By Teresa Cannon
His Mum (right), after 54 years running the nursery with her husband, is delighted to see it reopened.
There are hugs, tears of joy and much laughter at the Presti Nursery. Customers are returning, delighted that they can once again enjoy the flowers, the greenery and the chatter about plants.
The Presti Nursery reopened in September after two years of closure. For a year after the passing of Mr Presti, Mrs Presti, with the help of family, continued to run the nursery, but the long hours of work prohibited continuing.
Mr Presti had hoped that his son Domenic would continue the care of the plants and the care of the customers. But even before he was a teenager, Domenic had other ideas.
‘I’ve absolutely no interest in plants,’ he says laughing. It’s clear he’s joking. He recounts times as a child where he’d frequently run to join his friends next door and within a moment, he heard the whistle.
It was his Dad, summoning him back to the nursery to undertake watering, weeding and stacking more plants for sale.
Despite his Dad’s hopes and cajoling, Domenic declined numerous offers to join his parents in the nursery. Cars and carpentry were his loves. Years before he undertook his apprenticeship, he was refurbishing vehicles and tractors. He pursued his interests and for 43 years he designed and built motorhomes. In his spare time, he enjoyed car racing in Australia and New Zealand.
Now it’s Domenic who runs the business. His wife, Celia, also lends a hand, a huge hand. Among her many tasks she serves customers, pulls up weeds and de-buds old flowers. ‘She just doesn’t stop,’ says Domenic, ‘and she’s often here til 9, even 10 in the evening.’
He’s thrilled, as former customers return to the nursery, they’d once visited for years. They tell stories of their gardens, flourishing with Presti plants. They’re keen to continue the experience and Domenic is keen to assist them.
Mrs Presti delights in returning to what she knows and loves. For 54 years she and her husband created a place, with flowering plants, fruit trees and punnets of vegetable plants, which delighted customers and enabled them to feed their families fresh, home-grown foods. Such plants are now once again gracing the nursery.
But the nursery was always more than a business. It was, and still is, a place of warm-heartedness and generosity. Some customers remember how, as children, they never left without a flower from Mr Presti. There was always a welcome and advice, steeped in well-developed knowledge and wisdom.
Domenic has re-established the former nursery, with its colour, vivacity, warm welcomes and thoughtful assistance. He runs the nursery as a natural. He’s working hard and it’s clear he’s having a good time.
Still laughing, he repeats his earlier comment, ‘I’ve absolutely no interest in plants.’ So why is he here? ‘It’s all these wonderful people. I can talk with them. I can have a laugh.’ And, he adds, pointing to the heavens, ‘It’s that bloke up there.’ It seems his Dad has whistled him yet again.
Mrs Presti nods her head. ‘Yes, my husband’s a very happy man up there now.’
Presti Nursery
1726 Ferntree Gully Road
0408 344 493
Wednesday to Sunday open from 10am to 4pm
Monday and Tuesday closed
