Golden opportunity for growth

by SANDI MILLER
4th August 2025

AFTER ALMOST 50 years, Bill and Neil Beasley are saying farewell to their beloved nursery on the banks of the Mullum Mullum Creek, as they set their sights on retirement.
Beasley’s Nursery began with Ron and Merle Beasley and their sons Bill and Neil, who have carried on the business through its second generation.
Neil Beasley sat down with the Diary to reminisce about half a century of providing Warrandyte and surrounds with their floral needs.

Sowing the seed

He said the germ of the business began in 1972 at the Beasley’s family property in Three Bridges, 15 minutes beyond Yarra Junction.
A mountainous property covered in large eucalyptus trees and tree ferns.
He said there was this guy and his two sons stealing tree ferns from the property.
“They would usually cut a Ute-load and take off.
“On one occasion, they cut two Ute-loads and stashed the second lot to collect later.
“We happened to stumble across the stash and said to ourselves, ‘if they could sell them, so could we’.
“That sowed the seed for Beasley’s Nursery.
“We sold them to neighbours, wholesaled them to nurseries, sold them from the side of Warrandyte Road, and from our backyard in Orchard Grove.”

Family affair

In 1976, the family decided to advance from a part-time venture into a full-time business.

“We contacted a local farmer, George Speers, about purchasing some of his land to start a nursery, and he was agreeable.
“We had very little money, so we leased the land for three years and then purchased it.
“When the business started on the current site, we were only selling an assortment of ferns, so we registered and traded under the name Warrandyte Fern Centre.”

In 1982, they changed the name to Beasley’s Nursery and started selling a wide range of plants and garden products.
“From the very beginning, we decided to specialise in retailing quality plants sourced from many specialised wholesale growers — we produced very few of our own plants,” Neil said.
He said Ron was around 50 at the time and was now entering his fourth career move.
Ron started an apprenticeship in furniture making during WWII, then after the war, he decided to move into building homes and shops.
Ron retired from building in 1972 and started selling mountain soil from his country property.
By the late 70s, as the nursery was taking off, he decided to stop the soil business and concentrate on the nursery.
Bill was 19 and Neil 16 when the business started.
Bill had done an apprenticeship in carpentry, so with Ron’s building background, they collectively built the nursery buildings.
Neil completed an apprenticeship in horticulture during the first four years of the business.
Their sister, Pauline, also worked in the business for more than 10 years.
Bill and Neil have four children each, and at some stage, they have all worked in the business.
Three boys have their own landscaping businesses.
None of the children wish to continue running the business, and Bill and Neil wish to retire, so they are putting the business up for sale.

“I’m 65, and Bill will be 68 shortly, so we are looking to retire.
“We’ve got four children each, and Bill’s got eight grandchildren.
“I’ve got seven, six and under, so currently we don’t get to spend a lot of time with them.
“We’re both working seven days a week, so we want to try and have some retirement, because we never know how long we’ve got.”

The sale will include all the plant stock, but what is not for sale are the resident birds including Kelly the cockatoo.
Kelly has been part of the family for almost as long as the business has been in operation.
Originally owned by one of the young staff members, Bill adopted the gregarious bird 47 years ago, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
While flora is Bill’s business, fauna is his passion; he has always had a menagerie of one sort or another.
From deer, cows, goats, parrots, peacocks, and even a pig.

The teahouse

Beasley’s Teahouse began in November 1989.
“We were one of the early nurseries in Melbourne to introduce food and beverages,” Neil said.
Merle Beasley was a very famous scone cook, along with carrot cake, melting moments, and passionfruit cupcakes, which were very popular with customers.
In 1995, the national nursery industry developed an award for the best garden centre in Australia.

“You had to be judged best in your state, and then all state winners entered a national judging.
“A Dutch man from the International Garden Centres Association came out to Australia to carry out the national judging.
“We were awarded this very prestigious title, Best Garden Centre in Australia, for 1995.”

Neil said they have employed hundreds of full-time and casual staff over their 49-year history.
“We have always endeavoured to embrace them as part of our team and family.”
Many great friendships were made, and Neil says they were privileged to have two marriages take place from relationships formed at the nursery.
A number of staff members have been with Beasley’s for more than 10 years.
“One current staff member, Mel, has worked for us for 18 years.”
The original property was about nine acres of land, which includes the nursery, a storage area, the deer paddock, and Neil’s house.
The Nursery is now sitting on around 10,000 square metres, or about a hectare.
In preparing for the sale, they have subdivided to allow Neil to retain the homesite and the land for his animals.
Neil said it took four years to get a subdivision through, just by separating some of the land from the nursery and attaching it to his title.
It was a long process, and the pandemic slowed it down.
“The planning people put it in the too-hard basket because of the mobile phone tower and the power lines.”

A golden opportunity

The property’s zoning allows for things like a medical centre, childcare centre, or a nursing home, so the possibilities for future use are many.
And you never know, you could be sitting on a literal goldmine, as Neil explains.

“When digging the pond for our waterfall in Warrandyte rock with a jackhammer on a very hot February day, we found a speck of gold.
“We considered cancelling the concrete that we had booked for the next day to keep digging for gold, but decided the rock was too hard and the weather too hot, so we poured the concrete.
“Who knows, there could be more gold to be found in that rock!”

Neil said the business has always strived to offer the best quality plants and products as possible, backed up with excellent customer service.

“We have always offered prompt personal delivery, garden consultations, planting and landscaping services.
“We have a very strong, loyal base of customers, some that still visit us from the very early years.”

Starting as a fern specialist, to now stocking a very large range of quality plants, as well as the popular teahouse, this thriving business continues to draw customers from a large area, and is just waiting for its next owner to keep the business growing.
The property is on the market with Gorman Commercial Real Estate.
For more information visit gormancommercial.com.au.