Business Spotlight

Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery—Open, Growing and Getting Better and Better

Story By Sam Calhoun

Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery features a garden center, more than four acres of outdoor gardens and 15 greenhouses. For more than a half century, Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery has set the standard for top quality plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, tropicals and garden accessories for any horiticultural need, be it residential or commercial, retail or wholesale.

“We’ve got any plant from A to Z that you can think of,” said Christy Brown, greenhouse manager of Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery. “We are a garden center and growing greenhouse—we basically sell anything that grows, and we actually grow all of our own product, which is pretty rare.”

For 53 years, Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery has set the standard for supplying top quality plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, tropicals and garden accessories for any horticultural need, be it residential or commercial, retail or wholesale. Once owned by the Vaughan family, the nursery was taken over by Keith Gwyn, owner of G&S Trees in Elk Park, in May, and work has begun on a new chapter of growth for the business.

Originally, the business encompassed 100 acres, but since has been reduced to 12. While its footprint has become smaller, its scope has not and new additions and initiatives are in full bloom.

“We’re open, growing and we’re going to get better,” added Brown, a 12-year veteran of Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery. “Our new owner thinks on a large scale.”

Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery features a garden center, more than four acres of outdoor gardens and 15 greenhouses. According to Brown, approximately 50 percent of Vaughan’s business is retail sales and 50 percent is wholesale. No matter what your aim, though, Vaughan’s has the plant to match at a reasonable price.

Updates to the business’s garden center are underway and new garden accessories are added daily in the hope of making Vaughan’s “not just a growing greenhouse but a one stop shopping place for all your outdoor needs,” said Brown. Gwyn is adding a more diverse tree selection to the business, as well as landscaping materials, such as varieties of mulch and decorative rocks. The new additions are helping fill the void left by Vaughan’s cut flower department, which was disbanded last year due to the effects of the recession, said Brown.

“We still have the most variety of any greenhouse around,” added Brown, who manages 15 green thumb-equipped employees. “We give a variety and if you can’t find something somewhere else, come here and check us out. If we don’t have it, we can find it for you.”

Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery features a weekly sale, which is announced within its ad each week in High Country Press. This week, Vaughan’s is offering buy-one-get-one-free on annuals through Saturday.

Vaughan’s Blue Ridge Nursery is located at 726 Old Jonas Ridge Road in Pineola. The business’s mailing address is PO Box 39, Pineola, NC 28662. The nursery and garden center are open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closed Sunday. For more information, email bluridgenursery@bellsouth.net (the “e” in blue is supposed to be missing) or call the garden center at 828-733-4323 or the greenhouse at 828-733-5150.