Gardenuity Brings Horticulture to Customers

Donna Letier and Julie Eggers

Donna Letier and Julie Eggers are the co-founders of Gardenuity, a brand focused on making gardens and garden experiences accessible to anyone.

“When we see my youngest daughter, who’s in a wheelchair, … roll her wheelchair out to the patio and pick a tomato, it actually is a reminder of what real joy looks like, and we wanted people … to be able to reap the benefits that come from the act of gardening,” Letier said.

The pair — Letier from the Park Cities and Eggers from Preston Hollow — have been friends for almost 20 years and were set on becoming co-entrepreneurs. They played around with a few ideas before landing on Gardenuity about five years ago.

The name comes from a compound of garden and intuity.

“We recognized that it was an opportunity to update the ‘how’ and the success rate when people try to grow things,” Letier said. 

The pair also wanted to bring people closer to the benefits that come from gardening.

“(We’re) bringing technology together with horticultural sciences, creating an opportunity in the marketplace to define and create a new category,” Letier said. “It’s not new that gardening is good for you; we’re just making it accessible.”

Their offerings, described as an “invitation to try gardening,” include outdoor patio gardens, indoor desktops, and soon-to-come microgreens. Letier says each item comes with an opportunity for the consumer to be part of the experience.

Gardenuity’s three pillars of business: food is medicine, mental health, and the health of the planet.

“Every one of our products has to fit into one of those categories and deliver on those promises,” Letier said. 

One of the company’s offerings is weather alerts that are automatically sent to customers to know how to best care for their Gardenuity plants depending on their location’s climate.

“From our ‘grow pro’ support to our team who’s packing the boxes to our team members who are answering the phone, they care,” Eggers said. “That’s what I think differentiates us. Our team really really cares.”

Letier comes from a retail background, and Eggers’ employment history is in corporate systems. 

Seventy percent of Gardenuity’s business comes from corporate clients and wellness platforms, and the rest is through e-commerce and their retail showroom in the Design District. Some of their largest markets are in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Virginia, and Florida. 

The team also puts on digital programs to bring in international consumers and virtual workshops with corporate partners to bring the wellness benefits of gardening into their workforce.

 “I love the idea of growing something, no pun intended, that’s good for people and the planet and that feels good to share,” Letier said.