Tag: Dobbies Garden Centres

Prepare your garden for Spring with Dobbies’ Edinburgh store

Garden Centre offers free Grow How workshops on seasonal planting

As the cooler days of Autumn approach, Dobbies Garden Centres is inviting families and gardening enthusiasts to its Edinburgh store to gear up for a colourful spring with its free monthly Grow How sessions this September.

Grow How provides a welcoming space for gardeners of all ages and skill levels to learn, share, and get growing.

The series of informal workshops will take place at Dobbies’ Edinburgh store on the first Saturday of the month, then every Wednesday throughout September at 10:30am and 3:30pm. The 15-minute demonstrations, led by Dobbies’ friendly and knowledgeable colleagues, are packed with practical tips and engaging Q&A sessions, making them a perfect outing for anyone looking to learn more about gardening.

September’s workshop, Getting Ready for Spring in September, is all about preparing for a burst of springtime colour as Dobbies takes delivery of over 6 million spring flowering bulbs across its stores.

Participants will discover the best bulbs for Spring displays, including top picks for the season – vibrant Tulips, cheerful Daffodils, and delicate Crocuses. These flowers are not only easy to plant but also promise a stunning array of colours, perfect for brightening up any garden.

Attendees at Dobbies’ Edinburgh store will learn how to create a beautiful bulb lasagne, a technique of layering different bulbs in one pot, ensuring a continuous bloom from early Spring into the Summer.

This method is ideal for small spaces and adds a lovely splash of colour to patios and balconies. The workshops will also cover essential tips, such as choosing bulbs for cut flowers, selecting the best bulbs for pots, and understanding the proper planting depths to ensure healthy growth.

Dobbies’ Horti Manager, Simon Jefferey, is looking forward to helping people to get out into their gardens during September in preparation for spring.

He said: “These Grow How sessions in our Edinburgh store is a fantastic way for families to bond over gardening. We love seeing kids get involved, planting their first bulbs and eagerly awaiting the flowers.

“It’s a great introduction to the joys of gardening, an opportunity to connect with nature and get inspired for the seasons ahead no matter your experience.”

For more information about the Grow How sessions and to secure a spot, visit:

 www.dobbies.com/events.

February Holiday workshop at Dobbies’ Edinburgh store

Garden centre celebrates Random Acts of Kindness with free children’s event

Families in Edinburgh will have the chance to take part in Dobbies’ free February Holiday Workshop, keeping children aged 4-10 years busy during the half term.

The February holiday workshop is taking place in Dobbies’ Edinburgh store throughout half term. This fun-fuelled workshop is centred around Random Acts of Kindness, a celebration that takes place on Saturday 17 February, encouraging everyone to be extra kind to one another and go above and beyond to brighten someone’s day.

Children will come together in a friendly group setting at its Edinburgh store to delve into the history of this celebration and learn about the joys of kindness. 

Dobbies’ colleagues will detail what it means to be kind, why kindness is important, how it can make people feel, and all the ways we can be kind to others, to nature and to ourselves.

Spotlighting random acts of kindness in the garden, Dobbies is showcasing all the different ways children can care for the planet. From making a bug hotel, feeding birds or planting pollinating flowers to help bumblebees thrive to picking up litter or making compost, there’s plenty of ways to be kind.

In addition to being kind to others, Little Seedlings in Edinburgh will be encouraged to be kind to themselves by fuelling their bodies with healthy food, doing things they love, sharing feelings and most importantly, being proud of themselves. Kids will also have the chance to create their own sunshine thank you card to put a smile on someone’s face.

Dobbies’ Little Seedlings Club Workshop Leader, Liz Savage, is looking forward to welcoming kids along to the February Holiday Workshop.

She said: “School holidays are a great chance to ignite a passion for a hobby or try something new. This workshop will allow kids to come together and learn, making friends along the way.

“Our Little Seedings Club is designed to engage and support local communities near our Edinburgh store by providing accessible, free of charge fun and educational activities.”

For more information about February’s Holiday Workshop and to make a booking, visit dobbies.com/events

Barratt Developments teams up with Dobbies Garden Centres to create sustainable festive front door display 

Stylist shares top tips on how to dress your door on a budget this Christmas

Barratt Developments Scotland has joined forces with Dobbies Garden Centres to share top tips and insights on how to dress your front door this Christmas – sustainably and on a budget.

Together with Dobbies’ top stylist, the housebuilder, which includes Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, has created a handy guide with festive ideas on how to add a wow to your front door décor this December.

Front door transformations were named as one of Pinterest Predicts’ leading trends for 2023, with the holiday season marking the perfect time to embrace the trend and add a touch of festive sparkle to the exterior of the home. 

While the makeovers online are impressive, they can also be costly. Barratt and Dobbies’ handy and sustainable suggestions are designed to achieve the trend without breaking the bank.

To achieve the look in a sustainable way, foliage can be foraged from your garden, local woods or outside spaces. You can use plants from your garden such as Conifer, Skimmia ‘rubella’ or eucalyptus, enabling you to get creative depending on what’s available and your personal style. Foraging the items is a great way for families, friends and couples to come together and take part in a festive activity.

If you would like to add some seasonal sparkle to your sustainable decorations, Dobbies has a dedicated section in-store and online where customers can pick faux décor ideal for wreaths and garlands, as well as Christmas baubles, lights and decorations for different styles and looks.

Estelle Sykes, Sales Director at Barratt Developments West Scotland, said: “We’ve loved collaborating with Dobbies to create this festive front door display.

“As the entrance to the home, it’s important that the front door makes a good first impression, which is why statement décor and wreaths are becoming increasingly popular at Christmas and all year round.

“Dobbies has done an excellent job and has provided some great tips on how to recreate this at home, both sustainably and at relatively low cost. We hope to see more and more people tap into the front door trend this winter using our top tips.”

Barratt Developments & Dobbies’ handy step-by-step guide on how to recreate at home:

  • Lay out thick rope (about two metres long) on the ground. Attach chosen foliage in bundles along the rope with garden twine. You can make this as full as you like for your chosen look
  • Attach the rope, with all foliage, to the drainpipe or porch. We started at the top of the drainpipe and attached downwards
  • Using garden twine, tie various sizes of baubles together for impact and attach (with other décor of your choice) to the foliage. Baubles are available to buy in multipacks from Dobbies. We also added oversized baubles for extra impact and LED lights which don’t emit heat
  • Use the same approach for the wreath, creating little bundles of foliage, attaching them using garden twine. We added heather for an additional pop of colour. Create your wreath shape from twigs or buy a wreath base
  • Add baubles, décor and wire battery lights before hanging on your door
  • Decorate the area with reindeers, potted trees and other festive ornaments of your choice. We selected a Nordmann fir potted tree and a Blue spruce which can be taken indoors and decorated for Christmas, and you can plant in your garden after the festive season. You could also opt to keep them in their pots to maintain their size for next year, giving them longevity

Rebecca Stanton, Stylist at Dobbies Garden Centres, said: “Dressing your front door is huge at the moment and we’re thrilled to partner with Barratt to bring this trend to life. Christmas is a great time of year to experiment with decorations and what better way to do this than to get creative with your own front door.

“We have selected low-cost items, most of which can be foraged from outside, and everything else can be chosen to suit your preferred colour scheme and taste. We used items from our Classic Luxe theme, which suited the style and colouring of the house. Our step-by-step guide should be straightforward enough so people can get creative and try at home, with family and friends.”

All items used in the display are available from Dobbies Garden Centre. Costs are scalable depending on budget.

You can visit Dobbies Garden Centres in the following locations:

Aberdeen
Ayr
Braehead
Dundee
Dunfermline
Edinburgh and little dobbies Stockbridge
Inverness
Livingston
Milngavie
Perth
Sandyholm
Stirling

Dobbies’ Edinburgh store gives customers hot tips for summer gardening

Free workshops this August

With summer in full swing, Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre, is sharing its expertise to help gardens thrive this season. Dobbies’ gardening experts in Edinburgh are hosting two free sessions, for both children and adults, to help them learn about what plants do well during sunny spells and how to protect your garden in the warmer months.  

According to Your Weather, the last two summers in the UK have been drier than the historical average. Dobbies’ horticultural experts will lend a hand to offer free advice to customers in Edinburgh about how to maximise their outdoor space and ensure their gardens are prepared for whatever the weather may bring.

Dobbies’ interactive Grow How session takes place on Saturday 5 August at 10:30am where customers will be invited along to further their gardening expertise. Attendees will get advice on plants that will thrive in sunny spots, insider tips for getting the garden to grow and the different types of drought-friendly plants to keep your outdoor space vibrant all summer long.

The Little Seedlings Club takes place on Sunday 6 August and is ideally suited for children aged 4-10 years old, offering a jam-packed interactive workshop with educational content and craft activities. Kids will learn about summer as a season, what the warm weather means for the environment, how plants adapt to dry weather, specific plants to grow and how we can be safe in the sun.

Dobbies’ Horticultural Director, Marcus Eyles, said: “The hottest summer months can have an impact on the overall health of your plants and the success of your garden. Choosing the correct plants for the right position and soil in your garden is essential.

“Many plants have adapted and evolved to cope with hot and dry weather conditions, and gardeners in Edinburgh can take advantage of this by potting up plants such as Lavender and Rosemary or by growing palms or outdoor succulents. 

“Certain plants like Salvia, Lemon trees and Dahlias all burst with vibrant colours and thrive in a sunny spot, a great choice for south facing gardens or balconies that get sunlight all day.

“Our in-store experts are looking forward to speaking with customers and our Little Seedlings Club members to make sure everyone is putting their best foot forward this summer.”

For more information about how to take part in Dobbies’ sessions, visit Events | Dobbies Garden Centres

Dobbies announces Helping Your Community Grow shortlist

NORTH EDINBURGH COMMUNITY FESTIVAL IS ONE OF THREE FINALISTS

Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre, is helping one community project brighten up their green space in the Lothians with its Helping Your Community Grow initiative.

This spring, Dobbies’ Edinburgh store is supporting a sustainable project through its popular initiative. In recent months, community projects across Edinburgh and the Lothians were invited to nominate themselves for support and now a shortlist has been selected by local team members. People now have the chance to vote for their favourite project.

The winning project will then receive advice, products and support from their local Dobbies’ team. Sustainable products, such as peat-free compost and recycled pots, will be use wherever possible.

North Edinburgh Community Festival is looking for support to help them teach the community about how to grow their own produce and encourage them to get into gardening.

With a particular focus on the seed to plate approach and making produce last longer, Dobbies’ support would provide essential growing resources.

St Thomas of Aquin’s R.C. High School is striving to create an urban garden area for pupils, where they can learn about sustainable gardening practices and how to care for and protect the planet. 

Dobbies’ support would help the high school improve the overall wellbeing of their pupils through this green space, encourage them to get outdoors, and hopefully pique an interest in gardening. 

Ward 5 at East Lothian Community Hospital supports the elderly and cares for patients with a wide range of medical conditions and is looking to create a relaxing space for the body and mind. 

Dobbies’ resources would help the ward spruce up their outdoor terrace area with vibrant plants and planters to make it a beautiful garden for all to enjoy.

Dobbies’ CEO, Graeme Jenkins, said: “Helping Your Community Grow is a really popular initiative in Edinburgh and the Lothians and we’ve seen a great response from community groups and projects looking to make a difference to their local area.

It’s been positive to see so many projects place importance on sustainability and environmentally-friendly products.

“Now the community voting gets underway and we’re looking forward to seeing which projects receive our support.”

In addition to the Edinburgh winner, the project which receives the most votes across the UK will win the national Helping Your Community Grow title, gaining additional support from Dobbies to deliver their project.

There will be further opportunities for community groups looking to brighten up their local areas. Community groups are invited to contact their local store for details of the community initiatives available on a case-by-case basis.

Voting will remain open until 16 May.

For more information on how to register your vote, visit Helping Your Community Grow | Dobbies Garden Centres.

Dobbies Garden Centre: Lupins set to be Edinburgh’s most popular bloom this spring

Spring it on with Dobbies!

With spring well and truly here and the gardening season in full swing, research from the UK’s leading garden centre retailer, Dobbies, has found that 65% of Edinburgh locals are looking forward to doing more gardening this spring. 

The research, from Independent Media News, looked into this year’s gardening trends, attitudes towards gardening, garden centres themselves and some of the misconceptions about the UK’s favourite pastime.

Dobbies’ Edinburgh store has had a great start to the season and looking at customer trends from last year and this year to-date, General Manager, Jenna Bavidge, predicts Lupins will be the most popular plant for Edinburgh gardeners this spring.

Perennial Lupins, a favourite cottage plant, is a haven for bumblebees and butterflies with striking, tall bright blooms that come in a variety of colours and shades. These are wonderful pollinators and will inject gorgeous colour into the garden right the way through spring and summer and will continue to bloom year on year.

Research from Dobbies shows that just under half of Edinburgh residents are hoping to encourage more wildlife into their garden, and Lupins are the perfect plant to do that.

Dobbies’ Horticultural Director, Marcus Eyles, encourages Edinburgh residents to Spring it on this year by sharing his top tips on Lupins and why they are so popular in East Scotland: “Lupins is a great addition to any garden, no matter the size or shape of your borders.

“We recommend planting Lupins in early spring to maximise their flowering potential and mulching well with peat-free compost to encourage strong growth and good moisture.

“These hardy blooms thrive in a bright spot that benefits from partial shade. If you don’t have a garden space, Gallery Lupins have been bred to be smaller and can flourish in a balcony space.”

For more information on what’s in stock at your local Dobbies’ Edinburgh store, visit www.dobbies.com.

If you would like to explore Dobbies full SS22 range, you can do so via their digital Look Book and Look Book Video.

UK’s first compost packaging recycling scheme trail launched

71% of residents in Scotland make a conscious effort to recycle

 Waste-aware gardeners in and around Edinburgh and Milngavie will now be able to recycle compost packaging thanks to a trial scheme from the country’s biggest garden retailer. 

Dobbies Garden Centres and Evergreen Garden Care are partnering on the initiative which will see garden furniture created from the recycled material and donated to Greenfingers, a charity that creates green spaces for terminally-ill children. 

Launching this week, trial will run in 10 stores for an initial three months, including Dobbies Garden Centres at Edinburgh and Milngavie.  

Most plastic packaging of the sort used for compost bags ends up in landfill because very few local authorities collect polythene sacks as part of kerbside collections or at recycling centres. 

In a survey conducted by Dobbies, in collaboration with Censuswide, 71% of respondents in Scotland make a conscious effort to recycle*. Dobbies will also be encouraging more people to recycle with instore and online information to make it as easy as possible for customers. 

Linda Petrons, Director of Fundraising and Communications at Greenfingers said: “We believe that time outdoors can bring significant benefits to children with life-limiting conditions.

“By supporting our work through their unique initiative, Dobbies and Evergreen will help us provide more children with the valuable opportunity to spend more time outside enjoying the therapeutic benefits of being close to nature.”  

Marcus Eyles, Horticultural Director at Dobbies, said: “All that people have to do is bring any compost packaging, no matter what brand or where it was purchased, and return it to one of the recycling bins in our plant areas.

“It will then be collected by Veolia for recycling at Berry BPI Recycled Products before used as part of the raw material blend to produce garden furniture becoming a valuable asset for those children’s hospices working with Greenfingers Charity. It’s a great win for the environment, for customers in Edinburgh and Milngavie, and for the community, and an important next stage of our #sustainabledobbies mission.” 

Jane Hartley, Sustainability Marketing Manager said: “Evergreen is delighted to be working with Dobbies and their customers. Evidence suggests that consumers want to take the right action when it comes to recycling so our new Miracle-Gro Bring Back Compost Bags bins will create strong visibility in store to encourage people to recycle. 

“We want to reduce the amount of single use plastic used within our business and compost bags are key to delivering this, we have already increased the amount of recycled content in our compost bags which for Miracle-Gro, now contains 80% recycled content. However, we have so much more to achieve, this is the first of a number of initiatives we are working on.” 

Stores included in the trial are: Edinburgh, Milngavie, Woodcote Green, Altrincham, Morpeth, Cirencester, Milton Keynes, Atherstone, Keston and Brighton. 

Also in these stores are pot recycling bins, in collaboration with Elho, as well as a plastic pot and tray return service, which is available in every Dobbies store.   

Follow and support Dobbies sustainability campaign using the hashtag #sustainabledobbies 

For Dobbies sustainability policy: https://www.dobbies.com/sustainability-policy 

For Dobbies Sustainable podcast: https://www.dobbies.com/podcasts 

*Statistic obtained through combining ‘strongly agree’ and ‘somewhat agree’ answer options for question: ‘I make a conscious effort / go out of my way to recycle’ 

Dobbies announces virtual events to elevate Edinburgh gardens

Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre retailer, has announced two virtual Expert Events to help Edinburgh gardeners elevate their green spaces this summer, no matter the size or style of their garden.

The latest in a series of popular virtual events, ‘Pollinators and Perennial Plants for Summer Colour’ and ‘Small Space Gardening’ will both be hosted by Dobbies’ Horticultural Director and gardening expert, Marcus Eyles, and will provide top tips and expert advice on making the most of your outdoor space, to ensure you can enjoy it all summer long.

‘Pollinators and Perennial Plants for Summer Colour’ will take place on Saturday 19th June at 10.30am, providing the perfect opportunity to learn more about the plants that can make a huge difference to your local environment.

Marcus will share the benefits of supporting wildlife and pollinators in your garden, including bees and butterflies, as well as advising on the top 10 plants that gardeners can grow to support pollinators and provide a healthy habitat for them to thrive. Marcus will also share his expert advice on the best perennials to plant now, to add instant summer colour that will return year after year.

For a gardener with limited outdoor space, ‘Small Space Gardening’ is a virtual event that’s packed with handy tips and tricks to make the most of your garden, taking place on Saturday 10th July at 10.30am.

Marcus will share his expert advice on creating an oasis in a small garden, including tips on clever design for maximum impact, and the best plants to grow in a limited space. Marcus will also advise on his top 10 edible plants to grow in smaller outdoor areas, including terraces and balconies, to help gardeners make the most of their available outdoor space and grow plants that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, from cooking to supporting pollinators.

During both events, Marcus will provide live demonstrations of techniques to elevate your gardening skills, and attendees from Edinburgh are invited to submit their questions for Marcus too, to get expert answers to any horticultural dilemmas. 

Marcus Eyles, Horticultural Director at Dobbies, said: “Summer is a key time in the gardeners’ calendar, and there is so much that can be done to make the most of your outdoor space, no matter the size of your garden.

I am very much looking forward to sharing my knowledge and offering advice to Edinburgh gardeners old and new, to help them elevate even the smallest of gardens into an oasis to enjoy, and to help them choose plants that will not only brighten the space for years to come, but will also support the environment and local wildlife. Sustainability remains high on our agenda, and we offer more advice online with #sustainabledobbies.”

The summer gardening expert events are part of a series of free virtual events that Dobbies is hosting in 2021. Following a successful programme of Facebook Live sessions in 2020, they provide a virtual alternative to regular events usually hosted instore. Advance booking is essential for the virtual events, which are hosted on Microsoft Teams, making it quick and simple for viewers to log on and join in the event from the comfort of their homes.

The sessions are free of charge and exclusively available to Edinburgh Dobbies Club members. For those who aren’t yet members of Dobbies Club, membership is free and signing up is quick and simple, giving access to a variety of benefits, special offers and exclusive events.

To sign up, visit dobbies.com

To sign up for the Dobbies summer gardening virtual events, visit 

https://events.dobbies.com/

For more information on Dobbies Sustainability Policy visit 

https://www.dobbies.com/sustainability-policy

Edinburgh kids invited to become Little Seedlings Ambassadors

Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre retailer, has announced the online relaunch of its much-loved Little Seedlings Club, to support and celebrate National Children’s Gardening Week (29 May – 6 June).

Packed with activities, tutorials and educational content, the Little Seedlings Club is aimed at Edinburgh children aged 4 to 10 years old, and in its refreshed and enhanced online format, will provide plenty of fun gardening and crafting projects.

Dobbies Little Seedlings Club previously ran in the Edinburgh store, but workshops haven’t been able to take place in person since March 2020. The relaunched online format provides a fantastic way for budding young Edinburgh gardeners to learn all about plants, wildlife, the environment and sustainability, while supplying them with an abundance of fun facts and top tips to impress their friends.

Marcus Eyles, Horticultural Director of Dobbies, said: “Our Little Seedlings Club has always been hugely popular in our Edinburgh store, and so we are very pleased to be able to relaunch the club in a virtual format, marking National Children’s Gardening Week.

“At Dobbies, we are passionate about helping communities to enjoy spending time outdoors and get growing, and who could be better than the next generation of gardeners? We hope that the relaunched Little Seedlings Club will educate, inform and inspire a whole new host of young gardeners.”

Available for free on the Dobbies website, Little Seedlings will offer a mix of topical online content, including factsheets, educational guides, activity sheets and suggestions for ways to put green fingers to work, with topics spanning everything from creating bug hotels and DIY seed bombs, to learning about composting, plant lifecycles and the anatomy of flowers, plus an array of weird and wonderful facts.

The new-look Little Seedlings Club will also offer free virtual events, coinciding with Dobbies’ current series of online Expert Events. On Saturday 5 June at 10:30, Dobbies will host ‘Get Gardening with Your Little Seedlings’ – a free, virtual event open to everybody, designed to encourage parents and grandparents to enjoy time in the garden with their little ones.

Dobbies’ Horticultural Director, Marcus Eyles, and Plant Buyer, Nigel Lawton, will provide a pumpkin-planting demonstration, to encourage children to start their own fruit or vegetable patch at home. Alongside this, there’ll be interactive challenges and fun facts, to get children out in the garden and help them to understand more about the natural world around them.

As well as this, Dobbies is launching a campaign to find Ambassadors for Little Seedlings, open to children across Edinburgh.

The campaign will find the faces of the Little Seedlings Club, who will then have the opportunity to provide their own blogs about gardening for Dobbies customers to enjoy, as well as appearing in Dobbies’ social media campaigns with photos of their gardening progress.

Children can apply to become a Little Seedlings Ambassador at https://www.dobbies.com/little-seedlings-ambassadors

For more information on Little Seedlings: https://www.dobbies.com/little-seedlings

For the virtual event: https://www.dobbies.com/events

For National Children’s Gardening Week activity: https://www.dobbies.com/little-seedlings-activities/gardening-week

Garden Centres ‘open for business’

A message from Dobbies Garden Centres:

We will be open for business this morning.

We have carefully reviewed the guidance provided by Government, which clearly states that food shops, home and hardware shops, and pet shops should continue to operate to provide essential goods.

In all of these categories Dobbies already provides a comprehensive range, sales in these categories represent 70% of our turnover.

We have therefore taken the decision to continue to operate our stores to serve our local communities.

There will, however, be strict procedures in place to protect our customers and team members:

  • Limiting the number of customers that can be in the store
  • Social distancing rules will apply requiring that we keep two metres apart at all times

We will be working very hard today to bring these changes into immediate effect.

Thank you for your support in advance.

The Dobbies team