JFT NURSERIES BRANCH OUT WITH NEW TREE RANGES

By Matt Ross

JFT Nurseries are always looking for opportunities to evolve and offer something new. In the last eight years there have been two new developments to the founders’ original vision.

JFT Nurseries is a family owned business established in 1981 by Murray (Boof) and Beryl James, who moved into growing after transitioning from dairy farming.

Subsequently three of their children; Russell, Colin and Heather, worked to build the business further and today two generations of the James and Sands families manage different areas of the nursery and the passion for growing is alive and well.

Russell’s daughter Renee is in office administration; Heather’s son Chris oversees crop management and equipment maintenance; Colin’s son Andrew looks after tree production and general management; Heather’s son-in-law Billie manages all potted stock production.

Beryl still enjoys visiting the site in Silvan and is very proud to see the family connection is stronger than ever.

They are a nursery that looks for opportunities and takes a keen interest in interstate and international trends to evolve and offer something new. In the last eight years there have been two new developments to Boof and Beryl’s vision.

The first was the introduction of a true dwarfing range of fruit trees.These dwarf fruit trees take up a third of the space of their traditional relatives, making it easy for the consumer to grow fruit on balconies and small patios.

General Manager Colin James believes this has prompted a younger demographic with less garden space to become enthused by their dwarf tree stock and experience the joy of harvesting their own fruit.

He also points out that the COVID-19 pandemic has lead consumers to seek out the health and wellbeing benefits of growing, experiencing a closer connection with nature and providing them with a meaningful use of the extra time they are spending at home.

The second major development over recent years has been their potted range. Colin explains he had a vacant block of and that he used to test the growing conditions for a range of potted trees. Two years ago, they set up a new potting area at the nursery in Silvan and the demand has grown from there, with orders growing threefold in that time.

Their ongoing search for new lines sees them look at what seedlings are popping up that have something different about them and provides employees with an incentive to look at what might be growing in the paddocks and seedling beds. One employee discovered their Cercis Siliquastrum Showgirl, an upright growing tree with masses of small, purple-pink pea-like flowers. JFT pay royalties on such finds to the employee or, in this instance, to a breast cancer charity chosen by the employee.

There are 3 or 4 seedlings found by other employees that they are looking at now. Colin believes that this not only produces some fantastic new lines, but also makes staff feel valued and engaged with the business.

JFT take the quality of their stock very seriously and pride themselves on delivering a quality tree for the retail nurseries and ultimately recognise that the consumer must have a positive experience for gardening to grow. The increased stringency of Australian plant standards means a lot more work needs to go into trees to get them up to the required criteria and a lot more trees are discarded as a result. Trees that could have been sold ten years ago are now deemed unfit for sale.

Situated in the Dandenong Ranges, JFT Nurseries has a growing area covering approximately 80 acres in a region known for its rich volcanic soil and high rainfall, perfect for growing strong healthy trees. They currently employ approximately 25 full time staff, with that number growing significantly when they lift and dig their stock in winter and at budding time.

Witnessing all stages of a growing life cycle and feeling the connection to the different seasons are the things that gets Colin out of bed and as passionate about horticulture as his first day as an apprentice. “Something different happens every day and meeting all the challenges that nature serves up keeps things interesting”.