Wyevale Garden Centres was joined by celebrity gardener Toby Buckland as it celebrated the opening of the new Percy Thrower’s Wyevale Garden Centre on Friday 20th March.

Marketing Director Sarah Fuller told GTN Xtra; "The opening of Percy Thrower's Wyevale Garden Centre is all about taking a big step forward in creating an enjoyable shopping experience, a concept we can take into the whole estate of centres.  We've been overwhelmed by the reaction from customers and by sales levels."

"Many customers have commented on how much it feels like a garden centre all the way through.  It is a warm and happy space."

The new centre is a stone’s throw away from the original site and takes inspiration from the legacy of local and national treasure Percy Thrower, the UK’s first celebrity gardener.

A special group of black Labradors – Percy’s favourite dog – also enjoyed themselves on the day; each was presented with a special dog tag in a commemorative gift bag provided by the store's Pets Corner team.

Centre manager Chris Bridgeman said he had been amazed by the phenomenal response from local people locally who wanted to celebrate the memory of their local hero and gardening champion.

Toby Buckland and Margaret Thrower, one of Percy’s three daughters, gave special talks.

Toby Buckland (pictured above in a selfie with two of Percy's daughters) said: “Gardening is a fabulous activity and it’s a great pleasure to celebrate the opening of this new Wyevale Garden Centre, in honour of Percy. He was undoubtedly the UK’s first celebrity gardener and he has influenced me throughout my life and career as I followed in his footsteps.”

Margaret Thrower said: “During his life Dad inspired millions of people and he would be overjoyed to see so many people visiting the centre. My sisters and I have worked closely with Wyevale Garden Centres on the development of the centre from the outset and we’re so pleased with the result.

The new store has two food and drink venues; seasonal British dishes in The Botanic Kitchen and an artisanal cafe, Coffee Ground.

Local garden designer Lucy Walton, has created a compact garden at the heart of the centre’s outdoor plant area.  ‘Connecting threads’ is Lucy’s modern interpretation of Percy’s wish to inform and educate his local customers. The garden showcases traditional, contemporary, alpine and home planting schemes. All four are linked using a mixture of hedging and local materials to merge past with present, contemporary with traditional and Percy with Wyevale.

Sarah Fuller, marketing director at Wyevale Garden Centres, said: “It has been fabulous to see how the local community have welcomed us. They have already visited in their hundreds to celebrate Percy’s legacy with us, keeping his garden spirit alive and well. Percy was a real gardening pioneer and definitely ahead of his time. We are so pleased to see visitors enjoying the unique environment of the new centre.”

The centre was one of seven acquired by Wyevale Garden Centres when they purchased the Garden & Leisure Group.



Above: Toby Buckland views the Solar Eclipse during the opening of Percy Thrower's Wyevale Garden Centre on Friday morning.