Nillumbik’s Indigenous Heritage

The land that the Shire of Nillumbik is now on has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Wurundjeri-willam clan of the Woi-wurrung speaking people of the Kulin nation. The Wurundjeri name for the region is ‘nillumbik’, meaning ‘shallow earth’… as gardeners, we all know why as we constantly battle to improve our soil. As the longest living culture, there is much to learn from Australia’s First People- from land management and fire prevention, to local ingredients to inspire the masterchef in you. An ancient and enduring connection to Country and appreciation of the natural environment around us demonstrates how precious the land we call home is. We hope to contribute to the care and preservation of the natural world around us and look at how we can help it thrive for the next 60,000+years.

Sustainability Practices at Nillumbik Nursery

We are always working towards improving our sustainability practices. By sourcing locally made or grown products, where possible, we reduce the distance they travel helping to also reduce our carbon footprint.

In addition to becoming a collection point for recycling pots…
So far in 2022:

  • Worm castings sustainably made on the Surf Coast are now available.
  • We have sourced a range of habitat boxes which are used to create local wildlife corridors and help compensate for reduced hollows due to tree removal. We have also installed a Red-rumped Parrot box to contribute to making the suburbs wildlife friendly; we can’t wait to see who moves in to ours!
  • We are excited to see the new range of locally handmade pots doing well and hope to expand it. Not only are they beautifully unique, they support our vibrant creative community (Shout out to Mark Gambino and Heather Wilson, our trailblazers); They also come in minimal newspaper packaging (not polystyrene) and without crossing the ocean.
  • A new, Australian-made, more environmentally (and pet) friendly snail bait, EradicateEco, has become available.
  • Pop up pots are now in stock – made in Australia from recycled plastic, they can be stored (or posted) flat, used as a cover pot or planted in directly.
  • Paper pots will arrive any day – Zero waste production from recycled materials; waterproofed with natural rubber; and, artisan made by a fair trade sustainable social project in Sri Lanka which helps to uplift the living standards of rural women and provide empowerment so she can be in charge of the decisions she makes. Looking good while doing good.
  • A selections of herbs and veggies in compostable pots will be back in a few weeks and available over spring and summer.
  • Our firepits are Australian-made (made from cast iron they will last for many winters to come).
  • And, of course, we can’t forget to mention the still fabulous FoodCube – both made in Melbourne and from recycled materials. We love to grow our own food!