Plants from Ashbrook Nursery near Arbroath.
Added at 14:25 on 25 April 2023
I am often asked by customers “ Where is the best place to buy plants?” . Apart from trying to plug my own service, I always recommend Ashbrook Nursery. It is my go-to nursery for many of the flowering herbaceous perennials I supply. Although there are some plant retailers closer to me, I prefer the wide choice and quality of, (often less common), plants that Ashbrook can supply.
Located on the Forfar Road, opposite RM Condor near Arbroath north east Angus it boasts a range of over 2000 plant varieties as well as a cafe with home made cakes and a gift shop.
The nursery staff are knowledgable and friendly and being in the garden trade and buying a large amount of plants with every visit I often get a small discount on many plants. Obviously a discount is a large carrot for me but more importantly I go there for two other reasons. Firstly it must be the tidiest nursery I have visited in Scotland. I know there are numerous tidy looking plant nurseries and garden centres with plants neatly arranged on benches with informative guiding information to aid selection but go behind the scenes where customers are generally not allowed and all too often you will find crammed, often unlabelled weed choked plants crammed together awaiting ‘tidying’ before they are moved to the sales areas.
As mentioned being trade and often buying quite large quantities of plants I am generally and understandably sent around the back to the growing and stock holding areas to select what I want to prevent creating large voids on their sales benches. Here all the plants are neatly arranged in alphabetical, labelled, well watered and weed free lines with ample room between pots for healthy air circulation and growth.
Secondly Ashbrook is becoming increasingly eco-conscious. From 2024 composts containing peat will no longer be available to the general public but commercial growers have till 2028 to phase out composts containing peat. This means many plants bought from garden centres and nurseries are still grown in peat based composts. Ashbrook nursery is already carrying out a number of trials with peat free mixtures to identify the most suitable mediums available and how best to work with them. Also many growers use a variety of insecticides and fungicides to combat pests and diseases which can damage their plants. Impressively, Ashbrook’s owner Anne Webster favours a more biological based approach such as nematodes to control plant pests and diseases such as slugs, weevils, bacteria and fungi. They even have frequently visiting wrens and robins to reduce insect numbers which can cause unsightly damage to their plants.
Ashbrook nursery grows its own spring and summer bedding plants from seed as well as a large selection of flowering herbaceous plants and grasses. They have a generous selection of roses, climbers, shrubs, trees and seasonal bulbs which are generally bought in from suppliers. Although I have access to these suppliers they are a fair distance for me to get to. Although I do make the journey, when large numbers of, for example shrubs are needed it makes sense to purchase smaller quantities closer to home. (This saves on the carbon foot print!). Rather than ordering plants online unseen, I prefer to see them for myself and choose the best ones for my projects. I occasionally plant plants for customers who have purchased from online sources and find their quality, size and and at times hardiness to be disappointing. Where plants are concerned I always advocate where possible to source locally grown plants which can be seen before the decision to buy is made.
Anne Webster a qualified botanist with an impressive plant knowledge and this has rubbed off on her staff who quite obviously take pride in the plants they grow, their duties and areas of responsibility. They are all able to make time and hold conversations on plants, providing their input, even with a geek like me without glazing over; which is also impressive. I also learn a lot from them helping me in my knowledge and purchase decisions.
So to summarise Ashbrook nursery has a wide selection of flowering herbaceous and bedding plants suited to both our inland and coastal geographical location. The plants are strong, healthy, well looked after both behind the scenes and in the sales areas. The eco-conscious approach to growing plants by Ashbrook’s staff puts them in a favourable position to not only advise you of the best plants for your situation but also how to look after them in an eco- conscious way. You can of course get in touch with me and I will look after your planting needs. Finally a top tip which I have learnt for sourcing the best pollinator plants when visiting a plant nursery. Take a moment to stand back and look at the selection of colourful flowering plants around you and see which ones are attracting the most attention from bees and butterflies. These are the best plants for increasing biodiversity in the garden. Let nature be your guide.