SAP Nurseries, one of Ireland's oldest and largest nurseries, has extended its production facilities by 5,600 sq.m. of polytunnels and greenhouse production.
Historically well-known in the Irish and UK markets for its large trees, The company has in recent years focused production on plants for the garden retail market, enabling SAP to become a premier supplier of garden centre plants to multiple retailers throughout Ireland.![](/files/1/17491/43274/6183442/189d723ab6b037d20c6dd2e4/5-litre-tree-photos.gif)
With increased production capacity, the nursery is now looking to supply garden centres in the UK and in conjunction with UK sales agent Bob Haward has developed a range of small pot grown trees for garden centre sales.
MD John Flanagan, who has been running SAP Nurseries for 15 years said: “Typically ornamental trees for sale on a garden centre are difficult for customers to transport home and this can be a barrier to purchasing a tree. Our new and exciting range of trees grown in a 5-litre pot are easy to carry home, simple to manage and the retail price point makes them affordable for a wider range of consumers.”
The SAP concept of Easy Fit, Carry Home and Plant Today trees was tested and trialled by Haward in the UK market in 2018. Haward says: “Many of my retail customers have been asking me where they could buy a small, carry-home type tree that would easily fit into a normal car and be retailed at a sensible price point and so I am delighted now to be able to work with SAP to help fill this demand.”
As a result of early interest from selected customers, the range of Easy Fit trees, which currently includes 25 top-selling varieties, will be broadened significantly for 2020. The three-year old trees will range in height from 1.20m to 1.75m and will include full colour labels and bar codes. Recognising that there is still demand amongst the public for a mid-sized tree, Flanagan has also pre-selected a range of best-selling ornamental trees in a 10-litre pot including ornamental half standards and fruit trees for the UK market.
Flanagan who has been a long time exporter of garden plants to the UK market, said: “We are very confident that both our 5-litre Easy Fit trees and our 10-litre trees are just what the market needs as I have seen this gap in the market for many years. As a result of our confidence in the UK market we will also be introducing a range of HOT Spot displays of promotional shrubs and herbaceous in 2020.”
Commenting on the nurdsery’s recent success at the HTA National Plant Show, Haward said: “We had fantastic interest at the show from garden retailers with orders being placed… and so I amm confident this this range really will fill a gap on plant areas.”