The 2008 recession led to Saurabh Tripathi, an engineer, being forced to quit his job due to a salary downgrade.

Having a green thumb, he decided to start a nursery in his hometown, Lucknow. With a tight budget, it seemed the perfect fit.

“Gardening was my hobby. We always had a small garden where little flowers and other outdoor plants were grown. So, I thought why not start a nursery as a hobby,” he says.

He started by growing vegetables like tomatoes, chillies, brinjal, okra and exotic ones like celery, cauliflower and broccoli on his 500-sq-ft terrace garden and selling homegrown produce.

Over time, he started Saurabh Nursery, selling plants and vegetables, fruit, flower seeds and crops.

He sourced regional seeds by travelling across the country. He collected cacti saplings from Rajasthan, vegetable varieties from Haryana and Punjab, and apples from Himachal Pradesh.

“I also gathered seasonal vegetables from Bihar, Maharashtra, and West Bengal,” he says, adding it took almost a year to source these seedlings, saplings and plants for his nursery.

Interactions with farm owners and gardeners led him to expand into horticulture, floriculture, landscaping, and garden designing.

He sets up gardens in commercial spaces, and designs gardens and lawns for business spaces, including 5-star hotels.

“The trick is to experiment on a small scale at your own place before going big,” he shares.

Saurabh is now promoting farming and spreading awareness about the benefits of eating farm-fresh produce.

“It not only provides you good health but also gives you a steady income. If an investment of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 is made on a terrace to set up a farm, at least Rs 50,000 can be earned as profit,” he advises.

His nursery welcomes 100 to 200 customers every day and has almost all varieties of flowers, vegetables, fruits, tree saplings, and indoor and outdoor plants. The nursery has 50 permanent staff and several contract-based workers.

His mission is to get to more people and to take up big projects on lawn development, terrace farming and vertical gardening. “Nothing can match the mental relaxation that gardening can provide,” he says.