On
a bright and frosty November morning MA Landscape Architecture students visited
a wholesale plant nursery that supplies a huge range of shrubs and trees to
landscape and horticultural industries across the UK. Provender Nurseries in Kent
gave their time to show us around and share with us an insight into what is
involved in running a business in this key industry.
The
nursery covers a 17 acre plot which we found enjoyable to wander around. As our
tutor Jill Raggett observed, it is much like visiting an arboretum - all
specimens are labelled - but in this case all the trees are a lot closer
together. This makes for a perfect few educational hours! Some particular
specimens that caught the attention of our group were the Prunus serrula (with its shining coppery bark);
the striking drooping foliage of the Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’; and the magnificent spreading Juniperus x pfitzeriana ‘Winter Gold’.
This
nursery does not propagate plants on the site, instead all of the stock is sourced
from growers across the UK and Europe as well as from some international
growers. This results in several logistical considerations - climatic
suitability of growing sites; upholding industry standards of pest and disease
control; safe and economic transporting techniques; transport costs and
co-ordination; and of course, many trips for the team!
The
import trade and practice of collecting and bringing non-native plants and
trees to Europe has a long tradition that goes back to antiquity; England in
particular is known for being the land of plant hunters. So many of the trees
that we see in the British landscape - in the countryside, in gardens, in parks
and on city streets - are non-native, and often naturalised. The mix of native
and non-native is an established part of our designed landscape character.
Unfortunately, in recent years the dramatic increase in import trade has led to
increased risk of pest and disease spreading. This has resulted in a much
higher level of safe practice demanded from the industry, and Provender
Nurseries were upholding very high standards in their practice towards this
potential threat, in addition to adhering to all governmental policies and
guidance. Despite best practice by the industry, I do wonder what the future
holds for the plant import trade, given the severity of the risk to plant
populations.
The
long-term nature of this business combined with shorter-term trends in
horticultural and landscape design means that nurseries have to manage a
careful balance when it comes to selecting stock and catering to demands. Some of
the trees in Provender nursery had been in their care for a few years, and
while this may initially appear to be detrimental to business, interestingly,
unlike many other types of supply industries, the products here (the trees) were
actually accumulating value as time passed (young trees have a very low retail
cost whereas older trees sell for considerably more), although the stock needs
daily care and this has a cost.
Our
guide showed us a few of the plants that were currently in demand from
horticultural professions such as garden designers. These (perhaps
surprisingly) included pleacing trees and topiary! Their collection of topiary
trees were particularly impressive, especially when we learned just how much
time and care had gone into their creation. These are all evergreen trees and shrubs
such as the slow growing Ilex crenata,
which is increasingly popular because it is not susceptible to any of the
diseases that are now threatening Buxus.
Our
guide also shared with us his personal view of what he saw as a sometimes
mismatched perception between the supply and demand of trees; trees for
commercial production are encouraged to grow with regular upright growth
patterns, while he has found that very often customers are drawn to specimens
that exhibit a more irregular natural shape. One of the trees under his care
which he found supported this hypothesis was an Arbutus. It has a characterful
gnarly trunk growth with papery textured bark and invokes an essence of the
wild and natural which appeals increasingly to cultural values.
In
a field full of trees, as you would expect, birds are often found nesting. Our
group were all pleased to hear that the nursery has a strict policy never to
move or sell trees with nesting birds; they always wait until the tree is no
longer occupied!
Rosie Minkler, MA Landscape Architecture student at WUC
