Waverley Garden Club - Vic

02/06/2026

June meeting this Friday 5 June

Our speaker for the June meeting will be
Ryan Garratt: ‘Moving towards a truly Australian
Garden’
Ryan started his gardening career in 2000 with
Flemings, Monbulk, grafting, budding, plant shaping
and grading. He then moved on to Poynton’s
Nursery and Garden Centre in Essendon in 2005.
His roles included customer service, plant, pest and
w**d identification, garden design also talks and
information sessions on plants, soils, composting.
His next move was as Nursery Manager at ASQ Eaglehawk in 2011. The Diggers
Club was his next move in 2018, Education Lead: talks and lectures to the general
public, garden groups and horticultural students, horticultural advisor on the Diggers
Facebook group. Also working as Production Manager for Diggers production
nursery. He has been employed as Garden Curator with Buda Historic House and
Garden since 2023. Ryan co-ordinates volunteers, conducts garden tours and
lectures, trains volunteers, monitors and maintains plant health of all garden plants,
and so much more!
As a gardener Ryan’s current focus is ‘moving towards a truly Australian garden
style’. This draws on his own gardening experience and from three Australian books ;
‘The Australian roadside’, Edna Walling 1951, ‘Australian garden design’, Ellis Stones
1971 and ‘Landscaping with Australian plants’, Glen Wilson 1972. He considers
northern hemisphere gardening trends from Europe and North America, both
historically and contemporary, learning from them.
Our night starts at 7.15 to 7.30 with the Trade tables, Swap and Share, Raffle and Library open for you to browse. 8 pm is the start of the formal meeting. Enjoy our beautiful show bench and stay for a cuppa after the meeting. BYO mug please. Guests welcome.
See you there.

24/05/2026

Two weeks since our propagation day. Well done!

21/05/2026

Here's a tempting event, happening this Sunday

11/05/2026

10/05/2026

What a fabulous propagation day we had! Thanks to Leanne, Peter, Coral, Anne, Jennifer, Vicki and Peter, Marcia and Jack and to all our lovely members who came to learn about propagation.

03/05/2026

What a fabulous “Afternoon Tea in the Garden “ we had yesterday. Over 30 of our members enjoyed a lovely spread of goodies, a walk around a lovely garden in the sunshine, and lots of great conversation.

28/04/2026

Members Elaine and Robbert came up with the idea of potting up plants to help re-establish private gardens that were lost in the Longwood fires. And our gardening gloved members responded in earnest! So many plants were donated to the Fawcett Mechanics Institute who will distribute accordingly. As suburban gardeners we understand the time and effort that goes into creating and maintaining a beautiful garden. But to lose it in an instant is unfathomable. And I’m sure the hardest part when faced with a blank canvas is getting started. I hope our donated plants provide some inspiration and make this a little easier. I’d like to call out our members Robbert and Elaine who came up with this initiative and made it happen, James and John who rolled up their sleeves and got right into the logistics and also potted and donated 150 plants, as well as all our members who donated. Happy gardening, Coral Page, President Waverley Garden Club

27/04/2026

Happy 65th birthday to us! Our May meeting is May 1st, at the Mt Waverley Community Centre. Our night starts at 7.15 to 7.30 with the Trade tables, Swap and Share and library open for you to browse. The formal meeting starts at 8pm.

Our birthday meeting will be a bit special with a lovely supper, cutting of the cake and a special speaker. We invite members who love to bake to bring a plate to share.
We are delighted to welcome John Arnott as our speaker for
May. He will talk about rejuvenating a national treasure – the
Burrendong Botanic Garden and Arboretum. John is a respected figure in Australia’s botanic gardens and horticulture sector. Following a long career in public gardens such as the Melbourne Zoo, Geelong Botanic Gardens and Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, he was Manager of Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne since 2008, and has since retired.
John remains actively involved across a range of garden-
based projects and is a regular host and presenter on the 3CR
Gardening Show.

Make sure you bring your cup for tea or
coffee, and allow time to enjoy our
special supper and birthday cake! All welcome.
Image from Pexel: Sude Akpinar

05/04/2026

Next meeting: April 10, Mt Waverley Community Centre, Miller Crescent Mt Waverley
Starts 7.15 to 7.30 with the Trade tables, Swap and Share, formal meeting begins at 8pm.
Our speaker for the April meeting will be James Wall –
owner of Gardenworld Nursery. “It’s a bit like a mall,” says James. “You name it, we’ve probably got it.”

For those who haven't been there (anyone??) Gardenworld is a collection of four independently-owned businesses that sell horticultural products, from plants and seeds to potting mixes and pots, based in Braeside, Victoria. They include Collectors Corner (retail plant nursery specialising in interesting and unusual plants); Gardenworld Nursery (plants, fertilizers and potting mixes); Lotus Watergardens (fountains, water gardens and statues); Gardensmart (hydroponic gardening and hanging basket experts); and Gardenworld Café.
“We’ve got some great relationships with our local customers, and a lot of them come in weekly, bring in plant samples and plunk them down on the counter,” James says, “I feel like I’m a doctor sometimes, trying to tell them what’s wrong with their plants. They keep coming back and we love having them.”

James has been part of Gardenworld for 19 years and he loves his job. “What I’m most proud of in running a nursery is finding and supplying plants for people who want those particular plants, who get lots of joy, and go home and put them in their own gardens,”
he says. “It really is a great industry to work in.”

We look forward to hearing some of James' stories!

All welcome - please remember to BYO cup, and we hope to see you there.