Baytree Garden Centre's plant nursery, inspired by Reinhard Biehler MBE, helping customers and the planet one step at a time
More than five decades have passed since Baytree Garden Centre opened its doors, and its staff’s mantra of growing their own plants continues to bear fruit.
Reinhard Biehler MBE first set up the Weston centre 52 years ago, having moved to England four years previously.
Before that, he sold roses to passers-by on the street - and he still takes pride in producing his own product.
If you step out of the garden centre and cross High Road, you will find Baytree’s very own flower nursery.
Inside, row upon row of flowers of all shapes and sizes colour the floor. They contribute to around 70% of the centre’s plant sales.
“The advantage is, because we grow so much ourselves, we’ve got a much wider choice than most nurseries or garden centres,” says Reinhard.
“If you’re buying from abroad and they’ve been on a lorry for two or three days, when the customer gets them they’ll look good and then they’ll just collapse.
“People have come back to us for years now because they’re satisfied with the quality.”
Baytree particularly prides itself on roses. The nursery, which is run primarily by Jason Candler, grows 100% of the gorgeous flowers staff then sell in the garden centre.
Roses start their life at a field in Whaplode, and the nursery also produces the likes of tomatoes and cucumber.
Marketing manager Mark Elliott says: “It’s all UK-grown, and it’s produced by UK growers. We’ve been doing this now for umpteen years.
“As a customer, if you’ve got a question you need to ask, then you’re asking the people who’ve actually grown the plant.
“They’re grown in the UK and in our climate. These are grown in South Holland, and they’re going to do well in South Holland.
“Fifty-two years of experience counts for a lot.”
Five decades is indeed a significant amount of time. However, Reinhard still has the same enthusiasm that helped kick start his success back in the early 1970s.
Some of the plants sold at Baytree are named after him and his grandchildren, and he believes that roses are coming back into fashion once more.
“I love it. I’m very fortunate,” he adds. Every year I take life a bit easier, but I’m still the first one here and the last one home. I love my job.
“I enjoy it. Most garden centres started up as nurseries and went into retail, but we kept it. There aren’t many garden centres that do the growing and the retail.”
The Baytree team also plays its part in attempting to protect the planet. In the nursery, equipment can be easily moved to ensure no space is wasted - while tanks collect rain water to feed the plants, which react better to the softer water.
Staff recommend that their customers do the same.
Artificial heating is available, but is only used if flowers are at risk of freezing in cold weather.
“We have an environmental policy where we’re trying to reduce our carbon footprint,” says Mark.
“One of the points in all of this is that you don’t get much more carbon neutral than this. The majority of our plots are recyclable, and we collect as much rain water as we can.
“We compost on-site ourselves. I think we’re as green as we possibly can be - obviously there’s always things we can strive for.
“We’re keen to ensure that the next generation of gardeners can do it in the same way we have.
“It’s becoming far more popular in the same way that people want to know where their food comes from. They want to know if it was grown locally, and it’s the same with this.
“If the people talking to you about your plants are the same who have grown them, you’ve got a real peace of mind that what you’ve got is going to last in your garden for years to come.”
Reinhard and his team have been putting their own plants and customers first for more than 50 years.
By doing so, Baytree Garden Centre will continue to make South Holland that little bit better - one flower at a time.
