ORIGINS OF THE NGEC
On this very site, as a young married couple, Tim and Suzanne Wallis established a successful retail and wholesale nursery and garden centre business as long ago as 1973. For some years they combined the nursery with plant propagation, until it was found that the scale of the propagation business was no longer competitive against much bigger operations.
Instead, Tim had the idea of turning the propagation area into an area of ‘designer gardens’, the idea being to do for gardening what is commonly done in big department stores for kitchens and bedrooms, where fine interior designs are displayed. Instead of kitchens and bedrooms, it would an outdoor exhibition of backyards and gardens, large and small. Tim sought a designer who could develop and implement this idea and formed a partnership with Gordon T. Ledbetter, a designer with an international reputation for theme parks.
The concept Gordon Ledbetter proposed was what is sometimes called a ‘stroll garden’ in which the visitor should be able to walk or stroll through all the gardens, without having to double back. This is achieved by a layout which incorporates entrances and exits from every garden providing links with the gardens on either side. A main axis path down the centre of the exhibition divides the garden into two sides while a large rose garden in the centre, with eight exits, acts the main pivotal and focal point of the exhibition. Designers were then invited to submit, and implement with contractors, individual garden designs to fill the spaces; each garden having a distinctive theme.
What is now known as The National Garden Exhibition Centre opened alongside the existing garden centre in June 1993 with twenty designer gardens. Since then the exhibition, with its adjacent café-restaurant, has proved to be enormously popular with experienced and novice gardeners alike looking for new ideas; and with over 1500 different plants on show, the exhibition is an excellent way of identifying plants and to see how and where they should be grown. Plants are, of course, seasonal, and a point has been made of having plants of interest right through the four seasons. Every year a number of new gardens replace some of the old, so regeneration and new ideas form a constant part of the National Garden Exhibition Centre.
Niall Power, its owner since 2006, is determined that the centre should remain a model of innovation in garden design. His policy is to change a number of gardens annually so that there are always new designs and ideas coming on stream. His philosophy is to have in the centre every thing that a gardener could need. He has long had a special interest in garden sculpture and through the year you will find an unrivalled range of both bronze sculptures and hand-carved granite features, many oriental. Take your choice among a range of charming animal and child bronze sculptures on the one hand and Japanese stone lanterns and carvings on the other. He has introduced many exciting new products: including a vastly increased range of pots of all sizes, glazed pots with special design features as well traditional terracotta pots.
Being himself an expert on water features, Niall has naturally seen to it that the centre contains a varied display of fountain features, from tiny bubbling fountains to magnificent tiered fountain basins. If you are confused as to the plumbing of a fountain or the size or type of pump you need, here at the centre you will find the expertise you require.
Patios and decks, along with decorative garden buildings, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Niall was determined that the centre should have the best materials and buildings available. Here at the NGEC there is an outstanding exhibit of paving materials both natural and manufactured. There is nothing quite like seeing paving laid down, in well designed patterns, in order to be able to decide on what you really like and what would suit your own needs. Similarly, there are conservatories, sunrooms and summer houses (for all budgets) always on display.
Niall and his staff offer a warm welcome to customers at the centre, old and new.
