New Space Re-Energizes

Oakleaf Flower & Garden has room to grow

By Judy Royal

Kirk Moore is the ultimate people person. Just listen to him interact with his customers at Oakleaf Flower & Garden (www.oakleafstyle.com) for a few minutes to realize this about him. The words of mutual admiration are abundant.

“I just love them, and they love us,” Moore said.

He added that his sister Leith Canty, who works with him at the Highlands store, often teases Moore about his need to ask a lot of questions and create conversation.

“I think that’s why they know we actually do care,” Moore said of his loyal customer base.

But perhaps more than anything, Moore is a nature lover, something that – given his Georgia upbringing – is no surprise. He said that his father was a forester, and his mother was a “science teacher/naturalist kind of person” and “garden club maven” who instilled the importance of the outdoors in him and his sister.

“We grew up sort of under our mother’s creative thumb, so to speak, so we both learned at a very early age to appreciate gardening and flowers,” Moore said. “It’s kind of nice that we work together to channel our mother as a way to make a living.” (Read more about Grace Underwood Moore: www.oakleafstyle.com/post/mother-s-magic)

When it was time for Moore to embark on his higher education journey, picking a focus was a no-brainer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in museum studies from William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, a program for which he basically created his own curriculum. Moore also worked as a garden curator for Colonial Williamsburg and developed a master plan for Carter’s Grove Plantation. From there, he returned to Georgia and opened a specialized practice of doing gardens for historic homes and places. Moore also went back and forth to a store he operated in New York City and around the East Coast to work on projects.

“I was sort of the Forrest Gump of gardening,” he said. “I traveled all over the place with my southern accent.”

Moore was in the Big Apple when he made friends with some of the folks from Old Edwards Inn. By 2006, he had relocated to Highlands from his home base in rural Georgia to work for the inn, which provided him with some downtown studio space. That’s where the Oakleaf retail shop was born.

“It was such a wonderful storefront, so I opened a store and named it Oakleaf to go along with the inn’s store called Acorns,” Moore said.

Although Moore and Oakleaf are no longer directly affiliated with Old Edwards, his time working with the inn allowed him to merge his gardening expertise with what became a new passion – making weddings, parties and other private events flourish.

“Old-fashioned landscape architects like myself, when you have a client, you end up kind of doing a lot of stuff for them to make sure whatever they do while entertaining reflects the style and nature of their garden,” Moore said. “It’s part of the bliss of doing this. It’s about connecting.”

During a recent week – peak season for hosting events in the Plateau – Moore worked on two weddings and four big parties. He said he often makes friends for life after collaborating on these types of projects, adding that his wedding work is really about helping to “launch families,” evidenced by the hundreds of baby pictures he has from his clients who often remain his friends for life.

“A wedding is the story in a couple's life,” Moore said. “I talk with brides and their mothers, and I feel like if they understand me as an artist, we can work together.”

When he’s not making events beautiful, Moore is at his shop getting to know his customers and imparting his love for gardening. He said that Oakleaf recently moved from its bustling Main Street location “just a few steps but a world away” to a more relaxed spot in a 1935 cottage at 330 Spring St. that offers 12 parking spaces and an acre of land with raised beds.

“There are cut flowers that people can pick, or I can pick and arrange them,” Moore said. “I also sell native plants and historic American trees, shrubs and perennials that are a perfect choice for a garden here because they will thrive and be beautiful. I love antiques, so the shop is always filled with beautiful garden antiques. Anything a serious gardener would need from start to finish, we have all of it.”

During the off-season, Moore shares his love of gardening with others through talks across the South at antique shows and The Garden Club of American zone meetings.

“It’s perfect because I kind of get to escape for a little while and keep working,” he said.

The Kirkland Moore product line was launched about a year ago through these talks. Moore realized that when he traveled, his name was more recognizable than Oakleaf, so that’s how he branded his collection of gardening essentials such as soil blends, glass vases, historically inspired terra cotta pots and more, which he sells in his store, online and when he attends gardening events. (Read more about the new product line: www.kirklandmoore.com)

Moore said he looks forward to expanding the Kirkland Moore collection and promoting his new store as a shopping and cultural destination. If all this isn’t enough, he is very civic-minded and deeply involved with making the Plateau a better place, something he said is just part of living in a small town.

“It was important to me from the get-go that if I’m going to breathe the air here, I’m going to give back in some way,” Moore said. “Just being an integral part of a very amazing community and just breathing here is pretty wonderful in and of itself. I try really hard to put my brain and my money where I can see it do the most good.”

Moore’s volunteer work includes being on the Cashiers Historical Society, Summit Charter School and The Bascom board. He recently served as co-chair for The Bascom Gala, which raised $340,000 for the non-profit Center for Visual Arts. In addition, he has been part of Plant for the Plateau, a joint project of Highlands Food Pantry and Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry in which members of the community grow fresh vegetables, harvest them and donate them to supplement the typical canned and boxed offerings for their clients.

“I support them any way I can,” Moore said. “There are so many kids on the Plateau who go to sleep hungry.”

Spending many of his early years in Savannah, GA, Moore was always familiar with Highlands as a fun summer destination, but he said he loves being here year-round now, even if he’s too busy to have the lush home gardens he once enjoyed. Instead, he’s happy with growing camellia japonica inside his bedroom in exchange for the life he has built here in the Plateau.

“Highlands is such a wonderful place,” Moore said. “It’s the people. The elevation is nice, but the hearts of all the people who live here are really it. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”