Cactus Garden-Nursery Opportunity for Me

[Barefoot_Ted]

Howdy Folks

Well, I have been given a unique opportunity to take over a cactus garden/nursery operation.

Before I do, I want to enlist as much help as I can from the members of this list.

The garden is part of a 20+ acre horse ranch. The garden itself is approximately 5 acres of terraced hillside within the city limits of Los Angeles.

It is home to a large number of succulents, numerous species of large agaves, many unusual yuccas, lots of cactus, and plenty of African succulents.

I am going to be spending the week taking photos of what is here.

I am so excited about this possibility. I will be learning as I go.

More soon.

Advice, hints, ideas, pitfalls, concerns, congratulations...welcome.

Best Regards, Barefoot Ted

[peterb]

Wow, congrats! Sounds like a great opportunity. I voted "depends" because the nursery business is a really tough, competitive business with sometimes slim margins. Hard to tell, also, how the economic collapse will affect the C&S trade.

Keep us posted!

peterb

[daiv]

Ted! Good to hear from you again!

In your case, you could sell tickets to let people watch you run around the cactus with your bare feet! That is sure to bring big profits!

Just kidding. That sounds like a very neat opportunity. 20 acres within LA city limits? That sounds like an unusual piece of real estate at the least. Does it come with greenhouses and such? It would be great to see the pictures.

In any case, I don't think you get "rich" doing this sort of thing. Making an honest living doing something you love is the idea, I think...

[Barefoot_Ted]

Thanks for your comments.

You are right. It is not about getting rich. I just want to help bring back to life a semi-profitable business that existed up until about a year or two ago when the caretaker hired by the owner died.

I have a unique opportunity here. I would be a partner with the owner splitting profits. I also rent from the owner, so if I simply covered my living expenses, it would be enough for me as I have other small businesses that I am able to operate from the same location.

I plan on building a huge database of photos of the property and collections soon. I hope to get everything identified.

Thanks for all your help. Hopefully in the near future I can invite folks over for a visit. It would be very nice to have a cactus garden open to the public.

I am living about 50% here and 50% in Seattle. I may also like to find a way to sell succulent products to a market in Seattle. Ideas on this are also welcome.

Best Regards, Barefoot Ted

[CoronaCactus]

<----- is very jealous
20 acres in LA is a gift from above!!!

Congrats on the opportunity, sounds like fun!

Having just started a Nursery last year, i can say that it's going to take alot of time and effort. However, the rewards are worth it and it's not really work when you love what you do.

If you'd like some help with IDs on the plants, LA isn't too far of a drive

[Buck Hemenway]

Ted,

There is profit to be made. You have potential customers all over the LA Basin, particularly for landscape sized plants. I've been in the bus. since 2000. We have purposefully kept our nursery small as we both still have day jobs. I'd be happy to speak with you about what I see as opportunity.

Frankly, you are in a population center of more than 20 million people who are just now beginning to understand that they are out of water. The issue is always land to grow the plants and you have that without any up-front cost. It's a lot of work and you'll need tweezwers strapped to you, but at the end of the day, working with living plants is extremely satisfying.

[Barefoot_Ted]

Howdy Buck

Thanks for the encouragement.

I definitely see it as a unique opportunity. The landlord is not concerned about making a profit. It is more about just keeping up the property and adding value when possible.

My first step is to get the basics of what existed before and look into the records of past sales and contacts, and to catalog what is here on the property now.

I will be keeping everybody up to date as I go. Very much looking forward to what the future holds.

Best Regards, BFT

[Saguaro123]

That is very nice to hear. Where will it be located at? And will you sell plants online? I voted "Depends" because of the tough economy times, you may not get as many customers during that period and business is likely to go down. Another reason is the way how you would run the company and what you sell. There are some stores that I see on ebay that don't sell exotic things so they don't get very good business, compared to a good grower and has many exotic plants. Well, I hope if this goes well.

[John C]

That's Awsome!!!
Good luck man!

[tvaughan]

As long as you're not pressured to make a profit right away. Construction is dead, and (I should say that I make my living and employ four of my sons in a landscaping business) all the big nurseries are howling with pain.

Those with the capital to keep going should weather the storm, but at least two of my suppliers...well, let's not get too detailed.

So, given the caveat that there are is much more supply and prices are depressed, cactus grow slowly, so you don't have the same expenses keeping them up, etc.. I think a person could do worse than 5 acres in LA, for sure.

[Barefoot_Ted]

Howdy Folks

Thanks for all the replies and ideas.

I have yet to have a chance to photograph the entire garden and won't be able to until later this month.

The name of the company in the past was Coyote Cactus Company. The garden itself was/is considered one of the finest private cactus gardens in Southern California.

My steps of reviving the business are thus:

1. Photograph and catalog all species on the property determining which are rarest and best to propagate.

2. Build an interactive website with photos of the entire garden and an online store.

I am thinking that it would be great to find a way to invite the public to come through the garden and have a retail/wholesale nursery combined with a gift shop / snack shop with local items offered for sale.

I would like to connect the garden tour to other local tour possibilities.

I will start inviting local cactus friends to come by for a private tour starting in mid-March, so please don't hesitate to let me know of your interest.

Best Regards, Barefoot Ted

[Tony]

Well Im sure you wont have any problems finding folks to give private tours to in one of the finest private cactus gardens in Southern California, myself included.

[CoronaCactus]

Now THAT is an ambitious list
Best of luck to you!
As Tony says, won't be hard finding folks to come by, from that pic it looks incredible!

[peterb]

Here's another suggestion: friendly, encouraging and patient customer service. Over many years of being a dedicated and highly engaged customer (and employee!) with several different cactus nurseries, both online and in person, I can safely say that some professional cactus and succulent nursery people are just a shade rude, condescending and dismissive. I don't think this is usually intentional, but stems from a combination of being very busy, running a solo operation, being somewhat eccentric to start with and being an expert.

Business isn't about the expertise in growing, taxonomy, etc. Business is entirely people skills. A lot of stone cold cactus freaks and geeks don't really have very good people skills. I could cite many, many examples of interactions from which I came away feeling as if I had imposed on a grower...and I was a paying customer! With an obvious ongoing passion for the plants.

So what can really make the difference ina competitive "luxury" market is friendliness and shared enthusiasm.

peterb

[Barefoot_Ted]

Customer service and ongoing education...

People friendly.

I am thinking that it may be more interesting to turn the garden into a small scale nursery that puts more emphasis on educating people about cactus and succulents, native plants and plants adapted to the climate of Los Angeles.

For some people, just seeing so many beautiful plants in a beautiful location is enough for a small donation to keep the garden going. Friends and experts could be invited to use the garden as an outdoor classroom. Perhaps become affiliated with a local environmental or native/feral plant group (or create one).

I want to expand the propagation and preservation and use of local native plants as well. I am particularly interested in sharing with the public the amazing tradition of native plants and their traditional usages with emphasis on the Tongva and Chumash food and medicinal plants.

Also to foster new uses for plants that grow feral in Los Angeles, whether native or non-native, fostering the creation of new uses of feral plants for food and craft.

Which should include a gift shop (onsite and online) that offers crafts and arts and foods and plants that relate to the above ideas.

Dreaming.

BFT

PS. I plan on using all human power (where possible) to limit noise pollution and promote the idea of eating one's fuel.