Online plant nursery?

[lizzie]

Can anyone recommend one?

Went to the only local plant nursery today for a look, in anticipation of mass planting our new property ... it was very very sad.

I could always drive the hour to Newcastle as I know a few great nurseries there - but there is no guarantee they would have what I want in stock, and if I have to order it, I might as well do so online - for less - and have delivered.

Already found www.onlineplants.com.au - and there are others, but I do prefer to hear from someone who had a good experience and can attest to reliability and quality - any other recommendations?

Looking at natives and preferably NSW.

 

[Shaneelastic]

my recomendation is drive to newcastle. ive been around a few and the quality differs between each.

 

[amiaow]

I've bought many plants from www.evergreengrowers.com (they also trade as ebay user meet_jayzed) - they are great if you want quantities of various things. The plants are tubestock size and are shipped to your door. I put them straight into the garden and they have done extremely well!

I also like www.allnatives.com.au.

I have also propagated many of my own plants using seeds from www.olelantana.com - they have a variety of interesting plants that aren't readily available in nurseries.

I have also purchased plants from growers on Ebay.

Then, if you're not looking for specialty plants, most can be grown from cuttings if you can find them around your neighbourhood

What sort of plants are you looking for?

 

[lizzie]

Will be looking for masses of native grasses - dwarf pink flowering gum - ornamental cherry blossom - and some bird friendly ground cover thing I haven't decided on.

That is just to line the 150m driveway ...

 

[amiaow]

Try allnatives for the grasses. Also, Grevillea "Bronze Rambler" is a brilliant ground cover that provides protection for the birds. There is also a variety of Grevillea called "Poorinda Royal Mantle" that is a very pretty ground cover, but I haven't grown this one myself so can't vouch for its effectiveness! I have also found the smaller Grevillea bushes (I have superb, coconut ice, scarlet sprite, olympic flame) to be fantastic for attracting the birds- I get parrots, blue-faced honeyeaters & the noisy miners at this early stage (most of my garden is around a year old). These low-growing Grevilleas also provide great lizard habitat.

The dwarf pink flowering gum (E. "Summer Beauty" and its gorgeous sister "Summer Red") is best purchased at Bunnings- they are $50 but only come in a couple of times a year. You can buy a number of gorgeous grafted Eucalypts in new and exciting colours from www.gardenexpress.com.au- they have a pink called "Fairy Floss" (it is a bloodwood ie. Corymbia and not the ficifolia/phytchocarpa cross that the summer beauty is) as well as orange, red etc. I have a lovely Summer Beauty growing in my front yard but I did lose my first one to waterlogging (summer 2010-2011 in Brisbane and my soil is silt!) so be sure it has adequate drainage.

 

[lizzie]

Thanks amiow ... although at $50/ea might be a bit rich for my long driveway. Was looking more at large tube stock.

However, there is a local Bunnings garden centre - that, despite being small, the plants look so much better than the nursery - so can always go down and ask if they can get them in the smaller size for me.

I was thinking low growing grevilla for the ground cover ... just wasn't sure what to go for. Thanks for the tips.

 

[The Y-man]

We've used Daley's.

http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/


The Y-man

 

[yadreamin]

Lizzie
Check out your local land care or similar for your area, even you local shire/council. All of the above at times provide free native tubular plants for their areas. You are far better off putting in tubular or seedlings because it has been proven that they adapt without much stress and grow much quicker than an established shrub.
The birds love Grevillias . They live in them and feed off them. You will really enjoy your garden if you plant them. Plus they are quite pretty/interesting to look at.
cheers
Yadreamin

 

[Macca]

Hi Lizzie,

You could try here

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forests/business-services/nurseries

I do know that Port Stephens Council grow there own seedlings at a horticultural workshop called the Ngioka Centre at Nelson Bay. They do sell direct to the public and are much cheaper than nurseries but are not allowed to advertise, PSCC can give you phone number.

 

[RumpledElf]

I've bought quite a bit of stuff bulk off ebay, works out to $1-2 per plant with postage for most things. A lot of sellers will sell batches of 20-50 or as many as you want of particular plants. They're small sure, but they grow fast, the smaller ones are less likely to be potbound and really take off.

My most recent one was for a hedge down the side of the house, $50 for 23 plants, they were in those tiny little pots and about 4-6 inches high when I got them and are now waist high, about 7 months later and starting to look like a real hedge.

 

[lizzie]

thanks guys ... was looking for tubestock, even for the larger trees, as they do grow very quickly.

Am looking at another 10 acres block - with a long drive - so this info will all be put to good use.

Sigh - was so looking forward to building from scratch, but looks like we might be ending up with another major reno instead ...