Cultivating Success: Nature Care SVG celebrates 20 years

There are many things that can be learnt from the story of Nature Care SVG, among them the importance of following one’s dream, being humble and never giving up.

On October 4 this year, Nature Care SVG will mark its 20th anniversary, and Gideon Nash, the owner and managing director, can safely boast that his business is among the best involved in the landscaping and plant industry in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

Gideon Nash, the owner and managing director of Nature Care SVG.

SEARCHLIGHT sat down with Nash two weeks before the company’s big 20. He shared that he is a trained agriculturist who in 1999, while working with the Ministry of Agriculture, was sent to the island of Mustique as a plant quarantine officer to do a major inspection of plants.

That visit to Mustique was the genesis of Nature Care SVG and is what propelled Nash to become a household name in landscaping, landscape design, irrigation, pest management and horticulture, with more than 54 employees and a base in his home community of Layou.

“I went to Mustique to do a major inspection of plants in 1999 and that time when I got there, I found some pest problems on plants that were brought in, and in the process of dealing with that, the owners said they never saw anybody so thorough and thought it wise to ask me to work for them…which I refused,” Nash told SEARCHLIGHT.

He said the Mustique residents pursued him for almost a year and eventually made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“After a while it was difficult to refuse…their payment was rivalling my monthly salary and more persons were requesting my services and I thought that going to Mustique only on a Saturday and doing eight hours for four Saturdays a month was rivalling my salary.

“I thought if I resigned and did consultancy I could do better, so in 2001, I resigned and started the business doing just consultancy,” Nash explained.

He said that as the years went on, he started to recommend plants for different gardens, but the quality he wanted wasn’t being produced so he started growing plants in his back yard.

“My wife could not get anywhere to hang her clothes, so we bought a piece of land next to us and that was not even enough so we rented an acre of land and began producing plants and we opened the first outlet on October 4, 2003,” Nash said.

The first base for Nature Care SVG was located on the main road in Layou, opposite the Anglican Church. In 2010, the business moved to its current location after they purchased a property further along the Layou public road.

Nash said when they moved to their current location, they needed more space for plants and therefore had to lease several plots of land. Today, three and a half acres of land are dedicated to providing every type of plant requested by the local market.

“It was not an easy journey but one that requires a lot of sacrifice, and for years I never knew what was a salary because we put the money back in the business and paid staff.”

The “we” mentioned by Nash is a reference to his late wife Sharon Nash who passed away on May 13 this year. Speaking about his wife was emotional for the businessman, who with tears in his eyes made the point that she was his rock and strength.

“She has contributed immensely to me and the business’s achievements and at times her salary had to take the family through when we were making money, but people were taking long to play,” Nash said.

He noted that the company almost went bankrupt after doing landscaping at the now defunct Buccama Bay Resort, they having emptied their nurseries and employed over 60 persons, after which they had difficulty getting paid.

“…And the credit union wanted to sell the land we bought because we couldn’t pay and we had taxes and even now, we still owing large sums of money, and we lost all our plants and that is one of the challenges with small businesses,” he said.

However, the astute businessman prefers to dwell on positives and praised his experienced and committed staff who he said would do anything to see his business succeed.

“They come out on weekends at short notice and I have staff who would stay back until late in the night to get things done. I even have staff who would wait for their salary and not grumble if I ask them to do so. So, I would like to say thanks to them.”

Nature Care SVG has been contracted to landscape the Sandals Resort site and Nash said the staff is committed to being perfect even as the sun is very hard to deal with these days.

Nature Care is a family oriented business and employs Nash’s two sons Rondeon and Jyasi along with Ralson Velox, who he considers an adopted son.

“We also have very good friends of the business who have helped us in difficult times,” Nash told SEARCHLIGHT, adding that Rondeon and Jyasi are university graduates in electrical engineering, tropical landscaping, irrigation and agricultural technology.

“Ralson has stuck close and there is no time of the day you call on him he would not come,” Nash shared, while thanking the homes on Mustique that use his services.

He hopes to take his business regional and already has a partnership with Nature Care Barbados and has registered Nature Care St Lucia.

“Our motto is ‘from the ground up’ which means the universe is our space for landscaping. We will landscape on Mars when people start to go there and we endeavour to go there,” Nash said.