Dawn Yaxley calls her collection of tropical plants the “travelling trees”.

In the summer, her ficus, strelitzia, manila palms and succulents spend more time on the road than some taxi drivers.

Ms Yaxley runs Leaf Design and Maintenance, supplying weddings and parties with living greenery. She also provides plants for real estate staging and does garden consultation, design and maintenance.

The tropical greenery helps to soften spaces with a more natural look.

This year’s clients have included the Butterfield Bermuda Championship golf tournament and hotels such as The Loren, Rosewood Tucker’s Point, Coral Beach Club and the Mid-Ocean Club, among others.

One of her most recent gigs was a 50th birthday party on Hawkins Island. It was her fourth event out there this year.

She had to put 30 plants on a barge to get them to the island in the Great Sound.

“That is the biggest order we have done,” she said. “Normally, when we go out to Hawkins Island it is 15 or 16 plants.”

Some of her trees weigh as much as 150lb. When she does beach events at hotels she often asks for an all-terrain buggy to move her goods across the sand.

Ms Yaxley is originally from Nottingham, England, where she studied floriculture. She came to Bermuda to work as a flower designer at Demco.

“I was supposed to stay a year, but I am still here 25 years later,” she said.

Before starting her own business she worked at Aberfeldy Nurseries.

“Leaf Designs brings my love for design and my passion for plants together,” she said. “It gives me a chance to be more creative.”

She started out three years ago with four plants.

“The business is definitely growing,” she said. “I am now up to around 100 plants.”

Part of Leaf’s appeal is its environmentally-friendly approach.

“Nothing is imported,” Ms Yaxley said. “The carbon footprint of the business is minimal. All the materials we use are either recycled, reused or repurposed.

“Everything is living so nothing is cut. It is all growing. People want to be more sustainable these days.”

The maximum rental time is three days. If the festivities stretch on for that long, then there is a maintenance plan to make sure the plants say watered and healthy.

The plant rental season generally follows the wedding season, from April to July.

“Things are coming to a close now,” she said. “Not much happens in August. It is just too hot.”

Her biggest challenging has been organising everything and everyone so that the trees and plants are properly packed and arrive on time.

Ms Yaxley has weekend staff who come in and help her. “I also work with fabulous group of truckers,” she said. “I could not do it without them.”

• For more information, see Leaf on Instagram @leafdesignbm.