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Category: Shrubs

  • NEW Fabulous ‘Plant Me Now’ Monthly Specials

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    We have kicked-off the new ‘Plant Me Now’ monthly specials campaign with March’s selections, featuring various varieties of the versatile and attractive Pittosporum and varieties of the fantastic herbaceous perennial, Euphorbia. 

    Keep an eye on our YouTube Channel where we will introduce each month’s selections and talk about their individual qualities, where to plant and any maintenance required. March’s Plant Me Now can be viewed here.

    Shop March’s Plant Me Now through our online shop here or come into one of our three plant centres to browse and buy.

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    MARCH Herbaceous – Euphorbia

    These unfussy architectural perennials look good with colour and interest throughout the year but particularly come into their own in spring. With attractive coloured leaves and stunning displays of interesting flower spikes they are perfect when planted amongst bulbs. They thrive in a variety of conditions and require very little maintenance. Attractive to pollinators, including bees and butterflies, especially in spring when nectar sources are scarce.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”30923″ img_size=”400×250″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]

    MARCH Shrub – Pittosporum

    These glistening evergreens are a must-have for any sheltered garden. Soft, colourful foliage makes great structure and interest throughout the whole year, but especially in spring before the deciduous leaves of other plants return. They grow quickly and densely making them ideal for privacy hedges or windbreaks. Feature highly fragrant flowers in spring and early summer. Very drought tolerant and require minimal care.

     

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    APRIL Herbaceous – Dicentra

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    APRIL  Shrub – Ceanothus

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    MAY Herbaceous – Erigeron

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    MAY Shrub – Spirea

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    JUNE Herbaceous – Salvia

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    JUNE Shrub – Roses

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    JULY Herbaceous – Leucanthemum

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    JULY Shrub – Lavender

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    AUGUST Herbaceous – Penstemon

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    AUGUST Shrub – Cistus

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    SEPTEMBER Herbaceous – Rudbeckia

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    SEPTEMBER Shrub – Phormium

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    OCTOBER Herbaceous – Heuchera

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    OCTOBER Shrub – Acer

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    NOVEMBER Herbaceous – Grasses

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    NOVEMBER Shrub – Viburnum

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    DECEMBER Herbaceous – Helleborus

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    DECEMBER Shrub – Skimmia

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  • ‘Fall into Autumn’ Feel Good Garden & Seasonal Displays

    Autumn has arrived at Coolings! Our ‘Fall into Autumn’ Feel Good Garden and seasonal displays are all about celebrating the transition between summer and winter.

  • Come Back Colour for Autumn

    There are plenty of late-flowering or foliage interest perennial plants to bridge the colour gap between summer and autumn and see you through September, October and beyond, brightening our shorter days. Try our beautiful planting combinations that will return each year.

     

  • The ‘Pump Garden’ at Wych Cross Garden Centre

    Our half an acre revived ‘Pump Garden’ is officially Open and Free to wander at your leisure. Open daily, the garden will evolve over time, so we hope you will enjoy what we have created and watch as the garden continues to grow and develop over future seasons. 

    Gary Carvosso, Coolings Chairman and Ian Hazon, Coolings Production and Operations Director (both pictured left) talk us through the Pump Garden in our new video – please watch here.

    A special heritage is revived…

    The name ‘Pump Garden’ comes from the pump that now stands proudly on display in the far corner of the half an acre garden. The pump signifies and celebrates the special heritage of this site and its restoration springs life back into a forgotten and lost part of Wych Cross’ past.

    History of Wych Cross Garden Centre

    The pump is the original water pump that supplied water to the site from the 1930’s.

    The original site was the market garden for the Roebuck Hotel, just next door on the A22.  In 1939 a water supply was needed to service the site so a well 70 ft deep was sunk with a further 400 ft of borehole put in. The pump was then used to draw the water up into tanks in the hotel and provide water around the site. At that time the whole project cost a guinea a foot, which is over £38,000 in today’s money.

    The market garden was developed into a nursery in 1949 under the ownership of Major Stringer, but the site eventually separated from the hotel in the early 1960’s after the Major passed away.  Phil Pearson became the new owner, having worked on the site since 1949 and he developed it into a retail nursery.

    Wych Cross Market Garden c.1940’s

    Following on from Phil Pearson, new owners once again arrived in 1986 with Jon Hacker, John Paisley and Ray Kennedy taking the reins. Over the years the nursery became famed for growing a large range of roses, something that continues today.

    In 2016 the business was once again sold, this time to Wyevale, the national chain of garden centre operators.

    Wyevale itself was owned by an investment company and when they decided to sell all their centres, over 150 in total, to pay back their investors, Coolings were more than happy to acquire Wych Cross Garden Centre in 2019, having known Jon Hacker, John Paisley and Ray Kennedy in the days of their ownership.

    After buying Wych Cross, we then embarked upon a complete refurbishment of the site and centre to improve the customer facilities, plant areas and general shop layout. And although the Coolings family still hold a stake in the business, the majority of the share are owned by the employees as part of an Employee Ownership Trust, so our staff all benefit directly from their passion for the running of the business.

    Since taking over, we have also taken great pride in restoring the rose production nursery and we began growing again on-site in 2020, producing roses to supply all 4 our our garden centres. Today Wych Cross grows 180 varieties of roses and stocks a further 55 varieties of David Austin roses. To say that we know roses is an understatement!

    The seed of an idea came about for restoring the pump and re-discovering the garden.

    The Pump Garden

    The half acre site that the Pump Garden covers originally formed part of the grounds when the site of the nursery and hotel were one.  Over the years as times changed the garden was lost and just became part of the overall site without trace of the once beautiful beds and borders.  The revived Pump Garden will not only highlight the roses we produce but feature mixed planting to mirror the original designs from the past.

    Painstakingly restoring the pump and digging in over 100 tons of well-rotted compost (from our compost heaps) to improve the heavy clay soil was an undertaking even before planting could begin. Pathways and an extensive wooden pergola have been installed in readiness for the beautiful rose varieties to feature and flourish over time. And the pump is back on site and sits boldly and proudly in the top corner of the site, clear for all to see.

    Where once the pump provided water for the gardens and site, we have dug a pond that fills naturally from rainfall and the natural springs we have flowing on site. It contains approximately 140,000 litres or 30,795 gallons of water and is a restful and reflective feature of the lower part of the garden.

     

    The Water Pump

    As celebrating the heritage of the site is at the heart of our passion at Wych Cross, we undertook a restoration project of the old water pump, that once provided water for the garden centre and the neighbouring hotel. The project was a huge job as the pump had to be relocated from its initial position, restored and re-positioned in the garden and although it isn’t a functional object, it allows us to reflect on the vast history of the site.

    Why not visit our wonderful café whilst on site too!

    The Hybrid Tea Room

    The Hybrid Tea Room, a wonderful café that offers a range of drinks, cakes, breakfast and lunch, looks upon the rose area of the centre. The picturesque view from the terrace presents aisles and aisles of colourful roses, pinks blushing throughout each row. Open 7 days a week Monday – Saturday 9.00am -4.30pm and Sunday 10am – 4.30pm Last orders 4pm.

  • ‘Celebrate Summer’ Feel Good Garden

    The new Feel Good Garden is centred around celebrating the joy of long summer days and thoughts of the Mediterranean’s blue sea and sky. Launched ready for the summer months ahead, it evokes the senses and feelings of wellbeing – it will feel like you are on holiday!

    The Feel Good Gardens can be viewed at The Gardener’s Garden Centre, Wych Cross and Potted Garden, please look out for the Feel Good Garden signage.

  • Super Saver Shrubs

    Here’s just a small snippet of the many shrubs we have on offer in-store and online 

    FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO PLAN AND PLANT A BORDER, SEE OUR ‘HOW TO’ GUIDES 

  • Autumn Blooms

    Autumn may be upon us, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of colour in your garden. Thanks to today’s warmer climate, summer now often goes into early October. Where once we pulled out the big guns in June and July, you can now benefit from a set of late-flowering plants to see you through September and October. Try some of the following plant choices to keep your pots and borders looking their best this autumn.

  • Coolings Family Offers for September 2022

    As summer is coming to a close and we head into autumn, we have some fantastic offers available to exclusively to our Coolings Family cardholders. Offers are available in-store and online. *Please note individual varieties may vary across all four of our centres and online shop.

    Not a member? Join now and start saving on a whole range of plants, gardening products and much more.
    To find out more or to join click here.

    Coolings Family members’ can take advantage of these fantastic June offers:

    Offers are only available in-store & online| Discover your nearest centre.

     

     

     

    *We offer a delivery service for both online and in-store orders. A minimum order value of £30 applies to all orders. Orders over the value of £80 qualify for free delivery. To view all postcodes available for delivery please click here. 

     

     

  • Jon’s Top Picks for Autumn Colour

    Ensure your garden or outside space stays colourful this season with Jon’s top plant picks below. Shop all plants in-store and online. Please note, in-store availability may vary between stores.

  • Nature’s time to plant

    Autumn is the perfect time to plant! The soil is still warm which allows roots to grow ready to support healthy top growth in the spring. Now is the ideal time to renovate borders or create spaces for additional planting. Here are some reliable choices to pop into newly created spaces for year-round interest.

     

     

     

    Build your all season planter…

    Autumn is a great time to create hardy planters that will provide a full year of interest. We have a great range of over 40 hardy evergreen patio and container plants in 11cm pots ideal to create lasting impact through the seasons. Here is a planter we created last autumn and photographed in the spring to inspire you to try yourself.