At Gardening Express, we know that choice is important for any gardener. As gardeners ourselves, we love nothing more than showing off our latest find to friends and family who may have never seen or even heard of the particular plant variety.

 

At our busy nursery in Chelmsford, Essex, we store, grow and care for over 9,000 different varieties of plants available to buy right now. We have everything you would expect to find in your local garden centre, but more! So instead of deciding between maybe five or six types of hydrangea, try over 100. Or instead of choosing between a red or a white rose, choose from over 600 types of shrub, tree and climbing rose.

 

Now all that choice could be overwhelming, but the Gardening Express website has a number of features to find you that garden gem you have been seeking. Simply search for the type of plant you are looking for, a Hydrangea, or a rose for example, and use our handy filters on the side of the page to find the perfect plant for you. You can sort your choices by colour, aspect, pot size and even the type of garden it is best suited for if you have a particular theme you’re looking to emulate.

 

Our website also has a number of curated plant selections chosen by our team for varieties that look great for the current type of year and plants that are suited to certain garden styles, like cottage or Japanese gardens. These are helpful if you’re not quite sure what you need and could use some inspiration. You’re sure to find some hidden treasure here!

 

The relationships we have built with our suppliers mean that we always have new and interesting varieties arriving at the nursery. Just this week, we received a huge shipment of patio trees, including roses and fruit trees, all ready to grace your garden. Our stock is carefully selected to bring in the best quality varieties available at the best price for you, our customers. It's constantly changing which means that we will only have a limited amount of some of the more unusual varieties, so be sure to grab a deal when you see it.

 

At Gardening Express, we offer choices like no traditional garden centre, all of which are ready to be sent straight to your door at a price you won’t find anywhere else.

 

Here are just some examples of the huge range of plants available at Gardening Express.

 

 

Acers

 

Japanese Maples define grace and beauty, adding a touch of sophistication to any garden. We have over 100 varieties, and there is an Acer (or Maple, as they are commonly known) for every garden.

 

At Gardening Express, we know that choice is important for any gardener. As gardeners ourselves, we love nothing more than showing off our latest find to friends and family who may have never seen or even heard of the particular plant variety.   At our busy nursery in Chelmsford, Essex, we store, grow and care […]

Here at Gardening Express, our Customer Support Team understand that every plant has a story, and every gardener has a vision. We are more than just a fantastic store - our website is your digital garden oasis, where you’ll find our lovingly curated Knowledge Hub brimming with support and resources tailored to nurture your gardening journey. We continuously listen to our customer requests, and as a result we have cultivated a wealth of information to help you cultivate your green space with confidence. Explore our extensive library of guides, hints & tips, and video tutorials - it's all just a few clicks away.

Our Customer Support Centre is full of articles that address our most frequently asked questions, that have been raised by you our customers over the years. These range from placing orders, making payments, retrieving invoices, and all through the journey your plants will embark upon to arrive fresh on your doorstep. Should you need it, you will also find peace of mind in details outlining our plant guarantees, as well other useful plant and stock information. Our Customer Support Centre is also where you’ll find our AI-driven Customer Support Bot who is also on hand to guide you through our most queried processes. We keep our AI assistance updated through an integrated continuous learning and training loop, as well as updates in line with seasonal transitions.

And if you can’t find the answer to your query at our green fingertips, then our knowledgeable and friendly advisors are equipped with the tools and horticultural know-how to assist you every step of the way. You will find our easy-to-use contact form on the front page of our Customer Support Centre. This has been designed for you to submit just once, and it will also trace your contact history with us, allowing our experts to tend to your enquiry with personalised attention tailored to your specific needs. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our AI-driven Customer Support Bot.

A couple of things that you can do to help us help you more swiftly:

Here at Gardening Express, our Customer Support Team understand that every plant has a story, and every gardener has a vision. We are more than just a fantastic store – our website is your digital garden oasis, where you’ll find our lovingly curated Knowledge Hub brimming with support and resources tailored to nurture your gardening […]

We are always keen to ensure we provide the highest quality products and test out all products we sell. Our garden designer and photographer Nick was eager to see what wild birds he could attract and photograph by putting out our wild bird food. He set up a feeding station in our nature garden and kept it readily supplied with our wild bird food selection. Below, he details his successes and failures.

Blue Tit

I initially set up the feeder in a garden space surrounded by overgrown grass in July. The feeder was filled with our own-brand peanuts, suet balls, suet blocks, and mixed wild bird seed.  I modified our shed so that I had a great, discrete spot to shoot from and invested in a decent lens for the front of my camera (Canon RF 600mm F11 on a Canon EOS R6).

 

It took just a of weeks before the first birds were attracted, and quickly, I saw we were attracting juvenile Blue Tits, and a couple of Great Tits.  As a novice ‘twitcher’ I was delighted with the quick response to our food.  I had expected that it would take time for the food to be found and the feeding station to be trusted; however, I was proved wrong. The same birds came back day after day and it was thrilling to see them return in larger numbers and to feast on the food.

Great Tit

I started with no knowledge of wild birds and how to attract them so it was pleasing to get such an early response.

I was eager to try and attract a broader range of birds, and so I started adding different foods, including our mealworms and calci worms alongside sunflower hearts.  I also introduced one of our bird tables as I read that different birds prefer different feeding platforms.  It took a couple of weeks, but then I noticed that large quantities of worms and sunflower hearts were being consumed, but I failed to spot the culprit.  With a bit of patience, I finally spotted a large magpie helping himself to the treats.  I didn’t actually mind the magpie and enjoyed watching him feast.

A couple of weeks later, I spotted a Robin who enjoyed hopping onto the bird table I had put out and helped himself to the worms.  Different birds enjoy different food and feeding platforms, so if you want to attract a broad array of birds, it is worth trying different foods to see what works in your garden.

Robin

I have now added a bird bath to the setup to give the birds somewhere to bathe. I hope that it will help increase bird diversity.

 

Capturing wild birds with my camera has proven to be easier than I hoped and is very addictive.  I am fortunate to have a mirrorless camera with a long lens as well as a great hiding place.  Patience is key to getting great results as is having a decent dark background to make the birds stand out.  If you shoot with the sky as your background you will see that the birds come out very dark in the images.

Wild birds feeding

I would love to hear about your efforts to attract wildlife into your garden.  Please send in any images you capture and we can share with other enthusiasts.

We are always keen to ensure we provide the highest quality products and test out all products we sell. Our garden designer and photographer Nick was eager to see what wild birds he could attract and photograph by putting out our wild bird food. He set up a feeding station in our nature garden and […]

As fresh Christmas Trees begin hitting stores and garden centres, all is not well in the world of festive greenery this year. In fact, there’s a perfect storm brewing that not only causing supply issues this year, but is likely to ricochet through the industry for years to come.

Everyone who wants a tree should get one, but quality is down on previous years, so the advice is buy from a trusted retailer that hand picks their trees from the plantations, as they’ll have the best ones around, this is exactly what we do at Gardening Express, rejecting anything that we don’t deem as the best for our customers.

If you don’t buy online from us, it will be a case of getting to the stores early to get the pick of what stock they have. There are stores out their with great trees, as we’re even supplying some ourselves through our wholesale division.

They’ll be enough standard/supermarket/diy store grade trees around elsewhere, but due to the shortages of quality trees, even more premium outlets are having to stock these this year too. The problem with trees like this is that they can be sparse and gappy, certainly not a full premium tree as these always get reserved by other retailers that are prepared to pay more and compete on quality, not just price. Plus these sort of trees often get stored at far from ideal conditions - supermarkets aren’t known for fridge like temperatures, so trees can go over quickly and not last in the home.

Why is tree quality a problem this year?

So, what’s the cause of these quality issues this year? Quite simply, premium quality trees are in short supply due to the wet weather early in the year, which has played havoc with growth, along with cooler temperatures early in the growing season. Excess moisture at the wrong time can cause fungal diseases to prevail, affecting the growth and quality of the crop. Rising fertiliser prices have also seen some tree farms reduce the amount of feed they’re providing trees, but this to has had a knock of effect to the finished product with poorer growth and branching.

Therefore we have a classic supply and demand situation with prices rising across the board this year on all grades of tree. We know times are tough for our customers, so have held as many of our prices as possible, but expect increases up to 20% elsewhere. Long term, prices are also likely to keep going up too, once escalating labour and transport costs are factored in thanks to the recent budget.

Can’t we just import trees cheaper from abroad?

The UK already imports around 3 million trees from abroad every year, mostly from Denmark, and they’re suffering the same problems as UK growers, so there is no respite, in fact, the Danes are even shorter of quality trees this year than the main UK growers up in Scotland.

All imported trees are also subject to EU red tape and costly health inspections before they can enter the UK too – after all, we don’t want nasty non-native pests entering the UK, so they won’t be any cheaper.  The eight-toothed spruce bark beetle is typically found in mainland Europe and northern Asia but has unfortunately already arrived in the UK, which could put the whole Christmas Tree industry at risk in future years if it continues to spread.

Are we planting more Trees to ensure a plentiful supply in to the Future?

Looking further to the future, a lot of plantations haven’t been replanting. These are inter-generational farms, with younger generations now losing interest dazzled away from the farm by the bright lights of careers elsewhere with better returns.

I’m usually one to avoid any political commentary but this situation is likely to be exacerbated in the U.K. given the changes to farmland inheritance in the recent budget. It’s sad to say, but the knock on effect of this will cause farms to close and pack in production. Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are literally becoming the Grinch stealing Christmas for our children and future generations on this one. They probably don’t even realise it, and given it takes at least 7 years to grow a Christmas Tree, they’ll likely be long gone when the catastrophic effects are truly felt. The estate agents Strutt and Parker have Christmas tree farms on their booked already where farms have decided now is the time to throw in the towel. One of the biggest that has already gone up for sale and specialises in growing premium quality trees is Garrocher Christmas Tree Farm in Dumfries and Galloway - ironically, they’ve previously supplied Downing Streets Christmas Trees.

Any Tips for Keeping this years tree looking it’s best?

One big tip for this year, wherever you buy a tree, is to keep it well watered. Temperatures are higher than average with very little in the way of frosts yet, so the trees haven’t fully gone in to dormancy, meaning they’ll drink more water.

Order Premium Quality Cut Nordmann Fir Christmas Trees here

As fresh Christmas Trees begin hitting stores and garden centres, all is not well in the world of festive greenery this year. In fact, there’s a perfect storm brewing that not only causing supply issues this year, but is likely to ricochet through the industry for years to come. Everyone who wants a tree should […]

As the nights draw in and the festive season approaches, councils across the country are preparing to light up their cities with their annual Christmas displays. But have you ever wondered just how much these light shows cost? 

Here at GardeningExpress.co.uk we have researched council spending on Christmas lights and decorations and have uncovered some surprising insights into how different cities across the nation budget their celebrations.

 

London Christmas lights

Image source: Shutterstock.com

From the busy streets of Glasgow to the historic lanes of St Albans, we've analysed the data across the UK. Our research reveals which cities are the biggest spenders, who's cutting back, and where you might find the most dazzling displays in 2024.

Whether you're a super festive fan planning your Christmas light-seeing tour or a local resident curious about how your city compares, our findings shed light on the financial impact of this annual tradition for city councils around the country.

Glasgow city council lights spend

Glasgow named biggest festive spender

Glasgow tops our list as the UK's biggest spender on Christmas lights and decorations on average – although it won’t be spending the most in 2024. Nevertheless, the city's commitment to creating a magical winter atmosphere is reflected in its consistently impressive budget.

Glasgow's spending has remained consistently high over the years, demonstrating the city's dedication to maintaining its festive reputation. This substantial investment suggests that visitors to Glasgow can expect a truly spectacular Christmas lights display, year after year.

Manchester council christmas lights spend

Manchester comes in close second

Hot on Glasgow's tail is Manchester, another city that isn’t shy of hosting impressive Christmas light displays. In fact, this year Manchester is miles above any other city’s spending budgets, as the city council is planning to invest a quarter of a million pounds into its Christmas lights and decorations.


Manchester’s dedication has also been consistent throughout the years, making it well known for creating a magical ambiance for their residents and visitors to the city over the festive period. Over the last 10 years, the city has allocated a healthy  budget for their Christmas lights and decorations, therefore making it a reliable location for families wanting to see impressive lights and festive decor.

Leeds council christmas lights spend

Leeds ranks in third place overall

Leeds is an interesting city to look at for Christmas light spending due to big increases and decreases throughout the years. 

 


Leeds experienced a big cut in their spending after the pandemic in 2020, with the budget dropping dramatically from £241,049 to £61,467 - a decline of almost 75%! However, they are planning to increase their budget again for 2024, perhaps suggesting a renewed focus on festive decorations.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is reflected in a lot of cities’ spending choices, with some cities reducing their budgets in 2020 and 2021 before increasing them in later years as finances recovered. Despite these challenges, many cities maintained or boosted their Christmas decoration budgets, recognising the importance of festive celebrations for both locals and tourism.

St Albans council lights spend

St Albans is the lowest spender

On the other end of the scale, the data shows St Albans as the lowest city spender. 

 

 
St Albans City Council allocates a modest but consistent budget for festive lights, suggesting that while Christmas displays may not be a top priority, the approach works well for the city.

 

Highest and lowest spenders - overall average yearly spend:

Highest spenders overall:

  1. Glasgow: £284,955
  2. Manchester: £245,383
  3. Leeds: £213,559
  4. Dundee: £162,483
  5. Wakefield: £160,233
  6. Edinburgh: £157,286
  7. Leicester: £135,845
  8. Cardiff: £123,048
  9. Newcastle upon Tyne: £117,553
  10. Coventry: £113,417

 

Lowest spenders overall:

  1. St Albans: £14,932
  2. Winchester: £18,623
  3. Barnsley: £21,793
  4. Middlesbrough: £26,194
  5. Gloucester: £27,500
  6. Nottingham: £30,450
  7. Newport: £37,452
  8. Plymouth: £37,500
  9. Worcester: £44,094
  10. Stoke-on-Trent: £44,098.66

 

This data reveals that population size doesn’t always correlate with spending, as some smaller cities allocate more per person than larger ones. While cities like Plymouth and Winchester maintain stable Christmas decoration budgets, others, like Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Leeds, have seen fluctuations over the years.

 

Highest and lowest spenders - per 1,000 people:

Highest spenders per 1,000 people:

 

  1. Wakefield: £1,637
  2. Newport: £1,474
  3. Dundee: £1,096
  4. Carlisle: £711
  5. Lincoln: £637
  6. Doncaster: £557
  7. Chelmsford: £553
  8. Manchester: £521
  9. Aberdeen: £474
  10. Glasgow: £450

 

Lowest spenders per 1,000 people:

 

  1. Nottingham £101
  2. Plymouth: £140
  3. Stoke-on-Trent: £169
  4. Middlesbrough: £176
  5. Sheffield: £193
  6. St Albans £197
  7. Wolverhampton: £225
  8. Gloucester: £231
  9. Portsmouth: £282
  10. Barnsley: £305

 

An interesting takeaway from this perspective is that it can change our view of the ‘biggest’ spenders. A city that appears to spend less overall may actually be among the most generous when considering its spending per capita.

2024’s biggest predicted spenders

Based on the data we have, the top five cities for predicted Christmas lights and decorations spend in 2024 are:

  1.   Manchester: £250,313
  2.   Wakefield: £140,730
  3.   Sheffield: £138,000
  4.   Leeds: £129,000
  5.   Barnsley: £119,000

These cities are likely to host some of the most impressive Christmas light displays in 2024, thanks to their significant investments. So if you’re planning to travel for festive sights, they could be worth noting – especially Manchester, which leads the pack by spending a quarter of a million on its displays!

Council Christmas budgets data

Gardening Express’ tips for decorating your own Christmas tree at home:

It’s always best to have a theme in mind when decorating your tree. Pick colours that are consistent with the rest of the decorations in your home. Some common colour combinations include red and green, and silver and blue.

 

The best way to begin designing your Christmas tree is to start by attaching the lights first. It’s a lot harder to add these after baubles and tinsel have been placed!

 

Ensure everything is evenly spread out and well-balanced. Start from the top of the tree and work your way down to the bottom. This should make it easier to check back on the design as you go.

 

Methodology 

FOI requests were sent to city councils around the UK to collect the following information:

 

  1. The total cost spent on Christmas decorations (such as lights, baubles, Christmas trees etc) in the year 2020.
  2. The total cost spent on Christmas decorations (such as lights, baubles, Christmas trees etc) in the year 2021.
  3. The total cost spent on Christmas decorations (such as lights, baubles, Christmas trees etc) in the year 2022.
  4. The total cost spent on Christmas decorations (such as lights, baubles, Christmas trees etc) in the year 2023.
  5. The predicted cost or budget allocated for Christmas decorations (such as lights, baubles, Christmas trees etc) for the year 2024.

 

We also used existing data for the years 2015-2019 which was taken from a similar campaign that again used FOI data requests. 

 

With all relevant responses, information was organised and analysed to work out the average cost per city and average spend per 1,000 people. In some instances where the full data requested was not received, we worked out the average for the data we had available. 

Population figures were found using 2021 ONS city population figures, for Scotland 2020 figures were used from the National Records of Scotland, for Wales 2021 figures were used from the Census

 

Link to full data can be found here.

As the nights draw in and the festive season approaches, councils across the country are preparing to light up their cities with their annual Christmas displays. But have you ever wondered just how much these light shows cost?  Here at GardeningExpress.co.uk we have researched council spending on Christmas lights and decorations and have uncovered some […]

As the winter months pile on and the weather gets a bit more miserable by the day I often find myself staring out my window at my garden, the once blooming tangle of stems and petals brimming with colour and life, now looks like an upsetting pile of twigs and dried leaves. Which isn’t ideal is it? No one wants to have their home remind them of the set dressing to Threads (1984).

 

If you’re like me, melancholily starring into the void that is the shell of your garden’s former self, reminiscing on the good times that now feel an age ago, don’t threat, we can navigate this existential plant crisis together.

 

I’ve put together a list of my favourite plants we’ve got in our nursery this week that I think would look fantastic in your garden (yes! Your garden specifically!). Not all plants are created equal, and while we love all plants and flowers here at Gardening Express, not all plants were born to be the eye catchers and set pieces of your garden. So to accommodate this I’ve decided to show you a mix of eye catching flowers that will be the proverbial star players of your garden along with some hardier, less delicate plants that will fill in those blank spaces and keep your garden feeling alive throughout the colder months - to keep up the sports metaphors, these will be our role players. So lets dive in!

 

  1. Albizia julibrissin Ombrella - Silk Tree

Albizia

Kicking things off, I’ve decided to go with the otherworldly Albizia Julibrissin Ombrella - sometimes referred to as the French silk tree. I love this plant personally, its a deciduous plant that’s very hardy and looks great covered in rain droplets. These will grow anywhere in the uk and if you’re lucky will even hold onto some of their flowers into the winter. As trees, they’ll take up a decent amount of space, growing to around 2 - 4 meters tall, so these plants are great for establishing some shade for some of your more delicate plants come summer.

 

  1. Verbena Rigida

Verbena

Speaking of delicate plants, next up we have the Verbena Rigida, a very dainty and colourful low growing perennial. These little guys are a great way to add some colour and texture to your garden, in a pot, under a tree, around some greenery, anywhere. No pruning is required either for this plant, so think of it as a little gift to yourself.

 

 I Love these, actually the more that I talk about them the more I’m tempted to close the laptop and go back down to the nursery and pick up a few for myself, so I better end this hear before this article ends up unfinished.

 

  1. Callicarpa Japonica (Leucocarpa)

Callicarpa

It’s time to get a little weird, not too weird, its just plants after all, but still weird. These Callicarpa japonicas are one of my favourites here at Gardening Express, every time I walk down to the nursery I have to do a double take when I see them. They’re so striking and unique when they’re in bloom, the white berry clusters are the perfect contrast to the dark greens and browns that are bound to be in your garden this time of year, these berries will give your garden some much needed interest in the colder months and will continue to attract birds throughout the winter, keeping your garden full of life, Which will help ease some of that existential garden dread we talked about earlier.

 

 

  1. Geranium Dusky Crûg

Geranium

We (well, I) have done a lot of talking about bigger plants that are going to fill space creatively so far, so I want to shift focus a bit and talk a bit about these hardy, semi-evergreen flowers that bloom later in the year that will be the perfect accoutrement to some of those bigger evergreens. You’ll see a lot of Geranium’s in the UK due to how easy they are to grow and how great they look, which is why I think they’d make a major addition to any garden needing a subtle pop of colour. They’re perfect for flower beds and borders, you can underplant them as well bellow roses and shrubs (or whatever you like, really). They’re just a super versatile perennial that will work anywhere, the black trousers of plants, they’ll go with anything.

 

  1. Japanese Anemone Hadspen Abundance 

 

Finally, capping off this list is the charming Anemone hupehensis. Saved the best till last! these native Japanese plants are very easy on the eye and look good anywhere, literally anywhere, put them in your front garden, around beds, under trees, in pots, anywhere, it doesn’t matter because they’re gonna be a conversation piece in your garden with those big pastel petals and layered centre. They are clump forming also, meaning they’ll spread out gradually in a small area, which I really like personally. it makes it easy to manage them and keep them looking pretty.
 Additionally, These guys are going to be perfect for winter due to their hardiness, they can survive extreme temperatures which can be a rarity for plants of this nature.

 

So that’s it, how are we feeling? Still a little down? Still feeling some of that seasonal garden depression? Hopefully not, and hopefully you’re feeling inspired to get your garden back to looking its best with some of these plants instead. We’re never not adding new stock here at gardening express, so if you’re after more inspiration, be sure to take a look at our new arrivals I’m sure you’ll find something that will fit nicely in your garden.

 

We have a ridiculous amount of articles and tutorials on our website on garden design and planning on our website, so if you’re after more tips or help, we’ve still got you covered still: https://help.gardeningexpress.co.uk/article-categories/garden-styles/

 

As the winter months pile on and the weather gets a bit more miserable by the day I often find myself staring out my window at my garden, the once blooming tangle of stems and petals brimming with colour and life, now looks like an upsetting pile of twigs and dried leaves. Which isn’t ideal […]