Lourens Nursery

Lourens Nursery began as an idea and a dream, and today it stands as a success story that extends beyond just its owner, Marius Lourens. 

The inspiration behind Lourens Nursery stems from the owner, Marius Lourens’s, love for plants. He has always had a passion for nature and the beauty of the outdoors.

Marius Lourens started as a hawker selling plants from his bakkie by the roadside in the year 2000. He sold small quantities of plants and earned very little money. The plan was to eventually establish his own nursery that he could be proud of. With limited funds and no business experience, Lourens Nursery at that time sounded more like a fantasy than a realistic plan.

It took two years for Marius to gather enough funds to register Lourens Nursery as a Private Company. Lourens Nursery was established in 2002, and that same year, Marius was able to purchase his first nursery.

Challenges were to be expected with the establishment, but no one could prepare Marius for the realities of business ownership. Marius had to assemble a team to keep the nursery running. He needed to pay for the property as well as his employees’ salaries. For any small, new organization, it is difficult to stay afloat, but with Marius’s dedication and ambition, he saw no reason to give up.

Although Marius originally started with a love for plants and gardening, over time this blossomed into a broader passion for the outdoors as a whole. This new interest included landscaping, irrigation, and environmental conservation. This expanded knowledge and love led Marius to undertake his first landscaping project in 2002, which was a small 65 m² property. The project cost more than it generated, but it served as a foothold for future expansion.

From there, Marius was able to gain recognition for more than just plant sales from his nursery. Potential clients began to notice his abilities in garden renovation, irrigation installation, and transforming landscapes into something remarkable. His expansion into the field of landscaping truly took off in 2005.

In that same year, Marius purchased his second nursery. This expansion was a massive milestone for the owner, something that five years prior had not even seemed like a possibility.

Industrial landscaping projects were the natural next step. However, this presented a completely different type of challenge for a small landscaping organization. At that stage, the scope of the landscapes extended up to 2000 m². Without the necessary workforce, equipment, and funding, Marius felt as if he was trying to squeeze blood from a stone. However, perseverance was his best tool for tackling such tasks.

Marius was then able to purchase more vehicles and hire more people in 2010 for his growing business. He sold his nursery in 2012 to focus on landscaping, as it proved to be more profitable. He still keeps the plants he uses for his projects on his plot in Midrand.

Marius began to make contacts across Gauteng and started working on projects in Boksburg, Johannesburg, Brooklyn, Kempton, and many more.

2020 was a challenging year for everyone, and Lourens Nursery was one of the many organizations that nearly went under along with the rest of South Africa’s economy. However, he still retained his employees and tried to keep Lourens Nursery alive. His reliable and dedicated employees remained loyal to their employer, and today they are all still employed.

In 2021, as things began to stabilize, Marius was able to take on all his contracts. He put all his people to work to make up for the lost work. Weekends, holidays, and overtime became a part of everyone’s lives during that period. With everyone’s hard work and the new hires that Marius made, he was not only able to save Lourens Nursery but also facilitate further growth.

In 2022 and 2023, Marius continued to focus all his efforts on landscaping and gardening services. He also began hiring community members for certain projects. He was able to afford to employ unemployed individuals in the vicinity of a given project and fairly compensate them for their work.

At the end of 2023, Marius began rehabilitation projects aimed at restoring the nature around his projects after potential damage that may have occurred. This initiative reflects his commitment to environmental conservation and the sustainability of the landscapes he manages.

Marius started his charity projects in YEAR. This project was a collection forsanitary supplies for a shelter for rape survivors. From there, Marius undertook a project for the SPCA of Kempton Park, where he did their gardens for free and renovated the dog kennels.

Lourens Nursery in 2024 has 30 employees, undertakes landscaping projects that are up to 40,000 m² in size, and rehabilitates nature rather than destroying it. Marius can finally reap the rewards of all his sweat, blood, and tears. He has purchased more than 6 bakkies, and his work with community members is now more prominent than ever before.

Marius has planted roots in so many places in Gauteng, but also in people’s hearts. This is an organization that helps people realize their outdoor dreams. And at Lourens Nursery, they not only build lifelong bonds with employees but also with clients.