Jan 6, 2021
- Citywide Life
- Horticulturist
- People & Culture
It takes a special person to stay with one company for a whole generation – but for Adam Nelson, it’s been a rewarding journey that has led him through some of the most vibrant and varied corners of Victoria’s natural history.
It’s been 30 years since Adam Nelson, Citywide’s longest serving horticulturalist and operations leader, joined Melbourne City Council as an 18-year-old gardening apprentice.
“We had to sit an examination at Melbourne Town Hall, and there turned out to be 1,000 applicants for just four positions,” says Adam. “So I knew it was going to be a good job!”
That job has carried him far and wide, from attending turf conferences in Europe and examining the grass on Wimbledon Centre Court, to planting trees with Prince Charles, and guiding a primetime TV audience around the gardens of Government House.
But perhaps Adam’s greatest successes have been – like the man himself – the quiet achievements.
“The respect and admiration he’s won from the councils in Melbourne’s Outer East have been incredible,” says Matt Williams, who hired Adam to head up the City of Casey Open Spaces contract in 2006.
“His ability to build strong relationships and to be completely transparent with his customers is second to none.”
From sports turf to living history
Adam’s Citywide career began managing the cricket wickets at Fawkner Park, followed by a stint at Fitzroy Gardens, before he was appointed senior curator at Government House. His six years managing those rare historical gardens bring back some of Adam’s most precious memories.
“I met some amazing people there, including three governors, various Premiers, and Prince Charles and Princess Anne,” he says. “Of course, Prince Charles is a respected horticulturalist himself, and I remember him asking me a lot of questions in front of a lot of people – which made me quite nervous!”
Today, Adam heads up Citywide’s Open Spaces contracts for the Shire of Cardinia and the Cities of Casey and Greater Dandenong – a workload covering hundreds of hectares of parks and reserves, and somewhere in the region of 250,000 trees.
From Citywide’s depots in Hallam and Pakenham, Adam’s 65-strong team manage and maintain dozens of parks and open spaces, as well as public playgrounds and the grounds of several pre-schools and childcare centres.
“The play spaces in kindergartens and childcare centres have really changed over the years, to help children get closer to nature and learn more important things from their play,” Adam notes.
The nature of his work has also shifted, with a much stronger focus on compliance and safety – both for the users of public spaces, and the people constructing them. “I spend a lot more time thinking and talking about safety, that’s for sure,” says Adam.
The shift to native species
The flora that Citywide plants has also changed dramatically during Adam’s career. “We’re planting a lot more native tree species these days, which helps councils reduce their maintenance bills, but also reflects advances in hybridisation – which is enabling us to produce more colourful and aesthetically pleasing native trees.”
Native planting also reflects growing concerns with conservation, which are a particularly strong driver in Cardinia, where the Shire Council has strong affiliations with local land care groups and conservation organisations.
Adam not only enjoys a close working relationship with his customers, but keeps close to the land and “green issues” himself. A former resident of Narre Warren, he and his wife Naomi now live down the road in Garfield – where they and sons Liam, Lachie and Oliver are proud and active members of the local community.
“They’re a wonderful family, and we’re really lucky to have them as part of the Citywide family,” says Matt Williams. “When I first met Adam when he was working at Government House, he looked after those gardens with such pride – as if they were his own – and he had an amazing rapport with all the other staff there.
“We had to do a fair bit of persuading to get him out of that job and into our Outer East contracts, but I’m so glad we did. He’s brought the same standards of passion and professionalism to these contracts, and the great relationships he’s developed with these three councils are an example for everyone in the business.”
Top banner photo: a youthful Adam pictured two rows directly behind Prince Charles when HRH visited Victoria's Government House in 2005.
Media Contact:
Simon Mossman - Group Corporate Communications
M 0427 307 216
E simon.mossman@citywide.com.au