about us
Celebrating Over 25 Years
Proudly growing and purveying in the Comox Valley, serving Vancouver Island and surrounding areas since 2000.
Growers and Purveyors of everything Foliage, Fronds, Flowers, Buds, Bark and Berries!
Outback Nursery & Garden Centre is both a Tree Nursery and a Garden Centre. Our history is what we are today, an evolution of constant change and adaptation. It continues to be an adventurous journey!
We began as a Wholesale Nursery in 2000. We grafted Japanese Maples and conifers and propagated shrubs and grasses that we sold to other resellers on Vancouver Island. We attended the Farmers Market and after awhile, during peak season of spring we would load up our 5-tonne truck with speculative inventory and make stops at Farm and Feed, Grocers and other Garden Retailers up and down the island. These speculative sales became regular customers. We were also a Wholesaler to local garden and landscape companies
Outback Nursery is one of the largest garden centres on Vancouver Island. Our nursery is situated on a 6 acre property and offers 5 overflowing greenhouses (30x170ft); almost 23,000 square feet.
Outback Nursery began in 1998-1999 when our parents retired to the island from Aldergrove. They asked if we’d be interested in joining them and then purchased this heavily treed property. We began clearing some trees and settled into country life trying our hand at raising some turkeys and pigs as well as growing some hedging and conifers. We joined the Farmer’s Market, then as our inventory expanded we began running a spec truck down island stopping here and there to show our quality product to potential customers.
Little by little the property was cleared and one by one the greenhouses and irrigation zones increased to what you see today. In the beginning we were limited to wholesale and landscape clientele, then somewhere along the way interest in our nursery grew and we opened to the public.
How did we get the name Outback??
2009-2010 – A noticeable shift in the economy prompted a move towards retail. Wholesale was dropping off (through no choice of their own) and more often we were noticing residents of the Comox Valley and began stopping by to see what we were doing. Our tags were on the product they had been buying elsewhere.
2010 prompted us to cultivate some fields in the Dove Creek, which we fenced for deer and planted with hedging and ornamental trees. The first 5 years were trial and error. Like any farmer, we had to learn what grows best in our soil and exposure. Depending on the species of tree, the growing cycle is typically 4 to 7 years. We grow gorgeous Emeralds, Brandon, Excelsa, Portuguese Laurel, Leylandii and more. Other species include Rubrum and Sequoia. Trees are harvested only twice each year. Digging dates are determined by weather and soil stability and are typically harvested at 6-7’ tall, perfect for an instant hedge or screen solution.
2013 – we incorporated our business and added Garden Centre Ltd. to our name.
Although we’re still known affectionately as Outback Nursery, you’ve grown to know us as a Garden Centre too, a destination and known for our quality, selection and price.
Our Mantra:
We have what we have,
when we have it.
We hope this makes you smile. It is so true and has a calming effect when you consider that finding the most appropriate addition to your outdoor spaces takes time. We strive to be topped up in every category with an amazing selection of beautiful, unique and unusual specimens of trees, shrubs, perennials, edibles and more each and every time you visit.
Repeat check-in visits is our best advice to finding exactly what your outdoor space is missing.
We cannot stress how important it is to drop in to the nursery as often as your schedule permits. We have truckloads arriving weekly mid-March through the end of June.