Chris Durston, Managing Director of Durston Garden Products, celebrates an extraordinary 60 years of service to the family business in 2025, a legacy that spans generations and has helped shape the landscape of the UK horticultural industry.
Chris’s story began in 1965, fresh from boarding at an agricultural technical school where, coincidentally, he studied alongside future HTA Past President, Alan Down. At just 16, Chris returned to the family’s Somerset farm and began what would become a lifelong career working alongside his father, Stan Durston.
“I still remember my first day. We were laying concrete, and I hadn’t a clue what I was doing,” recalls Chris. “I was very inexperienced, so I relied on my dad to show me the ropes.” His early years involved a mixture of hands-on work including milking cows, hay making, and helping to produce just 1,200 tonnes of sod-cut peat annually on 120 acres of land.
But it didn’t take long for Chris to spot the future. “I quickly grew to dislike milking and saw more opportunity in peat,” he says. His instincts proved right. By 1973, he persuaded his father to sell the dairy herd and focus solely on growing the peat business. It was the first of many forward-thinking decisions that would transform Durstons from a small rural operation into an evolving player in garden retail.
Together with his brother Steve, who joined in 1970, Chris began the work of mechanising the entire operation. The purchase of their first Steba sod-cutting machine from Germany marked a significant leap forward, followed by Hymac excavators and large-scale drainage systems to modernise peat harvesting. That same year, their parents made them both 25% partners in the business, a move that fuelled a major growth phase, increasing production from 2,000 to 10,000 tonnes within three years.
By the late 1980s, with their parents stepping back, Chris and Steve took full ownership. That same year, Chris was also wrapping up his successful involvement with Round Table, where he’d served as Area Chairman in Somerset. “I needed a new challenge,” he recalls, and that came in the form of investing in the business’s first automated bagging line. A step that would help propel Durstons into national distribution.
With Chris leading sales and Steve overseeing production, Durstons entered a new era. “I travelled the country, attending trade shows and building a national sales force, while Steve managed operations back home.” Their teamwork paid off: a second, then a third bagging line was installed. Durstons now produces over eight million bags of growing media annually, across a wide range of peat-based and increasingly peat-free products.
Innovation remains central to the business. Around five years ago, Durstons shifted its focus to sourcing and processing peat-free materials. “We now use over 80% peat-free ingredients in our mixes, from a wide variety of raw materials. Our new peat-free range has even outperformed peat-based composts in recent growing trials.”
This innovation is underpinned by investment in the future. With the current site at capacity, Durstons recently acquired the former Fisons compost works, a major move that Chris is spearheading. The new site is being transformed into a state-of-the-art production facility that will help future-proof the business and support its growing peat-free portfolio.
As the company prepares for an exciting next chapter and expansion into its new site, Chris remains as passionate about the future as ever. “The new factory will open up new opportunities for us, particularly as demand for sustainable, high-performing products continues to grow. We’re ready to lead the way.”
Today, Chris works closely alongside his nephew, Dan Durston, who now serves as Sales Director, helping to steer the business through its next phase of growth. Chris also says that without the help and dedication of the office admin team, none of the ongoing growth would be possible.
Amidst the growth and change, Chris’s core values remain steadfast: “Produce a quality product, deliver professional standards, and pay your bills on time – that’s what we’ve always stood for.” These principles have earned Durstons a reputation for reliability, integrity, and value for money, qualities that have seen them remain a trusted supplier to garden centres and retailers nationwide.
Looking back, Chris has plenty of stories to tell – from the early days of producing bagged product, when an entire order of compost bags arrived with mismatched print: one side reading ‘Multi Purpose Compost’ and the other ‘Rich Garden Peat’ – and vice versa on the second batch! But for Chris, the most rewarding part of the job has always been seeing others embrace the Durston philosophy: “We’ve built a fantastic team who understand what we’re about and carry that forward in everything they do.”
Find out more
Visit www.durstongardenproducts.co.uk or call 01458 442688 to find out how Durstons can help your business thrive.
