Meet Paula Henson of Above The Dirt in Jeffersontown

In 2022, this former hairdresser decided to take on a new adventure: She and her husband transformed a former gas station and auto shop on Taylorsville Road into a plant store for home gardeners. Above the Dirt specializes in houseplants and landscaping with native and non-invasive perennials and shrubs, as well as spring and fall annuals. The store also offers plant lovers a place to purchase new additions and learn about plant parenting in various classes. Get to know this plant lady turned entrepreneur and this month’s FACE of Louisville, Paula Henson!

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How was Above The Dirt born?

Well, I have 20 years of experience in the beauty industry. I trained as a hairdresser and did hair behind the chair, but I also got into manufacturing, distribution and sourcing products. I also did a lot of adult training for hairdressers. My career took a turn into product distribution, and then COVID changed that to warehouse management. There was less and less training, which was really what I loved. I was part owner of a distribution company, and when they bought me out, I did more training in the hair industry.

But I’ve always been a fan of weird plants. I love growing vegetables and having houseplants. I’d talked about wanting a greenhouse for years. I wanted to be like the old lady at the farmers market who sells her asparagus and tells way too many stories about it!

This old gas station and auto repair shop was empty, and one day I drove by and thought, “This could be a plant store.” That same day, my husband drove by and thought, “This could be a plant store.” He knows everyone in J-Town, so that night he made a few calls and found out who owned the place. We rented it out on a whim and turned it into a plant store.

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What can people expect at Above The Dirt?

We grow houseplants all year round, that’s our main business. We also offer special plants, like annuals. In spring, there are hanging baskets and pretty flowering plants. In autumn, it’s chrysanthemums. In winter, it’s poinsettias.

We also do specialty bonsai and teach many classes. We offer classes such as Bonsai for Beginners, Propagation, Houseplants 101, and Neighborhood Friendly Native Plants. When it comes to landscaping, we do everything native or non-invasive – so you can come here and buy all your perennial needs knowing that none of the plants will ever escape into the wild and do bad things. We also ship plants to other states!

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Where do your stocks come from?

We buy our plants from about 14 different suppliers. We support many local businesses and farms. Besides the tropical plants, which come from Florida, about 80% come from within a 150-mile radius. And we don’t buy from a single supplier that isn’t a family-owned business.

What do you recommend for beginners in houseplants?

The first step is to get to know your plant’s parenting style, as shown in our Houseplants 101 course. Plants are often labeled as “easy” or “difficult,” but I disagree. It’s a bit like raising children; some say babies are difficult, but I think babies are very easy. So it all comes down to your parenting style and how we align it with the best plant for you.

For example, succulents, cacti, and snake plants require long periods of drought, which is why people call them easy plants. But in reality, they are for parents who want to “set them and forget them.” There are also helicopter parents who want to love their plant; they want to water it, pet it, and play with it. They are just a different category of plant parents, and they would do well with calathea and begonias. For people who fall somewhere in between, we might suggest pothos, philodendron, or dracaena.

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What useful fact about plants would you like people to know?

Everyone plants in the spring, but fall is the best time to plant a perennial, shrub, or tree. That’s because the plant will first spend time and energy developing a deep, significant root system. Then it goes dormant over the winter and explodes in the spring. So if you plant in the fall, you’ll have a head start.

What are your favorite places to eat and play in the area?

The food quality at Gaslight Diner is simply excellent. They recently changed ownership, so if you’ve been there, forget everything you’ve experienced and try again. It’s good for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The best place for dessert is right next to Above The Dirt – Sweet Savannah’s. It’s a yogurt shop, but they don’t charge you by the pound. And for gaming, we love RecBar. We go there about three times a week.

What is the best advice you have ever given or received?

It’s in a good way: nobody cares! I think we get really stuck in our heads wondering what people are going to think, whether they’re going to like something, or whether something is going to sell. But nobody cares! You do what you want, and people who like what you do will be magnetically drawn to what you do. Obviously, “doing what you want” means being nice and being a good person overall. But if you’re being yourself in a positive way, that’s all there is to it. Just do it.

Besides faith, family and friends, name three things you cannot live without.

I get my nails done — if you’ve seen our Instagram, you know my nails are always part of the show. Also, coffee and cute handbags.

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