Abi and Tom's Garden Plants was founded in the Spring of 2011 on the site of the original plant nursery at Halecat in the South Lakes close to Kendal and Grange over Sands. It took a major overhaul to rein it back from years of neglect and degradation, and we have since been continuously working to improve how we grow our plants, adding to and developing the garden areas and structural planting as it matures with each year. The nursery today is a fusion of traditional nursery values, with modern approaches to the display, growing, use and experiment of the plant material.

"A fusion of traditional nursery values, with modern approaches to the display, growing and use of the plant material"

Abi

Abi started propagating plants in her parents' Cumbrian garden from a young age and clearly had a flair for working with seedlings or cuttings and cajoling them into pots where they would flourish. The growing of our plants is down to Abi and her team. Whether it’s sowing next season's plants or potting up the thousands of plants grown every year on site, this logistical challenge is masterfully choreographed by her.
Abi will constantly scour plant catalogues and look out for exciting new introductions that she feels the nursery and garden should include.

Tom

Tom also started working with plants in his parents' garden but working in a traditional Cumbrian nursery galvanised this passion. He formally trained at Edinburgh and Kew before taking on formal head gardener posts in the Lake District and Lancashire. After a short spell lecturing at Newton Rigg College in Penrith and at the Lakeland Horticultural Society in Ambleside, the opportunity to take on the site at Halecat with Abi presented itself. Tom jointly manages the garden and display areas with Abi.
Tom writes regularly for the Westmorland Gazette, Cumbria Life and Living Magazine. He has written for the Garden Design Journal, The Garden (RHS) and Gardens Illustrated.