As part of this year’s State Conference, members of NGIWA were invited to attend ‘The Awards of Excellence’ breakfast which was kindly sponsored by the Water Corporation.
The awards acknowledged the hard work of many of our members and are deemed an important part of our membership. A simple pat on the back says it all. Whether you are a winner or a second placer, NGIWA and its members embrace and acknowledge everyone from the small achiever to the innovator who promotes and strives for a better industry for everyone to work in.
Full list of winners can be found in the August edition of eNews (refer Archive).
On Wednesday the 2nd of August, NGIWA NextGenners and member growers converged upon The Seedling Factory for an inside look around their production and growing facilities in Hope Valley and Olbury.
With the tour starting off at the outdoor growing area in Olbury, proprietor Ben Funnekotter led the enthusiastic group through the different growing areas, with vegetable seedlings as far as the eye could see. Producing up to 56 million seedlings per annum to many of the state's farmers, Ben spoke in great detail about just what it takes to run a nursery of such size, including irrigation management, glasshouse climate control, fertigation, and the use of automation in both his growing area in Olbury and the Hope Valley production nursery. Ben made mention of the fact that the use of automation, although having its benefits can also be quite costly and time consuming to maintain, and sometimes the 'back to basics' approach can work out for the best.
It’s been the best part of 13 years since I had last set foot on the famous Royal Hospital grounds in Chelsea, London home to the Chelsea Flower Show.
There is much hype and talk about this event through all walks of life and when comparisons of gardening events are discussed it’s always the Chelsea Flower Show that pops up into the conversation and whether or not you have ever been.
I have been lucky enough to not only been a visitor on numerous occasions but as a past student of the Royal Horticultural Society had the experience of building a show garden and being a part of the set-up in 1987. That was over 30 years ago but I can still remember watching how in a space of four weeks, the Royal Hospital grounds are transformed into the worlds greatest gardening event and are visited by thousands from across the globe including the British royal family.
The Fertilise Wise Fertiliser Training program is an initiative of the Phosphorus Awareness Project. The training is delivered by John Forrest from South Metropolitan TAFE and aims to train turf managers and local government officers in fertiliser best management practices, specific to Perth. The course is highly subsidised at $100 (normal cost over $300) and consists of 8 hours of practical training. Turf managers and local government officers will on completion of the course have a fertiliser management plan for areas under their control. To register contact Amy Krupa on 9458 5664 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Welcome to the team at IBN Services up in Port Hedland who have just become members of NGIWA!
IBN Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of IBN Corporation. IBN Corporation provides programs and services to improve the lives of the IBN Community, the Yinhawangka, Banyjima and Nyiyaparli people. IBN Services was established in 2013 to provide employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal people in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
IBN Services provides home and garden maintenance services; and operates the only commercial native plant nursery in Port Hedland. They supply seeds, tube stock, shrubs, ground cover and trees to commercial developments and have also recently started a creating unique handcrafted furniture from 100 per cent recycled timber.
Welcome to Kaye Close and daughter Dani of Fickle Prickles and SucculentART who have recently joined NGIWA.
Fickle Prickles is a Perth based cacti and succulent online store that began its journey in early 2009. It was developed through a passion and admiration of all cacti and succulents. What began as a part time hobby grew to an out of control addiction, and from there a business was born.
Welcome to our latest NGIWA members, Graf Australia who are based in Henderson and specialise in the manufacture of rainwater tanks and eco-friendly waterwise solutions. Visit their website at www.grafplasticsaustralia.com.au
Norwood industries is a household name not only with growers and retailers in the horticultural industry but gardeners of every kind who have come in contact with plant labels across Australia. It is Norwood who are behind the thousands of plant labels that can be found with our plants.
Norwood is a 3rd generation family printing business that was established by the Eason family in 1960.
South Australia (SA) have informed the Department of Agriculture and Food of changes to entry requirements for Green snail (Cantareus apertus) host material from Western Australia which will come into effect from 14 March 2017.
Biosecurity SA has designated the entire state of Western Australia (WA) a risk zone for Green snail.
Last week, the Fair Work Commission handed down a decision to vary certain penalty rates in some hospitality and retail modern awards. The decision affects penalty rates for working on public holidays and weekends for both permanent and casual employees in these sectors. It also affects the times that penalty rates apply for working late nights or early mornings in the Restaurant and Fast Food awards.
Fickle Prickles is a Perth hills based cacti and succulent online store that began its journey in early 2009. It was developed through a passion and admiration of all cacti and succulents. What began as a part time hobby grew to an out of control addiction, and from there a business was born under the leadership of Kaye Close and daughter Danni.
With decades of horticultural experience Kaye and Danni take pride in producing healthy established plants in pots that are grown to suit Western Australian conditions and use the latest hygienic growing techniques to ensure their stock is pest and disease free and of a high quality.
The 122 modern awards of general application have been updated and published on the Fair Work Commission website. The awards have been varied to reflect the increases in wages and allowances as a result of the Annual Wage Review 2016–17 decision [2017] FWCFB 3500 as well as changes to the National Training Wage schedule and penalty rates where applicable.
CREATING SUSTAINABLE NATIVE GARDENS Australian Native Nursery has been helping West Australians get the most from their garden for nearly 20 years. At their family-owned and run Oakford nursery, Australian Native Nursery grow over 1500 Australian native plant species, from tubestock through to 50lt bags. They have a huge range of groundcovers, wildflowers, trees and shrubs to choose from, all labelled with detailed information and pictures to help customers choose the right plant for their gardens.
For more information head to the Australian Native Nursery website at www.australiannativenursery.com.au
Another new member has joined NGIWA today, Greentech located in Nedlands. Run by Marion Raad-Chenailler, Greentech is the exclusive importer of Fertil products in Australia. Fertil manufacture Fertilpot and Fertiss.
Dawson’s Garden World is a WA gardening institution. Family owned and operated since 1903, Dawson’s as we know it had its humble beginnings when a partnership was formed between George Russell Dawson and Edward James Harrison. Dawson and Harrison, established their first production nursery in Belmont and plants were originally delivered by horse and cart to businesses and residences around Perth.
The much anticipated Perth Garden Festival for 2017 has been and gone in a flash but with clear blue skies and over 25,000 visitors, McCallum Park once again hosted a very successful festival.
This year saw NGIWA working with a number of members to create 210 sq mtrs of displayed gardens ranging from the latest in plant releases, showing the value of buying from an accredited nursery (AGCAS), the work behind the scenes in growing plants under strict environmental guidelines (NIASA), the promotion of the 202020 Vision campaign and training offered by TAFE. Visitors were able to have their gardening questions answered thanks to the tremendous support of the members of the Australian Institute of Horticulture and Neville Passmore, and DAFWA staff were also on hand to offer advice on the present Tomato Potato Psyllid crisis.
Welcome to new NGIWA members, Chatfields Tree Nursery based in Tammin WA. Chatfields have been going since 1979 and are a wholesale tree nursery specialising in wheatbelt species, currently growing up to 2 million seedlings. Chatfields are NIASA accredited.
NGIWA NextGenners were treated to a special morning with a guided tour of Hydroponic Xpress and Aquaponics WA hosted by Neville Passmore and owner Delia Van Aurich this week. Hydroponic Xpress is Perth's largest hydroponic shop and aquaponic warehouse and display centre. Neville showed the group not only the value in this method of growing plants, but emphasised as as urban spaces, water availability and lifestyles were ever changing, then hydroponics were the way of the future for living a more sustainable lifestyle.
Surveillance by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) has confirmed further detections of the tomato potato psyllid in the Perth area. New detections of the insect pest include commercial and backyard vegetable crops, a commercial nursery, and on seedlings at three retail outlets.
The department has moved quickly to restrict the movement of the host plants and any associated material, such as horticultural equipment, from the premises. Department Chief Plant Biosecurity Officer John van Schagen said the department was tracing the recent movement of seedlings as a priority. Tomato potato psyllid is an emergency plant pest, impacting Solanaceae plants including potato, tomato, eggplant, capsicum, chilli and tamarillos. It also attacks sweet potato.
Due to our continued growth we are looking to enhance our management team with the appointment of a Propagation Manager. Our client is a family owned nursery, specialising in the propagation and production of quality plants for the landscape and revegetation industries. Working in this key position you will manage the daily production of plants from seed, cutting, grafting and tissue culture deflasking to achieve monthly production targets. Job description is attached.
