A top student born in the 90s, leased 20 acres of land to grow succulents, and achieved success in both love and career!

Meet succulents, love at first sight

When I was a junior in college, I was thinking about what to do after graduation. Should I take the postgraduate entrance examination to continue my studies or go to Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou to find a high-paying job? After thinking for a long time, I decided to start my own business.

This immature idea was naturally opposed by my family, but later, I spent a year conducting investigations and research, and with my persistence, my family finally agreed.

But I still haven’t figured out what to do specifically. Until one day when I was shopping with a friend to buy green plants, I was attracted to succulents at first sight. At that time, an idea came to my mind: why not grow succulents and do what I like!

Back home, pruning the succulent garden

After graduation, I returned to Dali and took over an aquatic plant nursery. Due to long-term abandonment, the nursery was overgrown with weeds and the house was dilapidated.

To be honest, in the first few months, I didn’t know how to deal with it. Later, looking at the empty nursery, an idea came to my mind: why not build a succulent garden on the spot!

The nursery was so large that it took me several months just to clear the weeds. I felt bad for my hands which were covered with blisters.

After clearing the weeds, we began to turn the soil and dig the ridges to plant succulents. The abandoned nursery became like the picture below.

Okay, I admit it looks messier...

Because I just graduated and didn't have much money, I couldn't buy too many succulents at once. I could only buy a part first, grow them and sell them at the same time, and save money little by little to build a succulent garden.

After the site is repaired, the construction of the garden flower bed officially begins. In order to save money, I made all the succulent flower beds in the garden myself.

I didn’t have much money, so I had to do everything myself. Every brick and stone in the garden was selected by me personally.

After the baptism of time, the flower bed has gradually become more fulfilling. A year later, can you still tell how crude it was back then?

Friends who have raised succulents should know that the most expensive part of succulents is the flower pot. I thought of many ways to solve the problem of flower pots, and finally decided to use tree stumps to make succulent landscapes, which is both cost-effective and ornamental.

Each piece of wood needs to be polished for more than two weeks. There is no other way, save money! But after planting succulents, I feel that all the hard work is worth it!

Meeting succulents is accidental, meeting her is destiny

How lucky a person must be to meet someone with similar interests. Meeting my girlfriend was as accidental and dramatic as my meeting succulents.

One day I suddenly had the urge to buy some succulents, and I met her on the roadside who couldn't get a taxi, and somehow I gave her a ride.

As we chatted along the way, I learned that she is a florist who loves flowers, plants and succulents, and her ideal is to travel around the world riding horses and drinking. I came to Dali just to travel and buy succulents with friends.

After several times of getting along, because of their common interests and hobbies and because of the mutual attraction, she chose to give up everything in Chengdu and stay in Dali.

With you, building a garden becomes fun

The construction work that was originally done by one person boringly became interesting because of her joining.

She loves flower arrangement, and the archway in the succulent garden was designed by her as a novice.

As her dark horse prince, my role was of course that of a flower and plant mover.

We took advantage of the terrain of the original aquatic botanical garden, dug a pond and planted lotus flowers.

A year later, the pond was full of lotus leaves.

The open space beside the garden path is covered with lush green pennywort.

Under her guidance, the succulent landscape has also become more artistic.

The biggest surprise of Dali is that everything can be made from local materials, even the materials used in her flower arrangements.

She was an impatient person and wanted everything to be done quickly. The garden, which was originally planned to be built in a year, only took three months.

Picking up things becomes a daily routine

Searching around for old items to grow succulents has become a must-do for both of us every time we travel.

The collected pottery jars were randomly placed on the ground to create a ground landscape.

It is a great blessing in life to turn a hobby into a career

After more than a year of construction, the succulent garden has grown larger.

The Succulent Garden is located by the Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake, and it has become a must-visit place for many tourists.

Watching the tourists who come to the garden taking pictures of the succulents is the happiest thing for me.