HARD WORK PAYS OFF FOR JMK NURSERY

By Matt Ross

Imagine realising your dream of taking over the business your heart was set on, after years of working and saving hard, only to find that a week later a global pandemic is announced.

That’s exactly what happened to Daniel and Louise Koelewyn after taking over JMK Nursery at the end of February 2020.

For eight years they’d worked hard, seven-days a week 14-hour days, for Daniel’s parents, Mark and Jolande Koelewyn, to raise the funds required to buy the nursery from them.

“We got to run the nursery for one blissful week before the pandemic hit. We’d put everything into buying the business, all our savings. It was our home too,” explained Louise.

“It was incredibly scary not to be in control of our destiny. If we were unable to trade, there was no buffer, everything was in the business. We just had to cross everything that the nursery industry would be considered essential.”

To her enormous surprise, they were not adversely affected. In fact, they got to ride the wave of the COVID gardening boom that saw nursery sales double and triple previous years figures, as they struggled to keep up with demand.

“We’re very grateful to NGIV for all the work they did to advocate for the horticulture industry and provide support and updates to help us navigate the unknown,” said Louise.

The impact of COVID had another unexpected positive. It brought the nursery team of 28 even closer together and the husband-and-wife team saw how invested their staff were in the wellbeing of the nursery.

“We couldn’t ask for a better team. They said whatever support we needed to help us through the pandemic and to keep the nursery operating to capacity, they’d do it.”

They started to attend NGIV Trade Days, as a means of promotion and networking.

“Nobody really knew who we were, Trade Day was such a great way for us to meet other growers and get our name out there. We also took to the road to meet suppliers and customers in Victoria and interstate.

It can take a little while to become an established name but we were determined to develop trust and a good reputation in the industry. You sometimes need that to be given a chance by suppliers.”

The team at JMK Nursery

And they have that now. They’re experimenting with new lines, adding trees to their landscape and hedging varieties, to be a one-stop-shop for their customers. They’ve extended to all ends of their 12-acre site adding new infrastructure to grow more plants. The only spot left is the garden, which is reserved for their dogs.

It’s a big achievement for a couple that weren’t born into the industry. They met when Louise was 17 and Daniel had recently emigrated from Holland. They started working with Mark and Jolande and learning how to propagate. They instantly feel in love with it, enjoying the variety the work gave them; propagating, tubing, pulling orders, potting plants and making deliveries.

They worked hard to save for their first home which they purchased at the age of 18 and became parents the same year. Their daughter now works at the nursery, with Louise teaching her the ropes of running the office, a job she’s been doing for ten years now. Louise is hoping that one day she’ll take the nursery over from them.

Family is important to them. But how do you maintain a good relationship with your partner, whilst working together and living onsite? “We get asked that a lot. We’re very similar people. We don’t argue. We talk things through, communication is key. It’s okay to agree to disagree sometimes. No grudges are held. We’re also very strict on separating home and business life, from 5:30pm every day we turn our focus to family and the working day stops; no work calls or customer visits. It is a challenge to work with family but it’s also very special. My dad works here now and my daughter, it’s lovely to have three generations sharing so much.”

They also enjoy being part of a unique breed of people; the growers. “Once you start growing it’s very hard to stop. I love being part of this industry; there’s a decency and respect amongst growers, that you don’t find in all walks of life.”

And all their hard work and ambition has paid off. They don’t want to be the biggest, they simply want to do what they do well. They are an established nursery who have built a reputation for supplying excellent plants and always delivering what they promise. And for now, that feels like enough … although they do have their eye on an automatic shade house to grow year round.

That’s the thing about growers, they never want to stop growing.