A different garden centre

Last updated on March 16th, 2024 at 12:12 pm

Larch Cottage, Melkinthorpe, Cumbria

We Brits appear to be obsessed with plant nurseries, or, more accurately, ‘garden centres’.  Garden centres are essentially department stores with a section, somewhere, that sells plants.  They will flog you anything from greetings cards to kitchenware, jewellery to twee ornaments (tree ornaments too), with clothing from Barbour and Burberry.  The earthy-chemical tang of fertilisers and weed killers mingles with the heady aroma of Rebel Yell (or whatever those American scented candles are called).  I know one that stocks a bewildering array of craftwork material – and, joy of joys, even one that sells plastic aircraft kits and model railway stuff.  Others offer pet iguanas and stick insects.  Some garden stores specialise in aquatics (fishes and ponds), barbeque sets large enough to prepare a meal for the Five Thousand and exotic garden furniture which necessitates a Mediterranean climate and a plot the size of a soccer pitch to put it in.

Larch Cottage Nurseries, Melkinthorpe, Cumbria

Coffee shops are pretty much universal – some fairly basic, others offering clean tables and an affected form of culinary experience, with strange, manufactured, words on their menus.

Beyond all of this, you will occasionally find plants, bags of soil, garden tools and, perhaps, a modest display of decorative aggregates, sheds and fence panels.

Larch Cottage, nursery, Melkinthorpe, Cumbria

The fact that these places seem to be thriving in the austere times we live in suggests that a good proportion of the population still has a reasonable amount of wealth and leisure-time.  Stuck for something to do – “What I’d really like to do today”, said Tarquin, exhausted from a week working in BT’s complaints department, “What I’d really like to do, is go to the garden centre.”  “Right then”, exclaimed Neveah, dragging herself away from her i-Phone’, “Let’s go!”

Then there are the garden centres that are tacked on to the back of the DIY store: soulless places, but good for cheap bedding (plants), compost, tools you can only use once and replacement Hozelok parts.

Larch Cottage, Melkinthorpe, nursery

I know a garden centre that’s a proper nursery.  A place where you can indulge yourself wandering past carefully corralled creepers, acres of Alpines, rows of romantic roses and pens of pendulous perennials.  More than that, visiting it is a pleasure – partly because it (mostly) doesn’t feel like a garden centre.  Or shopping.

Larch Cottage, Melkinthorpe, plants

A Bit About Britain rarely does commercial plugs, but if you happen to be anywhere in the Penrith area of North-West England, pop in to Larch Cottage Nurseries in the tiny hamlet of Melkinthorpe.  Begun in 1985 by Peter Stott, Larch Cottage is genuinely different.  The experience starts at the entrance (a very good place to start).  There’s a kind of gatehouse into a courtyard which, momentarily, transports you to a sort of Cumbrian version of Tuscany.  The range of sculptures that greets you is astonishing – forget the fact that many are way beyond the average mortal’s purse, they look great.  The Italianesque theme is carried through with cunningly constructed arches and walls that make you think you’re exploring some long-lost, overgrown, classical ruin.  Yes, there are serried ranks of plants to buy – it is, after all, a plant nursery – but there is tasteful and clever planting too.  So wandering through Larch Cottage is similar to wandering through a very pleasant garden.  Then, every now and again, there’s a statue or thoughtfully sited garden bench – all of which are for sale.  There is also a private chapel and garden, which are open on particular days of the year.

This place is poles (or stakes) apart from your common, or garden, garden centre.

Larch Cottage nurseries

The range of plants stocked at Larch Cottage includes many that you don’t often see.  I don’t know too much about this kind of thing, but I do know different types of Acer when I see them.  The rather lovely one that we bought last year is doing very nicely, thank you, despite a small disagreement with late frost.

Pendulous wisteria in La Casa Verde, overlooking the garden (this bit has a Japanese feel to it)

Inevitably, there’s a food and coffee offering.  Larch Cottage’s is called La Casa Verde, which underlines the whole place’s green and gardening credentials, and which has an atmosphere redolent of an Umbrian bistro (if there is any such thing), with plenty of stone, wood and piped Puccini.  The food is broadly Italian in theme, nicely served, tasty and affordable.  The staff are friendly, polite, helpful and seem to treat customers as though they were human beings.  To cap it all, La Casa Verde also offers a good range of indulgent cakes.

Larch Cottage, Cumbria

Nether Bottom’s Gardening Circle organised a charabanc trip to Larch Cottage.  It was touch and go whether the transport would actually start but, to the driver’s evident surprise and pleasure, it did.  Everyone piled in, the naughty ones making their way to the back seats, and I tagged along to make sure everyone behaved.  Once there, people mostly concentrated on plants, as befitting, though I do think excitement steadily mounted as lunchtime approached.

La Casa Verde, Larch Cottage

Unfortunately, Larch Cottage does have an emporium (to call it a ‘shop’ seems somehow loutish).  ‘The Red Barn’ sells mostly attractive, but largely decorative, high-end knick-knacks – including, I am forced to confess, some curiously appealing women’s hats.  Hmm – what does that mean, doctor? Upstairs is an art gallery, where we lost the more adventurous group members amongst some admittedly lovely hand-made jewellery, inspiring paintings, pretty (but expensive) pots and obscure pieces of pretentious twaddle.  Taste, of course, is relative.  Examining a table-lamp that was over-priced at £12.00, I gave up pretending to be interested when I realised the tag actually said £1,200.00, and went outside to count pebbles.

Larch Cottage, nursery, in Cumbria

You’ll be delighted to know that, miraculously, the charabanc burst into life for the return journey and Nether Bottom’s Gardening Group all made it back home, clutching purchases, without mishap.  In fact, they even stopped off at Abbot Lodge Farm, which produces 40 flavours of its own Jersey ice cream, using real Jersey cows – because a grand day out is all about ice cream.  Presumably, the production of the ice cream is aided by the cows being in the frozen north, some 460-odd miles away from their warmer, more southerly, roots.

Here is the website for Larch Cottage Nurseries.  And, should you feel really tempted, here is a link to Abbot Lodge’s website too.

13 thoughts on “A different garden centre”

  1. Near York is a great garden centre with most of the usual offerings, but for us and elderly Mum, it was like a sub branch of Social Services. A good meal at lunchtime and a couple of hours out of the house. We miss it now – and my Mum.
    Your one really looks lush.

  2. Sounds like your typical garden centres have gone further down the road to perdition than ours. Haven’t yet come across one here with a coffee shop (which I actually wouldn’t mind). And if we’re selective we can find small local plant growers who only sell plants, or Mennonite farms who sell plants as a sideline, but none of that other tacky stuff. Our biggest frustration visiting gardens in the UK of course is the plant sales – we can’t bring any home!

  3. LOL – wish all our plant centers were like Larch Cottage. Nary a one has a coffee shop. I”m assuming charabanc is a type of vehicle. Please consider adding a tab that takes us to a glossary – we Yanks don’t know some of the words you use. Thanks for sharing!

    1. ‘Charabanc’ is an old-fashioned name for a coach, or ‘bus, used for social outings. You rarely hear the term nowadays; I was just testing 🙂 . The idea of a glossary is an excellent one – it may take a bit of time, but I’ll put it on the list. Thanks!

  4. That kind of “shopping” would appeal to me, a garden shop that is mostly a beautiful garden itself, coffee/tea, and lunch! I might even buy something. 🙂

  5. Maybe your multi-purpose garden centers are a bit like our coffee shops – in most of them, nowadays you can buy a mobile phone contract, book a holiday trip, browse their selection of fashion jewellery, choose from a wide range of clothing, find more or less useful items for kitchen and dining table, decide on a new set of bed sheets, and… yes, you can even buy coffee there.

  6. I find it sad som many Garden centers have gotten so low as to sell so much tat beside plants to make ends meet. Afraid LArch Cottage is a little to far to pop for some plants and compsot even though it does sound a nice place.

  7. Mike, what a beautiful post this is. This is up my alley, I love visiting Nurseries. I really enjoyed the trip around this Larch Cottage Nursery. Everything is so lush and beautifully set up. It would be nice to visit in person one day and it sure would be nice to taste that ice cream at Abbot Lodge Farm.

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