Our Legacy
The site where Carolina Habitats is located, 1111 Dawson Rd, just outside of Chapel Hill, was a nationally-known plant nursery for decades before abruptly closing their gates in 2019. The former nursery on this land sold both native and non-native plants, but was well known and respected in the native plant community for their on-site and mail-order natives.
When that business closed, the property was on the market for several years and fell into disrepair. Many plants were left behind and some miraculously managed to survive, despite being in small pots with no human intervention. The large greenhouse's plastic covering was breaking down, the hoop houses were breaking down, the buildings were breaking down, and the on-site demonstration garden was going feral.
In 2021, Kurt Frega and his business partner started Dirtbag Gardens, purchasing the site as-is and spending the first year re-building the infrastructure and rescuing plants. The original business plan involved selling houseplants as well as outdoor perennials. Based on the history of the land and their personal and professional dedication to conservation work, the perennials that they chose to sell were primarily natives.
Over the next two years, Kurt rebuilt the hoop houses, the greenhouse was re-covered, buildings that were beyond repair were torn down by hand, the trailer on site was gutted, and any buildings that could be repaired were given a lot of TLC. Kurt built irrigation lines, tables, fences, and new hoop houses. The demonstration garden continues to undergo rehabilitation by staff and volunteers.
In 2023, management was consolidated when Kurt's business partner sold the land and their portion of the business to Kurt. It was at this time that Kurt decided to move away from houseplants, focusing entirely on perennial plants. With that change, Dirtbag Gardens was reborn as Carolina Habitats; the re-naming of the business has been just as divisive as the original name. Many people LOVED the name "Dirtbag" and many people HATED it. There has been rejoicing and sorrow with the name change, but we believe that Carolina Habitats best represents our vision going forward:
To promote a sustainable relationship between our human population and the natural spaces we inhabit; We dedicate ourselves to education, conservation, and community building. Most importantly, though, we want to always emphasize meeting people where they are in learning about the importance of supporting native plants, and without vilifying well-behaved exotic plants; we never want anyone to feel judged.