Our Mission

Waiahole Nursery and Garden Center is a special place on the windward side of O’ahu, Kaneohe, Hawaii. We are a local and family owned nursery working to provide sustainable solutions to O'ahu's gardening ohana. We offer healthy plants for gardeners who prefer traditional soil gardening with a nursery full of fruit trees, vegetable starts, herbs, native Hawaiian ornamental and medicinal plants. For gardeners ready to try their green thumb at hydroponics or aquaponics, our expert staff will get you started with your own backyard system. For those who are not quite ready to start their own system, we have classes,  seminars, volunteer opportunities and internships to help you get ready to launch your own project. 

Our mission at Waiahole Nursery & Garden Center is to provide a nurturing and safe environment to educate our island community and its visitors, on sustainable gardening practices. We do this through our seminars and internships, as well as through our sister company's accredited employment service training and pre-vocational training programs (www.vocationaleducationwaiahole.com). Regardless of the training program you choose, our friendly and knowledgeable staff is here to guide you every step of the way.

Our goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle for all of our friends, neighbors, & visitors. We encourage our community to mālama honua  (protect our Earth) by living pono (morally), protecting our beautiful aina (land) & embodying the ALOHA spirit. If you or your organization would like to get involved or learn more about our mission at Waiahole Nursery, contact us today! 

Our Leaders

Let our experts in teaching, customer service, gardening, aquaponics, hydroponics, biology and culinary arts get you started on your way to sustainability.

The Waiahole Nursery and Garden Center was established in 2008. The owner, Dr. Patricia Dukes (pictured), allows social service agencies to bring their clients to the nursery for vocational training, as well as for the therapeutic benefits of gardening. She has over 35 years of expertise in speech, language pathology, audiology, reading and learning disabilities. She has worked in public schools, clinics, hospitals and private practice in addition to twenty years of university teaching at 6 major universities. Her mission to incorporate an agricultural vocation training with a residential treatment facility has grown into a full-scale nursery and garden center. Dr. Dukes has completed an Aquaponics course at nearby WCC and enjoys ballroom dancing, watersports, camping and playing with her Labrador retrievers.

 Kathryn Hurd, Manager of Waiahole Nursery and Garden Center, grew up in Hawaii and holds undergraduate (Biology) and graduate (Microbiology) degrees from UH at Manoa. Her master's research focused on Bacterial Genetics with an emphasis on cell differentiation. In addition to being the farm manager she supervises the Aquaponics and vocational training programs. She is passionate about public education and awareness around GMO's and encourages a conversation. She enjoys going to the beach, the company of good friends and being continually amazed by her daughter, Ava, and son, Lincoln.