Macdonalds Nursery in Bendigo can trace its beginnings back to 1888 when Herbert & James Keck started on a block of 20 acres, as growers of citrus, deciduous fruits and palms.
The nursery was purchased by Herbert’s daughter and son-in-law, Nellie and Archie Cook, along with their daughter and son-in-law, Rene and Harold Macdonald in December 1952. They were joined over the years by four of their sons, Murdoch initially, then Malcolm, followed by Graham, then finally Keith in 1968.
Today it is under the control of the fifth generation, Lee Macdonald, of which many of the industry will know as Keith and Chris’s eldest son.
In 2018 the nursery celebrated 130 years of operation.
Lee’s great great grandfather Herbert Keck, left of photo in bowlers hat, with a load of citrus to go to orchardists in Swan Hill region (photo circa 1900).
The nursery has evolved through the changing hands of descendants, to be one of Victoria’s leading garden centres.
A founding member of the Retail Nurserymen’s Products Co-op, which went on to become Plants Plus, Macdonalds Nursery is a multi-award winning business, and in 2013 was aptly named the Victorian Best Group Garden Centre.
Today, Macdonalds Nursery is a fully independent retail plant nursery with extensive display gardens designed to inspire, inform and motivate. These gardens allow for people to see growth habit, size, colour and shape of more mature plants and is a major source of inspiration for green thumbs and new comers alike.
Awards
Macdonalds Nursery has won many Nursery Industry awards over the past twenty or more years. Here’s a list of just a few of these:
- 2008 – Victorian Winner – Best Small Garden Centre (2008 Yates Nursery & Garden Industry Awards)
- 2007 – Victorian Winner – Best Medium Garden Centre (2007 Yates Nursery & Garden Industry Awards)
- 2012 – Victorian Winner – Best Medium Garden Centre (2012 Nursery & Garden Industry Awards)
- 2014 – Best Local Outlet, Franchise or Buying Group (2014 Bendigo Business Awards)
- 2014 – Victorian Winner – Plants Plus Store of the Year
- 2014 – National Winner – Plants Plus Store of the Year
