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Allan blooms at new £½m nursery opening

23/ 4/2008

RADIO Manchester presenter and keen gardener Allan Beswick opened a brand new plant nursery just in time for Tameside’s In Bloom bid.

The £500,000 centre in Denton is where plants and flowers for the whole of the borough will be carefully nurtured from seed to bloom by Tameside Council’s team of expert plantsmen and women.

The pressure is on this year as Tameside is in the final of the national competition, up against big hitters like the swanky London borough of Chelsea.

But the new state-of-the-art facility should make preparations for the big event much more efficient.

Nursery supervisor Malcolm Hartley said: "It’s a lot better for the staff and for the plants. The old nursery was lots of individual polythene tunnels that were about 25-30 years old – they’d seen better days. Thankfully the council has decided to invest in a new one. With In Bloom coming up and the final, it’s going to mean a lot of work. But we’re hoping to win. All the staff are really excited to get in there."

New heating and climate control technology means plants will get exactly the right conditions for growth, with shading and ventilation automatically adjusted according to the weather.

"It used to be that the sun would come out and someone would have to rush up and open the vents, then it’d go in again and they’d have to rush back and close them again! This takes care of all that," added Malcolm.

Rain water harvesting and more energy efficient boilers mean the new nursery will be ‘green’ in all senses of the word.

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