MEET TORREY NEEL: Dedicated Native Plant Advocate And Native Plant Nursery Owner
- k-england
- Dec 1
- 3 min read
By Joan Herskowitz, originally published December 2024, in Encinitas Magazine. Reprinted with permission in Let’s Talk Plants! December 2025.
Neel’s Nursery: Making California's native plants available to San Diego County.
Surrounding a gazebo tucked away on a wooded lot in the Gold Coast Plaza on Coast Hwy 101, across the street from the Pannikin coffee shop, you will find an Encinitas treasure. You have arrived at Neel’s Nursery, the County’s only retail, all-California native specialty nursery, with a stock of approximately 200 species and cultivars. You will be overwhelmed by the beauty and variety of these plants. Then you will meet Torrey Neel, the owner, who is always there to provide expert advice and assist with your selection. In addition, the gazebo contains native plant seeds, and a variety of books and gifts on botany, gardening and birds. The inventory is so good, it will be difficult to leave empty handed.
Who is Torrey Neel and how did she get started?
Torrey was born in Oceanside, attended Torrey Pines High School, and enjoyed surfing in her free time. After graduation, she did custom screen printing, and in 1991, she and her brother opened Environgentle, a shop in downtown Encinitas selling products with recycled and biodegradable content, all with a low impact on the environment. The shop stayed open for 17 years, after which Torrey completed the horticulture and nursery program at Mira Costa College, and later interned with native plant growers. Around this time, Torrey and her husband, Daniel Barger, purchased 80 acres in Potrero that needed restoration. Torrey collected seeds and propagated native plants to revegetate disturbed areas on the property. With a surplus of propagated plants, she would sometimes set up a “little library” with giveaway plants in front of her house in Encinitas. However, she often heard comments that native plants were difficult to find, and she was concerned that people would uproot plants from the wild if they were not able to buy them. In 2020, that concern led to the opening of Neel’s Nursery, the name of her father and grandfather’s business operated many years ago in Palm Springs.
Why plant natives?
When asked why it’s important to garden with native plants, Torrey responds that natural ecosystems don’t function well unless all elements are present, and natural food chains which have evolved over millennia are dependent on native plants. These plants support local insects, lizards, toads, birds and other wildlife, thereby reducing the possibility of local extinctions. Torrey feels strongly that we need to re-create some of the habitat that was lost when we built our homes and our cities. Plants from other parts of the world do well here, but don’t provide the same service to local wildlife. A well-designed native landscape is attractive and supports a variety of pollinators and birds throughout the year. Native gardens provide a bridge between community natural open spaces and surrounding development to sustain wildlife in our community.
The website https://calscape.org/ contains garden design and plant suggestions based on your location and site conditions.
The website https://neelsnursery.com/
NEEL'S NURSERY
Making California's native plants available to San Diego County.
· Buy plants online https://neelsnursery.com/ for delivery in San Diego County or pick-up.
· In-person shopping at the retail location in Encinitas, 466 N. Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas, CA.
· No mailing/shipping of plants. (Shipping/mailing: seeds, books & other merchandise only.)
· Hours: Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 9a – 5p
· New inventory added every Friday night.
