Works to set up a new nursery in Lava Street are quietly going ahead after business owners David Winters and Joanna Williams took over the site, formerly Full Bloom Boutique Nursery.

The couple have owned Avalon Nursery in Haddon, west of Ballarat, for four years but have seen their deliveries to Warrnambool grow.

"Our deliveries were getting so big we had to run them every week, our customers were saying when are you going to open up here," Mr Winters said.

Tahlia Searle, who grew up in Warrnambool, had moved to work at the couple's Haddon nursery because she admired its layout and stock, and now 12 months later she'll manage the new Avalon Nursery in Warrnambool.

"It's a dream come true, I still get the best of both worlds," the 20-year-old said.

Ms Searle studied horticulture at South West TAFE where she took out honours as a trainee of the year in 2017, and has previously worked in Warrnambool's gardening industry.

"To return back to Warrnambool with the clientele and my old customers is great," she said.

Mr Winter said the business would employ up to four staff in Warrnambool and the COVID-19 pandemic had not delayed plans to open.

"People did say to us pull the pin and don't go ahead with it. But let's be honest gardening and getting out is still good for people's mental health," he said.

"I get satisfaction from seeing people happy and getting out in the garden."

Mr Winter, a former fly-in-fly-out Queensland miner, said he had a health scare in 2015 and left that industry for gardening with Joanna.

"It was the best thing we did. Sometimes you need a wrong to make a good in life," he said.

The Warrnambool nursery will sell species for the south-west climate, including lilly pillies, ficus, jacarandas and broadway mint.

"It's a whole different climate down here," Mr Winter said. "We can sell a lot of the stuff we can't in Ballarat."

The business plans to open from May 11.

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