Humble beginnings. Barry and Daryl Teese bought a failed nursery at the current location in Heidelberg and it was upwards from there.

The new look started to emerge and was informed by trips to the US in the late 1970s and early 80s, bringing back the inspiration to build benches to get plants off the ground. Commonplace now, but revolutionary then.

Construction continued at Heidelberg as an office building and retail spaces were built to support the thriving business. A second location was built in Porter Street Templestowe and officially opened by former Premier Sir Rupert Hamer. Pictured at the opening left to right are: Karen Conrad (then 18 years old, now managing director), her mother Merle Teese (Barry’s wife), Eric Teese and Irene Teese (Barry and Daryl’s parents), Barry Teese, Joy Teese (Daryl’s wife) and Daryl Teese.

The main retail building, now called The Emporium, was built. Pictured at right facing the camera is the lovely (late) Jenny Donaldson who worked in customer service for many years. Those benches did good service. We only just replaced them as part of our 2023 renovations.

By the 2000s, The Greenery Heidelberg and Templestowe were national award winning garden centres. Those with a keen eye can see Barry in the doorway talking to customers, just as he did for 43 years. Daryl retired in 2002. Barry ran the business until he died in July 2020.

Barry’s children inherited the business in 2020 and it is now a second and third generation family business that is evolving away from its roots as a traditional garden centre to ensure its relevance to today’s visitors. Pictured here cutting a cake to celebrate the change of name to The Greenery Garden and Home in 2021 are Kevin Parker, former manager and senior horticulturalist, who was part of the team for almost 30 years, Karen Conrad, managing director, and Kelly Kitchen who was in our customer service team for more than 25 years.

After we had a successful pop up store for a few months in Richmond, we opened a boutique store in Auburn Village in Hawthorn in early 2023. We also renovated the Heidelberg site, repairing and renewing buildings and infrastructure that is decades old and creating some new spaces for visitors to enjoy.