Tree pruner works through all seasons

Businesswoman gardens through the economic downturn

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Elsa Kush had no idea that a day spent pulling weeds would lead to a career, much less her own business. But that’s exactly how it started for the woman who now has her own gardening and pruning business, Kush Pruning.

“I fell into it by accident,” she said. “It was good work for a single mother.”

The Washington native grew up in Longbranch but left when the trappings of rural life made her stir crazy. She returned to the area in 1996.

Kush’s mother had a friend who had a beautiful flower garden. But when the friend planned to leave on a trip, she couldn’t find anyone to weed the garden.

“She said if she couldn’t find anyone to weed, she would bulldoze the garden,” Kush said. “So I weeded her garden and was sore from the elbows down. I thought, ‘How could anyone do this for a living?’ ”

Even with the aches and pains, Kush had a hidden talent: Word got around and other neighbors started to ask her to tend to their gardens. At the time, she had no formal training but her mom was an avid gardener.

Kush soon found out the money was good and the hours were flexible — a huge plus for a woman trying to raise a family. And she fell in love with working outdoors.

“I needed the money to pay the bills,” Kush said. “Through word of mouth, I started picking up more and more work.”

Sunnycrest Nursery and Floral in Key Center gave Kush a few jobs, and she said her business grew.

“I eventually ended up with four very large gardens,” she said.

Kush developed a passion for her work. She began to study horticulture and pruning techniques on her own. She also gained a few mentors along the way who helped her with the ins and outs of the business, like Sunnycrest owner Dale Loy.

“I got rather lucky,” she said. “I had a great mentor, a man from England named David Adams.”

Adams, whom Kush said is “an interactive encyclopedia,” had a landscaping company and has worked with Master Gardener Ciscoe Morris, who has a weekly radio show on 710 KIRO-AM as well as numerous TV appearances.

Kush took classes in Tacoma and passed the test to become a certified arborist. To qualify to take the test, one must either have a college degree or prove they’ve been working in the business for seven years.

Kush’s experience and recommendations from clients walked her through the door.

“I work for great people,” she said.

Her regular year-round clients are the mainstay of her business, but seasonal and part-time work keeps Kush and her staff busy.

“The only good thing about the economy being so bad is the quality of help out there,” Kush said. “I have some really knowledgeable people working for me.”

Kush’s business is “holding its own” through the recession, thanks to steady clients. She admits, however, that good old-fashioned hard work is what put her in this position.

She has since remarried and named her business Kush Pruning about a year ago.

“Things don’t get handed to you,” she said. “You have to go out and get them. It’s hard work to be flexible and raise children, but I love it. I love flowers and plants.”

The arborist plans to expand her services and staff, and she’s looking at specializing in garden makeovers.

“A lot of people just have a hodgepodge of things in their gardens,” she said. “I can redesign them with plants that work well together.

“People often have unrealistic expectations — they want an instant garden. They plant things too close together because it looks good at the time, but five years down the road, you have to come in and rearrange everything.”

Kush currently is busy with pruning season in full swing. Trees need to be pruned in January and Feburary before the buds break.

“God always brings out the rain and sunshine,” she said. “So we’ll always be here.”

Kush Pruning

Kush Pruning specializes in tree pruning and garden makeovers. For more information, call owner Elsa Kush at 253-224-9164 or visit www.kushpruning.com.

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.