Wolf Trap Nursery has been part of the landscape along Leesburg Pike for more than five decades, selling a variety of home and garden plants to gardeners and residents in the surrounding communities.
Now, owner Bill Kupp is preparing to wind down operations by the end of June 2027, closing a business that has become a familiar part of the community.
Kupp says he sold the property to Vienna-based developer Sekas Homes, which plans to redevelop the site into 13 single-family homes. But he points to his age as another factor in his decision to close the business.
“I’m getting up in age, and there’s a lot of things that I can’t do, and having a nursery — there’s a lot of physical work,” he said.
Kupp’s parents, Blair and Dorothy Kupp, founded the nursery in 1972 after Blair retired from a career in sales. Since then, the nursery has offered a wide range of plants and gardening supplies, from houseplants and seasonal flowers to trees, shrubs, fruit and vegetable plants and seeds. The nursery also specializes in bonsai, selling trees and offering soil, pots and workshops for enthusiasts.
According to its website, the nursery was founded with an emphasis on quality plants, reasonable prices, and personal customer service. Kupp says those principles have allowed the independent, family-owned nursery to compete with big-box retailers for the past 54 years.
“Customer service is probably the biggest part of it,” he told FFXnow. “We’ll answer people’s questions. You go to a big-box store, the clerk has no clue how to take care of the plant. We will take the time to show them what the plant likes, or show them one of my plant books and let them see how to take care of it.”
Kupp recalls a customer telling him this week that the plants she bought from a big-box retailer had all died, while those she purchased from Wolf Trap Nursery are still thriving. He says customers have expressed sadness over the nursery’s closure — a mutual feeling.
“They’re really sorry to see us go,” Kupp said. “We’re kind of a unique garden center. It’s always been a little mom and pop place, and other places might have tables and tables of the same thing, or just lots of the same thing, and we have a wide variety, but a small number of them, and so it’s it’s a little different.”
Last month, the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approving Sekas Homes’ proposal to rezone and redevelop the nearly 6.5-acre property into single-family homes. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors deferred a public hearing for the rezoning to Oct. 27 during its meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 13).
A closing sale is now underway, as the nursery prepares to bid farewell in the coming months.
“I’m really going to miss the customers here,” Kupp said. “We’ve developed very nice friendships over the years, and we have a lot of loyal customers, and I’m gonna miss them a lot.”
