Camden Garden Centre

www.camdengardencentre.co.uk

Visited on September 8, 2009

Introduction: Our September 2009 trip to Manchester, England included a day trip to London where we visited two garden centres in the London suburbs. Our research found that there were numerous garden centres in London that I would have enjoyed visiting and reviewing, but we decided to narrow our search to the centers that could be reached by only using the over-ground rail. Camden Garden Centre was the first stop Tuesday morning.

Background

• Location – 2 Barker Drive, off Pancras Way, in the Camden Town area of London.
• Transportation – We took a 2 hour early morning train ride from Manchester to London. A transfer of trains took us to the Camden Road Station. It was about a seven block walk to the Camden Garden Centre. If your choice is to take the tube, the centre is about a ten minute walk from the Camden Town tube underground station. It is easily accessible by car.
• History – Camden Garden Centre opened in 1982, not only as a garden centre , but as a business with a social purpose. It is unique in offering employment training and educational opportunities as a charitable organization. Camden Garden Centre trains and pays wages to people from a variety of backgrounds to learn horticulture business. The trainees may be the long term unemployed, people who lack confidence or are homeless, or young people without school qualifications. Also included are people with physical disabilities, ex-offenders, people with mental heath problems as well as those recovering from alcohol or drug dependency.

  Mike Jackson is Camden Garden Centre’s Head of Social Enterprise Development and Training. In a video on their website, he shared a few of their success stories of the trainees. He said that his job there is 50% horticulture and 50% social work.

  Camden Garden Centre donates funds to their parent charity, The Southern Task Educational Trust. Camden Garden Center also features a plant of the month. They donate 5% of that plant sale to the Perennial Gardener’s Royal Benevolent Society. This society was founded in 1839 and till this day, provides advise, support, and help for any retired or working individuals from the horticulture trades.

  Camden Garden Centre stated that many of their trainees have gone on to have their own businesses from floristry to landscape gardening. Others have received the training and qualifications to be employed in the horticulture or other industries.

  Camden Garden Centre received the UK Garden Centre of the Year Award for 2002.

  In 2006, they won a national award at the annual Horticulture Weeks Award, for the “Most Outstanding Commitment to Education and Training in Horticulture.” The reward was in acknowledgement of Camden Garden Centre’s work to provide education, employment and training opportunities to local disadvantaged people. The Camden Garden Centre has been approved by the OCR as a training and government assessment center.

• Marketing – The Camden Garden Centre provides customers with a Garden Reward Card and a record is kept of customers purchases. Every two months, a voucher is given to the customer for 10% of their total purchases. This can be used as a credit towards plants and products bought at the centre. At the time of our visit, Camden Garden Centre carried plants labeled as being grown in a British Nursery, to encourage customers to buy local.
• Service – My experience is that Camden Garden Centre replies promptly and courteously to inquiries. I sent them e-mail before our trip inquiring as to their location and transportation options to their business. They replied promptly with several options for transportation and detailed directions for each one. David was interested in the water irrigation systems and had a question for an employee that needed to check for an answer, which was done promptly and courteously.

  Camden Garden Centre did have a sign offering a pest and disease identification service with a request to bring in your specimen in a sealed container.

  Camden Garden Centre had a notice of Landshare contacts posted on a board with a note that if a customer wanted more information, they could use the internet connection at the till.

  Camden Garden Centre website does have links to their Garden Suppliers as well as important social service agencies in the London area.

  Wheel chairs were available for customers and if need be. Call ahead and arrange for a staff person to take them around the centre.

  Camden Garden Centre offered delivery service for larger items purchased.

Facility 

• Structure – Camden Garden Centre was in an older brick commercial building that has been rehabbed. In late 2007, a mezzanine structure was completed to add a second floor for the facility, with a lift to the second floor.
• Access – There was easy access to the garden centre from the street. A large Camden Garden sign with their watering can logo, pointed us in the direction of their entrance and car park. The parking lot was adequate size for the facility and included a bike rack. Parking spots were marked for customers with disabilities for their use only. The facility was user friendly for the disabled. The washrooms were also accessible for people with disabilities.
• Appearance – Camden Garden Centre appeared to me to be a modest business with their focus on a worthwhile mission, rather then the amenities of the larger retail garden centers in the UK. The Camden Garden sign on the back street side of the facility was worn at the time of our visit, but the welcome sign at the front entrance, placed on the steel I –beams was fresh. It was apparent that there were continuous upgrades to this facility. At the covered entryway were two benches on each side surrounded by a display of potted plants, citrus and Eucalyptus trees. This provided a break from the parking lot asphalt.
• Environment – There was a new roof and interior ceiling which allowed additional natural light into the building. The display racks were practical and tidy, filled with merchandise for lawn and garden. Space was not wasted on the walls or the interior floor area. I would call Camden Garden Centre a hand’s on-working garden centre.

  I saw several signs stating, “Thank you for your support!” I saw this not just a thank you for the business in monetary terms. It was a thank you that by purchasing the merchandise there, you were contributing to the continuation of their social work.

• Signage
• Interior Signs – The directional signs were prominent inside along the interior walls as well as a banner that hung down from the ceiling.
• Exterior Signs – At the covered entryway, there was a large sign by the bench which states Camden Centre’s mission as garden centre with quality plants, but also their function as a charitable organization . The entrance sign was basic with their water can logo. Tall posts, which reminded me of street signs, had numerous directional signs pointing to various sections of the outdoor area. These individual benches were marked for their product in a visible area above the bench or on a wall. Plants such as shrubs are sub-divided into sun or shade and in alphabetical order. There were signs on the benches indicating description and care of the plants. One of the benches indicated “Home Grown on a British Nursery.”
• Displays
• Interior Displays – Camden Garden Centre had a small displays of indoor plants. The foliage plants were grouped together, by height on the tables. Cactus and succulents were grouped on separate benches. Under the benches were stacked bags of potting mixture appropriate for houseplants. Wall space was used to the maximum to display as much product as possible.
• Exterior Displays – Pots of larger plants were on the ground but smaller plants were set on the benches. They did not have display gardens outside. There was a combination of older and newer wooden benches, some overfilled with plants and others sparsely filled. The pots were tagged with identification and care of plants as well as marked with the Camden Garden Centre logo. I did find a few areas on the outside benches where minor attention to housekeeping could be done.

Plants

• Outdoor Plants – Camden Garden Centre’s Plant of the Month, for September was Sedum and a colorful sign marked that bench. They carried a small selection of aquatic plants that appeared in average condition. Rockery plants such as alpines, David Austin Roses and a large selection off pansies and mums for fall were available at the time of our visit. Several varieties of grasses and Palms were found as well as herbaceous perennials and herbs that are familiar to English gardens. They did have Sweet Bay, Laurel and small Olive trees. A beautiful, mature Olive Tree, which the sign indicated was around 100 years old, was available for purchase. I was told that the Olive trees can thrive outdoors in the London area in a sheltered area. Fig Trees, Black Current, Raspberry and Rhubarb are other examples of the variety of plants that Camden Garden Centre carried. For fall planting, they carried a large selection of bulbs for spring blooms.
• Indoor Plants – Camden Garden Center indoor plants were healthy and tagged with identification-care labels. There was a nice selection of cactus of various sizes. Familiar foliage plants from floor to desk size were available as well as very small selection of flowering house plants. Indoor pottery was available and there were a few cactus plants displayed in the bright Southwestern designed pots.
• Warranty – There were several signs placed prominently in the outdoor area stating that hardy plants have a five year guarantee.
• Quality of Plants – Both indoor and outdoor plants were in very good condition and well maintained.

Merchandise

• Gifts – There was no gift shop at Camden Garden Centre. They did carry a small selection of garden knick-knacks. Garden Books that cover a wide variety of gardening interest were available.
• Food – No restaurant was on the premises.
• Seasonal – Camden Garden Centre sells Christmas trees, either as potted or cut trees. They advertise delivery of trees as well as trimming the tree to fit tree stands. They also sell wreaths, holly and mistletoe.
• Clothing – No clothing was sold at Camden Garden Centre. For working in the garden, Cloggies Footwear, garden boots and garden gloves were sold.
• Furniture – Camden Garden Centre displayed furniture suitable for London gardens and smaller balconies and roof terraces. The centre carried all weather hardwood, cast aluminum and mosaic garden furniture as well as deck chairs. The new second floor area had a nice display of patio furniture. To compliment the outdoor living theme, gas and charcoal barbecues were carried in sizes for a large to small patios.
• Stoneware – I found a wide variety of pots and containers available. For London roof gardens where weight is a concern, they had containers that look like weathered terracotta, but are plastic. From around the world they featured pots from Mediterranean and Asian countries. The garden centre also carried are terracotta, granite, zinc, ceramic, wood, and glass for indoor uses. Pot Feet were available, to set outdoor plants off the ground.
• Gardening – The Camden Garden Centre carried all the necessary garden tools and products needed – from shovels to gloves, lawn products and fertilizers, and hoses. Also noted were irrigation supplies with above and below ground drip lines. Electric and hand push mowers were for sale. There was an area outside of the main facility, near the parking lot, where garden soil, bags of farm manure and additional hardscaping items were stored.
• Aquatics – They did carry supplies to set up as well as maintain garden ponds.
• Structures – There were no outdoor greenhouses or garden sheds for sale on the premises at the time of our visit.
• Landscaping/Hardscaping – For the serious landscaper in London, Camden Garden Centre had an impressive selection of landscaping and hardscape items for the urban area. Camden Garden Centre had a large selection and a variety of designs of lattice work, well suited to the smaller city gardens. Border stones and edging materials were available. They did have a weather protected book in the landscaping outdoor department, showing different terrace and garden timbers that could be ordered.

Ecology

• General – Camden Garden Centre carried rain barrels. They did provide alternative products that are organic and nature friendly as alternatives to chemical pest controls and fertilizers.