Our Story
History of the Nursery.
Swan Reach Nursery is a family owned wholesale nursery established by the de Vries family within their citrus orchard at Swan Reach SA.
It was established in 2018 to replace the Minda Inc. Craigburn fern nursery. The Craigburn nursery was an Australian Disability Enterprise employing people with disabilities where they grew and prepared plants for sale to SA retailers for over 30 years. Its closure was the result of new housing development on its perimeter at Craigburn farm.
As a past General Manager at Minda, Tony de Vries entered a contract growing arrangement with Minda Inc. upon his retirement. This ensured supply of plants to Minda Inc. to enable ongoing involvement of supported employees at Minda’s packaging and distribution facility to prepare these plants for sale and distribution.
The Nursery today and Swan Reach Ferns.
Swan Reach Nursery incorporates Swan Reach Ferns which is the major part of its production.
Using most of the infrastructure, suppliers, and operating methods from Craigburn Nursery has ensured that the same quality ferns for which Craigburn Nursery was well known are now produced at Swan Reach. The additional hours of sunshine, ideal growing conditions and plentiful water from the Murray River ensures that chosen varieties grow to full size more quickly.
Swan Reach Nursery --- A Growing partnership with Minda.
Special arrangements to support people with a disability at Minda Inc.
Through the generous support of some of our key suppliers and our staff at Swan Reach Nursery we are able to make regular donations of fully grown plants to Minda because they have committed to donate some of their products, services and time, this enables us to supply free plants to Minda so they can use these for fund raising through sales, through their network, to support their people with disability.
Fern Varieties and Product Options.
Swan Reach Ferns prides itself on offering a wide range of indoor, patio and shaded garden varieties in 125mm and 180mms black slimline pots, 200mm and 275mm hanging baskets, and its popular tabletop range in both 200mm and 295mm tabletop bowls.
As well as offering single and double fern tabletop bowls we offer plain and décor bowls as a gift or for that special place in your home.
The nursery today and non-fern plant options.
In addition to the fern product range grown in its shadehouses, Swan Reach Nursery has ample ground space under irrigation to grow other plant varieties.
We currently offer aquatic and semi aquatic plants including tall grasses and colur borders, canna canovas, Vietnamese Coriander and Devon Blue skies all available as 125mm slimline pots.
An exciting addition has been the inclusion of Sturt’s Desert Pea and most recent water Lilly varieties.