Hollands Nurseries

In 2008 John and Susan Holland had a dream of creating the most sustainable plant nursery in the country, on their 500-year old family farm at Twyford.

Being ahead of the curve in implementing green technologies and practices has benefited them massively. As a company who grow things for a living, this of course came as second nature to them, but at the time, designing in the latest state-of-the-art technology and creating the sustainable infrastructure was not without its challenges.

The redevelopment included renewable electrical energy from solar panels essentially giving free hot water, a Ground Source Heat Pump which converts 4kW of input to 12kW of renewable heat and hot water supply, 30,000 litres of rainwater harvesting which not only reuses their run-off water but also protects the village from storm flooding. They also went beyond the required building regulations adding 100mm of wall and ceiling insultation to the seated cafe area, reducing heating demand by 75%.

In terms of activity on site, they have planted more than 4,000 new trees to offset any residual business carbon emissions, all their organic waste is composted and recycled into grow beds, they welcome back thousands of pre-used hanging baskets, hay racks, and patio tubs each year, to reuse and refill and they also introduced an ultra-sustainable aquaponics growing system to supply the café with super fresh, on-site local produce with no single-use packaging, artificial chemicals or fertilisers.

Holland nurseries have shown that a more sustainable business creates a more profitable business. These technologies and solutions have cut operational costs dramatically and kept our outgoing bills to a minimum, at a time of rising supplier costs.

It also fits with the expectations of their customers. Gardening is about respect for nature and valuing the environment. The simple pleasure of knowing a hanging basket frame or patio tub has been reused, refilled, and year on year delivers a stunning display for their garden.

As a result of this Holland’s Nurseries doesn’t have to advertise. Thanks to their focus on producing the very best products and running a hard-working, sustainability-conscious business their customers and visitors promote and advocate for them by word of mouth.

John Holland, Owner, Holland’s Nurseries
“Holland’s Nurseries is a very special place, it offers a calm, tranquil, and peaceful space, with stunning views across the beautiful Leicestershire countryside, where our visitors are reassured that all measures have been taken to work with nature. As an outcome, our plants and produce are simply the very finest quality on offer, which is why we are benefiting from such high customer loyalty and repeat visitors”

Holland’s Nurseries top tips
• Define your vision, plan, draw, explore, make mistakes and plan some more, then get to work again.
• Scavenge useful things, use second-hand websites to find what you need, join local “pre-loved stuff” communities
• Seemingly endless hard manual work.
• Learn as many manual trades as possible: landscaping, building, bricklaying, plumbing, carpentry, electrical installation, etc. to keep costs down.
• Prepare for 24/7 effort, all-year round (forget the idea of any holidays from March until July!)
• Work with typically cold, wet, dirty compost hands all days, and suffer tired aching muscles at the end of each day. Stock ibuprofen or similar.
• Working outside in all weather, all seasons – buy a good coat and supply of gloves.
• Doing all of this for the simple love of being outside and gardening and the joy of seeing our customer’s love our plants, and tell us about them, often with photos, on their next visit.