A SIDE TRIP TO GIPPSLAND’S PBM NURSERY

PBM Nursery, located in Trafalgar South, is a family-owned wholesale nursery specialising in quality bare-rooted and potted deciduous trees. NGIV recently called in to see it first-hand.

Established in 1980 and nestled on 9 hectares (22 acres in “old” money), the nursery grows both open ground and containerised trees, servicing a diverse market with trees being utilised for landscape, streetscape, domestic garden and windbreak applications. The PBM team takes great pride in producing a wide range of budded and grafted trees.

In chatting to owner Phil Gange, NGIV unpacked his history in horticulture. Phil’s been in the game for over 50 years, starting at the age of 16 when he undertook an apprenticeship and studied at the former horticulture school being Oakleigh Tech. Initially, he learned his craft at Mansfield’s Propagation Nursery under the tutelage of Noel Mansfield. He then moved on to Nationwide Trees and stayed there for close to 20 years working with Frank Lucas before starting his own business.

The property itself is rather unusual with a mixture of soils on site including sandy loam, peat and clay. Every corner of the property throws up different challenges and opportunities for Phil.

PBM’s focus has mainly been on budded and grafted deciduous tree varieties and it has gained a reputation in the nursery industry for its extensive range of crab apples (up to 100 varieties), liquidambars (25 varieties), prunus (30 varieties), pyrus (up to 20 varieties) and a number of maples. The stock list, at its peak, had some 500 varieties.

Given the uniqueness of the business which often grows some lines from seed, several varieties like the liquidambars present many growing challenges and can take upwards of seven years before they are ready for market.

Phil’s been traveling around the country for 30 to 40 years and knows the good spots for collecting seed, information he’s buried in his knowledge bank! He also still does quite a bit of grafting and is very skilled at it.

Operating with a very small team, Phil continues to support a number of industry association Trade Days both here and interstate and he doesn’t often miss Victoria’s.

NGIV welcomed the opportunity to drop in to see Phil and his operation. We appreciate what he’s done for our sector and continues to do for an industry that he’s so passionate about.