Gardening and Landscaping on STX

down here everybody and their brother are landscaper guys,it's hard hot and dirty work,these poor guys wear full sets of clothing in this heat,start with cruzan gardens and the st.george botanical gardens,they can probably give you some leads,contact the real estate agents as well

Thanks trw. I did discover Cruzan Gardens and sent them an e-mail. I'm thinking I'll give them a visit in person when I come for my pmv. Thanks again.
Khames

you bet

There are several landscapers... Cruzan Gardens, Ferd's Forest, Win Welsh, and one other who's name excapes me at the moment ... are the main ones that are full blown landscapers and do weekly yard maintenance service contracts. They are all very busy from what I can tell. The major hotels appear to hire there own landscapers/maintenance staff... as do many of the condo associations. they would be another place to look for a job. There are also a whole slew of individuals that are one man businesses that do yard care and yard maintenance and new ones pop up regularly so if you wanted to start a business I think there would be room for more competition , especially as new houses are going up at a steady pace. I think this is an area where there will always be room for more. Good Luck!

Thanks limetime2!

These are all great leads. I think I am looking to get into more of the specialty gardening if possible. Lawn maintenance is a different story. I am a female, and around here it is not uncommon for a female to be seen working for a landscape company. How well would that be received on STX? I don't anticipate any problems, but just curious. My thought was to do maybe specialized containers for hotels or resorts or condos - at least that's what I was picturing in my mind. I will know more after my pmv if there is a market for that.
Thanks everyone for the info!
Khames

Win is a female and is one of the top landscapers on island. Not a problem. She is tough too and good at what she does. She bosses around a whole crew of guys and steps right in and does what needs to be done. 😉

Water is an issue here. You might be able to do something with container landscaping for a lot of the high end homes... good biz idea, especially if you have some money to ease into it or can get another job and build it slow. Water is an issue here with plantings... big issue!

Go Win!

Good to hear - I will definitely look her up when I am there visiting. Thanks for all the information!

Hi Khames,

I am a recent land purchaser, hoping to move there in another 5-10 years (kids going thru college, parents still in area...). I've been thinking about container vegetable gardening. In my case, my house will be up on stilts (like many island homes), and although I'll enjoy landscaping my land a bit, I'd prefer a few vegetables and herbs to be at more easy access (on a deck/gallery, near the kitchen). I wonder if you could be a distributor for something like the "EarthBox"... and maybe master some techniques for their use on the islands.