Patrick Gorman
Agronomist
Patrick works alongside Fernland's nursery and horticultural customers on the practical end of crop production: soil and plant health, IPM programme design, nutrition and moisture management. If you're troubleshooting a pest problem, reviewing a fertiliser regime or trying to work out why a block isn't performing the way it should, Patrick is the person to call. He brings six years as a grower and production manager in vegetable and plant nurseries, which means he's run the sort of operations our customers run. That includes building IPM programmes for crops as different as celery seedlings and potted leucadendrons, and trialling soil media and fertiliser combinations across a wide range of plants. He also maintains that irrigation pumps only ever fail on a Friday afternoon, right around 3:30pm. Before the nurseries, Patrick was an agronomist in Far North Queensland working with avocados, bananas and other tropical crops. That role focused on improving soil and plant health, optimising moisture management and developing sustainable IPM practices — the foundation for how he approaches agronomy today. What that adds up to for growers is advice grounded in production reality: recommendations that account for labour, timing and what's actually achievable in a working nursery, not just what looks right on paper. Patrick is happy to walk a site, review a programme, or talk through a product decision before you commit to it. Away from work he's an avid golfer, despite what his handicap suggests, and will take part in just about any sport going — from surfing and swimming to watching the cricket and the footy (AFL: Pies. NRL: Storm). He and his partner have settled in Queensland with their rescue kelpie, Lucky, who has made long walks and runs a permanent fixture in the routine. Patrick rates the nursery and wider horticultural industry as one of the most welcoming he's worked in, where growers and suppliers share knowledge and experience openly. He believes thriving nurseries drive a successful industry, and that with young enthusiasm coming through alongside decades of hard-won wisdom, we're only scratching the surface of what's possible.
← Back to the team