Latest News:

Designer of our stand at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012 is announced

Posted on : 14/01/2012 14:38:29

We are looking forward to returning to RHS Chelsea Flower Show for our second year. We found our partnership with Claudia De Yong a really rewarding experience, so we have been working with the Society of Garden Designer's to help us find a designer for 2012. We received some great ideas and after some consideration chose Rosemary Coldstream, MSGD, who is an experienced designer, to join us this year.

We are delighted to announce that after the show the plants will be given a permanent home with the charity Gardening Leave. Gilly met up with Anna Baker Cresswell, Chief Executive of the charity ...

“I am delighted that the British Plant Nursery Guide has generously offered to donate the plants from their show garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show to Gardening Leave and we are looking forward to giving the plants a permanent home at Gardening Leave Chelsea at the Royal Hospital – just over the wall!!
Gardening Leave is a Registered Charity which improves the mental and physical wellbeing of serving and ex-Service personnel using Horticultural Therapy in walled gardens.”

Anna Baker Cresswell, Chief Executive.

We look forward to meeting you at this year’s show.

First Scottish nursery member

Posted on : 14/01/2012 14:35:38

We are pleased to announce that we have our first Scottish member, Christie Elite, a large tree nursery based between Inverness and Aberdeen, which produces millions of trees a year.

In addition, we are supporting Scotland’s Gardens Scheme (SGS), a registered charity created in 1931 which raises funds for other worthy charities by organising the opening of large and small gardens of horticultural interest throughout Scotland.

‘Scotland's Gardens’, their new redesigned book for 2012 is packed with great gardens to visit.

National Tree Week 26th November – 4th December

Posted on : 20/11/2011 20:52:03

National Tree Week is the UK's largest annual tree celebration which takes place at the start of the winter tree planting season and encourages everyone to get their hands dirty and do something positive for their local environment.

Trees are so important for our environment. Not only are they essential for cleaning our air, as they take in harmful carbon dioxide, but they provide an invaluable habitat for insects, which in turn provide a food source for many species of birds. They also provide the perfect natural nesting place too. 

Many trees fail in their first years, so choosing a good quality tree is vital. Kevin Croucher from Thornhayes Nursery in Devon says  "Most nurseries start lifting field grown, bare root trees from November through until March. So whether you want small transplants and whips to plant a hedge or woodland, or larger specimens for gardens, parks or avenues, get in touch with a reputable grower who can advise you on what to buy and at what size. Avoid the cheap special offers in the media; that often ends in disappointment. Growing and supplying field grown trees is a specialist job. Never was the adage that “you get what you pay for” truer than in this situation. Even without their leaves on, trees are still living organisms that need respectful handling, by skilled staff. A tree that may have taken 5 to 10 years to grow can be killed in a matter of hours by bad handling. So go to a nursery that has a reputation for quality stock and customer service."

Claim your 15% discount on trees at Wykeham Nurseries

Tree and shrub specialist, Wykeham Nurseries, are offering an exclusive 15% discount on all trees purchased during National Tree Week.

With a huge choice of trees on offer on their 100 acre nursery, there’s bound to be something for every garden no matter how big or small. They also offer a delivery and planting service too. Go to Wykeham Nurseries now to place your order, quoting “British Plant Nursery Guide Tree Week Offer”.

Several other nurseries also stock good quality trees, just go to the 'Find a Nursery' page and search for 'trees' under plant classification.

For more information visit The Tree Council website.

Apple Tree Competition - Winner Announced

At the RHS Autumn Harvest Show in October we held a prize draw to win an apple tree to celebrate Apple Day. The lucky winner was Sam Kolupov from South London.

This is what Sam had to say;  "Hi Gilly, Many thanks for your email. How exciting to have won a tree! The only thing I've ever won is pate de foie gras, and I'm a vegetarian!

I would love to have a Discovery as they are my favourite apples - my sister used to live near an orchard in Kent where we would pick up fantastic Discoveries.  Best Wishes, Sam" 

Plant your own mystic tree to ward off evil spirits!

Posted on : 29/10/2011 09:47:54

"Witchbane” is one of many names for a tree most of us know as Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia). It was considered a sacred tree in many ancient traditions in Britain but particularly in Yorkshire where the legacy of the Vikings includes aspects of Norse tradition, in which the Rowan was the tree from which the first woman was made.

For a Rowan to grow near to a dwelling was seen as a gift from the Goddess and it afforded protection from witchcraft and evil spirits. Similarly, the felling of a Rowan could bring misfortune, and in Yorkshire it was the Rowan, not the Yew, that was also associated with graveyards where they were planted to keep the dead in their graves.

From a practical point of view, Rowans are excellent trees for a domestic garden as they are compact, will grow in most soil conditions except waterlogged, cast light shade, and there are varieties available in a range of different sizes and berry colours.

So, if you want to protect and bring good fortune to your home, perhaps planting a Rowan might help, although we can’t guarantee that it will deter little witches seeking sweets!

Thanks to Martin Howe, Wykeham Mature Plants, Dawnay Estate, Yorkshire

It's Harvest Time !

Posted on : 21/10/2011 00:06:05

Gilly has recently been busy promoting our member’s nurseries at the RHS Autumn Harvest Show in The Horticulture Halls, London.

With baskets and crates filled with apples there was enough fruit to allow our visitors a free tasting.  Our stand attracted lots of visitors who wanted to find out about our members nurseries and their Apple Day events. They also enjoyed a nostalgic moment admiring our Jolly Jaunts mascot, a gorgeous cream Morris Traveller, and our range of  vintage camping props - in the days before glamping!

This show was a chance to remind people of the importance and history of harvest and how in the last century before mechanisation, people from towns and industrial areas would provide extra labour and work on farms to help bring in the crops. A good example of this is in Herefordshire where Welsh mining families would spend their summers harvesting hops.

Gilly has a great interest in farming as well as horticulture, as her own large family have farmed in Breconshire for generations. To complete the display she added some of her own family farming photos from 1913. 

The Lindley Hall  was transformed into a natural woodland scene where a canopy of trees was underplanted with  mushroms to help people identify the right ones to forage. With a range of specialist speakers, musicians and poets the show offered something a little different. Amongst the celebrity guests was Alys Fowler, who gave an interesting talk about her new book  The Edible Garden.

Along with the new attractions on offer this year there were the more traditional displays of apples and champion vegetables. Experts such as Gerry Edwards, Chairman of the RHS Fruit Group, were on hand to help identify apples too.

To encourage people to grow their own fruit, we ran a competition to win a heritage apple tree. The lucky winner was Sam Kolupov from London.

To kick off Apple Day events Gilly popped into Thornhayes in Devon for their Apple Tasting day. Guided by tree expert Kevin Croucher, visitors were able to taste a good selection  of more unusual British apples packed with flavour . After a very enjoyable day it seemed the most popular varieties were Lord Derby, Charles Ross and a particular tasty heritage variety Golden Knob.

So if you are looking for ideas of what to do this weekend, why not pop along to a nursery and enjoy one of the free events to celebrate Apple Day taking place across England.