We're Supporting
British Growers
By sourcing high quality plants grown in the UK for you
As a business which was born and bred in the UK, we're extremely proud to support our British growers by sourcing our high-quality plants direct from their nurseries.
Buying British has a number of benefits. For a start, locally grown plants are acclimatised to our weather, which means you'll have more chance of growing success than plants grown elsewhere. There's also no risk of introducing new diseases from other countries, which can cause vast damage to our environment.
By working closely with our growers, we're able to monitor the health and quality of the plants we source, so you can rest assured that you're getting the very best plants, and the very best outcome.
Browse our British Grown Ranges
Growers Stories
Cheer's Nurseries
Cheer's nurseries, owned and managed by Henry Cheer, has been supplying us with a range of vegetable plants and ornamental plants for around 16 years. Founded in 1989 and based in Boston, Lincolnshire, Cheer's Nurseries employs around 16 full-time staff at its 8-acre site.
Does your location give you growing benefits for your crops?
“The area around Boston is known for its horticultural specialism; there are many nurseries and growers, and a huge pool of horticultural professionals which has helped this part of Lincolnshire become well known in the growing world.”
What facilities do you have at the nursery?
“We have around 8-acres of glasshouses across the site. Each one has a different growing environment for different crops, for example, some have heated floors, and some have supplementary lighting. We ensure that each different species of plant has the very best growing conditions.”
Can you tell us about the plants you grow at Cheer's Nurseries?
“We mainly grow vegetable plants for Marshalls, although we do grow and have supplied some ornamental plants in the past too. We grow around 500 different species of vegetables in total here! We specialise in seed-based propagation, and don’t grow any plants from cuttings. The benefit of this is that we’re able to stay in control and produce what we need, as well as trialling new and unusual varieties.”
Have you grown anything new or unusual recently?
“We grew a new range of herbs for Marshalls earlier this year which included samphire; something a little different for us and I hear proved very popular with Marshalls customers. We’re constantly looking at what new or unusual varieties we can grow and offer to our retailers.”
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re doing to reduce your impact on the environment?
“Our entire team is very passionate about caring for the environment. We’ve started to look at how we can reduce the use of peat and are growing more plants in compost which has a peat-substitute. Compared to ten years ago, our pesticide usage has reduced by 75%; we now use more biological controls such as predators or natural fungi to control pests.
We’re also looking at ways in which we can reduce plastic use at the nursery, and during the winter, our entire team took part in training on recycling; we’re now setting targets internally and improving our recycling practices, and are already seeing a difference as we have less skips going to landfill then we did in 2019.”
How has your company has changed?
“I guess one of the biggest changes we’ve been through is how we grow our bedding plants; we used to grow in long rows or ‘strips’ but now everything is in packs which gives a better quality plant. We also have a much wider range of customers, of which mail-order companies like Marshalls is very important for us as a UK grower.”