The owner of a Mosgiel florist shop and nursery plans to retire after more than 50 years in the plant-growing business after following in his father's footsteps.
John van Delft, along with his wife Mary, have run The Greenhouse Florist since they moved to Mosgiel from the United Kingdom in 2008. They are selling the shop on Gordon Rd and its accompanying nursery on Wingatui Rd.
Mr van Delft said the decision to sell and retire was motivated in part by a desire to spend more time with new family members.
‘‘I've got a granddaughter in England now and I haven't seen her yet. She's a year old.''
Mr van Delft's father bought a rundown florist nursery in Devon, England, in 1961 and Mr van Delft, 13 at the time, said he was soon gainfully employed.
‘‘I was doing about 30 to 40 hours a week.''
While many young people these days agonise over career choices, unsure which path to take, it was just assumed that Mr van Delft would work in the garden trade like his father, he said.
‘‘It wasn't even discussed. It was taken for granted.
''Mr van Delft said, nonetheless, he developed an enthusiasm for the work.
Mr and Mrs van Delft started their first garden centre in England in 1976, after which they ran stores in England and then Scotland before relocating to Mosgiel in 2008.
Mr van Delft said he and Mary saw the nursery on Wingatui Rd advertised for sale and then ‘‘fell in love with the setting''.
Mr van Delft had noticed some interesting differences between Mosgiel gardens and gardens in the UK which were constrained by space. There were many more fruit trees in Mosgiel gardens than in the UK where people often did a lot more container gardening.
There was one particular factor which favoured conditions for growing in Mosgiel over England, he said.
‘‘In England, where we lived, the soil was very heavy. It wasn't that beautiful Taieri soil that we have here.''
