Journal
01.05.2026
VINC Masterplan - Giving Back for Room to Grow
The Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Co-Operative (VINC) have been growing indigenous plants at Yarra Bend for 40 years. Not ornamentals. Not cultivars. Indigenous plants propagated from seed collected in the specific catchments where they’ll eventually be planted, matched precisely to the ecological conditions where they need to thrive.
These are species that cool the city, filter stormwater, rebuild habitat corridors along the Yarra and its tributaries, and give threatened wildlife somewhere to call home.
Last year alone, VINC grew 400,000 plants, supplying 150 organisations, 13 local councils, Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria, conservation groups, and schools.
They are turning down orders. They had simply outgrown their space.
In 2026, VINC is on the verge to sign a 21-year lease with Parks Victoria, incorporating an additional 3,500 square metres adjacent to their existing Yarra Bend site, effectively doubling the nursery’s growing capacity. After four decades of operating on five-to-ten-year leases, it’s the first time they can plan with real confidence. That’s a big deal.
We’re working with VINC to develop a feasibility plan exploring how this new space can best serve the nursery’s future.
From the start, we wanted to understand the work from the inside out. We talked to the propagation staff who know exactly where the bottlenecks are, the volunteers who show up every week without fail, and the board who could see both the urgency and the opportunity. The masterplan grew just as much from those conversations as from any site analysis.
Here’s what we’re planning together.
Production infrastructure
Three new climate-controlled greenhouses, specialist seed storage, cleaning and sorting equipment, and reorganised logistics that separate delivery vehicles from the community experience of the nursery. The target? 800,000 plants per year within five years, nearly double current output.
Community and retail
A reimagined front-of-house that becomes a genuine destination. Somewhere to buy plants, to understand why provenance matters, and to connect with the remarkable work happening behind the scenes. Better amenities for the volunteers who have given decades to this place.
Environmental upgrades
Solar panels and battery storage, an electric delivery vehicle, and external landscaping that doubles as a seed collection area. The nursery’s footprint expands. Its environmental impact shrinks.
The masterplan isn’t the hero of this story, VINC is. Nine million plants over 40 years. A Geranium species thought to be extinct until 2000, propagated and replanted across Melbourne’s north-west. Living corridors running through the heart of the city.
Our job was to listen, learn, and help it grow.