In 1965 Bernhard and Gertrud Dinter purchased the land at the corner of Phipps Road and Trans Canada Highway
with the idea of developing it into a nursery. Bernhard had apprenticed as a nurseryman in Germany after his grandmother advised him to “do something peaceful and become a gardener”.
Bernhard and Gertrud met in the 1940s at a tree nursery in Germany where Bernhard was completing an apprenticeship, and Gertrud was employed as an administrator. Gertrud was a skilled gardener already herself, having grown up in a family that was largely self-sufficient in fruits and vegetables through their large allotment garden and community fruit tree orchard.
Bernhard and Gertrud immigrated to Canada in 1952, with Bernhard soon finding employment as the gardener at Shawnigan Lake School. Throughout his 20 years spent upgrading the school gardens, Bernhard gained experience with west coast gardening conditions and soon began propagating nursery stock around the family house in Shawnigan. He established a collection of over 400 varieties of shrubs and trees, which were ultimately moved to the Phipps Road site and among the first to be sold when the business opened.
In 1965, the land at the corner of Phipps was heavily timbered with near impenetrable undergrowth. Gertrud and Bernhard cleared the land by hand, using the timber from the logs to build the shade house. The store was built in 1972 with a lean-to greenhouse and a small residence upstairs. The nursery gates were opened for the first time on April 1, 1973. Bernhard and Gertrud operated the nursery by themselves for the most part with the help of their son Bernie during the summer months. Once Bernie completed his degree in Horticulture at UBC in 1976, he joined the nursery full time and oversaw the building of the first greenhouses. In 1980, the adjoining 6 acre property was purchased and slowly cleared to make room for additional tree, shrub and greenhouse production facilities. Bernie used his horticultural expertise to further expand the growing capacity, develop infrastructure and administrative processes.
In 1992, the main store was renovated into the building it is today. In the 1970s, Bernhard started up a garden design and landscaping division to bring income for the nursery and support the growth of the business. By the end of his life in 2007, Bernhard (known by then as Mr. D) had drawn up over 800 landscaping plans for sites within the Cowichan Valley. In his later years, Bernhard continued to draw landscape plans, answer customer questions and assist with school tours which were held every spring to introduce students to gardening. He especially liked to show them his kiwi tree on the south side of the store, which is still there and producing well!
Gertrud had a special talent for displaying flowers which she took great pride in. In the early days of the nursery she took care of greenhouse production and bookkeeping. Today at 95 years of age, Gertrud still takes an active interest in the nursery, regularly asking how the numbers are and checking the greenhouse plants are watered when the weather is warm.
Bernie has greatly enjoyed his role at the nursery over the last 47 years. Today, Bernie continues to be involved with overseeing all aspects of the business and answering customer questions. He frequently gives talks on gardening to interested groups around the Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands. Bernie’s daughter, Tamara, grew up at the nursery (which was also her grandparents home), sweeping floors after school and working in the summers through high school. Her passion for plants was sparked through the joys of community gardening while completing her degree at UVic. She continued to work full seasons at the nursery in between her time at UVic and completing advanced degrees in Agriculture in Europe, before returning to the nursery full time in 2020, and later taking on the role of General Manager.
Fifty years ago the nursery started with junipers, laurel hedging, bedding plants and a number of unusual plants that Bernhard had collected at UBC. Today, it is a full service Garden Center with annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruit trees, trees, shrubs, water gardening, garden hardware and ornaments. The nursery would not have continued to operate to this day without the amazing group of people who have worked at the nursery over the last fifty years. The contribution of their talents Dinter and hard work has made the business what it is today. We
are also so grateful to all our customers for their support over the past many years. It is a privilege to be a part of the Cowichan Valley community.
Thank you.
All Submitted by Bernie, Cyndy and Tamara
Images courtesy Dinter Family.
For more info and pictures see Our Story page at www.dinternursery.ca