Today, we highlight member co-op, Parula Gardens, which just became a worker-owned cooperative earlier this year. Being a co-op enables them to focus on sustainability by creating gardens that are good for the earth and creating a workplace that is good for their gardeners. Parula Gardens specializes in ecological landscape design, installation, and maintenance, emphasizing native and edible plants. One of their main goals is helping clients replace invasive, non-native species with more ecologically beneficial ones that support diverse habitats. 

Parula Gardens was established by a group of landscapers who were previously independent contractors. In Fall 2024, when the small landscaping company they all worked for was closing, the tight-knit group came together to transition the work and community they loved into collective ownership. 

Although their business experience was limited, the crew was able to establish the basics within the first month, securing insurance, setting up bookkeeping, and creating a shared email account. Early in the journey, Parula Gardens’s worker-owners had long, busy, and packed work days. They’d return home covered in dirt, scrapes, and stings, tired from many hours working under the sun, and quickly shift gears to do important computer work needed to make the business happen. They drew up proposals, sourced plans, and organized their schedules to align with their clients’ needs, among other tasks. Though the work was tiring, it was immensely fulfilling. The crew was motivated by the new feeling of ownership, which gave them a sense of agency and purpose. Additionally, the shift to collective ownership brought immediate tangible benefits, with everyone earning an additional $7 per hour. 

During Winter 2024, Parula Gardens decided to formally organize as a worker-owned cooperative. They began the journey with guidance from PACA. Through regular meetings over a multi-week period, PACA worked with them to assist with their transition, helping them navigate incorporation, shared governance, and financial planning. They received a small business grant and a non-extractive loan, and then they gave the cooperative its name, Parula Gardens. The co-op is named after the northern parula, a small migratory bird that lives in the Mid-Atlantic’s native trees during the spring and summer seasons. 

Read more about Parula Gardens’s story in this article, written by the co-op’s staff. 

Check out Parula Gardens and consider hiring them for your landscaping and gardening needs! Landscaping is an extremely exploitative industry that commonly underpays workers and offers them little job security and workplace power. At Parula Gardens, however, landscapers are worker-owners who run the business differently, democratically, and most importantly, together.

Follow Parula Gardens on Instagram @parulagardenscooperative

Check out the Parula Gardens website.