GET YOUR GROVE ON!
WHY NOT VISIT A GREAT LOCAL NURSERY THIS WEEK?
ONE of the most satisfying aspects of teaching horticulture at TAFE Qld Southwest Toowoomba campus is seeing past and present students continue to embrace and practise horticulture after they complete their studies with us. Over the past 20 years I’ve been able to catch up with many who have continued in the vocation of a practising horticulturist, including those who continue to work in local businesses such as (but not limited to) The Green Gardener, BMS Mitre 10 Stenner St, Sungrown Nursery, True Blue Nursery, The Springs Garden World, The Weeping Mulberry Warwick, Bunnings Garden Centres, Crows Nest Community Nursery, Toowoomba Regional Council, Western Downs Regional Council, South Burnett Regional Council, and numerous other gardening and landscaping businesses around our region.
Around seven to eight years ago, one of our very early diploma courses saw a number of students graduate and make their way out into the world to put into practice their knowledge of all things horticultural in a range of various businesses.
One of those students, a young Matthew Dolley, commenced his studies with us and it immediately became evident that he had a passion for plants well beyond his early-20 age!
2013 saw Matthew graduate with a Diploma in Horticulture after which he immediately began his horticultural career in local retail nurseries, all the while building up his knowledge of plants and honing his customer service skills.
An opportunity to join the retail nursery at the Toowoomba Masters Home Improvement store saw Matthew become part of the team and soon afterwards was managing the plant sales area in its entirety, working alongside a number of other TAFE Horticulture graduates for around three years.
When Masters made the decision to wind up their operations in 2016, Matthew wasn’t too deterred and immediately applied for other roles in retail nurseries around Australia, resulting in invitations to join the teams in a couple of Sydney garden centres and another to manage the Diggers Garden Club nursery in Melbourne.
At that time, Matthew made the brave decision to stay in his beloved Darling Downs town of Pittsworth and build his own homebased business, The Grove Country Gardens.
To say that it has been a labour of love for Matthew would be an understatement, as he, along with many other plant nurseries around Australia, has been challenged by the unpredictable and inconsistent weather which has seen a number of long, hot, dry seasons test the very metal of wholesalers, retailers and everyday gardeners to their limits.
To his credit, Matthew has stuck to his dream of building a successful small business and continues to trade to this very day, sometimes taking on other jobs to help fund his dream of becoming one of the region’s best nurseries in the future.
A major part of Matthew’s marketing strategy is to run small workshops for local gardeners and to have an increasing presence on social media by creating short instructional videos and running Facebook live sessions for his followers.
The last 2019/2020 drought slowed down sales, as it did for many nurseries, but didn’t slow Matthew down, with an opportunity seen to commence an online mail-order business which has grown from strength to strength over the ensuing months.
I visited Matthew’s nursery a couple of weekends ago, at which time he had a great range of perennials, annuals and bulbs in 75mm pots on display, as well as an extensive offering of evergreen and deciduous flowering and fruiting trees in larger pot sizes. Matthew also is growing many of his nursery plants in his home garden, constantly testing their suitability to the heat and cold of the region, as well as the sometimes challenging heavy, high pH soils.
The vast majority of the Grove’s stock are propagated on-site, and Matthew is excited about the imminent arrival of a much larger propagation house to help increase his stocks for local as well as mail-order sales.
A small selection of plants from the Grove’s extensive collection include catmints, geraniums, rosemary, lavenders and helichrysums (strawflowers), which also happen to be his favourite plants due to their tough nature in difficult aspects.
However, it’s the collection of tough and reliable salvias that really sets the Grove apart from many other nurseries. Cultivars of Salvia greggii and S. microphylla abound, including a great selection of salvias from the “Shann” range.
The Grove Country Gardens can be found at 35 Helens St Pittsworth and is open Thursdays 10am-4pm, Fridays 12pm – 5pm, and Saturdays 10am-4pm, on Facebook at The Grove Country Gardens, and online at https:// www.thegrovecg.com
To his credit, Matthew has stuck to his dream of building a successful small business and continues to trade to this very day, sometimes taking on other jobs to help fund his dream of becoming one of the region’s best nurseries in the future.