There have been numerous exciting developments to the nursery and garden centre site over the past year, and while many of them have been going on behind the scenes or have been less obvious to our visiting public, (e.g. new growing tunnels etc) there is one recent development that you soon won’t fail to notice if you go anywhere near our overflow car park.

To make the site more accessible for a greater number of visitors – particularly important when we host events such as our big Christmas weekends, or the busiest weekends in spring, we’re creating new ‘temporary’ parking spaces in our overflow car park.

Thinking tarmac? Think again.

Phase one – flattening the area, by digging up dead/diseased tree stumps and unproductive wasteland is at an end now, and the next stage will be to lay a rubber matting, durable and robust enough to handle traffic flow, but also protective of the grass under/around it – and permeable to grass growing through it.

Perhaps the biggest change to the area is how you will be able to enter and exit it. We have removed a section of stone wall (just past the main garden centre entrance, over to the right – see pictures below) to make accessibility in to and out of the car park much more logical and safer for everyone at times when there’s high traffic volumes/movement. Drivers will be directed to go in/out of the current entrance/exit, and then to do the other through the newly created channel – defining more of a ‘one way’ system.

Protecting our environment

We would like to reassure you all, that works like this are carefully planned out, considered and executed, at as little detriment to the surrounding environment as possible. At one time, the entire 35 acre site was little more than gorse and wasteland, and over a 40 year period it has become a very productive and sustainable space, sensitive to the needs of the huge range of wildlife it now supports and homes. We know our land better than anyone and would never intentionally harm purposeful, productive spaces that played an important part in the landscape.

As passionate as we are about the outdoors, about nature and of course our plants, we recognise that everything we do should ultimately have a positive impact on our environment. By enabling more of you to visit at one time, and enjoy the plants that we grow, while gaining inspiration for your own outside spaces, we feel that we’re continuing to do right by both our customers and our environment.

We’ll keep you posted as phase two of the works gets underway in due course …so watch this space!