Production Nursery Manager

Peter Todd

Toddy joined Fleming’s as a fresh-faced youth straight from high school more than 40 years ago.  At a time when working farms and nursery work was largely the domain of men – Peter thought a nursery worker role was just the ticket while he contemplated what he would do for the rest of his life and career!

Luckily for Toddy he had already unwittingly found his passion and career the moment he cut his first bud.  That day something sparked in the man who would go on to be Wes Fleming’s right hand man and one of Australia’s finest tree production nurseryman.

Toddy was certainly a natural and took to the nursery like a duck to water and, just one year senior to Wes, the two have worked closely their entire careers and developed new products and travelled extensively building international relations and introducing new varieties while selecting many themselves

Peter Todd has lent his name to many new cultivars from the nursery but the most famous and biggest selling is the Ulmus parvifolia ‘Todd’. Peter found this special specimen in the nursery and earmarked it for trials recognising instantly its superior parvifolia form.  The industry has clearly agreed with this magnificent Japanese Elm being one of Australia’s most hardy, trustworthy and recognisable Elm forms in Australian streetscapes today.

Today Toddy is busy reworking our container nursery and building a stronger part of this production nursery. Naturally a quiet achiever, Peter Todd continues in a hands-on role managing the production nurseries at Monbulk and takes great pride in developing people, the product and the reputation for Australia’s best trees.

In 2019 Todd celebrated 40 years of service – the first of any Fleming employee (outside of the family) to reach this incredible milestone.  However that certainly doesn’t seemed to have been a milestone to hang his hat on as Toddy says he has no immediate plans to retire yet.