Trusted by Professionals, Loved by Home Gardeners
Our Story
At Daltons, three things have never changed: we’re family owned, we manufacture here in New Zealand, and we care deeply about the quality of every product that leaves our facilities. Four generations in, and that’s not changing.
Founded by John Dalton in 1947, we grew from a sand and shingle supplier into one of New Zealand’s most trusted names in growing media and landscape supplies. Potting mix production began in 1975, and we’ve been at the forefront of New Zealand horticulture ever since.
Today, the fourth generation of the family work in the business, same values and same care in every bag.
Supporting Growing Every Step of The Way
We work alongside commercial growers, nurseries, landscapers, and retailers right across New Zealand.
Retail and Home Gardeners
Our growing media range is available through retail partners across New Zealand, including Bunnings, Mitre 10, The Warehouse, PlaceMakers and leading garden centres. Many of the plants you see in garden centres are grown in Daltons mixes, and the same professional quality is available to home gardeners in our retail range.
From great-value everyday mixes for beginners to premium and plant-specific blends for experienced gardeners, Daltons has a growing media solution for every gardener and every garden.
Commercial Growers and Nurseries
New Zealand’s leading nurseries and commercial growers trust Daltons for the full suite; premium growing media, fertilisers, pots and trays, plant health products, and nursery automation solutions.
We support growers from propagation right through to point of sale, visiting nurseries, sharing knowledge, and offering hands-on support.
Our Orchiata bark is exported globally and widely regarded as the world's finest orchid growing medium.
Daltons Landscape Supplies Yards
Our Landscape Supplies yards serve everyone from home gardeners and DIYers to landscapers, builders and commercial growers, with bulk products, 50L bags and convenient pick-up options.
With yards across Northland, Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, quality landscape supplies are never far away.
Garden mix, compost, bark, mulch, decorative stone, scoria and sand available in bulk or bags. Order online or collect in person, with free trailer hire at selected yards.
Made Here. Sourced with Care.
Our manufacturing facilities in Matamata and Christchurch are the heart of what we do. Growing media, bark processing, mulches, composts, sand and pumice, manufactured locally, all backed by our Quality Assurance Programme.
Growing Media - Mixes and Compost
It all starts with Pinus radiata bark - collected as a forestry by-product and composted using locally sourced, natural and renewable resources. No green waste. We make our compost, and blend our mixes, each with ingredients chosen for a specific purpose. The result performs consistently, batch after batch.
Fertilisers and Specialist Products
For fertilisers and specialist products, we work with the world's leading international suppliers, including ICL, one of the world's foremost fertiliser manufacturers, and Syngenta.
Closer to home, we partner with Waikaitu, whose seaweed is sustainably harvested from the Marlborough Sounds and used in our liquid seaweed products.
We also manufacture our own chicken and sheep pellets at our Matamata facility, using our own pelletising equipment to blend natural manures into a slow-release fertiliser that feeds plants and improves soil structure over time.
Sourced Responsibly
Sustainability isn’t a marketing position for us - it’s part of how we’ve always worked.
Our bark-based growing media and Pinegro wood fibre is made from New Zealand Pinus Radiata, a renewable forestry by-product. Our NZ Natural Wood Mulch gives a second life to broken, untreated wooden pallets that would otherwise go to landfill.
Our packaging films include recycled NZ plastic content. We’re part of the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme, so empty Daltons bags can be dropped off at participating collection points nationwide.
The pots we supply can be returned to any Daltons Landscape Supplies yard or Bunnings store, recycled, and turned into brand-new products.
From the raw materials we choose to what happens after the bag is empty, we’re working to close the loop.
Leading the Way in the Future of Growing Media
Innovation is in our DNA. From the moment we started manufacturing potting mixes in 1975, we’ve never stopped looking for better; better ingredients, better processes, better results for growers and gardeners.
One of the most significant results of that is Pinegro, an engineered wood fibre we developed and manufacture right here in Matamata.
Made from New Zealand Pinus radiata wood chips, a sustainable by-product of the timber processing industry, Pinegro is produced at our Matamata plant using internationally certified Gold Standard extrusion technology and blended directly into our growing media mixes.
It enhances root development, improves moisture retention, and reduces reliance on imported materials - making our mixes better for your plants and better for the environment.
