YOUR INDUSTRY
Mike and Bruno Simpson with bare-rooted trees in the nursery
Waimea Nurseries celebrate 50 years of success Mike Simpson remembers loading trucks with trees for Woolworths stores when he was the sole permanent employee for his parents’ fledgling Waimea Nurseries business. By Anne Hardie Decades on and Waimea Nurseries now employs 100 permanent staff, 110 seasonal workers at peak season and is set to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The family’s involvement in horticulture dates back to a previous family tree nursery – the Simpson Bros Nursery that existed before Mike’s parents, Doug and Georgi, created Waimea Nurseries in 1971 so Doug could focus on his passion for fruit trees. Today the nursery is run by Mike, his wife Angela Donaldson, and their son Bruno, who oversees the sales, finance, administration and varietal management components of the company. Although the nursery is perhaps best known for the commercial fruit trees it produces for orchards, it is also a leading producer of fruit, 48
The ORCHARDIST : AUGUST 2021
nut, and ornamental trees – supplying some 300 garden retailers nationwide. Fruit trees for lifestyle blocks were the bread and butter of the business until the early 1980s when the family bought rootstocks from the former New Zealand Fruitgrowers Federation Nursery. That created the basis for the commercial pipfruit side of the business. Mike says the major turning point was when they led the importation of Pajam®2 (Cepiland) – an M-9 clone and patented rootstock that came out of France – working with Andy McGrath on the importation of CG202 from Cornell University. The rootstocks held the promise of better-quality fruit, higher yields and lower labour requirements. Mike says they represented the beginning of modern orcharding in New Zealand.
