A nursery built K

enya is a horticultural paradise,

says Simon Walsh, co-owner of
Tropical Nurseries, a landscaping
company that produces most of

around palm trees

With its large variety of plant species, Tropical Nurseries
is playing its part in greening the country
By JAN VANDENABEELE
its own seedlings. However, Tropical Nurseries
is not shy of procuring plants from roadside
nurseries if need be, because it is difficult to
have such a wide selection all in one nursery
and Kenyas roadside nurseries are brilliant.
Kenyas tropical coastal area is hot and
relatively moist, and Nairobi does not have
frost like Johannesburg or Florida, and receives
enough rains to support a large variety of

Stunning Palm trees, ready

landscaping for sale, neatly
with skilful arranged in rows at
use of ferns, Tropical Nurseries
palm trees Gedi nursery. Good
and cycads, quality planting
at the Gedi material commands
nursery. a premium price.
(Photo: BGF) (Photo: BGF)

Coconut ... And more

husks waiting palm trees (the
to be milled golden palm,
into coconut Dypsis lutescens).
fibre, for use There really is a
in polybags in serious market
the nursery. out there. (Photo:
(Photo: BGF) BGF)

14 Miti April-June 2012

species. You can copy from anywhere, with
Packing of palm
plants matching site. In brief, Kenya offers the
trees. This is how it
best a gardener could wish for. starts. (Photo: BGF)
Tropical Nurseries was started in 1981 in
Malindi by Simons mother, Evelyn Walsh, as an
extension of her hobby, gardening. The business
has since expanded to include a 25-acre nursery
in Gedi and afterwards, another in Langata,
Nairobi. Tropical Nurseries contains a large variety
of plant species; succulents, ground covering
plants, flowering species, shrubs, indigenous and
exotic trees, and above all, palms.
Mr Walsh describes palms as the core
species of their nursery and gardening business.
Out of a single golden palm (Dypsis lutescens)
in their Malindi garden, over a million trees
would have been propagated over the years,
all by seeds. Indeed, over a period of 30 years
that makes a credible average of about 3,300
individual plants per year. It is nevertheless an
Loading. Note
astonishing number. the use of wood
Many of these palms have been sold at the shavings to provide
coast, but Mr Walsh says some 20 palm species a soft bed for the
are commonly planted all over Kenya. They palm trees and avoid
include the golden palm(Dypsis lutescens), the any damage. Prime
quality demands
stately royal palm (Roystonea regia) the national prime care, but
tree of Cuba, the Lucubensis (Dypsis pembana), commands prime
the fishtail palm (Caryota mitis and other fishtail prices. (Photo: BGF)
palms), miniature date palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
and more.
Out of 3,000 palm species worldwide,
Tropical Nurseries has some 50 species for
wholesale. A blend of palm trees, combined with
cycads (Encephalartos hildebrandtii) and ferns,
makes for a wonderful sight at the Gedi nursery.
The palms do not come cheap, and are priced
according to size, and the years they have spent
in the nursery.
Big palms are packed carefully to avoid
Clever use of a canopy of teak (Tectona grandis) pencil cedar), not to be confused with Cupressus
breaking the leaves and branches. They are
and other trees in the nursery in Gedi provides sempervirens stricta (the Italian cypress, which
wrapped in old shade-netting and one by one
enough shade and protection against winds so is rare to find in Kenyan nurseries), Albizia spp,
deposited on a bed of wood shavings when put
that a shade-netted roof can be avoided. Trichilia emetica, Millettia dura, Brachylaena
in the back of a lorry. This attention to detail is
The Gedi nursery environment - hot, moist huillensis (the silver oak or muhuhu), all species
characteristic of the company.
and shaded - is a good habitat for snakes, but of acacia, and many more. In their limited
In their nurseries and gardens, the soil of
killing them is forbidden. This surely goes against gardens, many new developments in Nairobi
planted areas is fully covered and mulched with
the grain of Kenyan practice, but true enough; avoid trees because of falling leaves and the
wood shavings or broken volcanic stones, to avoid
most snakes are harmless and in fact are good birds the trees attract. This is a pity. In countries
evaporation and stimulate soil life. Composting is
predators of mice and rats that can be very like Australia, a certain minimum percentage of
not done; as a rule, Tropical Nurseries employs
damaging. land under development must be green.
organic matter directly for mulching.
The landscaping of Tropical Nurseries Tropical Nurseries markets itself by word of
At Tropical Nurseries, there is no trace of
is also built around other tree species like mouth. A visit to the beautiful annex gardens next
what Mr Walsh calls that dreadful mushroom
Cordia africana (beautiful when in flower), Olea to the nurseries also serves as a good marketing
shape - badly pruned bushes so often seen
europaea ssp africana (the indigenous olive tree), tool.
in Nairobi gardens. The other hallmark of the
average Nairobi gardener, burning of organic Olea capensis, Calodendrum capense (the cape
chestnut with its purple flowers) and Ficus spp, The writer is the Executive Director, Better Globe Forestry.
matter (leaves, twigs) and sweeping the soil to Email: jan@betterglobeforestry.com
have it clean and in the process having it burned Vitex kenensis (the fast-growing meru oak).
out of its life by the sun, is nowhere to be found. Others are Juniperus procera (the indigenous

Miti April-June 2012 15