North Austin gardeners have been under-served in the retail business for years. I’m grateful for the excellent Hill Country Water Gardens and Nursery in Cedar Park and Green ‘n Growing in Pflugerville, both just north of Austin, as well as Shoal Creek Nursery in midtown. But compared to South Austin’s plethora of appealing independent retail nurseries — Barton Springs Nursery, The Natural Gardener, The Great Outdoors, Vivero Growers, Leaf — our North Austin options are limited, especially with the recent relocation of Red Barn to Leander.

So we northies have cause to celebrate the recent arrival of Leaf Landscape Supply, which for years operated solely out of South Austin but has now taken over the old Countryside Nursery location on Pond Springs Road.

Leaf focuses largely on its wholesale business, but it also sells retail. That’s true of the new location too. Wholesale! banners in the parking lot don’t really indicate that retail customers are welcome. But I encourage you to go on in, because the folks there are friendly and happy to help home gardeners find what they’re looking for.

I stopped by the northside Leaf yesterday to check it out, and staffer Cathy Wood took the time to show me around and price out the plants I was looking for.

Leaf still needs to add price tags, growing-info signage, and human-scaled nursery carts to make the shopping experience homeowner-friendly, but they do have a lot of beautiful plants, from annuals to perennials, succulents to shrubs, and big yuccas, agaves, and trees.

Flowering perennials for fall. Migrating monarchs were out here in force, by the way.

My favorite, Yucca rostrata

And cacti

Right now through December is the best time of year to plant in Austin (hardy plants, not tender succulents or anything pushing zone 9), and I hope my fellow northsiders will visit Leaf’s new outpost and let the staff know how excited you are to have another retail option north of the river.

And I encourage Leaf to fill their spacious indoor checkout area with gifts, tools, seeds, hats, gloves, and unique decor for retail shoppers. Make it fun and pretty, and we will come!

Welcome to North Austin, Leaf!

Fellow shoppers, take note: Leaf keeps wholesaler hours, meaning they close early every day (at 4:30 pm on weekdays and at 1 pm on Saturdays) and are closed on Sundays.

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

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