A Passion For Beautiful Grounds

Like expertly applied makeup, a gorgeous garden and neatly landscaped grounds will enhance the beauty and value of any property. And there is one location in Tortola where tropical plants like the bougainvillea or the exotic orchid, fruit trees, or anything to construct that beautiful landscape can be found.

Groundworks BVI offers a wide range of products and services including the sale and care of plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, groundcovers and lawn grass. They also offer design and building services for sidewalks, walkways, decks and patios; soil retention measures; external lighting and irrigation; along with other design and enhancement elements related to outdoor living and exteriorscapes. We also boast a full line of trucks and specialty equipment in excess of 18 pieces that allows us to be efficient on any size project.

Groundworks Garden Centre offers an extensive Garden Center inventory over 12,000 palms and plants in stock and the general feel of the place is botanical and relaxing, with easily traversed setup, clean environment and a friendly knowledgeable staff. Adding more to the attraction are the sounds of parrots and other exotic birds.

Mr. Vernon Daniel is the manager of the Groundworks Garden Centre which is one of the first places customers visit to choose indoor plants like the Chinese evergreen or outdoor plants such as heliconias.

“We take the plants from seeds and we turn them into the pretty plants you see here,” says Daniel, who has six years of experience in the horticultural industry. “Customers can come into the nursery and select the plants they desire. There are customers like the resorts, the hotels, the villas, who will purchase plants in bulk; then there is the sale of materials and garden supplies,” he adds.

Daniel also conducts site visits based on customers’ requests to evaluate their properties for landscape maintenance or for insect and pest control. The maintenance crew goes out twice a week to care for plants which have been rented out to various entities.

A plant lover at heart, Daniel admits that he sometimes talks to the plants, and science has his back that this practice often makes for healthier growth. Armed with a first degree, his knowledge of plant care and maintenance is impressive.

“The great thing about indoor plants, such as dracaena, is that they don’t need much light so they will grow without much trouble. For outdoor, one of the favourites of all the customers is the bougainvillea – they come in a number of colours, heights and sizes and can be used in entry ways, for hedges and climbing. A lot of customers also love scented plants and Jasmine or Lady of the Night is another popular ones,” Daniel explains.

Equally knowledgeable is landscaping manager Mr. Hector Reyes, who has on his resume a stint in one of the palaces in Riyadh, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At Groundworks, his duties include visiting clients with his team to carry out landscape maintenance.

“It depends on the needs of the clients, but usually we maintain the grass, the shrubs and flower beds. We also do some tree pruning because if the trees are overcrowding the area, it will affect the plants underneath and without the sunlight, the plants will die. We also check if the plants are being watered properly. If there is automatic irrigation, we check if the system is working properly and if there are certain areas which are not being reached by the automatic irrigation, we water those plants manually,” explains Reyes.

For the perfect garden or landscape, Reyes recommends ensuring that the basic requirements for plant health – air, water, and sunlight – are met.

“These are the factors that we have to consider so that’s why when we do a design we know what type of plants to put in there. Even if the customer says ‘I want this plant’ I explain to them that we can give you the plant that you like, but it will not thrive that well because it is not the appropriate plant. That is the approach to execute the design for the client,” he notes.

In the office, Mr. Andy Blanc, accountant says it is the disciplined and informed staff which ensures customer satisfaction and gives the company its competitive edge.

“The staff is one on one with customers, and is able to explain indepth about the products we sell and take whatever questions the customers have. This business is close to our hearts so we put a lot of effort into it and you can tell by the end product the amount of time and care that went into it,” Blanc comments.

It’s a passion that’s shared by all the staff, and appropriately summed up by Reyes.

“For a landscaper to make it look nice you really have to have that passion in you. Those who have passion will turn a simple place into something, creative and imaginative that fits into how you want it. Of course you need to have the technical knowledge, but it’s the passion that builds a nice garden.”