Small steps, big difference at The Gardens Group

Peat free and reduced peat growing media along with a pot recycling scheme help The Gardens Group improve its green credentials

Small steps make a big difference

From collecting Christmas trees to reducing mains water consumption, The Gardens Group is living up to its Sustainabilityt and Environment Commitment.

At the beginning of the year, The Gardens Group, with three centres in south west England, came up with a clever system to maximise efficiency and help reduce its carbon footprint. By combining the collection of 1,500 Christmas trees with the delivery of 7,500 bags of peat free compost it made sure every van leaving Castle Gardens, Sherborne, Brimsmore Gardens, Yeovil and Poundbury Gardens near Dorchester did so full of compost bags and returned brimming with Christmas trees. “These two important thrusts of the business seem unconnected, but have been combined to work together for the good of the planet,” says Mike Burks, The Gardens Group Managing Director. “So with some careful route planning, we were able to make sure deliveries going to certain villages and towns coincided with Christmas tree collection requests. It has been extremely successful and something we intend to hone and perfect in years to come, as we continue to limit our impact on the environment as much as possible, while inspiring gardeners of all ages topossible, while inspiring gardeners of all ages to protect their little patch of the planet.”

The Christmas trees will be chipped and used for soil improvement schemes on the Sherborne Castle Estate, where the garden centre is located and throughout its other centres.

This is just one example of how the ‘The Gardens Group is working to improve its green credentials set out in its Sustainability and Environment Commitment published in February. Weaving through all aspects of the business from sourcing and purchasing all goods and services in catering through to furniture sales, it illustrates the company’s aims to reduce its carbon footprint. It is also looking at how its customers use the products and services in their own gardens.

Reducing reliance on mains water is a key issue and at the Sherborne centre this has

Helping Helping to ensureto ensure pots are usedpots are used again and again and again. again. been addressed through the creation of a 50,000 litre rainwater harvesting tank and the discovery of a Victorian well and plumbing system. The brick lined well was once the source of water for the castle’s walled kitchen garden and it has now been revived to channel rainwater for use in the bedding plant area. The remastered system will also help to reduce localised flooding as excess rain water is collected rather than allowed to hit the road.

“Water is such a precious resource and climate change is contributing to higher levels of rainfall, so we’re really excited to have revived this relic of the site’s horticultural past, while reducing our own impact on the environment as a business,” says Mike. All three sites now have rainwater harvesting facilities.

Other initiatives which might not be so obvious to customers include solar panels, biomass heating and ground source heat pumps but customers will notice that the centres are offering to collect pots and used compost bags. As long as they have been neatly opened along the top edge the bags will be used again for example to cover bare root hedging during transport. “We hope this new scheme will help everyone reduce their waste and demonstrate how gardening can be a force for good when it comes to people and planet,” says Mike.