Behind The Scenes At The Council Nursery

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Today, a small group of us got a glimpse behind the scenes at our local Council nursery. Due to staff reductions and the imminent moving of the nursery to a new location, there were fewer plants being grown than in the past but the setup was still much bigger than any home growers would have.

There are the two greenhouses where most of the plants have been grown in the past. These are not in use now; the plants are in temporary tunnels that will be moved to the new location.

This is a machine for potting up plant plugs. The pots are put in the tall tube on the right and compost in the shorter, stockier one with the yellow triangle on the side. When the power is turned on, the pots drop into the brackets on the circular conveyor and compost is rammed into them. They then run off onto the green belt where two people are stationed. One puts the plug plants in the compost, the other takes the planted pots and puts them into trays to be taken into the growing area.

These are the pelargoniums to be used this year. The variety at the far end is prone to a virus and some infected plants have been removed (these are the pots stood outside the main block)

Finally a photo of the other bedding and hanging baskets planted up and waiting for the plants to grow. They will be put in place in the town centre early in June.

28 Apr, 2011
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Comments

Stickitoffee

thank you, its interesting to see how its done commercially.

28 Apr, 2011

Dottydaisy2

Very interesting.....

28 Apr, 2011

Tetrarch

What a fascinating insight..We have a few really nice floral roundabouts in Bristol. Not as many as there were more's the pity, but its austere times. I sometimes think floral displays are underrated for the effect they have on our phsyche, I always feel more cheerful when I see flowers in public domains and on balconies of flats..it really changes that "institutional" look!

29 Apr, 2011

Cinderella

Very interesting Anrew thank you for that

29 Apr, 2011

Stickitoffee

we have council nurseries near here, sometimes they open to the public and we can buy the spare plants.

29 Apr, 2011

Whistonlass

That was an interesting peek into mass growing...I have no idea how it's done in our borough but we do have a few gardens locally that the council maintains (one across from our local hospital and it is kept very nice).

Our council is giving away up to 3 bags of compost in a week's time to any residents who come and pick it up. I'll be in the queue :)

29 Apr, 2011