Making use of neighbouring woodland, local glassblower Gayle Cooke is starting a new business on her Bailey's Bay property.

The manager of the Bermuda Glassblowing Studio is planning to open up a new plant nursery next to the studio. Ms Cooke is waiting planning permission before launching the new venture but hopes to have it running by March.

She plans to offer a wide variety of plants and trees that will grow throughout the year, particularly endemic and native plants such as the Bermudiana, Bermuda palmetto and cedar, currently in seed and growing.

However, she intends to keep the business on a small scale.

"People don't want to buy big plants that go over two gallons, there is no demand for older plants, they want to buy new plants that will grow in five years' time,'' she said.

Her long-term goal is to develop an eco-park to bring the woodland back to its natural state and make it accessible to the public with walking trails.

"We need to develop new tourist attractions to enhance the Bailey's Bay area and eco-tourism needs to be developed,'' she said.

The nursery is being built on two and a half acres of woodland reserve and exotic plants will be offered such as Kumani and tropical plants such as frangipani and loquat. Other plants will consist of naturalised plants such as screw palms, geraniums, hibiscus, bromeliads and paw paws and much more.

Ms Cooke started collecting plants for the nursery in January 1998 from house sales and from people leaving the Island who wanted their plants to be taken care of, rather than disposed of.

There are about 6,000 plants on offer and the nursery has a greenhouse to grow seeds and shrubs.

To assist Ms Cooke with the nursery is Heather Kerr from Pennsylvania who will take care of the plants. Ms Kerr has a degree in landscaping and she works as a garden designer and nursery manager.

Her grandfather was always in the garden, but she has usually worked in the landscaping business with men which is traditionally a male-dominated profession.

"It will be a nice change to work for a woman,'' Ms Kerr said.

Ms Cooke expects that most of her clients will be landscaping companies but also hopes to generate a flourishing walk-in trade from customers coming home from work and on the weekends.

"The nursery will be a challenge for me because it requires patience.

"As a three-dimensional designer working with glass there are no time limits but with landscaping you can't predict how wide or tall a Bermuda cedar, for example, will grow in five years' time, so the selection and design of plants is crucial,'' Ms Cooke said.

Although the plant nursery is not yet open, Ms Cooke and Ms Kerr are able to provide free consulting, nursing and design advice from Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm.

"We don't claim to be experts but we are willing to help you in any way we can,'' Ms Cooke said.