Today we’d like to introduce you to Trever Butler.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My parents opened Spring Creek Gardens in March of 2016, and named it after a dry creek that runs through the back of our property. We have always been about bringing expert advice, and setting our guests up for success in their own garden. We have since grown into a destination of sorts. In 2020 we saw our biggest year of growth! Everyone was spending time at home and more time than ever in their gardens, leading them to us. It was so exciting. That same year we opened a small coffee shop. After graduating college in 2021, I came on full time at the garden center. One of my first big projects was getting sandwiches and smoothies up and running in the coffee shoppe. In 2023 we opened a newly renovated shoppe on property, where we have wine dispensing machines (think like a vending machine but for wine), and all your home or gift needs. Come 2024, after my husband joined our team full time, we decided to take the coffee shop to the next level and put in a full blown restaurant. That restaurant opened in March of 2025 and is named The Desert Spoon after the native plant which sotol alcohol is made out of! We currently grow all of our own herbs in house, and will eventually grow our own vegetables as well. It’s really difficult to encapsulate everything that is Spring Creek into one small paragraph. Loyal guests will tell you we always have something changing, but I think we like it that way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One challenging thing about owning a garden center is the seasonal nature of the business. We have our peak season every spring (march – may), and we pick back up again in the fall for pumpkin season and winter with Christmas trees. But we have two periods throughout the year where business slows down exponentially. That is why we have diversified our concept so much. Between the droughts, freezes and just unpredictable nature of Texas weather we needed to create some constants on our property and in our business. Our gift shoppe is busiest in December when our only revenue was from selling live Christmas trees. The restaurant helps bring people to the property year round (people always have to eat ) ! And offering classes and events help to keep our foot traffic more consistent. Had we not been flexible with our concept it would be really tough to keep our awesome employees year round.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are really proud of the experience we have been able to create out here. From the beautiful scenery, to the expert advice, strolling around plant shopping with a coffee or glass of wine, it all creates a perfectly elevated atmosphere that you can’t get just anywhere. We pride ourselves on our hospitality, our team feels like family so we all have the attitude of welcoming a guest into our home, I think that alone sets us apart. We are super proud of The Desert Spoon restaurant as well, we take pride in the type of service we are able to provide for our guests and the type of connections we are able to make with them. At the end of the day we want to be a place that the community gathers at and I think we have been able to achieve that.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My parents have always been my mentors, and I’ve been so lucky that they have the amount of knowledge that they do. Throughout the years, and pretty recently I have gained other contacts that have been crucial in growing. It is so great to have someone that you can bounce ideas off of, or shoot a text asking “hey how did you do xyz”, especially when they are in a similar industry. I feel having a community of people to talk about struggles with, whether they are in the same industry or not is so valuable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.scgardens.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spring_creek_gardens/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scgardens/
