Garden centres are a cherished British institution. Over the decades, they’ve evolved into vibrant destinations where shopping, dining, and gardening seamlessly come together year-round. I am very proud that the arrival of garden centres in this country was down to my father Edward (Ted). He was the horticultural trailblazer who first introduced this new shopping concept to the UK from the USA back in the mid-1950s. And this year marks the 70th anniversary of Stewarts Garden Centres; there are two in Dorset – Christchurch and Broomhill and one in Hampshire – Titchfield.
Gardening run through the very DNA of the Stewart family. I’m the eighth generation to be involved in this family business. The Stewart family’s horticultural roots go back to Scotland in 1742 where Charles Stewart was a nursery plantsman of great renown. In the mid-1850s, my grandfather, David Stewart, travelled down Scotland to start a branch of the family nursery business in the milder climate of Ferndown, which was then in Hampshire. Since then, D. Stewart & Son has become a well-established and successful part of the local economy and community. Notable projects from this time include the construction of Ferndown Golf Course, and the development of many local tennis courts, as well other extensive landscape projects.
Edward ‘Ted’ Stewart with his father A F Martin Stewart.(Image: stewarts.co.uk)
The family business weathered the impact of the First World War and the Great Depression. But the Second World War knocked us for six. Our nursery trade dropped by 65%. So, we did our bit to help feed the nation and became vegetable producers, this was run by a team of resourceful women left on the home front. By the end of the war, my grandfather, who was in his sixties and emotionally battered by it all, was ready to retire. And so, it was down to my father to take up the reins of the family business and steer a new course for its future.
Ted was an RAF pilot who had flown in the Far East during the Second World War. In the spring of 1955, he was asked to use his skills as a pilot to return a Dakota DC-3 to Florida. It was during this trip that he came across the latest horticultural developments in the United States. Whilst travelling up from Miami to Toronto, from where he would return to the UK, Ted came across a concept that he believed would transform British gardening forever.
Working at Stewart’s Ferndown nursery in 1910. (Image: stewarts.co.uk)
In a letter home to his three sisters, he wrote: ‘I have some aims and objectives in making this trip and have more or less satisfied myself regarding most of them. Perhaps the most important, and from your neutral perch you will be welcome to comment, are these so called ‘Garden Centres’. I have a belief that it is time to separate the general propagation and growing side of the average British Nursery from the sales side. A ‘Centre’ could be set up in a comparatively small area, an acre or two, and display prepared shrubs, trees, pre-packed roses for customers to take away.’
When Ted arrived home, he immediately set to work creating the UK’s first ‘Garden Centre’, this opened in Ferndown that same year. It was the forerunner of the first purpose-built ‘Garden Centre’, which he opened six years later, in October 1961. This was called Garden-Lands at Christchurch, later known as Stewarts Christchurch Garden Centre. Around 6,000 people turned up to witness the opening day of Garden-Lands. Britain’s first celebrity gardener, Percy Thrower, officially opened the centre.
John Cribb (left) beside container grown plants at Ferndown Nursery, where they were put into old catering tins. (Image: stewarts.co.uk)
This was more than just an exciting new retail space for the industry. Before garden centres, traditional nurseries were only able to achieve an income between October and March. And this inspired another brilliant idea from Ted. At that time, large estates would send their gardeners to the nurseries in the summer, they would go into the fields where the plants were growing and label the specimens that they wanted. We would then have to wait until October, when the sap stops rising within the plant, to relocate them and dig them up. My father realised that if you put a plant in a pot, then you could move it for 12 months of the year as you’re not disturbing the roots, thus creating the first potted plant. It sounds simple now, but at the time, it was revolutionary. Back then, plastic plant pots didn’t exist, instead they used old catering cans. My father would ask staff to stop off at schools and hospitals on their daily commutes to collect these discarded tin cans.
In 1972, plantsman and horticultural writer, Peter Seabrook, credited my father for this discovery in the Sunday Times: ‘Exactly who the first man was to start container growing here is something likely to produce a lot of argument in the shrubbery. It looks as though the honour falls to Ted Stewart, the nurseryman who runs the big Garden-Lands centre in Christchurch. He thought of the idea in the 1950s after a trip to America.’
The first coffee shop opened in 1961 at Stewarts Garden Centre Christchurch. (Image: stewarts.co.uk)
For the first time, customers could walk into one place and buy everything they needed for the garden – tools, fertiliser, compost, and labels, all under one roof, alongside plants that could easily be transported and were available 12 months of the year. This wasn’t being done anywhere else in the UK, and it changed everything about the way we shop.
Just a few years later, Ted opened the first café within Garden-Lands in Christchurch. Though initially fairly basic, it proved to be a winning addition that brought customers back time and again.
I took over the business after Ted’s sudden death in April 1982. Just like my father and grandfather before him, I’ve had my fair share of challenges. The credit crunch in 2008 and, more recently, Covid had a huge impact on us. Our trade is also hugely weather-dependent. In 2013, when we had the coldest March in 50 years, sales came to a halt. It was our cafés that kept us going. Catering now makes up around 25% of our business. Honestly, there have been times we wouldn’t have survived without it.
Advert for Stewart’s container grown garden plants, a horticultural revolution! (Image: stewarts.co.uk)
A lot has changed during my 43 years in the business. One of the biggest shifts has been the sheer variety of products on offer. Customers no longer want plain old pots; they want beautifully decorated pots, houseplants, garden furniture, BBQs and pizza ovens. We also expanded into giftware.
Historically, the busiest time of year for garden centres was October and November, then sales would drop off. But in the 1980s, a chance encounter changed everything once again. Prior to this, Christmas belonged solely to the department stores. Although we sold Christmas trees, that’s as far as our festive role went. One day, a friend invited me to visit his garden centre in Manchester to see their seasonal Christmas displays. It was obvious to me that this type of seasonal experience felt like a natural evolution for our garden centre. And now Christmas is one of our busiest and most magical times of year.
One of the displays at Stewarts Garden Centre(Image: stewarts.co.uk)
Innovation and constant change are what have made this family business a success and kept us going for 70 years. I often say that our history is a ‘nice to have’ but it doesn’t guarantee our future. It’s bold thinking and the willingness to adapt that has put us where we are today.
Over the last five years, we’ve made significant strides not only in improving our growing facilities but also in reducing our environmental impact. Inspired by the state-of-the-art greenhouses, we built an Agritech Glasshouse in 2020 to increase our nursery growing capacity. We also installed 11 miles of underground pipe for our ground source heat pump, and thermal screens to reduce energy usage. This allows us to grow more plants in a way that’s both environmentally friendly and sustainable.
We will be celebrating our 70th anniversary with a series of in-store treats and events for Privilege Club customers between October 17 – 20, including a talk by a special guest at Stewarts Christchurch, complimentary cake in the café, and access to exclusive discounts in all stores. I hope you can come and celebrate with us.
For more information, visit stewarts.co.uk
Martin Stewart, managing Director of Stewarts Garden centres, the eighth generation to run the Stewart family business.(Image: stewarts.co.uk)
Stewart Family Timeline
1742: Charles Stewart, a plantsman of renown who ran several Scottish nurseries, his family were growing forestry trees in the mid-18th century.
1835: Charles’ son, John, moves his father’s nurseries to Broughty Ferry on Scotland’s East Coast.
1859: John has two sons, David and William. The latter continues to manage the Scottish establishments, whilst younger brother David moves to Ferndown to set up a nursery in its milder climate.
Early 1900s: Of David’s four sons who follow in his footsteps, A F Martin Stewart, one of the largest producers of nursery stock in the country, undertakes major landscaping projects including Ferndown Golf Course under the name D. Stewart & Son.
1955: A F Martin Stewart’s only son, Edward (Ted) Stewart takes over the business, introducing container grown stock, and the ‘garden centre’ concept to the UK.
1961: Ted Stewart opens the country’s first purpose-built garden centre in the UK, initially known Garden-Lands, Christchurch.
1960s: D. Stewart & Son, based at Ferndown for a century, relocate to Broomhill.
1980s: Ted Stewart dies suddenly in April 1982; his son Martin takes over the helm. The company improves its growing and landscaping businesses.
2016: Stewarts acquired Abbey Garden Centre in Titchfield, Hampshire, their third garden centre.
2025: Stewarts Garden Centres mark the 70th anniversary of opening the UK’s first ‘Garden Centre’.
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