78 | Easy being green for this Wanaka team The Green Fox team of professional landscapers and gardeners are passionate about both design and the environment. Green Fox T T Aimee Wilson “Living in such a gobsmackingly beautiful place as Wanaka, makes you want to ensure you are doing something to actively protect it.” CONTRACTING When two green foxes grew their Wanaka landscaping business to 20 staff in just three years, they turned plenty of heads in the resort town. Owners Sarah and Brendon Fox have made such an impression in a short space of time, they won Best Emerging Business at the Wanaka Business Excellence Awards 2024. Running a team of professional landscapers and gardeners, who are passionate about both design and the environment, Green Fox believes in working with nature, not against it. Servicing the wider Wanaka area, as well as Cromwell, eventually they can see their business establishing a base in other nearby towns as well. Covid-19 gave the couple an opportunity to pause and re-evaluate what they were doing with work, and they made the move from the North Island, down to Wanaka – Sarah in particular was thinking about how she could be of service to both the community and the planet. “My husband and I have both been passionate gardeners our whole lives, and I had a frangipani nursery and macadamia farm in Byron Bay before moving to New Zealand, so returning to work with plants and gardens was always on the cards,” says Sarah. Starting out as a solo gardening business, for Sarah and Brendon the challenge was making it work in such a changeable climate as Wanaka. “And with a long winter season, it didn’t seem sustainable,” Sarah says. Joining forces with her husband to start landscaping and transforming properties worked perfectly, as it also set them up for ongoing garden maintenance jobs – thereby building a strong client base. Then they decided to take it one step further and actively give back to the community through a range of regeneration projects, using profits from the business. “Living in such a gob-smackingly beautiful place as Wanaka, makes you want to ensure you are doing something to actively protect it. “It was important to me that the business contributed in some way to preserving and enhancing our local area in a meaningful way.” They now plant trees at The Outlet in Northlake, and on Cardrona, as well as collaborating with Tiaka Bees to plant bee-friendly and pollinator-friendly flowers, plants and herbs where possible. “We’re all about promoting self-sufficiency and food resiliency whenever we can,” Sarah says. “We also team up with Frog Song farm to run workshops in the community on orchard care.” The “skulk” (group) of other green foxes the couple has created all share the same vision as they do. “We are super passionate about being ‘green’ in all areas of the business. “ We refuse to use poisons or toxic chemicals; we use electric equipment wherever possible and adhere to permaculture principles.” Sarah says above all it is wonderful to know they are making a difference where they think it matters most – in their own back yard. “Gardening is wellbeing, so sharing this passion with clients is truly joyful. Working with all of our staff is just the best, as they are such an incredible bunch of passionate humans.” Proud to Support GreenFox 21 Wicklow Tce, Albert Town, Wanaka Matt Read: 0273446194 Email: info@templetonengineering.co.nz Servicing the Upper Clutha Since 1906 templetonengineering.co.nz SamWheadon 022 619 9033 Gareth Taylor-Edwards 022 4932808 www.precisiontreecare.co.nz info@precisiontreecare.co.nz Tree Pruning Tree Removals Stump Grinding Tree Planting Wanaka & Surrounding Areas
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