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Quinton Edwards celebrates 35 blooming years as the UK’s leading specialist in garden centre and horticultural property sales

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Chartered surveyors Quinton Edwards is marking 35 years as the UK’s foremost expert in the sale and valuation of garden centres, horticultural nurseries and farm shops – and is forecasting huge opportunities in the sector for investors willing ‘to buy small and build big’.

With family leisure becoming an increasingly popular and profitable market for the industry, companies investing in food halls and farm shops, restaurant and coffee shops, children’s soft play and even adventure activities can reap the rewards of running successful retail and leisure one-stop destinations.

Director Simon Quinton Smith of Quinton Edwards said “I believe there is huge scope for new entrants to come into the industry, who can start small and grow their independent businesses over the coming years. It is widely recognised that having successful independents is important to ensure diversity and continued innovation within the sector.  The large groups obviously offer lots for customers but innovation tends to start at the grass roots level with smaller, independently-owned businesses.”

Quinton Edwards was founded by specialist chartered surveyor Simon in autumn 1989 and over the last three decades, Simon and his team have supported the garden centre and horticultural industries through three recessions, various retail booms, a pandemic and the successful completion of millions of pounds worth of sales and valuations. This has included landmark valuations of some of the UK’s largest garden centres, including Bents, and Webbs of Wychbold and garden centre groups such as Dobbies, Hurrans and Wyevale.

The business is part of Quintons (Commercial) Ltd, which manages commercial sales and lettings and also has a successful property management arm Deal Varney Management – where the team currently manage two garden centre sites, in addition to commercial and residential property.  Simon is MD of Quintons (Commercial) Ltd.

Simon Quinton Smith

Simon (pictured left) is an Associate Member of the Horticultural Trades Association, Garden Centre Association and Farm Retail Association, and he is recognised as the leading specialist garden centre and horticultural Chartered Surveyor, having over the last three decades helped clients buy, sell and lease more garden centres, horticultural properties and associated businesses, than any other UK company.

He has also been an industry expert witness for over 20 years, acting for individuals, businesses and the courts in valuations, and is a registered business valuer.

Over the 35 years, Simon has seen many changes and developments in the horticultural industry.  He said: “Over the years the changes in the garden centre industry have been enormous.  In the 80s, garden centres were starting to take the form that they have now but without a lot of catering, without Christmas, without concessions, and without leisure.

Originally plants were 35%-50% of the turnover of the average garden centre but now, although the volumes haven’t changed, the overall percentage has dropped as other departments have increased.

Catering started small, becoming 10% of overall turnover.  Now it is 20% to 25% and growing, with many garden centre restaurants having between 200 and 300 covers and with the main restaurants becoming so popular, coffee shops are being opened to cater for those customers who just want a coffee and a sandwich or cake, rather than a full meal. 

 Clothing has also become big in garden centres with Blue Diamond stating that clothing is their best performing department. 

 In the past, May was probably the highest turnover month; now it can be November or December because of Christmas – and Christmas does not just revolve around selling product, it revolves around leisure experiences; curling, ice rinks, simulated train rides, roundabouts, circuses, and this leisure now continues at other times of the year too.”

Crazy golf, Dino Park, Go Ape, all feature in garden centres, and one of the more recent trends are farm shops/food halls, and those garden centres who had successful farm shops or food halls, did particularly well during Covid. These continue to grow and often now have a cook shop alongside with Lakeland opening as concessions at some garden centres.”

Concluding Simon said, “It has been a fascinating 35 years for the industry and we have enjoyed supporting our clients through the many changes and advances that have taken place in the sector over those years. The future is looking extremely positive for garden centres, horticultural nurseries and farm shops and we are excited to be a part of this evolving and exciting market.”

The Quintons team

ENDS

For further information please contact: For further information please contact Emma Mason emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433 or Jane Southcott jane@janesouthcottpr.co.uk 07787 527430

Notes for editors:

Quinton Edwards is the leading Chartered Surveyors offering expert advice to the Garden Centre, Horticultural & Farm Shop industries in UK, Ireland & Europe. Based in Newbury in West Berkshire it has been established for 35 years.

The business undertakes sales, lettings, valuations, acquisitions, rent reviews, lease renewals (landlord & tenant) for garden centres, plant centres, retail nurseries, wholesale nurseries, salad nurseries, mushroom farms, aquatic centres, farm shops and other horticultural-related businesses.  Simon Quinton Smith also acts as a sector Expert Witness.

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Not Another Jungle by Tony Le-Britton – how to take your houseplant growing to the next level

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Comprehensive care for extraordinary houseplants by leading houseplant influencer Tony Le-Britton

6 April 2023 | £16.99 | Hardback | 155 pages

HOW TO TAKE YOUR HOUSEPLANT GROWING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

  • Expert advice on how to care for some of the most desirable and beautiful houseplants available so they can thrive in your home
  • Award-winning photographer Tony Le-Britton switched his career focus during lockdown and is now one of the UK’s leading indoor ‘plantfluencers’ @NotAnotherJungle with 221k followers
  • Self-taught and now a professional grower, Tony is a prolific houseplant collector of some of the world’s rarest plants
  • Includes myth-busting, tips on watering, propagating, feeding, lighting, pests and diseases, as well as sustainability, responsible growing and sourcing
  • The science of how houseplants actually grow explained
  • Inspirational step-by-step ‘how to’ photography and stunning images of the rare plant jewels in Tony’s own collection – ideal for those obsessed with houseplants and newbie owners too

One of the country’s most popular growers Tony Le-Britton, shares his infectious passion and expansive knowledge for houseplants in his debut book Not Another Jungle.

Tony’s new book is aimed at anyone who loves houseplants and wants to find out how to progress their rare plant collections, and how to help them flourish with bespoke care techniques. For houseplant novices there are his easy-to-follow tips and methods for ensuring their plants not only survive but thrive. Tony’s personal and easy-to-read text helps ensure everyone can understand how to get the best from their houseplants.

Tony, who began as an amateur enthusiast and is now a leading professional grower with his own houseplant shop, says: “I want to help readers take their houseplant growing to the next level, by sharing my knowledge and explaining how to care for and nurture your plants, but also the reasons behind why we do what we do for them and why plants behave in certain ways.”

A breakout social media star, Tony, aka @NotAnotherJungle, has established a large following with his calming plant-filled videos, helpful advice and intriguing peeks inside his stunning indoor greenhouse at home. He actively engages with his audience, and shares so much of his passion, his followers feel they are there growing the plants with him. His book cleverly covers everything houseplant lovers need, with detailed chapters on light, water, humidity, fertiliser, variegation, propagation, and pests and diseases so you can confidently care for your inside garden.

Having travelled the world to explore and learn about plants in their natural habitats, Tony empowers readers to create the optimum environment in their own home so their plants will thrive. Combining detailed information and stunning imagery, the book’s curated plants include Monstera, Anthurium, Philodendron, Rhaphidophora, Alocasia and Begonia, with a special focus on desirable and unusual varieties, including beautiful variegated plants.

Tony discusses the history of plant exploration, touching on the impact to indigenous peoples and habitats, and the blight of modern-day plant poaching. He gives practical advice on how to source and grow plants responsibly, encouraging readers to value their collections, rehome rather than throw away, and use environmentally friendly growing materials and practices.

Tony says: “I want to make sure that enthusiasts choose a plant that is right for their specific growing conditions – my aim is to enable everyone to be successful with houseplants. I also want to inspire them to explore plant growing and to cut down on unnecessary waste by keeping their plants longer and rejecting the throwaway plant culture. It’s a win-win. The feeling that comes from nurturing individual living things and seeing them grow is something that can’t be rivalled.”

ENDS

For further information contact Emma Mason emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433 or Jane Southcott jane@janesouthcottpr.co.uk 07787 527430

Notes for editors:

Tony Le-Britton is a self-taught grower and prolific houseplant collector of some of the world’s rarest plants. Taught to garden as a child by his grandparents, this book will bring together 30 years of growing experience and plant knowledge. His Instagram account @NotAnotherJungle has built up over 188k followers since he set it up in 2020 and many ask for plant care advice. Featured on BBC Gardeners’ World. He is also one of the UK’s most respected hair and beauty photographers. https://www.hji.co.uk/latest/tony-le-britton-photographer

DK | For the curious

We believe in the power of discovery. That’s why we create books for everyone that explore

ideas and nurture curiosity about the world we live in. From first words to the Big Bang, from the wonders of nature to city adventures, you will find expert knowledge, hours of fun and endless inspiration in the pages of our books.

 

 

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Nature heals: Pioneering intensive care project opening at Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital

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  • Bespoke outdoor/indoor treatment area fitted with specialist equipment so critical care patients can spend time in the fresh air and sunshine whilst fully ventilated 
  • Outdoor garden space designed by award-winning BBC TV gardening expert, wheelchair user and former ICU patient Mark Lane
  • Embracing the benefits of nature aims to improve rehab experience and outcomes for seriously ill patients and families 

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) is to harness the positive healing power of nature by encouraging intensive care patients to spend time outdoors, even whilst fully ventilated, thanks to a new £625k treatment area opening in December 2022. 

Patients and staff will be able to feel the breeze and sun on their faces when the bespoke critical care rehabilitation garden room, called The Secret Garden, opens at Derriford Hospital, part of University Hospitals Plymouth (UHP) NHS Trust.

Innovatively, the unit’s life-saving ventilation equipment will be able to run outdoors in the courtyard garden, meaning patients can spend time outside, in a non-clinical environment – an important recovery steppingstone for many. Uniquely, it has been designed by Mark Lane, the UK’s first garden designer in a wheelchair, who himself spent months in a critical care unit after a serious car crash.

The project was inspired by a former patient, Andrew Heveran’s desire to get outside, to feel fresh air, after a life changing attack that left him paralysed. Andrew will be there to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony.

Kate Tantam, Critical Care Specialist Rehabilitation Sister, who spearheaded the project, said: “Our patients and their loved ones tell us that being in critical care is like a bomb going off in your life, that everything is blown apart. Our job as a multi-professional team is to support them in rebuilding their lives.

“Part of supporting people with their recovery journey after critical care is getting to know them as individuals and exploring with them what they most want out of their future.  For many it is simply time with loved ones, time to restore relationships and play with children and grandchildren in non-clinical environments. It was the desire to support this that the idea for the secret garden at University Hospitals Plymouth was born.”

Getting patients who require ventilation to support their breathing outside in the fresh air takes a lot of work. “They need a team of people and it is not without risk. It is also very challenging in busy hospitals to find private spaces, where patients can relax without feeling overlooked,” said Dr Sam Waddy Critical Care Consultant at UHP.

The team decided in 2018 it needed to build a bespoke garden space where ventilated patients and the critically ill could be cared for in the fresh air with all the specialist equipment that requires. With no similar facilities in the Southwest like this at the time, the staff knew it was going to be a big challenge, made even more complex as COVID-19 hit a year into the project.

Despite this, the team raised the funds for the garden thanks to Plymouth Hospitals Charity, NHS Charities Together and the Trust’s budget.  The new-look secret garden is a bespoke critical care therapy space with floor to ceiling glass exposing a walled flower garden.  Full of nurturing botanicals it provides a space for patients, loved ones and staff to recover together.

Mark Lane has designed the garden to be fully inclusive and accessible, with space for beds and wheelchairs, walking frames and sticks, and with slip-resistant, anti-glare, self-binding gravel surfaces. There will be mixed height planting, some in-ground, others in raised beds so patients laying down or seated can see plants. He said: “Outdoor, green spaces are enjoyed by many, but when your life turns a different corner and you end up in ICU, like I did after my car accident, you become completely unaware of the changing seasons, whether it’s sunny or raining outside and, if like me, you’re fortunate to be able to go outside again the first thing that hits you is the sun on your face, the breeze and the colour green.

“So, when I was commissioned to design this garden for Derriford I felt truly honoured to be able to create a space for patients to enjoy, to improve their physical and mental wellbeing by introducing a Secret Garden. Yes, it’s an awkward space with high walls around all four sides, but this lent itself to a nurturing woodland-style of garden with pops of colour here and there. I wanted the patients to feel the plants and enjoy the textures, engage with the garden, whether that be passively or actively getting their hands dirty during rehabilitation and have a space to reflect. I know, because of the incredible staff, and their amazing fundraising activities, that this garden will flourish over the years and make a huge difference to people’s lives, patients, visitors and staff.”

The secret garden has gone from an abandoned courtyard, to a bespoke critical care garden room with specialist capacity to facilitate full care for ICU patients and their loved ones wherever they are in their recovery journey.  It also provides a welcome outside space for clinical staff to support them with the challenges of working in ICU.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

Mark Lane – Mark Lane has gained recognition as a first-class landscape designer, being the UK’s first garden designer in a wheelchair, as well as the first BBC gardening presenter in a wheelchair. As a broadcaster, he’s the gardening expert on BBC One’s Morning Live. He has also been a presenter of the award-winning Gardeners’ World on BBC Two as well as for BBC Gardeners’ World Live and the BBC’s coverage of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Flower Shows – Chelsea, Chatsworth, Hampton Court Palace and Tatton. In 2001 Mark was in a car accident and had to have operations on his spine, which were complicated by him being born with spina bifida. Following a long rehabilitation period Mark studied garden/landscape design through an Open Learning course at KLC, Hampton Court.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust – If you would like more information on the hospital itself or want to talk to staff please contact communications.phnt@nhs.net

 

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The bog wins GOLD! Top award at RHS Chelsea for peatland display showing gardeners how to protect landscapes by switching to peat-free composts

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An immersive display boasting a real piece of ‘borrowed’ Cumbrian peatbog to highlight the critical importance of UK peatlands to our climate, and urging gardeners to ditch using peat, has won a gold medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The unique exhibit is designed by the Eden Project and presented in partnership with peat-free compost maker Dalefoot Composts and uses a little piece of Cumbrian peatland on loan under special license from Natural England.

In the Discovery Zone display at the show, gardeners are invited ‘to step into’  Bolton Fell Moss National Nature Reserve (NNR), a restored Cumbrian bog previously used to harvest peat for horticulture, to experience the secrets, sounds and beauty of these enormous bog gardens.

They can hear sounds from a peatland – curlews, lapwing, the hum of billions of insects and the occasional squelch – whilst getting up close to the fascinating bog plants – sphagnum mosses, cotton grass, cranberries, and heathers. The peatland display is being given expert care whilst at the show to make sure it remains hydrated and will be returned to its natural home once Chelsea has finished.

The aim of the exhibit is to demonstrate the importance of peat bogs and the environmental damage gardeners are causing to our planet by using peat compost in their outdoor spaces.

Alongside the peatland, a bountiful potager of vegetables and companion planting grown by gold-medal-winning Pennard Plants, illustrates what gardeners can achieve in their own plot by switching to peat-free gardening. All of these plants have been grown in Dalefoot Compost’s peat-free products which are Soil Association-approved for organic growing.

Professor Jane Barker is the co-founder of Dalefoot Composts which is a major manufacturer of peat-free compost and a leading restorer of damaged peatlands, including the Bolton Fell Moss NNR site in Cumbria. She said: “We’re absolutely thrilled by this award and so pleased that peat-free gardening is being recognised in this way. I hope people visiting our special piece of Cumbrian peatland will come away understanding why using peat is no longer acceptable, and how easy it is to make simple climate friendly switches in your garden.”

Tracey Smith, Eden’s Commercial Manager, said: “We’re delighted to have received this gold medal – thank you to the judges and everyone who has visited the stand for their enthusiasm and kind comments!

“It’s really exciting for Eden to be back at the Chelsea Flower Show with a stand that highlights the huge importance of peat bogs and we hope that visitors will come away with a greater understanding and appreciation for these vital habitats. Working alongside our friends at Dalefoot, our aim with this stand was to change people’s perceptions of peat bogs, showing that they are thriving environments, rich with biodiversity as well as being crucial for carbon sequestration. We’d urge all gardeners to make the switch to peat-free products – it’s the best decision for your garden and for the environment.”

The timeline of a bog is illustrated in the RHS Chelsea exhibit to show the thousands of years peat represents. Peat grows at only 1mm per year and this is contrasted to the bags of peat compost it yields and the short season of growth that peat gives gardeners.

Peatlands only occupy about 3% of the Earth’s land surface but are the largest terrestrial carbon store on the planet. UK peatlands cover around 12% of its land area and store 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, more than twice that of the UK’s forests*, as well as being very important habitats for biodiversity.

Whilst the Government has set targets for peatland restoration and is currently consulting on a peat ‘ban’, in amateur gardening there remains a significant resistance to switching to peat-free and it is predicted even more peat could be used in the future. Of the 5.44 million cubic metres of growing media used in 2020, 79% was used by amateur gardeners. Two-thirds of peat sold in the UK is from Europe, meaning we are effectively exporting our carbon footprint. Voluntary targets set for peat sellers have had little impact and the new target of ending peat sales by 2024 is being questioned for being too slow and not enough.

This is the latest initiative by Dalefoot Composts and the Eden Project to promote the sustainability benefits of peat-free gardening. Dalefoot’s Wool Compost for Potting is endorsed by the world-renowned environmental charity and social enterprise, and the two organisations have plans to work together on other future initiatives.

Dalefoot is supporting six show gardens and exhibits at RHS Chelsea with its peat-free compost – The New Blue Peter Garden: Discover Soil by Juliet Sargeant; Brewin Dolphin Garden by Paul Hervey-Brookes; The Mothers for Mothers – This Too Shall Pass Garden by Pollyanna Wilkinson; The Wild Kitchen Garden by Ann Treneman; RHS Queen’s Jubilee Photographic Exhibit by Dave Green, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency – Don’t Risk It! exhibit.

Two of the company’s peat-free composts were also finalists in the RHS Chelsea Sustainable Garden Product of the Year 2022 – Wool Compost for Potting and Wool Compost Double Strength.

ENDS

Stand GPA 105 in the Discovery Zone of the Great Pavilion – Stand AR 545 for Dalefoot Compost

Picture caption – Bevis Hughes (Eden Project), Simon Bland (co-founder Dalefoot Composts) and Tracey Smith (Eden Project) with the gold award

For further information contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433 or Ben Foster, Media and Engagement Manager, bfoster@EdenProject.com  For more info, go to www.edenproject.com

Bolton Fell Moss is a lowland raised bog damaged through commercial extraction of peat but has since begun a journey of restoration thanks to an ongoing project by Natural England. Extraction ended in 2013 but left a vast expanse of dry, bare peat where limited wildlife could survive. Restoration work has raised the water levels; bog vegetation was then introduced but it will take time for the sphagnum mosses to cover the bare peat and for other bog plants to return. It could take up to 30 years for the bog to fully recover.

Dalefoot’s story – The entrepreneurial couple behind Dalefoot, environmental scientist Jane Barker and farmer Simon Bland, started making compost from the natural ingredients around their Cumbrian farm in 1997. Inspired by early 20th century gardening books that mentioned wool as a garden mulch, and a desire to make good use of the invasive bracken growing on the fells, the couple invented their secret compost recipe, bagged the product up themselves and started selling at local farmers’ markets. Twenty years later the compost is sold across the UK and the business employs 25 local people, and sources bracken and wool from farmers.

The Dalefoot team also restores peat bogs, some of which were once owned by peat compost companies, across the country for the likes of Natural England, NatureScot, South West Water and Wildlife Trusts. Peat bogs store more carbon than forests and many in the UK are now in poor condition, releasing carbon rather than storing it. Dalefoot works with these agencies to help reduce carbon release and return the bogs to functioning, healthy eco-systems. In 2022 Dalefoot announced a total of 3.8 million tonnes of carbon saved through their restoration projects.

The range is available online at www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk from £12.75 per bag down to £8.50 each for orders of 50 bags plus delivery, and also from a growing list of stockists.

Tel: 01931 713281   Email: sales@dalefootcomposts.co.uk

* IUCN

Dalefoot Composts

Dalefoot Composts adds comfrey into its peat-free range to give plants a nutrient super boost

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  • Comfrey – the organic gardener’s best friend – a ‘dynamic accumulator’ packed with nutrients is added into the Wool Compost range
  • ‘Bocking 14’ variety has high levels of potassium, phosphorous & nitrogen for healthy plant growth, larger flowers & bigger crops
  • Comfrey now being grown sustainably at Dalefoot farm as company scales up peat-free compost production to supply many more garden centres and nurseries across the UK, plus online for home delivery
  • Bracken for Dalefoot’s products sourced from Exmoor, Northumberland & Wales, helping farming communities & local biodiversity further afiel

Dalefoot Composts, the Lake District peat-free compost maker, has added comfrey into its peat-free Wool Compost range giving an extra super charge of nutrients and trace elements for blooming, healthy plants.

Now with a hat-trick of performance-packed natural ingredients – comfrey, bracken and sheep’s wool – the Wool Compost range feeds plants for at least a season, requires less watering, as wool cleverly retains moisture, and is Soil Association-approved for organic gardening. Wool Compost is available in Potting, Seeds, Vegetables & Salads, Tomatoes, Double Strength and Ericaceous1.

Comfrey is renowned in the gardening world for being a plant superfood. It has very long roots so is able to absorb nutrients deep in the soil as it grows, and when harvested and then added to compost or a traditional comfrey tea, the nutrients give a growing ‘kick’ to other plants, encouraging strong, healthy growth.

The introduction of comfrey to the compost mix marks the culmination of a five-year project by the Dalefoot team to grow the plant on a commercial scale, sustainably on the farm, and harness its extraordinary qualities. The fast-growing comfrey crop can be harvested four times a year, so there is plenty on tap to meet rising demand for the company’s premium composts in the future.

The company is also now sourcing bracken from Exmoor, Northumberland and Wales, as well as locally in Cumbria – helping a diversity of farming communities and local landscapes. Bracken is an invasive plant but when harvested sustainably and composted, provides rich potash for plants and acts as a fantastic soil conditioner. Sheep farmers are benefitting too as supplying wool for the compost means they have a market for a product they struggle to sell.

Dalefoot’s peat-free products are unique as they use a fully-traceable, sustainable blend of wool, bracken and now comfrey to make composts for every gardening need. Wool releases a steady stream of nitrogen and other must-have nutrients which, when combined with bracken and comfrey, means no further feed is required over the growing season.

Professor Jane Barker of Dalefoot Composts said: “Comfrey is a truly remarkable plant offering a multitude of uses and we’re excited to grow it right here on the farm for our compost. We’ll be looking at how we can use it in other products for the gardener in the future.

“Our farm’s bees, insects and wildlife are also benefitting from the biodiversity boost the new comfrey fields and their nectar-rich flowers bring to the local environment.”

Over the past 12 months, compost production has doubled at Dalefoot, with 177 garden centres and nurseries now stocking its products.

The Dalefoot team also restores peat bogs, some of which were once owned by peat compost companies, across the UK for the likes of Natural England, NatureScot, South West Water and wildlife trusts. Peat bogs store more carbon than forests and many in the UK are now in poor condition, releasing carbon rather than just storing it. To date, this work equates to 1 million tonnes of carbon emissions – equivalent to 500,000 flights from London to New York – saved since Dalefoot started two decades ago.

ENDS

For further information contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433

1 – Wool Compost Ericaceous, Lakeland Gold and Bulb Compost do not contain comfrey

Dalefoot’s story – The entrepreneurial couple behind Dalefoot, environmental scientist Professor Jane Barker and farmer Simon Bland, started making compost from the natural ingredients around their Cumbrian farm in 1997. Inspired by early 20th century gardening books that mentioned wool as a garden mulch, and a desire to make good use of the invasive bracken growing on the fells, the couple invented their secret compost recipe, bagged the product up themselves and started selling at local farmers’ markets. Twenty years later the compost is sold across the UK and has been shortlisted for RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden Product of the Year. The business employs 18 local people, and sources bracken and wool from farmers.

The range is available online at www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk from £11.99 per bag down to £8.50 each for orders of 50 bags plus delivery, and also from a growing list of stockists.

Tel: 01931 713281   Email: sales@dalefootcomposts.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

Charles in his no dig garden with lettuce and other vegetables September

Charles Dowding’s No Dig Gardening – From Weeds to Vegetables Easily and Quickly

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No Dig Gardening – From Weeds to Vegetables Easily and Quickly

Published end August 2020 – £22.50 – Hardback – 240 pages

Available to order via www.charlesdowding.co.uk Nationwide distribution

Organic pioneer Charles Dowding reveals how to create a successful ‘no dig’ garden, as well as the history of this time-saving and highly productive method of gardening, in his new book ‘Charles Dowding’s No Dig Gardening – From Weeds to Vegetables Easily and Quickly’.

Charles is a world authority on no dig vegetable gardening which involves simply mulching soil with compost, rather than laboriously digging it. With millions of views of his YouTube videos over lockdown alone, Charles’s no-frills methods resonate with novice and experienced gardeners alike.

In this highly detailed resource, which is based on the written content of his successful online course, Charles explains the concept of no dig vegetable gardening, the art of making good compost for your garden and the differences between soil and compost. He explores the history of no dig over the last 100 years, how it often challenges the gardening ‘norm’ and why only in recent years the method has become popular and valued.

Although the book is not a manual of vegetable growing, it has two chapters with detailed planting plans for small spaces based on what Charles has grown and how no dig helped to achieve these outcomes. He uses the results of growing trials at his Homeacres market garden in Somerset to show how no dig works, and questions the need, or not, to grow vegetables in a different place each year.

There is a chapter on site evaluation and planning your layout, and a section on clearing weeds by mulching, with all the associated details. Readers will also learn how to:

  • Use no dig on different soil types
  • Ask questions and recognise gardening myths, to save time and unnecessary effort
  • Create and look after beds and paths, with a whole section on paths and their value
  • Recognise and reduce different types of weeds
  • Understand and use different types of mulch or soil cover
  • Know the differences between soil, compost and various types of compost
  • Make their own compost
  • Grow an abundance of vegetables using the no dig method. There are growing plans for one bed and for a small garden, with photos and tables to illustrate the results.

The book has 19 chapters, 85,000 words and 900 photographs. Each ‘lesson’ is comprehensively illustrated with sequences of before, during and after photographs from Homeacres. Lessons finish with a multiple-choice quiz to consolidate learning. This is the ideal book for anyone wishing to learn and garden with the no dig method.

Charles Dowding’s Vegetable Garden 2021 Calendar

Monthly calendar A4 opening to A3 – £10 inc VAT 

Available nationwide in stores and via www.charlesdowding.co.uk

Illustrated calendar with photos from Charles’s garden and handy vegetable growing tips. Charles gives a vegetable growing summary for every month, plus his favourite sowing dates for each vegetable at their best times of year, based on decades of fine tuning. Use these dates to help you enjoy a regular supply of fresh produce through all four seasons.

Enjoy the seasonal beauty of his famous vegetable garden, as seen on You Tube and BBC TV Gardeners’ World, in magazines and newspapers. 32 pages printed on 200gsm Premium Gloss Paper, with 350gsm cover. Hole-punched, for hanging on a wall.

ENDS

For further information contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433.

Charles Dowding has made no dig popular and is a world authority on the subject. His productive and weed-free garden illustrates the benefits simply of mulching soil to feed its microorganisms. They “turn on the tap” of making food and moisture available to our plants, as well as improving soil structure.

  • Drainage and aeration improve, in an easy and long-lasting way
  • The method is simple and requires less work
  • The result is fewer weeds and healthier, more resilient plants
  • Carbon is retained in the soil

Since 1982 he has created and cropped four no dig market gardens on different soils, from stone to silt to clay. In the 1980s he cropped 7.5 acres (3ha) of no dig beds. In the 1990s he farmed in France.

Currently he grows vegetables on 0.25 acres/1000 square metres in Somerset, SW England zone 8. He sells £20,000 of harvests locally, mainly salad leaves, and vegetables are served on courses at Homeacres.

There are two crops a year from beds which are cheap to establish and quick to maintain. Charles’s methods are easy to understand and work on small areas as well as large ones. No dig scales up and down easily.

He has written nine books and an annual calendar of sowing dates, runs a You Tube channel with 21 million views, writes for national gardening magazines, and gives talks and courses at home and abroad. He has created online courses in no dig gardening and on vegetable growing.

More information can be found at charlesdowding.co.uk

Twitter @charlesdowding 

Instagram charles_dowding

You Tube Charles Dowding

Facebook Charles Dowding No Dig Gardening

 

 

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Wild Exbury: Nature-friendly focus for visitors at New Forest’s Exbury Gardens in 2020

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New Dragonfly Pond learning zone & Dragonfly Halt steam railway stop

Wild Exbury theme with nature-based activities for visitors

New garden attractions include a Birch Walk & revamped Iris Garden

Exbury Gardens in the New Forest will be encouraging visitors of all ages to learn more about the natural world this year with a programme of wildlife-themed activities, and a new Dragonfly Pond education area and steam railway stop.

Wild Exbury

Building on the success of its 2019 centenary, the 200-acre woodland garden will be running a Wild Exbury programme of events when it opens for the season on 14 March until 1 November 2020. Visitors will get the chance to track wildlife around Exbury, learn bushcraft skills, pond dip, and identify rare plants and trees, as well as native wildflowers.

A Dragonfly Pond learning zone, with floating pontoons for visitors to walk on so they can get close to the wildlife action, will be unveiled. Designed with the help of the UK’s leading dragonfly experts*, this area will boast interpretation boards filled with dragonfly facts and take-away tips on how you can encourage these wonderful creatures into your own back garden. An existing, large ornamental pond in the gardens has been adapted for the insects with dragonfly-friendly, native aquatic and marginal plants.

Dragonflies are crucial bio-indictors of the health of the UK’s rivers, canals and ponds, but modern-day development, drainage and climate change have meant their numbers have fallen dramatically. By creating a dragonfly education space, Exbury Gardens hopes to boost awareness of their plight and inspire visitors to help protect them. Exbury’s Dragonfly Pond area will also include an outdoor shelter which will act as a classroom for local groups and school children. The zone will be open to visitors from late spring.

And steam railway buffs will be chuffed as Exbury’s famous Rhododendron Line steam railway will now be able to stop at the Dragonfly Halt platform, so visitors can easily disembark to explore the new pond area.

Other developments at Exbury in 2020 include a new Birch Walk leading down to Jubilee Pond, and a refurbished Iris Garden containing hundreds of stunning new iris plants, and tree ferns.

Thomas Clarke, head gardener at Exbury, said: “The gardens at Exbury are rightly famous for their unique plant collections but they also offer visitors a wonderful opportunity to get closer to nature. We have 200 acres of incredible woodland gardens, wildflower meadows and ponds to explore, plus lots of wildlife to spy.”

Created by Lionel de Rothschild in 1919, a passionate collector of plants and a keen supporter and sponsor of the early 20th century plant hunters, Exbury has grown to become a stunning garden paradise filled with rare plants, shrubs and trees. Its Centenary Garden, designed by Lionel’s great grand-daughter and RHS gold medal award-winning designer, Marie-Louise Agius, opened to the public last year, as did the River of Gold, around 150,000 mainly yellow spring bulbs planted in the lawns, weaving around rare trees near Exbury House, to give a colour burst.

Exbury is most famous for its unrivalled collection of rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas. Thousands of rhododendrons have been planted over the years and well over 1,000 hybrids have been raised by three generations of the Rothschild family.

ENDS

For further information or images, contact PR Emma Mason on 07762 117433 emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk or Celise Galloway on 023 8024 5754 celise.galloway@exbury.co.uk

Notes for Editors:

Exbury Gardens, located in the New Forest near Southampton, is open daily from 14 March 2020 until 1 November 2020 10am – 5.30pm. Full information at www.exbury.co.uk Thanks to its unrivalled collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, Exbury Gardens is famed for its riot of spring colour, as well as a vast array of beautiful, mature rare trees. Over recent years the Hampshire garden has been expanded for all-season interest with areas designed to show off summer and autumn ‘flower power’, as well as an extension of its 1 ½-mile Rhododendron Line steam railway.

* Ruary Mackenzie Dodds and his wife Kari de Koenigswarter are leading dragonfly experts. Ruary is a Dragonfly Ambassador for the British Dragonfly Society, having opened Europe’s first public Dragonfly Sanctuary, published two books on the species and appeared on BBC Springwatch. Kari co-wrote The Dragonfly-Friendly Gardener with Ruary, and compiled the British Dragonfly’s Information Pack for Schools. She has also run courses on identifying dragonflies. The couple spend part of the year raising the importance of dragonflies as bio-indicators in New Zealand.

 

 

Lakeland-Gold-2020-low-res

New vegan-friendly peat-free compost mix from Dalefoot as company marks major UK peat bog restoration milestone

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From saving peatlands to #peatfree

  • Dalefoot’s popular Lakeland Gold clay-buster compost now vegan-friendly
  • Its peat-free composts stocked in 112 garden centres/nurseries across UK including NEW for spring 2020 six Blue Diamond stores
  • Dalefoot’s environmental business restored over 32,700 hectares of damaged peat bog in 20 years  – over 1 million tonnes of carbon emissions stored since it was launched
  • Company works on Dartmoor, the Cairngorms and in the Lake District restoring peatlands to lock in carbon and reduce flooding risk

Dalefoot Composts has boosted its pioneering peat-free gardening range with a vegan-friendly compost for spring 2020 and announced a major carbon-saving milestone for its environmental contracting arm that restores precious peatlands across the UK.

The family-run company’s popular Lakeland Gold* compost, made from bracken sustainably harvested from the local fells, is now 100% vegan-friendly, thanks to a tweak to its potash-rich recipe**.

Lakeland Gold acts as a powerful soil conditioner, ideal for spring and autumn mulching on your garden beds as well as clay-busting, and is packed with natural slow-release nutrients helping to develop a fertile, living soil. Like the rest of Dalefoot’s peat-free, premium compost range, it is Soil Association-approved for organic growing and is available to buy online or from a growing list of stockists.

As well as encouraging gardeners to use peat-free compost, in a further step to combat the challenges of climate change, Dalefoot also helps restore the UK’s damaged peat bogs. Last year its team repaired over 3,200 hectares of degraded peatlands across the UK – some damaged by peat extraction for the horticultural industry – adding to the 29,500 hectares it’s completed in the past 20 years, the equivalent of 45,800 football pitches. Using innovative restoration techniques, the work turns the bogs back into carbon sinks. This equates to 1 million tonnes of carbon emissions– equivalent to 500,000 flights from London to New York – saved since Dalefoot started two decades ago, .

Professor Jane Barker, who runs Dalefoot Composts with her husband Simon Bland, said: “We are all now witnessing the effects of global warming and climate change: be it earlier flowering bulbs, the need for extra watering or for some too much rain. As gardeners we all have the opportunity to make a difference! Going peat-free isn’t just a personal choice, it’s a way we can all have an impact in our own individual way on climate change. Peat is pure carbon laid down over thousands of years and it needs to stay in a bog (not a bag!). Lots of little steps make giant strides.”

Simon and Jane have pioneered techniques to repair these fragile landscapes, with their team often working in challenging conditions in remote sites for organisations like Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and South West Water. They have engineered specialist equipment, lighter than a human footprint, needed to work on the delicate surface of peat bogs.

Dalefoot Composts is a farm-based business producing an exciting range of peat-free composts using only the natural resources of wool and bracken sustainably sourced from the beautiful Lake District. Its premium composts include Wool Compost for Potting & Containers, Wool Compost for Vegetables & Salads, Wool Compost for Tomatoes, Wool Compost Double Strength, Wool Compost Ericaceous (and Double Strength), Bulb Compost and Wool Compost for Seeds. Lakeland Gold, the original bracken compost, is now 100% vegan-friendly.

ENDS

For further information please contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762117433

Notes for editors: *Lakeland Gold – enriches your soil by increasing the organic matter. Benefits include natural slow release nutrients, moisture retention, pH balance, erosion reduction and providing a banquet for earthworms. Apply in the autumn directly to the top of the soil and allow the worms to work it into the beds. Also use as a top dressing for plants in the spring. Feeds naturally for two years. Proven CLAYBUSTER – clay soils will gain a more open structure so they drain better. The lignin contained in the bracken breaks up the clay and releases the nutrients held within. ** It no longer contains farmyard manure.

Dalefoot’s story – The entrepreneurial couple behind Dalefoot, environmental scientist Jane Barker and farmer Simon Bland, started making compost from the natural ingredients around their Cumbrian farm in 1997. Inspired by early 20th century gardening books that mentioned wool as a garden mulch, and a desire to make good use of the invasive bracken growing on the fells, the couple invented their secret compost recipe, bagged the product up themselves and started selling at local farmers’ markets. Twenty years later the compost is sold across the UK and has been shortlisted for RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden Product of the Year. The business employs 18 local people, and sources bracken and wool from local farmers.

Growing benefits of the compost include:

  • Natural water retention of wool fibres means up to 50% less watering.
  • Wool provides a steady, slow sustained supply of nitrogen.
  • High levels of natural potash from the bracken promotes flowering and fruiting, healthy growth and hearty crops – NO need for any additional plant food.
  • Made from 100% renewable resources with great environmental benefits.
  • The compost has a similar soft texture to peat and has a wide range of naturally occurring trace elements for good plant health.

The range is available online at www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk from £10.99 per bag down to £7.50 each for orders of 50 bags plus delivery, and also from a growing list of stockists.

Tel: 01931 713281   Email: sales@dalefootcomposts.co.uk  @DalefootCompost