THE seed of an idea was planted by a customer several years ago and since then husband and wife team, Nik and Tracy Lamont have seen their company blossom.
The couple have run their Lawn Hero business from Hamsterley for the past eight years.
Initially offering gardening services, helping customers tackle unruly lawns and providing expert advice on how to achieve the best grass for the climate.
Mrs Lamont said the idea to branch out into seeds came from customer who had asked for help planting up a wildflower meadow.
She said: “It was our customer who said we should be selling seeds and it’s from there that it’s grown, literally.”
They now split their time between tending borders and selling seed blends to create outstanding lawns.
As well as selling online the couple have been out and about at a variety of country fairs and shows, including Eggleston Show where they did a roaring trade on their wildflower mixes.
The wildflowers were an instant success and their native flower mixes, which attract all kinds of wildlife including honey bees, have been in great demand.
Mrs Lamont said: “It’s been fantastic. Everyone is really wanting to have wildflowers in their garden now and we can not only advise them on the best ones to have for their garden, but we can put the seeds together for them as well.
“I had a customer a couple of weeks ago asking if we sold a slow growing grass seed. At the time I didn’t so I told him to pop back and within a week we made sure we researched and had them available.”
Mr Lamont said: “As part of the business we have quality seeds and we are working on other aspects as well including a fully organic weed killer and we hope to have that out later this year.”
The couple, who are helped by Mrs Lamont’s son Zak, said they would love to be growing and harvesting all their own seeds but the weather conditions at Hamsterley are not ideal.
Instead they use a specialist supplied from Lincolnshire.
In addition to the seeds, the couple have a range of biodegradable plant pots and busy bee gift boxes complete with decorative bee, suitable for birthday and Christmas presents.
