Sir Roy Strong a hit at Wyevale Nurseries’ open day

A LANDSCAPE designer, writer and ex-Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum was the guest speaker yesterday (July 2, 2014) during an open day at one of the UK’s leading commercial nurseries.

Sir Roy Strong attended Wyevale Nurseries in Hereford on July 2 to meet landscapers, amenities experts and plant buyers from garden centres that were invited to the event.

Adam Dunnett, Sales and Marketing Director at Wyevale Nurseries, explained: “We were delighted that Sir Roy was our guest speaker for our open day. He has had a varied career and his talk was very interesting. The event was a huge success and it was great to meet current and potential customers, and show them around some of our 600 acres.

“We pride ourselves on the high quality of our plants and the incredible range we offer. We thought the open day would be a great chance for people to come and see it for themselves.”

Sir Roy joined the National Portrait Gallery in 1959 and became its Director in 1967. In 1973 he became Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, a post which he resigned in 1987 to pursue a freelance career in the media and as a writer and consultant.

He was knighted in 1983. Over the years he has written extensively on the country’s history and culture, as well as on garden design. His more recent books include The Laskett, The Story of a Garden, Coronation, A Little History of the English Country Church and Visions of England.

Adam added: “We hope people who attended found the day entertaining and inspirational. We started the open day with a tour of the nursery. People were able to see how we care for the broad range of products that we grow. There was also a hog roast lunch provided by a local butcher. We ended the day with a little fun in the form of an archery competition.  

“We would like to congratulate Peter Chmiel from Grant Associates on winning the archery competition. He was presented with a boot full of plants.

Wyevale Nurseries is one of the largest family-run wholesale nurseries in the UK. It was established in 1928 by Harry Williamson, a horticulturist and entrepreneur. It became the company it is today under the leadership of his son, Peter, who sadly passed away in 2011.

The Williamsons’ saw the opportunity to sell their product to an undeveloped retail market, creating one of the first garden centres, followed by a chain. In 1987, the retail side needed to expand and the 19 garden centres were sold as a PLC.

The family then turned its focus to Wyevale Nurseries Ltd. It continues to be a family-run business with ownership and joint chairmanship currently being held by the third generation, Heather and Simeon Williamson, with plans for the fourth generation to takeover in the future.

Wyevale Nurseries has a significant product range and is regularly introducing new plants. It offers a large variety of trees, shrubs, hedging, herbaceous and specimen plants to garden centres, landscape contractors, local authorities, foresters and landowners.

For further details about Wyevale Nurseries, which is based in Hereford, please call 01432 845 200 or visit www.wyevalenurseries.co.uk.