Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Show gardens designer goes back to his roots
AN award-winning designer has returned to his roots and taken over the abandoned garden centre where he had his first Saturday job.
Multiple Chelsea and Malvern RHS gold medal winner Peter Dowle has re-opened the garden centre which has been closed for three years.
And the green-fingered horticulturalist who has 11 Chelsea gold medals under his company’s belt says he wants Leaf Creative at Huntley to grow into something a little bit different.
“The big plant market is not covered this side of the country,” he said. “We want to do something different and create a new style of plant retailing which is firmly rooted in design.
“People will be able to come along, see the plants and have the opportunity to talk to our people who are trained in horticulture and design. Of course we will have some smaller plants as well, but there will be plenty there for people who do not want to wait 25 years for a bush or a shrub to grow.”
Leaf Creative will be the retail arm of his well-known nursery business at Howle Hill near Ross-on-Wye and Ruardean which is too far off the beaten track to open to the public.
When Mr Dowle’s father Julian worked there it was known as Huntley Garden Centre. Peter had a Saturday job there around 1978 and his brother and sister went to the local school in Huntley. But the garden centre closed around three years ago and fell into disrepair.
Mr Dowle’s teams have been transforming the garden centre since the summer and it now has plants and a coffee shop called the Ferns.
The centre sells everything from oaks and olives and there are plenty of plants to reflect Mr Dowle’s love of large shrubs and specimen trees such as Acers. The garden centre is still developing but there are plans for a shop, large indoor plant section and ‘garden vignettes’ showing planting combinations.
Already there are existing mature borders at the six-acre site on the A40 with some unusual plants, such as Eucalyptus and Acacias.
Mr Dowle is a well known name on the show garden circuit for his exhibits which have twice been named best in show at Malvern.
He is also a regular at other RHS shows, he is probably best known for his Chelsea gold-medal winning gardens for companies such as L’Occitane and Renault.
Although demanding, he says show gardens are essential to keep up with new garden trends and products and showcase their work.
But demand for greenery at big events is increasing and the man who once created a St George’s Day temporary landscape in Trafalgar Square dressed parts of this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival.
Kate Middleton started a craze when she lined the aisles of Westminster Abbey with trees for her wedding to Prince William and Mr Dowle now supplies plants to brides who want to follow in her footsteps.
“The Royal Wedding was a bit of a trailblazer,” he said. “We love dressing churches because you can get some really big plants in there.
“But over the last few years it has become more and more popular to dress marquees in gardens. Plants are enjoying a bit of a renaissance at the moment and the great thing about it is that they are great for the environment.”