Erin O’Hara’s history with plants goes back to 1997, when he began an herbal apprenticeship in British Columbia. Later he attended the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine in Ithaca, NY and The Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, NM. A fascination with the medicinal properties of herbs quickly expanded into a love affair with gardening. Over the years Erin has studied permaculture at The Fingerlakes Permaculture Institute, Yestermorrow, and Prospect Rock Permaculture. He also completed the Master Gardener course with UVM extension. Beyond formal education, Erin has learned a great deal from his extensive time out in the gardens, witnessing the interaction between flora, fauna, and the elements. His appreciation of the role of plants in our lives, landscapes, and earth’s ecological health continues to deepen and widen.
In 2009 Erin purchased four acres in East Montpelier with the idea of building a small house and giant gardens. The initial focus of the gardens was on edible and medicinal plants to serve the household, but it quickly expanded to wildlife friendly native species. In 2015 Erin downsized his desk job in Montpelier and decided to dedicate much more of his energy to helping others to create beautiful, productive gardens using native plants. Turtle Hill Native Plants was born. That year saw the lower field of the property transformed from a tangle of brambles and tree stumps to beds of native wildflowers and a new frog pond. Initially the wildflowers were grown for landscaping clients and to build out our pollinator gardens. In 2017 we had our first plant sale. It was a huge success. The next year we expanded to eight sales spread over the spring, summer, and fall. We followed the same template until spring of 2022. At that time we decided to focus more of our time and efforts on improving our property infrastructure and to family life. We are taking a break from selling perennials but hope to be back in action by 2025 or 2026. However, we do have a limited number of bare-root trees and shrubs available in April and early May. Reach out if you are interested.
We also offer landscaping services to our neighbors in the Montpelier and East Montpelier area. If you would like to start a conversation about turning your property into a botanical haven for wildlife and people please get in touch!