‘Show garden is the perfect sales tool’
You weren’t originally a grower?
“That’s correct. I used to work as a fashion designer, I had my own business in London. When it wasn’t doing so well any more in the late eighties, I decided to focus on my other passion: the cultivation of plants. I literally started in my own backyard. I also hired gardens of a few old ladies in those days; they were happy that I maintained their gardens and I could grow my plants and earn some money. Twenty years ago, I started my first proper nursery. But the location soon got too small. I have now been in this place, behind a garden centre, for eight years. They’re letting the land to me.”
You’ve built up a nice collection of perennials...
“We cultivate thousands of species of perennials, including unusual collections of Geum, Geranium, Crocosmia, Agapanthus, Eryngium, Helenium. We also have three ‘National Collections’: Anemone Nemorosa, Sanguisorba and Symphyotrichum novae-angliae. We’re developing and documenting these plants in order to safeguard them for the future. We’ve been collecting our extensive range over the years. During holidays, but also through collectors and through exchange with other nurseries. We’re still acquiring new species every year! It’s like a stamp collection; once you have a few unusual ones, you want to get all of them.”
Who are your customers?
“We sell to landscape architects, gardeners and consumers throughout Europe. In order to reach them, we have invested in a good website. In addition, there are thousands of pictures of our plants on Flickr, a photo-sharing website. We’re getting a lot of interest from Eastern Europe as they don’t grow too many perennials over there. We never send plants by mail though; they’re usually collected by an acquaintance of the buyer, who happens to be in England. And because I do a lot of talks, many English garden enthusiast and professionals in the field know us, too.”
You have your own show garden, don’t you?
“Yes, this garden – which features all of our species – is the perfect sales tool! We don’t charge an entrance fee, but visitors are always given an order list on their way out. In addition, we invite garden clubs for guided tours – including tea and biscuits! – of our nursery. A great day out for garden lovers and it’s good business for us. If a certain species is not in stock, we email people to let them know when in the following year the plants will be available. We think that good advice and service are important. This, together with good product quality, forms the bottom line of the customer base we’ve built up.”
Are you happy with your profits?
“We’re making a living, but we aren’t getting rich. The nursery offers growth potential, but we believe that a good work-life balance is important, too. If we were to grow, we’d have to employ people and we’d lose the feeling and the overview.”
How much longer are you going to continue?
“I’m 61 now and I’m planning to work for at least another five years. During those years, I’d love to train someone who could take over the nursery. But there aren’t too many young people who are interested in horticulture. That’s going to be a big problem in the long run.”
About Brian Ellis
Company: Avondale Nursery
Location: Coventry, UK
Acreage: around 2,000 m2
Sales channels: landscape architects, gardeners and consumers throughout Europe.
Assortment: special types of perennials such as Geum, Geranium, Crocosmia, Agapanthus, Eryngium and Helenium.
Number of employees: Ellis runs the company together with his wife Steph. From time to time, volunteers help out at the nursery as well.
