Bili Nursery
We are a small, not-for-profit nursery aiming to bring biodiversity back into the Melbourne region by propagating and selling indigenous plants.
Melbourne region plants are unique and beautiful and our mission is to conserve them. They evolved over millions of years to be drought-resistant and to tolerate poor soils. Native birds and other animals need them too.
Our clients are councils, landscapers and the general public. We propagate rare plants and those that are hard-to-grow. We encourage people to get to know and love them, and put them in their gardens or pots! We also grow plants for Westgate Park and we sell plants at Bili Nursery shop at 525 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne (just behind the Port Melbourne Football oval).
Open Mon-Fri 9-4pm, Sat 10-3pm (retail is closed Saturdays during summer).
Call us on 0492 972 652 or email bilinursery@westgatebiodiversity.org.au for more info.
We have a small team of obliging staff and several regular volunteers keen to help and learn about seed collection and preparation, pricking out and growing on. What could be more rewarding! If you would like to volunteer with us, here’s how.
Below is just a taste of the 320 species of indigenous plants that were propagated by Bili Nursery and planted in Westgate Park.
A short history of St Kilda Indigenous Nursery Cooperative (now Bili Nursery)
Since its inception over 25 years ago, Bili Nursery (formerly SKINC) has supplied the indigenous plants that have revegetated the Sandbelt area along the City of Port Phillip coastline.
Drawing on remnant vegetation from as far away as the Mornington Peninsula, the original team devised a species list of plants to put back into the surrounding area. Most of the parent stock was collected from these patches, and over the years, these plants have provided seed and propagation material for over 2 million plants.
These indigenous plants have been used extensively along the foreshore, re-creating frontal sand dune ecosystems and in reserves such as Canterbury Road urban forest, Lagoon reserve, Gill reserve, Turner reserve, Wattie Watson reserve, Point Ormond, Elwood Canal and in numerous local residents gardens.
