Image: Ben and Alexa Clark at Kuranga.
Kuranga Native Nursery at Mt Evelyn at the foot of Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges, 35km east of Melbourne, is one of Australia’s largest specialist native plant nurseries. Last year it won Retailer of the Year in the nursery industry awards.
Kuranga has announced plans to open a second site at Warrandyte. Kuranga’s owners, Ben and Alexa Clark, have bought Beasley’s Nursery following its closure at the end of May. Beasley’s had operated as a large general nursery with a café for 50 years.
Alexa agrees that it is a tough time in retail but says their plans to open a second site have been a long time in the making.
“When we took over Kuranga six years ago we always wanted to build on the brand,” says Alexa. “The first piece of the jigsaw was the opening 18 months ago of our much larger propagation area at Wonga Park, which means we can now grow enough plants for two retail sites.”
Kuranga propagate around 70 per cent of the stock they sell.
After taking possession of the Warrandyte site on June 1, Alexa said their contractors moved in to start clearing to make way for their new plans and native plants.
“The Warrandyte site is very different from the flat Mt Evelyn site, as it is big and terraced and provides beautiful aspects so we are excited about designing and planting, it will be great to give it some new life,” Alexa explains. She says the new nursery will continue to specialise in native plants as we are very “one-eyed when it comes to natives”.
“While there’s a sadness about Beasley’s closing, the owners and locals seem to be pleased that the site will continue to operate as an independent garden centre,” says Alexa.
They plan to have Kuranga Warrandyte open in early August with a soft opening. That gives them just eight weeks to refurbish and restock the site.
“We’ll have a much bigger launch in spring,” promises Alexa.
Jennifer Stackhouse
(published in Commercial Horticulture, June-July issue, 2026)
