Green thumbs gather for nursery opening

L-R: Cardinia Shire Mayor Brett Owen, one of the original CEC committee members, Ian Chisholm, nursery manager Adele Richardson and CEC committee member Lindsay McNaught. Pics: GABRIELLA PAYNE

By Gabriella Payne

The Deep Creek Indigenous Plant Nursery was alive and buzzing with excitement on the morning of Friday 7 May, as gardening beginners and pros alike came out to enjoy the sunshine and the vast range of native plants on offer at the nursery’s first official open day.

Managed by the Cardinia Environment Coalition (CEC), the nursery provides a beautiful space for locals to learn about and buy their very own native plants, and the nursery’s new, permanent home at Deep Creek has been a long time in the making.

Lindsay McNaught, a spokesperson from the CEC, explained that there had been a few bumps along the way, but it was great to see the nursery finally open its doors in Pakenham.

“The planning for the whole eco-centre has taken about 10 years, and the nursery was going to be opened a couple of years ago but then there were some problems with the irrigation and then of course Covid came along, and so it’s just wonderful to have it open now,” Mr McNaught said.

While visitors perused the wide variety of indigenous plants on offer on Friday, Mr McNaught said that there would be much more to come as the nursery continued to grow.

“This is only a small part of what we’ve got, the old premises at Tynong will still be going for another four months, by which time we’ll have moved everything across,” he added.

The Cardinia Shire Council’s free plant giveaway scheme saw many people come along to the nursery’s opening, with staff estimating at least 100 people had stopped by to collect their two free native plants, with many buying extras.

Heather Stewart, the Cardinia Shire Council’s biodiversity planner was there on the day and said that it had been amazing to see “a constant stream of people” coming by to collect their plants and explore the nursery.

“After Covid, I think a lot of people looked out in their garden and just started thinking of what they wanted to do,” Ms Stewart said.

“So a lot of people have really gotten into gardening and we know it’s good for people too, to get out there and get their hands dirty and it can help improve mental health too – so people have just been loving it,” she said.

Ms Stewart said that the free plant giveaway was part of the council’s ‘aspirational energy transition plan’ and as well as encouraging residents to pull on their gardening gloves, it would help see more trees and shrubs planted in local streets and help work towards the Shire’s carbon neutral targets.

“But it’s also about encouraging people to plant what’s native to the area, because it’s better for the birds, the bees, the butterflies – and they are also easy to grow,” Ms Stewart said.

Adele Richardson, the nursery’s manager, said that it had been “amazing, but unexpected” to see so many people come along to support their opening, and thanked the council for helping spread the word.

She thanked everyone who had made the effort to come by the nursery so far and encouraged others to stop by in the coming weeks, adding that staff were more than happy to help residents with their plant selection.

The council’s free plant initiative will be running until the end of the financial year (end of June) or until the 4,000 plants (2 per person for 2,000 residents) run out.

The Deep Creek Indigenous Plant Nursery is located at 62 Cameron Way, Pakenham and is open every Friday from 9am – 12pm.