current North Carolina Plant Professional certification— founded his licensed North Carolina nursery in 2004.

What was the inspiration behind starting a nursery?

I worked at a nursery briefly during my college years and always had a "green" leaning. I am a meteorologist by profession and worked at AccuWeather for 10 years and NOAA for 25 years.

While working with NOAA in Asheville, I started to collect some elegant Japanese Maples and other plants. One of my first was from a nursery that had a cultivar called "Red Feather," a dainty, elegant, red laceleaf maple. As I expanded my collection, I started to sell part time at a farmers markets while still working at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville.

Do you have a special focus?

If you want an elegant conifer, Japanese maple, or a stunning rose for your yard or property, we have it. We have a large selection of Japanese maples for the homeowner ranging from the uprights like Fireglow, Emperor I, and others, to the more esoteric and slightly more cold hardy like the Korean Baby Maple, and the Acer pseudosieboldianum ssp takesimense Ulleung-do Island Maple (sometimes referred to as Acer takesimense).

What are you particularly proud of?

Treating each customer as a friend and providing excellent customer service.

My meteorological and climate background helps me determine the suitability of a particular plant or cultivar for my customers' needs. Elevation and siting play a large role in what plant or shrub will or won't work in Western North Carolina. For example, a Daisy Gardenia sited in a protected location at 2,500 feet in the mountains should work fine, but if you live above 4,000 feet and are unsheltered, that plant won't work for you.

What sets you apart from other nurseries?

We deal one on one with plant- and tree-loving people to match their particular needs for a landscape plant with our offerings.

Customers can obtain trees and landscape plants from us at tailgate markets, garden shows, or by setting up an appointment to visit the nursery. We also act as a plant broker—we're happy to try to locate unusual plants for customers on an individual basis.

Hours:

Please contact the nursery to set up an appointment before visiting. Typical hours:

Monday thru Friday 9:00 am - Noon

Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Contact:

Mobile: 828.779.1981

Email: wnchighcountry@gmail.com

More Info:

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