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Echuca’s garden gurus

The Echuca Moama Plant Farm will be on The Garden Gurus this Saturday. Photo by Aidan Briggs

Local business Echuca Moama Plant Farm will debut on national television this Saturday, December 14.

It will be featured on The Garden Gurus, a show that helps solve everyday gardening challenges as well as providing insight on the industry.

Plant Farm owner Craig Turner said his team’s work on climate-ready plants caught the eye of one of the show’s hosts.

“Trevor Cochrane, the presenter and owner of Garden Gurus, approached me to say that he’d heard heaps about us and what we’re doing,” he said.

“He thought that it was amazing that there’s no other nursery doing what we’re doing, as in supplying our own climate-ready plants.”

Craig Turner and his wife started the Plant Farm four years ago. Photo by Aidan Briggs

Mr Turner and his wife decided to open the Plant Farm in 2020 after they saw a need for locals to have access to more plant options during their time as landscapers.

While running the Plant Farm, they discovered that due to the drastic variations in climate in Echuca and surrounding areas, plants purchased from places such as Melbourne and beyond were not surviving.

As a result, in 2021 they purchased a farm and began growing plants suitable for the Echuca climate that can grow all year round.

Mr Turner said the initiative had been well received by the community.

“We’ve had amazing feedback from the whole community about it and what makes me prouder is that it puts Echuca on the map a little,” he said.

“Getting to be on national TV and talk about what we do is important and it’s important for Echuca.

“We have a massive amount of people come from Melbourne, they drive past all those big nurseries in Melbourne to come to Echuca.”

The Echuca Moama Plant Farm grows many of its own trees. Photo by Aidan Briggs

When they first opened the Plant Farm, they had a handful of employees and serviced only Echuca-Moama.

Now they have grown to a staff of 20 and service areas within a 200km radius, with trucks going out every day to deliver.

Mr Turner added that the Plant Farm staff deserved recognition for the work they did.

“I really want our staff to get just as much recognition because without them, we wouldn’t have a business,” he said.

“Our staff are amazing, they work really hard and they provide incredible customer service.”

Echuca Moama Plant Farm is at 13-15 Northern Hwy, Echuca West.

The Garden Gurus episode will air on Channel Nine from 4pm on Saturday, December 14.