It started as a fun activity to help his mother out in her nursery. The concept has now morphed into ‘I am the Gardener’, a retail brand that sells a wide variety of plants, pots, fertilizers and gardening tools. In the process Biraj Khadka, its co-founder and director, created Nepal’s first modern gardening center. 

They grow and sell more than 250 plant species: flowering, indoor, outdoor, rare, exotic, seasonal, to cacti and succulents. “We wanted to simplify things for all plant lovers out there and help them grow their plants better,” says Khadka. “We advise them on how to invest the least amount of time in taking care of plants”.

Khadka belongs to a family which has for generations been into agri-business. Twenty years ago, his mother had opened Khadka Nursery, which became their family business. In 2014, when he started helping his mother with accounts of Khadka Nursery, he discovered big loopholes in the way plants were being retailed in Nepal.

“At first, I wasn’t very enthusiastic and didn’t think I would continue working for the nursery,” he admits. “But while helping in the nursery, I found that this sector was still to really develop in Nepal.” Khadka started researching and found that the market couldn’t absorb their products in the absence of a medium to connect with customers. “Local nurseries were only catering to their areas and making a living out of it,” he says. There was no way for you to get the plant you wanted, where you wanted it.

While researching global trends, he found a whole new market size, market structure and technology. It made him realize floriculture in Nepal was yet to be established and there was a need for more than just small-scale businesses.

Gradually, more local nurseries started finding a platform in ‘I am the Gardener’ to retail their products and make them more accessible to the people. This was where growers and buyers met. It became a sister company of Khadka Nursery.

The company started growing but three of the five co-founders quit because of long hours and hard work. Now it was up to Khadka and Upreti to handle it all—and how have they done it!

The Khadka Nursery as well as the head office of ‘I am the Gardener’ are located in Mandikhatar, Kathmandu. The plants are grown and taken care of in their warehouse. Local nurseries also send their products to the warehouse, for distribution to different outlets and for online sale.

The warehouse is designed to grow and sustain all kinds of plants. The plant prices depend on the time they take to grow, external facilities, fertilizers, and pesticides, among other expenses. “When getting plants, you are not just buying them but also the time and patience they need,” Khadka says.

“We wanted to raise the standard of floriculture by giving people a sampling of quality plants,” he adds. “At the same time, our aim was to get more and more people interested in plants and their diversity.”

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In 2016, when ‘I am the Gardener’ was in its infancy, they opened their first outlet in Dhumbarahi. It started as a space with a variety of plants in every corner, where people could sit and read books made available there. They could be around plants, and buy them if they so wished. They got wonderful customer feedback for this ‘plant library’.

Unlike most other businesses, ‘I am the Gardener’ boomed during the pandemic. Having to stay at home all the time, people craved for natural stuff, making them tilt towards plants. A brand solely dedicated to retailing plants was what the market needed as well, and their social media reach increased organically.

“Although, in terms of operation it was challenging to function as a retail company during the lockdown, we took the opportunity to brand our products and develop our app and website,” Khadka says.                                                                                                   

By this date, ‘I am the Gardener’ has served more than 100,000 customers. It has six outlets—Chakrapath, Kalanki, Bhatbhateni, Labim Mall, Gyaneshor, Bhaisepati—with the seventh one in Kupondole in the offing.