During the 80’s as a reaction to the pest pressures of Two Spotted Mite from the neighbouring small crop farms Redlands Nursery started on the present pathway of exploring Biological pest management methods as chemical resistance was starting to be a problem in controlling this pest.

So began Redlands Nursery’s pathway into environmentally sustainable production systems where we are now leading the way in Ornamental plant protection and production.

The Advances which have been achieved:

1980’s – recycling of irrigation water and disinfesting of water supply to control water bourne diseases and preventing the spread rather than trying to cure the disease chemically.

• Use of composted sawdust and pine bark for manufacturing potting mix, these  are waste products from the timber industry.

• 1990 - Switch to low volume application of pesticide reducing application volume from 2000 litres/ha to 330 l/ha. This resulted in population increases over the last 14 years of Eastern water Dragons and Blue Fairy Wren and other insect eating birdlife which inhabits and breeds in the crop. Up to this point 2ha/day /2 men using high volume hand spraying to run off had been used. 

• 1993 - One of the initial 13 members of the Nursery Industry Accreditation  of Queensland with the two Nursery sites in Redland Bay 

• 1995 - Moved from calendar spraying of pesticides to spraying based on pest monitoring. 

• 1996 – commenced using wetting agents as an additive to the growing media to assist in water management 

• 1998 - Conversion to aerated steam for pasteurizing propagation media at 62 degrees Celsius and sterilising used containers at 72 degrees celsius. This eliminated the need to use  Methyl Bromide which is an ozone depleting gas and the chlorine bath for cleaning the used containers which also solved safety issues for staff and was much more environmentally friendly. 

• 1998 - Upgraded the Turbomiser sprayer with specific pesticide application volumes reduced further to 250l/ha treating 2ha /hour, with specific targeting of the treatment. 

• 1998 – Implementation of vegetated buffer zones surrounding the German Church Road property the land being negotiated and supplied by the developers creating a 40 metre buffer which includes 20 metres vegetation. This was a land mark decision which has been used as a model for the grape industry in South Australia, urban development on Mt. Tamborine  and other developments  the rural/urban interface. New Zealand has also shown interest in this project.

• 1998 – Upgrade of German Church Road irrigation to Hydrovar variable speed drive pumps on irrigation Tariff 66. The power saving per annum is $800/year on an investment of $4000. 

• 2000 - Recycling of cardboard/steel. The nursery waste is either mulched for use on the advanced plants in the tree farm or being processed back into top soil which is being used as garden soil. 

• 2001/2002 – upgrading of irrigation sprinklers from traditional brass Moss Sprinklers to Nelson R2000 with a water saving of 30%. 

• 2000/2004 – Use of softer environmentally friendly products such as oils for insect management and bacteria (BT’s) for management of caterpillars and parasitic nematodes for the management of plant parasitic nematodes. 

• 2004 – Employment of a full time technical officer dedicated to Integrated Crop Management focusing on insect pest and disease management, monitoring of water, nutrition, biological control and environmental factors. 

• 2004 - Support of the development of the Vortex Bug Bin which is now being implemented in Horticulture and Agriculture around the country. This is a self contained environmentally friendly capture of adult moths and beetles which stops egg laying and the need for chemical control of these pests. 

• August 2004 – Feature story in Australian Horticulture titled ’Crop management: Holistic works best’. This article featured our dedicated Technical Officer and his approach to our Integrated Crop Management program. 

• October/November 2004 – commencement of trial of Chep FB2 collapsible bin for transporting our finished product to our customers with the aim of eliminating and reducing the use of waxed trays which are unable to be recycled and go direct to land fill. The cost of the waxed trays for packaging has risen 30% in the last 3 years. 

• October 17^th 2004 – Redlands Nursery featured on ABC Landline focusing on our Integrated Crop Management strategies and Environmentally Sustainable production. 

• November 2004 - Redlands Nursery selected as one of 7 local businesses in the Redland Shire Council Eco Biz pilot program in conjunction with the Qld Government EPA which focuses on creating leading edge businesses in managing their water, waste and energy.  Redlands Nursery Pilot program is the Chep FB2 bin. 

• March 2005 – John Bunker presenting the Key note address at the International Plant Propagators Society Southern Africa conference titled “Environmentally Sustainable Production systems for Producing Ornamental Plants”. 

• May 2005 – Completion of Eco Biz Pilot Programme and presentation of the results. 

• November 2005- Completed change to 100% Composted bark or Composted Bark Coir Growing media. Sand is no longer used in growing media as it is pit mined and a potential disease source. Bark and Coir Fibre are both waste products of renewable resources. Growing media is now Export ready enabling export shipping of crop in growing media as opposed to bare rooting. 

• December 2005 – Invited by Qld EPA Sustainable Industry Division to be an Eco Biz Partner.  Redlands Nursery was amongst the first 7 businesses in Queensland to achieve this partnership and the first in the Nursery Industry. 

• August 2006 – Audit and Application be to an Eco Hort certified business administered by the Nursery and Garden Industry of Australia with an emphasis on Environmental Sustainability and Continuous improvement. 

• February 2007 –Consolidation to the Orchard Rd property. This property is in an Environmental zone and is not connected to a potable water supply. All office, staff amenities, home and irrigated cropping are all totally self sufficient and sustainable. Upgrading of the office air conditioning into separate zones for energy efficiency. Upgrading of all onsite toilets to dual flush capability 6l and 3l combination from a 9l single flush. 

• April 2007 – Presented with EcoHort Certification for Redlands Nursery by Nursery and Garden Industry Queensland at Parliament House by the Primary Industries Minister Queensland Mr Tim Mulherrin. 

• March 2008 – Presented with ecoBIZ partner certificate for Redlands Nursery Pty Ltd at Parliament House by the Minister for Environment and Sustainability Queensland Hon Mr Andrew McNamara.

During 2001 evaluation of the Irrigation Sprinklers as per the Water Works guidelines was implemented.

After 12 months of field trials which resulted in improved health and crop quality, all sprinklers on both properties were upgraded to Nelson R2000 rotators which achieved water savings of 30%.  Pressure regulators were also fitted at the Orchard Road property set at 35psi to ensure correct droplet spectrum and even application.  The pressure regulator valves shut off once pressure drops below 35psi. This also functions as an anti drain valve.  This has been estimated to save an additional 40,000 litres/day in not having to refill mains at the start of each irrigation cycle.

During 2002 at the Orchard Road property, a project to redirect loss of irrigation run off water through above ground drains and subsurface drains to central holding ponds was completed. This was to ensure that   main 5.74ha water storage would only receive run off water after 25mm plus rain fall events.

In addition the upgrading of two dams was completed which yielded an additional 33 megalitres of storage capacity with these dams being topped up when the remaining water storages are all full.

With all irrigation run off water collected in 2 central ponds the plan is to make it easier to install aerators in the future but importantly to improve the overall water quality of the total water storage.

In addition  changing from high volume pesticide spraying at rates of 2000l/ha to our newest machine using 250l/ha is a saving of 1750l of water per ha when spraying. Spraying on demand as opposed to calendar spraying has further reduced the quantity of water required for the application of agricultural chemicals.

In 2005 the Azalea crop was the first product line produced on a 90% composted pine bark and 10% Coir peat. This reduced the irrigation volume of water required during the winter months on these crops from 5 days per week to 3 days per week yielding a net saving of approx 300,000 litres of water per week over a 12 week period.

The shelf life of Azaleas being used indoors as a flowering plant is sustainable for 7 days with no loss of quality.

 The majority of the production is now grown in Composted Pine bark/Coir growing media. This has the benefit, during the winter production cycle of being able to apply minimal irrigation particularly on our foliage plant production of Philodendron and Chaemaedorea. They are watered, on average, no more than twice per week and in one instance getting to 14 days without irrigation. Improved growth, crop quality, particularly the reduction of bacterial leaf spotting, has been a major benefit along with the saving of water.

Redlands Nursery has been assisting Crop Management Australia based in Bundaberg in trialing new state of the art moisture and nutrition probes which are linked to a data logger. The sensors take into consideration rainfall, temperature and solar radiation to fully understand the relationship between all of these areas. This will provide a better understanding of these relationships and allow better management of water and nutrition which is required for commercial pot plant production.