An enchanted place is hard to find these days. The hustle and bustle of our lives sometimes keep us from feeling at peace with the world. There’s a remedy for these moments, easily found and delightful to experience. It is the treasure of Farm House Gardeners.

Tucked away behind tall evergreens is a garden and landscape company like no other. Specializing in unique, rare and native plants, Farm House Gardeners is as much a destination as a retail business. Darrin Paschal, and his wife, Elizabeth, are owners, caretakers, creators and curators of this very special enterprise. “We want the experience of shopping here to be family friendly, so we’ve put up swings in with the plants,” Darrin shared. “Whether you’re planting a new patio garden at your home, setting out an organic herb garden with your grandchildren, or developing a total estate design, we can help you make it happen. And, you’ll learn a few things about plants, soil and design along the way.”

The beauty and serenity at Farm House Gardeners is legend. Set beneath its signature 100 year old willow oak, you’ll find the most amazing selection of seedlings, flowers, herbs, vegetable plants, shrubs, and trees. The variety of ornamentals, standards, exotics, annuals, perennials, and roses, is extraordinary. Each purchase you make at Farm House Gardeners is an investment that will last a lifetime. This is true, not only because of the exceptionally high quality of the plants, but also because the advice and expertise you get from Farm House Gardeners’ staff provides all you need to know to grow your new plants in the right soil, in the right location and at the right time. “We don’t have many warranty issues,” Darrin told me. “Just a few out of hundreds of sales. We’re in the business of selling plants, but if a customer isn’t interested in the compost, I’d rather they start learning about that and come back later for the plants.”

EXPERTISE, CREATIVITY AND PASSION
Darrin knows what he’s talking about. Years of experience has led him here. As a child, he spent time helping his parents and grandparents in their vegetable gardens. During high school and college he worked at Godley’s Garden Center in Salisbury. “I’ve been in the dirt all my life,” Darrin said with a smile. He has a degree in Finance and Investment Banking from UNC-Charlotte that has served him well over the years, both as financial manager and then division manager of Budd Group, a large landscaping company in Charlotte and later when he started Custom Gardens of the Carolinas, a residential landscaping company. Darrin bought Farm House Gardeners in 2002 from Kay and Randall Kincaid. The Kincaids had opened the nursery in 1980, specializing in plant propagation and landscaping. “What we’re trying to do now is educate folks on the proper techniques for successful planting,” Darrin said. “For instance, ornamental grasses look great in the fall, but they should be planted in the spring to avoid root rot. Unlike some stores that sell plants, we offer more than what’s currently in bloom. Even beginning gardeners can choose the right plant for its purpose and location, perhaps something they’ve never seen before.”

FULL SERVICE LANDSCAPING AND DESIGN
Landscape design is an art in itself. Darrin’s team offers custom design and planting services at your home. Whether you need foundation plantings for a new home, a complete makeover of your poolside flowerbeds or a design laid out for your outdoor living space, Farm House Gardeners can make it happen. No job is too big or too small. By starting with a suitable plan for your location, taking into consideration the soil, sun and shade, the terrain, and what your vision is, the results will be long lasting, beautiful and appropriate. “We can design beds, hardscapes, paths and ponds, irrigation systems; whatever you need,” Darrin told me. “We offer full gardening services—pruning, fertilizing, weeding. We can maintain fountains and landscape lighting. We’ll even pick up the planters from your deck and deliver them back to you beautifully filled with the perfect blooms for your site.”

Farm House Gardeners’ 3.3-acre site is filled with statuary, planters, trellises, window boxes, wind chimes—all the accessories of a well-designed homescape. The quality and beauty of these decorative and utilitarian pieces is unsurpassed. Darrin’s team can seamlessly place these items into your garden so that it looks like they were planted, too. The entire Farm House Gardeners’ location showcases creative ornaments and embellishments that you will fall in love with.

THEN THERE’S THE HOUSE
The namesake of Farm House Gardeners, a 1920s clapboard house, sits off to the side, surrounded delightfully with well-established shrubs and flowers. Walk in, and you are suddenly amongst an assortment of fine household accessories, lamps, candles, personal gift items, kitchen ware, linens, art, jewelry, books and of course, flower arrangements, vases and centerpieces. “Nancy Meadows, who just retired after 29 years here, transformed what was originally a gardening shop filled with fertilizer, into this most beautiful gift and accessories shop,” Darrin explained. “People don’t realize all that is here. I love to cook, so we now have a kitchen room. I’m excited to be Statesville’s exclusive source for Culinary Institute of America cookware and cutlery. It’s easy for me to sell things that I enjoy. I’m always looking for beautiful new items for the shop.”

Flower arrangements for weddings, dinners, parties, or for display in your home can be ordered. In-house florist, June Cavin, started at Farm House Gardeners last winter designing natural gardening style arrangements for all occasions. If you’ve never been in Farm House Gardeners’ cozy shop, make a point to drop in soon. Spring is the perfect season to visit. Ideas for your home and garden will pop into your head like never before. It’s like walking into the very finest gardening magazine, only much, much better!

WORKSHOPS, EVENTS, SEMINARS
Want to learn about container gardening? Arrangements for the holidays? Proper pruning in the natural landscape? How about fertilizer and soil preparation? Guest gardeners are invited in for workshops and classes throughout the year. Invitations and announcements of sales, seminars, demonstrations, and tastings are emailed to existing customers, a clientele list they’ve been building for many years. You can register to receive invitations at the website, www.farmhousegardeners.com. While you’re online, glance through the gallery of photos on each page—you’ll be enticed to visit in person!

There’s a bounty of quiet, creative energy among Darrin’s staff of seven gardening experts. Darrin and his wife, Elizabeth, have brought together the perfect combination of high quality, elegant and unique plants and garden delights along with an energetic sales and service team geared toward exceptional customer satisfaction and abundant knowledge of gardening. And, we mustn’t forget Max, the cat, who just appeared one day. He’s there for the loving, strolling though the gardens, letting just about anyone pick him up as they shop. Evidently, he has lots of girlfriends.

LET IT GROW
If I haven’t convinced you that a visit to Farm House Gardeners will be a treat, and the first of many visits, you need to check for a pulse. The people there are the best, the service is excellent, the gifts and wares are the very finest, and the plants—well the plants live there now, but you can take some home with you anytime.

FARM HOUSE GARDENERS
2142 Salisbury Highway • Statesville, NC 28677
704.873.2057
Hours: 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Monday - Saturday
1 pm to 5 pm Sunday