New beginnings bloom

The owners of Gardens on Archer, Ben and Michelle Michel, have decided to sell the business to Plant Farm’s Kate and Craig Turner, with both couples excited about their respective futures.

The Turners have been running their shop in Echuca for the past four years, but have been in the gardening business for much longer.

Their flagship store has grown in popularity, and as they continue to expand their business, a second store was needed to meet demand.

“We see huge growth, especially in the greater area of Shepparton. Shepparton is a bit of a hub to Yarrawonga, Cobram, Barooga, Benalla areas,” Craig said.

“We often get a lot of people who come all the way from those areas to come to Echuca for us ... but we see Shepparton as a bit more of a hub to draw people in for other reasons, and when they’re in Shepparton, they can come visit us.

“We’ve had incredible support from this region with our online business and our home deliveries, and we look forward to serving (the community).”

The family-run business ensures that its plants are best suited to conditions in the Goulburn Valley.

“We also built an advanced tree farm in Echuca four years ago, and we now have 25,000 trees that are locally grown for our conditions, and we hope to expand that into this region,” Craig said.

“It’s very important that people are growing things that are acclimatised to our harsh conditions of cold during winter and hot during summer.”

Since the announcement, Craig said the support from the Shepparton community and beyond had been overwhelmingly supportive.

“Everybody’s very happy that someone’s going to take the big stores on,” he said.

“I think a lot of people are trying to support the smaller, family-type store.”

Craig said people could expect to find all the same deals and same high-quality plants, homewares and garden accessories at the new Shepparton store, with the Turners bringing their love and knowledge of horticulture to town.

“When it comes to plants, people need to understand it’s more than just putting a plant on a shelf and hoping it sells,” he said.

“People need to understand that it needs to be the right plant for the right spot.

“That’s certainly what the Echuca Plant Farm’s been known for, really good customer service, but also really good-quality plants and at great prices, and we hope to expand that.”

For Ben and Michelle, saying goodbye to Gardens on Archer is bittersweet.

“It’s been a good journey, we’ve enjoyed it, but it's got to a point where it needs these guys to push it along,” Ben said.

The couple purchased the nursery in 2014 to complement their landscaping business, Michel’s Landscaping & Garden Design.

But with their main business continuing to grow, they have decided to take a step back from the store, selling it to Craig and Kate.

“We love what we’ve done, we’re happy we’ve done it,” Ben said.

“We’re just looking forward to having weekends back, like this is seven days a week, and we have a young family,” Michelle said.

The Michels said they knew their beloved nursery was in good hands with Craig and Kate, and were looking forward to seeing what the couple planned to do with the five acres.

“They’ll do well, Shepparton’s been such a good town,” Ben said.

“We’ve been in business for 20-something years, and we’ve never had a time where we’ve had no work. Shepparton is always a really good working community.”

“It’ll be good for everyone, good for them and good for the town,” Michelle said.

The takeover is scheduled for March 26, with Ben and Michelle finishing up and Kate and Craig taking over from the 27th.

Plant Farm Shepparton is set to officially open with a big sale over the Easter long weekend, with its first day of trading set for Thursday, April 17.

In the lead-up to Gardens on Archer closing, it will continue to have a closing down sale, with the nursery located at 535 Archer Rd, Kialla.