ONE OF the UK’s leading nurseries in Hereford has recently (September, 2014) supplied the plants for two landscaped gardens within the grounds of Leicester Cathedral where King Richard III will be buried.
Wyevale Nurseries was commissioned to provide plants worth £25,000 for the project by the landscape architecture practice, Gillespies in London and Tim South of L.D.A. Architects in Exeter.
Andy Congera, Amenity Sales Manager at Wyevale Nurseries, said: “The two landscaped gardens at the Cathedral were to commemorate the re-interment of Richard III. The gardens are now a modern leisure park landscape for the people of Leicester.It was a major landscaping project and we were delighted to be involved.
“The Jubilee Square Gardens was handled by Tim South of L.D.A. Architects and we provided plants worth £15,000 to the project. Gillespies designed the Cathedral Gardens and we supplied the remaining £10,000 to them.
“We were very pleased to be chosen not only, for the overall very high quality of plants required for such a prestigious landscape in full glare of the national and international media spotlight, but also for the diverse range of plants available to enable the designs to succeed.
“Many themes had to be addressed including movement, portrayed in the grasses used, and, as Richard was the last King of the house of York, the use of white was important too.”
The plants supplied by Wyevale Nurseries included Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Liatris and Eragrostis ‘Wind Dancer’. These were used within a framework of 300 Buxus hedging specimens.
King Richard III’s bones were found under a council car park in Leicester in 2012 and will be reinterred on March 26, 2015 at Leicester Cathedral.
A week-long series of events will see the king’s coffin travel from Bosworth, where he died, to Leicester.
Wyevale Nurseries is one of the largest family-run wholesale nurseries in the UK. It was established in 1928 by Harry Williamson, a horticulturist and entrepreneur. It became the company it is today under the leadership of his son, Peter, who sadly passed away in 2011.
The Williamsons’ saw the opportunity to sell their product to an undeveloped retail market, creating one of the first garden centres, followed by a chain. In 1987, the retail side needed to expand and the 19 garden centres were sold as a PLC.
The family then turned its focus to Wyevale Nurseries Ltd. It continues to be a family-run business with ownership and joint chairmanship currently being held by the third generation, Heather and Simeon Williamson, with plans for the fourth generation to takeover in the future.
Wyevale Nurseries has a significant product range and is regularly introducing new plants. It offers a large variety of trees, shrubs, hedging, herbaceous and specimen plants to garden centres, landscape contractors, local authorities, foresters and landowners.
For further details about Wyevale Nurseries, which is based in Hereford, please call 01432 845 200 or visit www.wyevalenurseries.co.uk.
