Barrels & Branches, an Encinitas Nursery
On August 12, 2005, Barrels and Branches Nursery opened it’s doors to the public. Our retail plant nursery offers full garden and landscape services including design, maintenance, consulting and delivery. We've become known for carrying a wide selection of plant material, pottery and gifts.
Check out this before and after shot:
Award Winning Designers
We have won numerous awards and been involded in community volunteer projects. These include school restorations, estate garden planning and corporate gardens. We are proud of our nursery and feel it is a testament to our design styles. The nursery tells a story. As you walk along the garden paths, you can feel a bit of each of our characters, as well as our nine wonderful staff members who add their own unique design ideas to the gardens.
Barrels and Branches Nursery is owned by two women who were raised with strong horticultural backgrounds. Samantha Owens and Danica Hirsch became friends while attending high school, later studying horticulture and general studies together at Mira Costa Community College. Samantha continued on to Sonoma State University while Danica remained in Encinitas, propagating plants. By August 2005, they opened their business.
Danica’s Story
Danica Hirsch is a third generation gardener. Her grandfather viewed horticulture as both a profession and a hobby and for over 40 years, he focused primarily on the art of bonsai and specialty pruning. He passed his passion for gardening down to following generations. Danica’s father began working in the nursery business at a young age. Over the next 40 years, he opened nurseries from Huntington Beach to La Costa. These nurseries provided Danica with her first employment opportunities, and offered venues for her to develop her natural merchandising skills. Danica’s mother’s first nursery job was at the famous Rogers Gardens in the 1970s. Danica’s parents both helped in shaping her path to the nursery business. It is safe to say that being a co-owner of Barrels and Branches was inevitable. As the tradition continues, her father currently owns a landscape business, and her mother shows her support by regularly volunteering at Barrels and Branches.
You’ll often find Maple, Danica’s infamous canine sidekick, hanging out in the cashier booth... or cooling off in the fountains (see below).
Samantha’s Story
 To the left, a photo of Encinitas from the early 1970's can be seen. This is the property where the nursery currently resides and where Samantha grew up. Many old cow bones were dug up in the fields as it slowly evolved into the fully functional nursery it is today.
Samantha's upbringing ignited her interest in plants, so it was no surprise when she enrolled in the Horticulture Program at Mira Costa College. Once that was completed, she moved on to further horticultural studies at Santa Rosa Junior College. She also studied Economics and Business Management, graduating with a degree from Sonoma State College.
Throughout the years, and throughout college, Samantha held various jobs in retail and management. In August 2005, she joined with business partner, Danica Hirsch, and opened Barrels and Branches Nursery. Today, Samantha is kept busy juggling the demands of running the nursery and working with her design clients. She resides in Encinitas with her husband, Joe, owner of Hauser Houses. He’s been instrumental in many of the newest projects at the nursery.
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Samantha with her family.
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On July 5, 2008, Joe Hauser and Samantha Owens joined in marriage at Barrels and Branches; Danica was one of the bridesmaids. The wedding showed how wonderful the Barrels and Branches site is for events of all sizes.
Expert Nursery Staff
It takes a small army to run the Gardens & Nursery. We are so grateful to have such an amazing team. Almost all our employees are continuing education students in the Horticultural Program at Mira Costa College. Several members started here as interns which evolved into various job opportunities. Many of these same employees are working moms who juggle work while pursuing their career goals through Mira Costa’s programs. We’re always looking for interns and new team members to help us assist all of our wonderful customers and keep up with the numerous ongoing duties involved in running a nursery. If you stop by, any of our team members – Samantha, Danica, Sara, Sharon, Allison, Roshan, Josue or Kristi are here to assist you with your garden goals.
We have a full staff of garden and landscape experts to assist you.
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