When Tom and I first moved to Western North Carolina, we had no idea where to start with our garden. Black bears, hungry bunnies, and bugs swarm our little mountain oasis. It’s taken a lot of trial and error – and popped off flower tops and dead things. However, while tricky, gardening in Asheville just requires a little patience and practice, especially when under attack.
See what and when to plant in Asheville, local nurseries we love, and special gardening events to attend. Our biggest tip: leave the basement door unlocked for when your resident teen black bear sneaks up on you. 🐻 This guide is merely to get you started. Think Asheville Gardening 101, beginning in the spring with vegetables and pollinating plants. If you are a garden pro, this article is not for you (unless you want to help me!).
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All photos and experiences are our own from our home garden in Asheville. 💚 Christine of Uncorked Asheville
Quick Asheville Gardening Tips
Have you ever arrived at a garden nursery, looked out over the plants, and suddenly realized you have no idea where to start? There’s no one around to help, and you find yourself frantically internet searching how, what, and when to plant in Asheville – but have no cell service because it’s the mountains. 🙋🏻♀️
If you are just getting started, these are the top things to know about gardening in Asheville:
- Hardiness zones: North Carolina plant hardiness zones range from 5b to 8b. Asheville is Zone 7. Most local nurseries have plants clearly labeled for Zone 7. Other parts of Western North Carolina fall in Zones 5 and 6.
- When to plant outdoors: Because of late frost, hail, and unpredictable mountain weather, I start raised-bed gardening in Asheville early to mid-May. April outdoor planting is risky business, but plenty of people do it. Best advice: Right after Mother’s Day, start transplanting.
- What is that bright slime?: It is easy to grow “dog vomit slime” (trust me, here); while not harmful, but pretty funky-looking, this brightly colored mold thrives in moist mulch and leaf debris. It easily washes away with the hose. Your plants are not destroyed (and should be safe to consume after rinsing).
- How to protect against bugs: Bugs and critters are plentiful and will destroy herbs, flowers, and vegetables overnight. Depending on your gardening style and environmental values, consider ways to protect your plants. I moved my herbs to the top deck in containers. I also started using “smelly” companion plants. Before we get plant flowers/blossoms, I will use Neem Oil on the leaves. However, it’s not 100% safe for your pollinators.
- Where do I start?: For me, tomatoes and squash are the easiest crops to start with, followed by eggplant and cucumbers.
- Watering tip: It’s easy to overwater as well as underwater. Watch those bottom leaves.
- My secret weapon: Raised beds are a game-changer in Asheville. Critters can’t easily access them, drainage is better on our clay-heavy mountain soil, and you control your growing mix. Daddy Pete’s Raised Bed Mix from Reems is our go-to.
- Where to seek help: Asheville GreenWorks will teach you about native, pollinator-friendly practices, plants, and certification, if that’s your jam.
What To Grow In Asheville
Let me preface this by saying that while we live minutes from Downtown, I feel like Snow White. Just replace the apple with wine. Our yard houses black bear families, bobcats, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, bunnies, snakes, and birds. We love it, but don’t let all that cuteness fool you; our garden is in constant jeopardy.
The Basics
If you are a beginner area gardener, I suggest trial and error. Our first year gardening in Asheville, I managed beautiful beefsteak, cherry, and plum tomatoes. The bunnies devoured many of our flowers, and we had to move all herbs and pretty flowers – minus my rose bushes – off ground level; bugs and critters annihilated them.
These days, I’m going big with a variety of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, asparagus, and pumpkins. For the deck, I keep container planters of hummingbird sage and bee balm – both picked up this year at the North Asheville Tailgate Market – along with salvia at Reems Creek for the hummingbirds.
I’m skipping most herbs this year except for basil, but I’ve also done a top-deck herb garden filled with chives, fennel, cilantro, and oregano. We’ve grown mint and dill, but you know how mint grows like a weed.
Companion Planting: What To Grow to Protect Your Garden
Full disclosure: our shared home with bugs and bunnies has humbled me. After years of watching things get annihilated overnight, I’ve started using companion plants – basically, plants you grow next to your vegetables to deter pests or attract the bugs that eat the bad bugs. Three new additions to our raised beds this year: scallions, lavender, and anise. Say a little prayer for me. 🙏🏼
🧅 Scallions planted near tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers can deter aphids and beetles, and of course, they’re delicious in the kitchen; it’s a win-win all around. I love giving them a haircut.
💜 Lavender near raised beds is supposed to repel moths, fleas, and mosquitoes while attracting the pollinators like bees and butterflies. The strong scent should deter slugs, deer, and rabbits. For humans, though, lavender smells incredible (if you are a yogi like me, you know!). Just note, lavender prefers drier conditions than most vegetables, so a deck planter or bed border works better than tucking it directly into your veggie beds. I have mine on the edge of the rose bushes. It doesn’t love clay dirt, so let’s see.
🌱 Anise is said to repel aphids and attract predatory wasps (the good kind that eat garden pests, not the ones ruining your deck wine). It also masks the scent of your appealing crops. Plus, I’m Italian-American, so this smell is a lifeforce. Talk about nostalgia. Needless to say, I’m experimenting. Results pending.
Other companion plants worth trying in an Asheville garden:
- 🌼 Marigolds near tomatoes and squash deters beetles and nematodes (this one failed me because the bunnies ate their tops right off in ONE day. ONE DAY!)
- 🌿 Basil near tomatoes also allegedly deters tomato hornworms (and tastes great)
- 🌸 Nasturtiums as a trap crop – aphids flock to them instead of your vegetables
- 🌱 Dill or fennel to attract beneficial insects (though fennel is a bully; keep it separate)
- 🌷Ornamental Alliums – One Uncorked Traveler also suggested these gorgeous, big purple globe flowers. They’re not just beautiful; they repel aphids, Japanese beetles, and other munching nuisances. Try them as a raised bed border.
P.S. Soil Matters, Especially For Raised Beds
I love Daddy Pete’s Raised Bed Mix from Reems for topsoil. We also hired and recommend Totem Rocks and Landscaping, who redid what has now become our garden beds. They did all of our landscaping, including plants, front door walkway, stone stairs to the backyard, and our garden walkway.
When To Start Outdoor Planting
As mentioned above, I highly recommend starting all outdoor gardening in early May, although others begin in late April, especially with raised beds. Our elevation is a bit higher than other parts of Asheville. Mother’s Day is a great reference for everyone. Please know I don’t start with indoor seeds; we are not high-tech over here.
For raised beds specifically, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, lettuce, and squash all do exceptionally well in spring. Cucumbers especially benefit from the drainage and the ability to be trellised vertically.
A quick vegetable cheatsheet for what and when to plant in Asheville:
- Spring basics: tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant, herbs, peas, roses
- Late spring to summer: beans, squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, gourds, sunflowers, peppers, carrots, beets
- Fall into early winter: lettuce, garlic, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage
NC State has a thorough Asheville planting calendar here. I typically trust what is being sold at the local nurseries and go with the flow. This is for fun and juicy tomatoes.
Where To Get Gardening Supplies, Plants, & Seeds
Tom and I have two favorite nurseries near Asheville, and we buy all of our gardening supplies from them:
- Reems Creek Nursery – Weaverville; 15-20 minutes by car; my go-to for flowers, including roses, salvia, and petunias. Their selection is my favorite for hearty blooms.
- Painters Greenhouse – Old Fort; 40 minutes by car; my choice for starter vegetable and herb plants with the most success.
Both have everything you need, including terrific native plants, annuals and perennials, trees, shrubs, seeds, flowers, planters, topsoil, fertilizers, mulch, and garden supplies.
We suggest walking around before grabbing a cart and familiarizing yourself with the lay of the land. Staff members are extremely helpful, and both grow wildly busy on peak growing weekends.
I’ve also gotten replacement herbs and tomatoes at EarthFare, which were some of the best we’ve had. And of course, you cannot go wrong with any of Asheville’s stellar farmers’ markets.
Make the nurseries and greenhouses an Asheville day trip excursion: We love Old Fort for mountain biking and lunch at Hillman Beer. Weaverville has Lake Louise, delicious restaurants, and hopping breweries.
Western North Carolina Gardening Events
These are just a few popular gardening events near Asheville for supplies, plants, tips, and fun:
- Growing in the Mountains (early-May)
- Asheville Herb Festival (end of April)
- Asheville Botanical Gardens Native Plant Sale (May & September)
- Hendersonville Garden Jubilee (Memorial Day Weekend)
We also love the Biltmore Blooms and The NC Arboretum for inspiration. Be sure to check out our annual events calendar.
Cheap Online Gardening Tools I Love
Every year, I find my Asheville garden getting bigger and bigger. I’m always ordering last-minute tools and trying new things, especially to reign in those tomatoes.
While we buy almost all of our supplies locally, a few garden products I can’t live without from Amazon – that are a bit more budget-friendly after you’ve spent $400 on plants – include:
- Plant Cages: I love these easy-to-build cages for tomatoes and eggplants. They are just the right size and sturdy enough for my needs. We pair them with stakes and trellises bought locally. So far, they’ve lasted me 3 years.
- Reusable Velcro Garden Ties: These are a lifesaver! In previous years, I used string, but I’m loving how great these initially cut, stick, hold up my plants, and re-stick for many uses.
- Cucumber Trellis For Raised Beds: We modified the size of our cucumber trellis, which was a pain in the butt. However, this trellis saved my cucumbers, and they started growing like wild. It’s not the most fun to put together (so many dang parts), but it’s worth it for the price.
- Ceramic Planters: Most of my pots are local, but I couldn’t resist getting beautiful bee balm and hummingbird sage at the farmer’s market. I overnighted these white and clay-colored planters that are sturdy and pretty.
- Coco Fiber Liners: These are pretty expensive at the nurseries, and we can’t always save them across years because the birds grab a lot for their nests. Amazon is significantly cheaper. I love these coco fiber liners for my big deck planter.
- Elevated, Tiered Planter: Ours in all photos is no longer on Amazon, but this would be my next pick, paired with the above coco fibers.
Share Your Gardening Advice & Experiences
As amateur gardeners craving basic fruits, vegetables, and herbs (and joy), we hope our Asheville gardening guide gets you started. Tom and I are not professionals, clearly.
And a secret: Tom actually hates gardening (and dirt and mess AND me making a mess). Me, though?! This is my season. At 42, I am in my gardening era.
I update articles every year, and Tom and I are always learning. We’d love to know your Western North Carolina gardening tips, favorite things to grow, and what we missed in the comments (or drop me an email, as always). Just be kind, please. 💚 Christine of Uncorked Asheville