Tag: garden centre

Garden Centre invites families to enjoy a Teddy Bears’ Picnic

Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre, is inviting families to roll out the picnic blanket and gather around this summer as it unveils its brand-new event at the Edinburgh store, Teddy Bears’ Picnic, where children get to make their very own teddy bear keepsake to take home.

This interactive 90-minute session, taking place during the summer holidays, is designed for families with children aged 3-10 years old and is taking place in the afternoon on Saturday 27 July, Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August at the Edinburgh store. Families with younger children can also get involved and enjoy the picnic experience.

Dobbies’ Teddy Bears’ Picnic allows kids to have a go at building their very own teddy bear to take home. Children will get the opportunity to stuff, fluff and name a teddy bear of their choice, with a teddy birth certificate to mark the occasion. 

Dobbies’ colleagues at the Edinburgh store will uncover tales of bear adventures at the storytelling corner, gathering everyone around for a group reading, and host a variety of games and activities inspired by teddy.

Kids will also get to tuck into their own picnic box that comes with the choice of a cheese, ham or tuna sandwich, a drink and selection of snacks. Adults can enjoy cake and a hot drink as part of the experience.

Sarah Murray at Dobbies developed this event and is looking forward to welcoming children of all ages along to the Teddy Bears’ Picnic at the Edinburgh store.

She said: “This brand-new event is a great opportunity for kids to come together and experience the wonderful joy that comes with making their very own teddy bear to take home. Children will also enjoy a picnic experience, filled with food, fun and storytelling.

“We’re encouraging families cosy up and get comfy by bringing their own picnic blankets, beach towel or cushions.”

Tickets are priced at £15.99 for over 3s and £7.99 for under 3s, adult tickets are priced at £7.40. Creating your own teddy bear is only suitable for children over three years old, and under 3s are encouraged to bring their own favourite teddy.

For more information on Dobbies’ Teddy Bears’ Picnic, visit:  

www.dobbies.com/events.    

A Ghost Story for Boxing Day

A ROLLING STONE

WE visited the wee Garden Centre regularly. We much preferred it to those huge, impersonal Garden Centres – the ones with cafes and food halls and play areas; the garden centres that sell everything but where actual gardening seems to be an afterthought.

Yes, our wee garden centre was pretty basic – plants, pots, compost – but the staff knew their stuff, and there was one guy in particular who was like a walking encyclopaedia.

There was nothing remarkable about Will Moss – his name was on his badge – other than his amazing horticultural knowledge. He was a small, stocky bloke with craggy features and the complexion of someone who enjoys the outdoor life. His hair was dark, with flecks of grey, and it was really hard to tell how old he might be. My wife thought late forties, I guessed a good few years older but we really didn’t have a clue.

Will couldn’t have been more helpful and nothing was too much trouble for him. When we visited he never seemed too far away and when we needed his advice Will always seemed to be on hand, always there but never intrusive. You would always smell him before you saw him: Will was clearly a big fan of Old Spice.

Once we had got to know him a bit better we made a point of testing him out. On the way to the garden centre we would come up with all sorts of devilishly difficult gardening dilemmas – but without fail he would come up with a practical solution for each and every one of them. He enjoyed the challenge but was modest about his vast knowledge, embarrassed even.

Our garden flourished through Will’s expert guidance, and what had been a barren desert of spindly, weedy grass blossomed to become a beautiful oasis, vibrant with colour and teeming with bees and butterflies. Summer evenings were particularly heavenly, with the heady fragrance of the stocks, lillies and lavender filling the warm evening air.

In the autumn and even into winter there was stunning colour and variety in the garden, and that would have been impossible without Will. He had been such a huge help to us that we decided we really must say thanks in some way, and with Christmas approaching we decided to get him a gift to show our appreciation. It could only be one thing: a large Old Spice gift set. I remember we laughed when we imagined Will receiving gallons of the stuff from grateful customers like us at Christmas.

We went out to the garden centre in early December, and we were surprised that there was no sign of Will when we got there. He could have been on holiday or on a day off, of course, or maybe even off sick (although he had once proudly told us that he had never had a day off sick in his life).

When we asked another member of staff where he was we were astounded to hear that Will no longer worked there. He hadn’t left: he had simply disappeared.

From talking to other staff we discovered that Will has worked at the garden centre for many years, far longer than all the other staff but other than that, he was a pretty much a mystery.

He had always refused promotion when it was offered, seemingly content quietly working away. He didn’t talk an awful lot but everyone got on with him and respected him. He never talked about family and no-one knew anything about his personal life; he always took lunch on his own in the garden and never attended social events.

Strangest of all, the home address he had given his employers did not exist. It seems the street name he provided was demolished many years ago.

Bewildered, we left the garden centre without making any purchases and we didn’t talk all the way home.

I wandered into our garden to try to get things straight in my head, and sat on the bench under the lilac tree, a favourite spot.

I took a deep breath … and suddenly froze. I exhaled – and then carefully, ever so slowly, I breathed in once again. Yes, there was absolutely no doubt … the unmistakably pungent scent of Old Spice.

Will’s gift still sits on the workbench in the garden shed. Perhaps one day he’ll come to claim it.

DAVE PICKERING

December 2022

Garden centre rooting for reopening

New Hopetoun Gardens, a garden centre in Broxburn, was among many retailers who were forced to suddenly close their doors when the pandemic hit in March last year.

The garden centre, which offers Scotland’s largest range of plants for sale, relied heavily on customer visits and face-to-face trading so the forced closure hit the business hard. With an average of 10,000 customers a month during a normal April and May, it missed out on the busiest trading months of the year.

Profits dropped considerably and 28 of its 36 staff were furloughed.

In April 2020, New Hopetoun Gardens approached Bank of Scotland for support and received a £195,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) funding package. This allowed the business to ensure it had sufficient cashflow, pay suppliers, care for the plants, and provide reassurance to its staff that operations will continue once restrictions have eased.

New Hopetoun Gardens introduced home delivery services for its customers and launched a new website six weeks ago to facilitate a click and collect service.

These measures have helped over the past few months but the decision after Christmas to give ‘non-essential’ status to the centre has hampered business prospects of opening before its busiest trading period in early spring. 

Morag Macrae, joint owner of New Hopetoun Gardens, said: “The past year has been really challenging for us as a business. Most of our trading is done face-to-face and while we’re incredibly grateful to our fantastic customers who have used our click and collect and delivery service, we saw our revenue drop considerably.

“The change that saw us considered as a “non-essential” shop was quite a blow as we hoped to be open to take full benefit of our busy spring trading period.

“Thankfully, the support from Bank of Scotland has been a massive boost. It has allowed us to keep our operations running and keep us out of our overdraft which has been a huge relief.

“While times are still challenging, business has picked up considerably in March and we’re hoping we will be able to re-open soon to make the most out of our key trading period, when it is safe to do so.”