About Us
We are Melbourne’s first worker owned and operated horticultural co-operative. Established in 2020, but with over 10 years of staff horticulture experience on board, The Horticultural Co-operative employs ecologically friendly, community minded, and ethical practices to provide a range of horticultural services to our clients, namely garden care and design, native landscaping, and arborist tree care.
Our cooperative is future oriented with social and environmental responsibility as our central principles. We have a focus on conducting thoughtful horticultural work in tandem with an eco-friendly mindset.
We acknowlege that we currently work on the Woiworrung and Boonworrung lands of the Kulin Nations.
Our Vision
A workers co-operative is a business that is owned and managed by it’s workers. As workers, we have control of the business structure, finances, direction, and every-day decisions. The rights of workers is central to a cooperative. Differing from food cooperatives or non-for-profit cooperatives, in order to be a member of a workers co-operative, one must be an active worker. This ensures equal representation of all workers in the cooperative.
As professional and environmentally conscious horticulturists, we decided we wanted to create opportunities for ourselves and others in the community to create a horticultural service at a fair price, while achieving a high quality service. We provide work that reintroduces native species back into suburban areas, and attempt to incorporate ecosystems that provide habitat to wildlife. These ecological principals and rewilding concepts are important elements to the work we do. Working as a co-operative allows us to control our own hours and wages, so we can make sure we are working on your garden, not because we have to, but because we want to. It helps create a genuine relationship between the client and us, ensuring quality results for you and your garden. When we turn up to work on your garden, you get to speak to someone who is part of running the business, with no middle people to worry about. As owners, we will be onsite, 100% of the time, dedicated to what’s best for your garden’s needs.