Overhill Gardens

I really like Overhill Gardens. They have the best selection in the area... some really interesting plants, especially woodland shade lovers. I've bought some interesting nice ferns, azaleas, and woodland flowers... the fringe tree and service berry I bought are doing well. I feel like every time I visit it is a learning experience... their selection is so vast that I inevitably discover something I had never even known about. Avi is very helpful and knowledgeable. The location is really interesting, and remote, as well... I always enjoy going out to overhill gardens and hiking in Citico or Joyce Kilmer wilderness after... Sometimes seeing the same interesting, unusual plants. It is worth a special trip because it is a special area. This part of the southeast is extremely biodiverse and I think Overhill does the best job of anyone I know to represent the full spectrum of that diversity. The plants I've bought there have all done very well since planting, even finicky ones... the only plants that have not thrived have been the ones my dog dug up!

Some nurseries are fronts for scams, and I have given some of these negative ratings before. This one is NOT that type of nursery. Other than the scam-nurseries, I believe this will be the first nursery I have ever given a negative rating. When I visited this nursery, I was fairly impressed by their selection and all their awesome plants. However, after buying some plants, I found out that my initial excitement was premature. Some of the plants I bought were misidentified. This alone was a serious issue to me, but what really turned me off was the SEVERE problems I found in almost every root system. I'm used to potbound plants and feel fairly comfortable dealing with moderately potbound plants. Many of the plants from this nursery were severely potbound. Even worse, many of the plants had been repoted with absolutely no attempt whatsoever of fixing the root problems already present. A few of the plant's potting media had few root growing on the surface of the potting media, when removed from the pot. But after removing the outer layer of planting media, very tight almost solid tubes or root were found. There's really no excuse for this type of poor horticultural practice in my opinion. There's no way for plants like this to be grown successfully without extraordinary intervention at planting.

My spouse and I drove out to Overhill on a weekend and unfortunately did not catch the owner, Avi, there. He's the only individual that is able to discuss plants and really help. So if you go HE MUST BE THERE otherwise you've wasted your trip unless you know exactly what you want to buy. I did run into Avi at the native plant sale held this spring at IJAMS and he really had some interesting plants that cannot be found at other nurseries. He even brought me some "special order" plants that I had requested - which I am quite grateful for (i.e. native purple coneflowers). All the plants purchased from Overhill are alive, well, and thriving!

Drove out in person and bought 3 Clethra Ruby Spice last winter. Large plants, good prices. The owner was very helpful. The bushes have all done well this year - I would definitely buy from them again.

Mail order doesn't seem to be their main business as they were a bit hard to catch via e-mail and phone. However, they've got a good selection of plants that are not widely available. Ordered 5 species from them this fall and all looked very good on arrival. Look forward to seeing how they do overwinter and beyond.