By Jenny Battleson
Guest Author
On the banks of the Crystal River, hidden behind large gates and a spectacular spruce hedge, is a Carbondale gem. Founded in 1988, Nordic Gardens established a reputation for its gardenly approach and sense of whimsy. In 2005, Heather Becker joined Nordic as the garden manager. In 2017, she and her husband, Bryan, purchased the company. They have since made it theirs, and it’s so much more than a garden center.
Shortly thereafter, they were able to move their landscape yard and nursery from County Road 100 to a three-acres property on Highway 133 just south of Carbondale, before the fish hatchery. Now more accessible to “the neighborhood,” word of mouth is spreading.
Nordic Gardens is also a family compound where they’re raising their two daughters, 9 and 11, and, based on the view from their holiday shop, apparently, goats.
“I grew up on a farm,” Heather chuckled. “One of my things is to have this for the community. We have three goats. We have peacocks and chickens, farm fresh eggs and bunnies. We have three cats that run around outside — it’s nice! They get the mice and voles. That’s how we protect the perennials and shrubs; we don’t use poisons because of the animals.”
Family owned and operated, that value system is a through-line. They treat staff as extended family. In addition to landscape installation and garden care, snow removal, capital improvements and planning for the next year keep the core team busy year-round.
“We work on new layouts for the yard every winter,” said Heather. “It’s kind of what we do: figure out how to make this work better. Figure out how to make our client properties better. Every year we add on and do more.”
The first year on the Crystal, they built “The Twins,” two 75-foot greenhouses.
“One of The Twins is strictly for clients’ annual pots, and we usually start those in March,” Heather explained. By June, they are opulent, just in time for delivery to client homes. “The other Twin and the high tunnel are all filled with annuals.” Retail therapy!
Bryan’s contributions continue the Nordic legacy of whimsy and creativity. A downed spruce tree became the main support to a cantilevered deck for customers to relax and unwind. It overlooks the nursery, the river valley, all the way to Sopris. Another year, he built the gates on the highway that keep their animals in, after hours. This past year they built a new high tunnel greenhouse. There’s also barn maintenance to do: containment and shelter for their menagerie.
“So many people pull in, and they don’t realize we have all this stuff down below,” Bryan said.
Heather then described plans for a sunflower hillside, guiding customers to the lower nursery. “We have a small veggie house down below,” she continued. “The outer perimeters are where we do perennials — we have a shade structure down there for shade perennials. We have a section for container trees and shrubs.” With container trees, customers can haul, lift and plant trees themselves if they want to.
Unlike big box stores, the Beckers don’t sell species from other climates that won’t survive Colorado’s unique conditions.
Heather studied landscape horticulture and construction. Bryan studied landscape architecture and design. Prior to Nordic, Bryan worked at Eagle Crest Nursery. Starting out on a planting crew, he developed an intimate knowledge of the regional plant palette and micro-climates. Then, as tree and shrub manager, Bryan traveled with Eagle Crest’s original owner, George Robinson, on buying trips around the West. The nursery stock at Nordic Gardens, whether flower or tree, is the culmination of the Beckers’ 20 years of local landscape horticulture.
Nordic’s primary customer base is in Carbondale. The Beckers smile over stories of their RVR regulars. Word has spread however and visitors are regularly coming from Glenwood Springs and Basalt these days.
The earnestness of this family business is refreshing and inviting. Touring the grounds, trailed by their Great Pyrenees-Andalusian mix, a squat corgi and a cat, feels like arriving home — an adventurous one that rekindles the joy of discovery and sense of wonder that brought people to gardening in the first place.
For more information on Nordic Gardens and to plan for 2025, visit www.nordicgardens.co