Our Gardens  // welcoming visitors for over 30 years

Julian Bland, Gardener

Julian grew up outside Chicago to parents who were both avid gardeners. She graduated from the University of Iowa, followed by graduate study in Japanese Art History at Princeton. After graduate school, Julian lived on Long Island, where she studied horticulture and garden design at Farmingdale University. She’s been a professional gardener for 15 years at Fearrington and her areas of responsibility include the gardens surrounding Fearrington House Restaurant and the Herb Garden.She loves to read, cook, visit farmers markets, and work year-round in her garden.

George Castro, Grounds Superintendent

Born in Costa Rica to a family of coffee growers, George attended the University of Costa Rica before moving to New Jersey in 1992 where he worked for an indoor plant nursery. In 1995, attracted by the prospect of outdoor year-round gardening, he and his family moved to Pittsboro, and soon thereafter he started working at Fearrington. Today, George manages the grounds crew, handling pruning, mowing, irrigation and so on for over 40 acres. In his spare time, he volunteers for the local youth soccer league and at home, he cultivates espaliered fruit trees.

Deb Henderson, Gardener

Spending time on her great-greatparents’ farm in Oklahoma as a child sparked a lifelong interest in gardening for Deb. She attended a community college and then working in the corporate world in St. Louis, before escaping to her true passion, gardening, working at several of Missouri’s largest wholesale nurseries. Deb moved here in 2003, and in 2005 she started working at Fearrington. She takes care of the eastern gardens in the Village Center, which include those surrounding the Park Building (larger Inn rooms and the Spa), Roost and The Goat. At home, Deb experiments with various ornamental plants in her high shade property while leaving the vegetable garden to her husband.

Donna Mears, Gardener

After growing up in eastern North Carolina, Donna pursued a major in late medieval history at UNC. After graduation, she worked as a preschool teacher and chef. A lifelong gardener, she joined Fearrington in a temporary and part-time position in 1991, which soon turned into a full time position and the rest is history! Donna earned a Certified Plant Professional certificate in 2012. She maintains the gardens around The Granary and McIntyre’s Books, the central lawn gardens and the cutting gardens for our florists. She especially enjoys tiny flowering plants, plants that smell good, and is an avid English soccer fan (“Go Toffees!”)

Wendy Moses, Gardener

Wendy’s roots are in the Midwest, but North Carolina is home: “A long growing season trumps a long snowy winter. It’s so exciting to be able to clip fresh rosemary and bay for cooking every day of the year,” she says.  After earning a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from NCSU, Wendy worked as a landscape architect, in a sculpture foundry, as a garden/floral designer and as grower/vendor of herbs and native perennials, prior to joining Fearrington in 2005.  Habits besides gardening: reading, drawing and exploring cultivated and natural areas in the US and UK. The beds near the original part of the Inn including reception, courtyard, Jenny’s Garden and the Willow Oaks are Wendy’s domain.