By Moses Leos III
Having each grown up with a fondness for gardening, Christine Reid and her husband envisioned a place where they could grow organic product, while also passing along their knowledge of horticulture.
Over the course of eight years, the duo, which operates Reid’s Nursery near Uhland, has provided people information on gardening as a way to compete against the big-box stores.
“We’ve grown as our customer base has grown,” Reid said. “We grow more and more of our own things and respond to what people ask for. We’ve expanded what we needed to have.”
During the first year, Reid said the nursery had to purchase flowers and plants to start up its business.
But over a period of two months, the nursery began to grow items on site. As a smaller business, Reid said the focus is offering varieties of perennials and plants that grow well in the area. She said not everything big box stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot is “meant for this area.”
“We didn’t see the things we wanted to see (at stores),” Reid said. “We wanted to have the nursery we wanted to go to.”
According to Reid, business is spread out during the course of the year, with people picking up plants and flowers to beautify their yards during the springtime. During the winter, many gardeners prepare for spring by adding compost or other “soil amendments.”
One trend that’s growing, according to Reid, is the inclusion of edible landscaping.
“There’s something you could be doing every season,” she said.
Clientele for the nursery ranges from the Dallas area to San Antonio.
Reid said she was surprised how far people travel to her nursery, with some saying they can’t find native plants and trees at stores.
“It’s really interesting. I can’t believe they can’t find these things,” Reid said. “It’s gratifying that people are coming from far away to find some things.”
For Seth Brown, co-owner of Xanadu Nursery, competition was difficult to find when he and his brother, Mitchell moved their business to Driftwood in 1976.
Their company, which focuses on landscaping and xeriscaping, opted to grow their product on site during the first decade of operation.
Over time, however, the gradual increase of wholesale suppliers of flowers and plants allowed the duo to purchase from an outside source.
“I don’t have to keep my nursery fully stocked,” Brown said. “It helped a lot as far as money and material.”
But with the wholesale market now “saturated,” Brown said the challenge is finding quality material.
In addition, the increasing interest in xeriscaping in Travis and Hays counties has led to the company changing its views on landscaping. It’s led the company to hire carpenters to help with furniture requests from customers. He said hiring a carpenter was something he wouldn’t have considered when he first started.
“Before it was putting in some flowerbeds and trees, a walkway and a patio,” Brown said. “Over the last 3 to 5 years, clients want gazebos and outdoor kitchens.”
Competition against a growing number of landscaping businesses is now a focus for Brown.
“There are a lot of landscaping companies in Austin, but many of them aren’t doing what we’re doing,” he said.
