Pippa Greenwood embarks on UK ‘Grow Your Own’ tour
By: Steve Ott
One of Britain’s most popular gardening broadcasters will be hitting the road later this spring to promote the values of growing your own.
Meet popular gardening expert Pippa Greenwood during her spring tour of UK garden centres.
Grow your own specialist and broadcaster, Pippa Greenwood, has teamed up with garden plastics specialists Stewart to embark on an ambitious tour to eight locations around the country encouraging gardeners to make the most of home produce.
With money getting tighter, an increasing number of people are saving cash and staying healthy by using their gardens, greenhouses and even their windowsills to cultivate food.
There has been a massive rise in the popularity of grow your own horticulture lately, with the National Trust reporting the huge potential in the UK with around 600 acres of unused windowsills which could be used to grow fruit and vegetables under glass by those who do not have space for a greenhouse.
But help is now at hand from Pippa Greenwood who will be demonstrating on the tour how easy it is to grow your own. She will explain and demonstrate growing seeds and propagation. She will also show how to pot a plant easily using different sized pots as well as giving a master class on making small and versatile growing beds from large pots, troughs and hanging baskets.
The tour will begin on March 1st at Stewarts in Christchurch, Dorset and then to mark gardening’s own version of Comic Relief, Garden Re-Leaf Day on March 13th, Pippa will be bound for Cadbury Garden & Leisure Centre in Congresbury, North Somerset.
Garden Re-Leaf Day is part of a nationwide programme of fund-raising events aimed at gardeners of all levels of expertise. All proceeds will be donated to Greenfingers, the garden industry charity which creates gardens at children’s hospices.
Pippa will visit Scotsdale Nursery & Garden Centre in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire on March 24th, Barton Grange Garden Centre in Brock Preston, Lancashire on March 28th, as well as Gordale Nurseries in Burton, South Wirral, Cheshire on March 29th.
She will then head to Webbs near Droitwich, Worcestershire on April 5th, followed by attending the Exeter Food Festival, Northernhay Gardens, Exeter on April 13th and the tour will be rounded off by a visit to the Garden Pride Garden Centre in Ditchling, West Sussex on May 13th.
The BBC Gardeners’ Question Time panellist and BBC Gardeners’ World columnist said she was very excited to be working with Stewart, taking part in a very hands-on tour where there will be eight comprehensive information sheets available to visitors explaining everything from propagation to when to use a cloche. These, along with a ‘grow your own calendar’, will be available in garden centres and DIY stores across the country, located next to Stewart products labelled with Pippa’s ‘grow your own’ branding.
“I believe that, together, we can help gardeners everywhere get the most from their grow your own efforts.”
March 1st: Stewarts, Lyndhurst Road, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 4SA. Tel 01425 272244. www.stewarts.co.uk/
March 13th: Cadbury Garden & Leisure Centre, Smallway, Congresbury,
North Somerset BS49 5AA. Tel: 01934 875700. www.g-l.co.uk/static/cadbury.html
March 24th: Scotsdale Nursery & Garden Centre, Cambridge Road, Great Shelford, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB22 5JT. Tel 01223 842777. www.scotsdalegardencentre.co.uk/
March 28th: Barton Grange Garden Centre, Garstang Road, Brock Preston,
Lancashire PR3 0BT. Tel 01995 642900. www.bartongrange.co.uk/
March 29th: Gordale Nurseries Ltd, Chester High Road, Burton, South Wirral,
Cheshire CH64 8TF. Tel 0151 336 2116. www.gordale.co.uk/
April 5th: Webbs, Wychbold, Droitwich, Worcestershire WR9 0DG. Tel 01527 860000.
April 13th: Exeter Food Festival, Northernhay Gardens, Exeter, EX4 3QE www.exeterfoodfestival.co.uk
May 13th: Garden Pride Garden Centre, Common Lane, Ditchling,
West Sussex, BN6 8TP. Tel 01273 846844. www.garden-pride.com/index.php
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