Pressure from big retailers and consumers' changing hobbies have spelt the end of an era for Nook Road Nursery near Lake Hawea, once a thriving destination for gardeners throughout the district.
A closing-down plant sale begins today at the Urquhart family nursery, which has a history of more than 40 years.
Keen gardener Maryed Urquhart (now 88) started "Maryed's Garden" in the backyard of the family farm at Lake Hawea in 1968, growing a variety of plants not tried in the area before.
Her son Jamie helped, learning about gardening as he went, and in 1977 he returned permanently to Hawea with his young family and began working for his mother full-time.
In 1981, he and his wife, Vicki, bought The Nook, a former boarding house, orchard and garden. They set up The Garden Shed in Wanaka in 1982, selling plants suited to Central Otago from Maryed's Garden and further afield.
After selling that business, the couple established Nook Road Nursery about 20 years ago, shifting Maryed's Garden to The Nook.
Maryed now lives in a new house on the grounds of the nursery, surrounded by her plants.
Her grandson Locky and his family also live at the nursery.
Mr Urquhart said a "major commoditisation of product" in the plant industry had contributed to the dwindling customer numbers and "lack of income" that prompted the closure of the nursery.
Big-box garden stores had "dumbed down the whole thing, to the point where people only buy a finished product now, so they've lost interest in gardening", he said.
"And people aren't prepared to pay any more for plants. They want a bargain," added nursery manager Diana Manson, who has worked at The Nook for 20 years.
Landscaping plans today typically placed a big emphasis on native plants, so people bought a large number of a few varieties, such as tussocks and pittosporums, while The Nook's focus was ornamental, flowering, evergreen and deciduous shrubs and trees.
"What we've really specialised in, there's not the same demand for," Mr Urquhart said.
People also had less time for gardening and plant shopping. A trip to Nook Road Nursery off Hawea's dusty back roads was a half-day outing, compared with a quick visit to a hardware store's garden section.
"Wanaka's become a much more outdoor activity-oriented region.
"About 20 or 30 years ago, people who retired to Hawea bought golf clubs, a fishing rod and went gardening ... now, they have a mountain bike, a kayak and a plane ticket for an overseas holiday."
Mr Urquhart and Mrs Manson were sad the nursery was closing after such a long time, but were positive about the future.
"We're lucky that we can make the decision and we haven't been forced into it," Mr Urquhart said.
He had no plans beyond the nursery's final days in late June, other than to "take some time out" and visit his grandson in Australia, while Mrs Manson hoped to continue working with plants.
"At the moment, our focus is trying to wind up this in the best possible way we can, so it's a bit hard to see beyond that," she said.
The land will stay with the Urquharts, who dream of opening a self-sustaining ecological retreat there.
"It's such a wonderful environment and everyone loves it," Mr Urquhart said.
