Michael and Lisa Geraghty, owners of Ravensbourne Trees, are bringing to life their environmentally conscious dream of providing a greener world for their community.
Ravensbourne village has a thriving horticulture industry, located on verdant soil amongst mountainous terrain on the edge of the Great Dividing Range north of Toowoomba. The area’s arable and cool climate is ideal for those operating agricultural enterprises around Ravensbourne, where growers like the Geraghtys have seized the immense potential for growth and innovation.
Before Ravensbourne Trees, the duo were already active business owners in the Toowoomba area with a successful landscaping business. They felt their natural progression was to expand and diversify. Steadily building Carbon G, their landscaping and revegetation business for 15 years, they began to cultivate trees to complement their operation. Seeing the shortage of trees in the industry wanting to filter back into the landscaping business as a whole, they decided to purchase land in Ravensbourne. This ultimately planted the seed for success, morphing into their latest venture and setting themselves up for a greater work life balance.
Speaking to Michael about the beginnings of their flourishing Ravensbourne Trees business, he identifies not only with the welcoming climate but the supportive local community they encountered in the area. “The early beginnings for us have been very promising and favourable,” he said. “The beauty of it all is that the temperate climate and high volume of rainfall allows us to take risks and be adventurous with our business.”
The abundant fertility of the local soil has allowed them to produce a myriad of evergreen and ornamental varieties, all forming part of their tree farm. Different species are used for various projects, ranging from development sub-divisions to wildfire corridors, commercial and residential applications, and council landscaping. “We use our Ravensbourne Trees for almost all of our projects, even providing the recent Oakey Solar Farm development along the Warrego Highway with mature trees and vegetation.”
A sense of social responsibility through reforestation deeply resonates with Michael and Lisa, who believe they need to be the change they want to see in the world. They are environmentally conscious, utilising sustainable products with a shift towards organic practices. Looking to the future, Michael believes their operation will continue to follow new trends, and of course, centre on planting more trees. “There’s always going to be a shifting trend with landscape architects, and we always have to adapt to stay with the market. Even now we’ve begun to cultivate trees such as the wilga and flindersia, as they are beautiful, form shaping trees that would suit the area.”
The Geraghtys’ have no intention of slowing down anytime soon, with Michael keen to plant as many trees as possible. “The more trees the better as far as I’m concerned. This is a time thing, where we’re growing for the future. What we’re doing will benefit our children, and other people’s children. I wouldn’t have it any other way to be perfectly honest.”
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