Harrisons Gardenworld

Words by Grace Odlum

Gardening has had a boost in popularity over the past few years with more people converting to homegrown.

One of the places people go to for all their gardening needs is Harrisons Gardenworld, in Peka Peka, which is owned by avid gardening enthusiast Lance Bills.

Lance is from a family of growers and studied for a Bachelor of Horticulture at Massey University too.

His parents, Arthur and Judy Bills, bought the garden centre from the Harrisons about 40 years ago (10 years after it was first opened).

Lance got involved in the family business about 10 years after his parents took it over, especially when Judy got sick with cancer.

He later took on ownership of Harrisons, and today runs it with a great team of people, including some staff members who have been with him for the past 20 years.

About 25 years ago, another garden centre was opened in Fielding, so Lance now splits his time between the two stores.

“Harrisons is a long-standing name in New Zealand.”

His wife Kathy helps out once a week with buying their garden decoration stock, and his brothers and sons also have some involvement in the garden centre occasionally, so it’s definitely still a family business.

They have 1.2 hectares of production land where they grow all of their own produce, and Lance says their point of difference is the beautiful environment.

It’s inviting, with no chain-link fences and an amazing view of the mountains, which attracts a lot of tourists.

“It’s a competitive industry.”

Another one of their points of difference is the advice they give — they’re all experienced gardeners.

In fact, Lance said he hasn’t had to advertise for employees in 20 years because gardeners know gardeners and they often come to him.

“We have a great team.”

Lance said he loves running the business because they sell nice products to nice customers.

“Everyone’s here because they want to be.”

People come from all over the Wellington region to visit Harrisons, and beyond.

It’s well-known worldwide too, and in 2004 Lance hosted the International Garden Centre Association at Harrisons and had more than 300 international garden centre delegates attend.

He wants to be able to supply people with all aspects of gardening so they sell everything from decorations, and equipment to fully grown plants.

A lot of their horticulture plants are already producing fruit and vegetables, so it’s an easy way to skip the growing stage — especially for new gardeners.

“We want all our customers to be successful with their gardening.”

Another popular aspect of the garden centre is The Café, which they lease out.

It was opened about 25 years ago and has been a hotspot for cafegoers since.

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Lance said there are so many benefits to gardening from a positive impact on mental health to improving house values.

“They’re also essential in providing oxygen, and improve the environment by reducing carbon dioxide.”

But there was a simple overriding factor. “It adds value to people’s lives.”

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