Our Mission
Grow, educate, and create.
What We Do
At Northern Holler Nursery and Gardens, we specialize in growing open-pollinated wild-type indigenous plants of North America placing an emphasis on plants that historically occur in the eco-regions of Minnesota. With an eye on resuscitating suburban and urban landscapes we seek to provide connections between people and the places they live. We offer plants that grow in the Tallgrass Prairie, Oak/Pine Savanna and Eastern Deciduous Forest environments. We are a small nursery that is independently owned and operated by our family with help from a small team of subcontractors.
A vast majority of our plants are grown from seeds that we collect in Dakota County. However, sometimes we purchase seeds and plants from vendors in Minnesota and the broader Midwest that are aligned with our value systems. We never use herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides such as neonicotinoids and when possible, we opt for organic fertilizers and sustainable growing mediums.
While the nursery is our primary focus, we also design and build natural gardens that not only appeal to human sensibilities but also provide ecosystem services for insects, animals, and the microbiota. Our sustainable and low-impact methods prioritize closed-loop ecological principles that support wildlife, conserve water and bolster biodiversity.
Why We Do This
Did the world need another native plant nursery in a suburban backyard? It turns out, yes. Humans have done well in their pursuit of separating themselves from the natural world, probably too well. In the beginning it was necessary to draw these definitions to create shelter, grow food, and defend against large animals who might eat us. But what really inspires this separation is fear. We fear the uncertainty, instability and change that nature bestows upon us. Combine these fears with a propensity towards easy solutions, impatience, and a crippling commitment to systems of exploitation. These economic and philosophical systems that dictate our culture see the natural world as a commodity—lumber, oil, minerals, food…these industrial systems of production ignore the virtues of the natural world. This is not a call to eradicate humans, but we must acknowledge that the way we treat the natural world is antithetical to our own existence. When we destroy intact ecosystems, we destroy our own stability. If we are to see our grandchildren chasing butterflies or have clean drinking water, then we need to change the way we operate. This change begins with understanding the things we fear. Learn the names of plants and animals around us. Learn how they live, eat, procreate... Most importantly learn that we are not “apart from nature” but that we “are a part of nature”. We believe that all living things have the right to survive. That is why we grow native plants. By creating habitat, you provide justice for the forgotten little things. The wonder, amusement and beauty that native plants will bring to your life is nothing short of magic. And we all need a little magic in our lives.
Where We Came From
Preston Drum was born in Charlotte, NC and transplanted to Minnesota in 2012. After decades of playing in punk bands, making art, and teaching, he founded Northern Holler Nursery and Gardens in Burnsville in 2023. Sprouting from a confluence of eco-anxiety, a growing disillusionment with academia, and a healthy nostalgia for gardening, Northern Holler set out to connect people to place through native plants. This mission is an extension of Preston’s art philosophy, which is centered on collaboration, site-specificity and often frames the audience as a participant.
Drum’s knack for creating immersive spaces has moved to the exterior and evolved into garden design. While this business is young, Drum has been gardening since he was “knee-high to a grasshopper”, as they say in the south. Whether continuing in the footsteps of his horticulturist parents or in the corporate towers of the interior landscaping field, Drum has been working with plants throughout and concurrently with his artistic career. In the last ten years his artworks have been exhibited throughout the Midwest and Southern United States at venues such as Rochester Art Center, The Minneapolis Institute of Art and The Walker Art Center and his gardens have been installed at residences, schools and museums across Minnesota.
As a certified Master Naturalist with the University of Minnesota’s Extension Service, he maintains an active volunteer schedule by removing invasive plants, installing native gardens at elementary schools and growing plants for the City of Burnsville’s restoration efforts. Currently wearing many hats as a father, husband, studio artist, gardener, nurseryman, and an arts educator at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, he occasionally finds time to bang on a drum set with his band.
Land Acknowledgment
The term “Native Plant” is easily tossed around these days by the horticulture industry as a trendy marketing term, but behind the word is a dismissed history tying people, plants, and place together. As a native plant grower and an aspiring steward of the land, it is my duty to honor the people whose footsteps shaped this place prior to colonization. The Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands of the Eastern Branch of the Dakota people were the historical inhabitants and caretakers of the lands and waterways of the Minnesota River Valley and the hollers that are now called Burnsville. While planting indigenous plants does not fix or forgive the wrongs wrought by the settlers and their governments, it is one way to reconnect people with place. Through that process of connection, we can begin to heal the ecological wounds colonization has caused. From that we
can choose a path forward in light of restitution, reconciliation, and even reparations. Those with privilege need to remember they did not earn that rank, it was bequeathed to them. While I am not a rich man, I acknowledge that I am the benefactor of a family born on a homestead of Catawba land in North Carolina. My grandfather was a good man, but he and I were given the chance to bask in the sun of god’s country because others were removed on a trail of tears or killed by genocide. It is our obligation to respect, stand up for and support the cultures that are being destroyed by corporate interest and white supremacy. We need to remember that this is not our land, it is just our turn, and we better take care of it.
Your Choices
Good: plant a plant
Better: plant a native plant
Best: plant a local ecotype native
plant
Base: stop destroying intact native
habitats
