Source: Lowveld Living Issue 33
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A combination of love and necessity saw a lowveld housewife turn her hobby into a major fern business, writes Sue Adams
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‘You collect fern spores and from then on you just hold thumbs,” says Louise van Oudtshoorn, who began growing ferns as a hobby and now has one of the largest fern nurseries in the country.
It all began when a friend who ran a nursery suggested Louise try to grow ferns from the spores. These are little black spots on the underside of a fern leaf that burst open to produce a fine, coffee-coloured “dust” of spores.
Propagating them is not as easy, and it her three years to perfect the art. “I used to travel to places like Thailand to find new ferns and plants, and order from spore banks overseas,” she says.
She has built up her own spore and seed collections over the years, but still enjoys the delicate job of collecting the spores and growing baby ferns from them.
After the death of her former husband, curator of the Nelspruit Botanical Gardens Johan Kluge, she had to make the fern business a success to support her three young children. From delivering 1 000 baby fern plants on her first order in 1992, her Klugro Nursery near Nelspruit now sells up to 200 000 plants a year.
Louise has to spend most of her time these days on finances, administration and marketing. Her daughter, Tanija, studied landscape technology and has joined the business to share the workload.
Louise says the new blood has introduced new ideas, essential in a competitive business. Each year Klugro tries to produce a completely new plant variety into the market and in that way stay ahead of the competition. “This is a copycat business,” she says.
They used to allow people to wander through the nursery, but now try to keep each new plant a secret until it is launched. In October this year they are planning to add on a retail section with a coffee shop where they can welcome customers and have all their plants on display.
Ferns are now only part of their business. They also produce cycads, cycas (exotic cycads) and succulents.
“Ten years ago Mpumalanga had a terrible drought. It was then we decided to grow succulents and now 50 percent of our business is indigenous and 50 percent non-indigenous plants,” says Louise.
They send plants all over the country and a major part of their business is supplying Gauteng retail nurseries.
Recently re-married, Louise’s garden at her new home in White River is filled with succulents. When she is not gardening, she is either out on her mountain bike or playing golf.
Louise says she had a strange dream when she was 16. “I had never given ferns a thought, but I had this vivid dream where I was surrounded by hundreds of ferns. It was the only dream I ever remembered, and 10 years later I started growing ferns. Quite weird really.”
Tanija says could not help but follow in the family tradition. “I grew up between the plants,” she laughs. “I was always on one of my parents’ backs when they went bundu bashing.” She loves nature and is also a keen mountain biker.
Louise would like to hand over the business to Tanija, but she will never be able to let go completely. She is still happiest when her fingers are delicately collecting fern spores or digging in earth to re-pot the tiny plants.
“Plants are in my blood,” she says. “I want to go back to the collecting of spores and the growing. It’s what I love best.”
© Lowveld Living magazine
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A visit to Montana Garden and Pet is most certainly something you won’t forget. As you enter you’ll find our Iguana basking in the Lowveld sun and showing off its gorgeous colouring. Montana is known to always be very bright and colourful no matter what the season and we pride ourselves in this! Our seedling tables are always choc-a-block and ready for you to take a tray or three for that instant colour in your garden!
Our Plant Pallets and tables are all made from Recycled Plastic to be more environmentally friendly.
As you wander through the Garden Centre you are treated with little corners or displays with a statue or fun ornament and lots of beautiful hanging baskets. We like to entice you to not just have plants, but show you all the extra’s your garden can be enhanced with! We have a fun kiddies area where the kids can frolic and play whilst parents enjoy a light meal or coffee at Milk & Honey Tea Garden (independently run). We have some magnificent resident pythons and 2 Caiman Crocodiles on display in their own spacious built-in homes spaced in between the plants and features.
Feeding Frenzy Nelspruit
Montana was started by the Ross family in the Mid 80s and Diane Ross was a founder member of the Garden Pavilion Group. Henk van Staden bought Montana in November 2016 and has transformed it into the beautiful Garden and Pet Pavilion that it is today. A top class Pet Shop was built on, and anyone visiting Montana agrees, it’s a place to quench the soul! The setting on the Gladdespruit River adds to the ambience and feeling that you’re in another world, albeit we’re only 3km from the N4 highway!
Feeding Frenzy Nelspruit Free
As our slogan says– Our Hearts are set on Plants and Pets @ Montana!
Garden Center
Montana Garden Pavilion is a very proud member of the Garden Pavilion group.
Pet Shop
At Montana we stock all pet accessories and food for dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, hamsters etc.
Promotions
Montana has frequent in-house specials as well as our Garden Pavilion Promotions!
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