Plants and Minds

– Cherry Tree Nursery grows around 100,000 plants on-site every year, nurtured by team members. Of all the horticultural stock sold at the nursery, more than three quarters is proudly home-grown, significantly reducing the need to buy in stock that would have to be transported by road.

– Chestnut Nursery is a leader in sustainable summer and autumn bedding plant production, growing almost 40,000 bedding plants a year on its nursery. More than 80% of the bedding sold at Chestnut is cultivated on-site, along with 38,000 perennials.

– Both our nurseries strive to grow healthy plants without using pesticides. Eco-friendly ‘biological controls’ – tiny beneficial nematodes, wasps and mites that hunt down and eradicate specific plant pests – are introduced to glasshouses to keep plants healthy, reducing dependence on insecticides.

– Where plants are bought in, our nurseries aim to support growers in Dorset, Hampshire and the South West by ordering stock as locally as possible – helping to reduce plant movement by road and minimise carbon emissions.

– At Cherry Tree, plants are delivered from the nursery to the retail area using a second-hand electric milk float – giving this vintage ‘eco-friendly’ vehicle a new lease of life.

– Home-grown shrubs and perennials are grown in the new industry standard ‘taupe’ recycled polypropylene plant pots. Unlike traditional black plant pots, taupe pots can be recycled in BCP’s blue bins (although many customers re-use pots for years).

– We recycle all our cardboard and, where practical, boxes are offered free of charge to customers to help transport plants home. Cardboard boxes can then be recycled in customers’ blue bins in the BCP area (or torn up and added to compost heaps).

– Unlike traditional retail packaging, Chestnut’s carrier bags are 100% biodegradable. Cherry Tree offers sustainable, reusable hessian and fabric bags.

– Both sites grow, sell and promote plants that are valuable for wildlife, especially pollinator-friendly perennials that attract bees and beneficial insects.

– Our nurseries stock ranges of containers made from 100% recycled plastic. These innovative pots have been widely acclaimed as a showcase of the circular economy.

– Chestnut and Cherry Tree Nurseries are committed to reducing peat consumption in horticulture. Our nurseries only offer premium brands of peat-free and peat-reduced growing media, all of which are proven to deliver outstanding performance.

– Cherry Tree and Chestnut Nursery offer a wide range of young veg plants in season, along with herbs and fruit, helping customers to grow healthy, nutritious food at home. This reduces reliance on supermarket produce that’s often imported and clad in single-use plastic.

– Our nurseries sell slug controls that are certified as organic by the Organic Farmers and Growers’ Association – along with a range of natural slug deterrent and plant protection products, supporting gardeners who don’t want to use chemicals.

– Up to 75% of produce stocked in Chestnut’s artisan food gift area is sourced from niche suppliers in Dorset and the South West. The initiative, designed to encourage people to shop locally and support the region’s food producers, includes biscuits, chocolates and non-alcoholic drinks made in Dorset, and honey sourced from an apiary in Poole Park.

– Chestnut Nursery’s modern, eco-friendly, super-insulated store is powered by air source heat pumps, eliminating the need for fossil fuel-based oil and gas-fired systems that have dominated the UK horticultural retail and plant production sectors for decades. Cherry Tree Nursery’s buildings are kept snug by air source heat pumps, too.

– New for 2026, solar panels have been installed on the roof of the store at Chestnut Nursery, which was designed for solar gain, allowing the nursery to generate its own clean, green energy.

– Our buyers are always on the lookout for the latest sustainable innovation, helping customers to garden with the environment in mind and protect the planet for future generations.