Plant buyers are increasingly specifying British-grown trees, a trend we are pleased to support - the majority of the trees we supply are grown in the UK.
It is true to say that as a result of rising labour costs and shortage of land, the UK is at a disadvantage compared with continental nurseries. However we have decided to continue with UK production for the vast majority of our container-grown trees, because it means we can control the specification with suppliers more closely.
The majority of our bare-root trees are also UK-grown, however we do source some specialist forms such as the commercial grade 'spindle-bush or knip-boom' trees from European suppliers. We also sometimes buy rootstocks for our grafted fruit trees from Europe if our local production is insufficient. However the subsequent grafting and raising of the trees then takes place in the UK for the following 12-24 months before the sale takes place.
We also, very occasionally, buy in new varieties that have originated from outside the UK so we can try these, and if they prove to be outstanding we can then look to get them grown in the UK.