| 121 T T Sue Russell Specialist hedge grower fills demand Since 2016 Twining Valley Nurseries nursery has had the capacity to grow 25km of hedging, in various stages of growth on the seven acre site. Twining Valley Nurseries LANDSCAPING Situated just south of the Bombay Hills in northern Waikato is Twining Valley Nurseries, a specialist instant hedge grower and marketer. Marketed under the brand Living Walls™ the company is owned and operated by Lisa and Andrew Bowman. Andrew has been in the nursery game for years and together, with Lisa’s business background, have carved out a rather unique and very successful company. Inspiration to establish the nursery, solely to provide customers with the ability to buy an instant hedge of various heights and types as well as pleached screens (think hedges on stilts!), hatched in 2005 and three years later the enterprise won the Scotts Innovation Award from the Nursery & Garden Industry Association, for Living Walls™. Further success came in the form of being one of the first four New Zealand nurseries to be accredited in the NIASA plant health accreditation scheme and EcoHort certified for environmental stewardship. Since 2016 the nursery has had the capacity to grow 25km of hedging, in various stages of growth on the 7 acre plot. Living Walls™ offers hedging to suit all situations, coming in three size options: Living Edge, 200mm-500mm, Living Boundary, 600mm-1.2m and Living Screen, 1m-1.8m, along with the Pleached Screen range of designer hedges with a clear trunk supporting a framed hedge, at 2.2m in height. “When you think about how important a tidy hedge is, adding visual interest, privacy and beauty to a property, and the fact that our hedges come already grown and formed, we are not surprised they have become so popular,” says Lisa. Acknowledging that right now, the gardening related industries are experiencing a slow down, Lisa says, both she and Andrew know what they grow brings a great deal of happiness to their customers who choose to make the investment. “Andrew has a horticulture degree so he’s in his element and moved from running a landscaping business to growing plants 25 years ago. What we offer customers are plants that have been nurtured by a qualified grower.” Plenty of advice is given when hedging is sold and Lisa says, they have a list of landscapers who can be contacted by customers to put the hedging in place, once bought if they don’t want to install the hedges themselves. “We’re growers only but welcome people to the nursery site during week days by appointment. That way they can see the full range of our hedging and pleached trees so they can better visualise what will suit their circumstances best.” Some species are better suited to sunny situations, others will cope well in wind, some are more resiliant to frosty locations, so there is a lot for customers to consider. “We know that home-owners find so much pleasure from their instant hedges while adding value to their property. When they see the real value in investing in their landscaping, it completes their home.” While hedges can be bought direct from the nursery, they are also available through landscaping professionals. Hedges are transported to site either via their own truck or through specialist plant carriers or Mainfreight. Hedging is sold in 1m lengths. A price-list per metre, depending on height is available through their website. GoodToGrow NZ Limited: Proud Suppliers of quality growing products to Twining Valley Nurseries. www.goodtogrownz.co.nz There’s never been a better time to invest in work-based training for your business, with up WR RΊ* fees for nearly all agriculture and horticulture programmes for 2024. *Terms and conditions apply, visit primaryito.ac.nz/halfpricefees for more information or contact your local Training Adviser on 0800 20 80 20, or email info@primaryito.ac.nz 3ULPDU\ ,72 LV D %XVLQHVV 'LYLVLRQ RI 7H 3ĬNHQJD ȁ 1HZ =HDODQG ,QVWLWXWH RI 6NLOOV DQG 7HFKQRORJ\
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