Succulent Plant Boarding Garden: The Entrepreneurial Path of a Post-90s Couple in Fangshan, Beijing
“I feel at ease leaving these two pots of ‘Haworthia cooperi’ with you.” On the 13th, succulent “enthusiast” Yu Yang boarded his two newly bought succulents at the succulent plant garden in Zhouzhuang Village, Liulihe Town, Fangshan District. As summer arrives, he has already boarded 100 succulents that are “troublesome” to get through the summer at this succulent plant garden.
The owners of this succulent plant garden are a post-90s couple, Wu Han and Wang Shihui. Since they and many young people around them love succulents, the young couple returned to their hometown, turned their hobby into a career, founded the succulent plant garden, named it “Bubble Garden,” and provide free boarding services for the public.
“The ‘little fleshy ones’ are very afraid of direct sunlight, so for many succulent lovers, how to get their ‘little fleshy ones’ safely through summer is a difficult problem.” Wang Shihui said that her “Bubble Garden” is built in a solar greenhouse, with fans and water curtains installed inside, plus shade curtains above, which can keep the indoor temperature at around 28°C, suitable for succulent growth. In winter, the succulents in the garden can also enjoy the dual service of heaters and air dryers. Pointing to the camera installed in the greenhouse, she said: “Even if the two of us are not in the garden, we can control the camera through our mobile phones, observe the growth of the ‘little fleshy ones’ in real time, and also share it with their owners through WeChat.”
“The reason we provide boarding services is that a friend’s succulents could never stay alive, so she brought them here for me to take a look.” Wang Shihui said that under her careful care, that pot of succulents “survived.” As a result, this friend was very convinced by the young couple’s skills and boarded it at the plant garden. For this reason, Wang Shihui specially set aside an area to provide free succulent boarding services.
In the boarding area, pot after pot of succulents are some petite and exquisite, some charmingly naive. “At present, we have taken in 120 pots of succulents.” Wu Han said that the two regularly check the indoor temperature and humidity, observe the growth condition of each pot of plants, and adjust the light.
Wu Han said that most boarders come here to visit on weekends. Through this boarding service, the young couple have made many good friends and also expanded their business. They have built this place into a platform for succulent lovers to relax and entertain, where people can exchange growing experience, DIY succulent bonsai, and more.
“In the garden there are more than 1,000 pots and more than 300 varieties of succulents, with prices ranging from 5 yuan to 2,888 yuan. The boarding service has brought us many customers. Over the past month, we have earned more than 3,000 yuan.” Wang Shihui said that she also provides succulents, as well as prepared soil, flower pots and tools, for some customers who like DIY, guiding them to combine and match unique succulent garden micro-landscapes and turn them into creative artworks. The fee for one experience activity is 100 yuan, and the two are very optimistic about this project.