Heritage, family,
and growing right
Cape Nursery was established in Ewingsdale in 1989. Since Frank and Richard Howarth took over in 2003, it has evolved from a traditional wholesale operation into one of the most technically advanced nurseries on the NSW east coast.
A nursery built on one idea
Most wholesale nurseries are located where land is cheap and water is available. Cape Nursery is located where the plants grow best — on the Northern NSW coast, exposed to the same conditions that characterise the most demanding coastal project environments on the east coast.
That location is not incidental. It is the foundation of everything we do. Every plant we grow spends its entire production life in genuine coastal conditions. The salt air, the wind, the UV intensity, the sandy soils — these are not stresses we acclimatise our plants to. They are the conditions our plants have experienced since propagation.
Family ownership, production focus
Frank and Richard Howarth took over Cape Nursery in 2003 with backgrounds in both horticulture and business operations. Their approach has been consistent: invest in production infrastructure, maintain the highest achievable quality standards, and let the growing site’s natural advantages do the rest.
The investment in UV water sterilisation, closed-loop drainage, and computerised irrigation was not made to meet an accreditation standard — it was made because better water management produces better plants. That investment in best-practice infrastructure has continued to define how Cape Nursery operates.
Dooralong Valley Native Plants
Our sister nursery is Dooralong Valley Native Plants (DVNP), a specialist native plant nursery that broadens the range available to our customer base. For projects requiring native species beyond our primary range, DVNP provides a complementary supply option through the same trade relationship.
Supplying the trade
Cape Nursery is a wholesale-only operation. We supply landscape contractors, landscape architects, local councils, property developers, and allied trade customers. We do not sell retail. All orders are processed through our trade account system, with live availability and ordering available via Evergreen Connect.
Cape Nursery sources growing media, inputs, and production infrastructure from a small number of trusted, long-term supplier relationships. We specify for quality and consistency.
Cape Nursery supplies landscape contractors, councils, property developers, and landscape architects across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.
A few frames from the property: shadehouse, advanced trees, the rows in propagation, and the visitor entry off Myocum Road.
