Hopleys Plants Ltd
High Street, Much Hadham
Hertfordshire, SG10 6BU

Growers of Choice Garden Plants

Tel: 01279 842509

Fax: 01279 843784

News

Welcome to Hopleys Web Site

 
Hopleys Garden [History] [New Features] [Layout] [Facilities] [Opening Times] [Pictures] [Tours] [Coaches] [Refreshments]
Hopleys Nursery [What we grow] [New Plants] [Facilities] [Opening Times] [Pictures] [History]
Plant Listings [Catalogue] [Hopleys Introductions] [Plants Wanted by us] [Plants for a purpose] [Download Catalogue pdf 3Mb]
Placing Orders [Mail Order] [Collecting from Hopleys] [Collecting from Shows] [Local Delivery] [Export]
Terms of Business [Prices] [Discounts] [Methods of Payment] [VAT] [Complaints] [Substitutes]
Picture Library [Plant Portraits] [Garden Views] [Nursery Views]
Hopleys Wholesale [Terms]
Calendar & Events [Diary] [Charity Open Days] [Shows] [Hopleys Charity Evening] [Plant Weekends] [Arts & Crafts] [Gardening Workshops] [Evening Lectures]
Where are we? [Map] [Directions] [Also in Much Hadham] [Staying in the area] [Eating in the area]
Sundries [Wavy Spade] [Millstones]
Lectures & Demonstrations [Topics] [Cost] [RHS Events]
Garden Design [Services Offered] [Cost] [Contact]

Contacting us

   
 Plant Catalogue  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z

NEWS Home

Jan Adams Garden Design is based at Hopleys and Jan can be contacted at the above address or by telephone on 01279 841169 (or mobile 07796 495526)

An illustrated booklet describing the fascinating story of the introduction of our Potentilla 'Red Ace' has recently been published and is available from us for £3.

Entry is free to Hopleys garden, however we would appreciate a voluntary contribution towards the cost of upkeep and improvement, particularly if you are not buying plants.  A proportion of your contribution will go to support 'The National Garden Scheme'.

We have a selection of fine large millstones available for sale suitable for use as seats, water features or simply as an attractive ornament in the garden. Click for details

We are continuing to offer a mail order service throughout the year. We use a 24hr carrier for mainland UK. Click for details.

HOPLEYS GARDEN Home

Hopleys was purchased in 1963 by David & Barbara Barker at which time the garden was basic and restricted to the area where the car park is now.

Many large trees surrounded the seven acre property, but as these were mainly elm, they have long since gone. A few large oaks remain on the North perimeter as well as a huge common ash tree (currently the fourth largest in the country measuring over 100ft high and 17ft girth). Cables in the crown are designed to prevent the loss of large boughs as the tree stands in a windy location.

The parkland setting in rolling countryside lent itself to island beds laid out in an informal style, inspiration coming largely from Alan Blooms Dell Garden in Norfolk. Conifers, shrubs and roses were the mainstay of the planting.

The soil is neutral - a good layer of loam over clay. However, the garden is in an exposed situation making it windy and cold in Winter. No watering is done in the garden despite a low average annual rainfall.

The pond was dug in 1980 and much hilarity was had laying out the butyl liner on a bed of wet ash and newspaper on a particularly windy day! The result of having water in the garden brought much new wildlife and scope for marginal planting. (The health and safety executive forced us to put the fencing around the perimeter!). The annual general meeting of the frog and toad community ensure both the nursery and garden have active natural pest control.

A three-quarter acre field was purchased from neighbours in 1985 which has allowed us to improve the driveway access onto the site as well as giving us extra parking for 100 cars - often needed when the garden is open on charity days.

The gales in the Autumn of 1987 caused a lot of damage with many trees both large and small being lost. Amazingly, two variegated Spanish chestnuts which were lying horizontally were rescued.

The nursery production area is situated at the end of the garden, and to protect the view from the garden an avenue of fastigiate hornbeams were planted in 1996 and are developing nicely. These are spaced in converging rows and varying separation so as to increase the perspective.

Changes in the type of plants grown in the nursery naturally started to show in the garden which has become a useful collection of stock plants. Thus many more perennials both hardy and half-hardy are grown. The garden has also been a useful trial ground for the many hundreds of new plants collected over the years from all over the world.

Several new beds were added and others altered in shape to create the oval lawn in 1997 in order to give the garden a more coordinated design. Also beds have been made larger with paths and secret hiding places which are fun for children of all ages. Care has been taken not to develop the concert lawn on the South side of the property not only because this would spoil the view from the house, but we use this lawn as the picnic area during our annual charity evenings!

The trees planted over 20 years ago are now becoming established although many more have been planted recently. However, the gales in November 2002 caused considerable damage to many trees in the garden with the huge beech tree next to the pond being the main casualty. Fortunately it didn't fall into the recently renovated pond, although many beds were flattened. An oak tree snapped off 6ft from the ground and landed on our shade structure completely destroying it, and significant branches were broken off a Judas Tree, Catalpa, Blue Cedar, Nothofagus, Prunus and Ash. Luckily most of the newly planted trees survived undamaged. Another gale in January 2004 felled the large Chestnut tree at the top of the Avenue, so more replanting to be done here soon.

There are many more plans afoot to alter and extend - if only there was more time!

The area of the garden surrounding the Nursery Sales Area has been replanted and a new bed to show off Winter stem colours has recently been planted.  Come and see our new copper water feature.

[Garden Layout]

There are a few alterations to the garden since the extension of the sales area which are not included above.

Free Parking with 20 spaces extending to over 100 when dry. Please drive in.

Reference Books are available for your use, but please do not remove from the sales shed.

Toilet. Planning permission is being sought to build a new toilet block including a disabled toilet.

Advice is freely and willingly given - please ask.

We have a wheelchair for you to use. All parts of the garden and nursery are accessible to wheelchairs although there are three shallow steps down to the toilet.

Umbrellas may be borrowed from the sales shed.

Self-service Refreshments including Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Canned Drinks, Chocolate Bars and outrageously delicious Home made cakes. An outside sitting area has been created so that you can enjoy these refreshments or your own picnic on picnic tables.

The nursery and garden are both open from March to October at the same times as follows:

Monday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Tuesday

Closed all day

Wednesday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Thursday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Friday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Saturday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Sunday

2.00pm - 5.00pm

Bank Holidays

9.00am - 5.00pm

From November to February there is usually someone available at the above times, but we suggest you ring first.

The office is closed at weekends.

Entrance to the garden is free, however, we would appreciate a voluntary contribution towards the cost of upkeep and improvement, particularly if you are not buying plants.  A proportion of your contribution will go to support 'The National Garden Scheme'.

Conducted tours of the garden can be arranged for evening visits during the Summer months only. We regret that we cannot offer to give tours during normal open hours.

The price of £3.00 per person includes a glass of wine.

Plants may be purchased from the nursery on these occasions.

Coach parties are welcome by appointment only please so that we can ensure there are sufficient staff on hand and that refreshments are topped up!

We have dropped the entry charge to the garden, but would appreciate a voluntary donation of £1 per person towards the cost of upkeep, particularly for those not buying plants.

Large coaches cannot park on the property but can disgorge passengers at the entrance making it a short walk to both the garden and nursery. The High Street is narrow and usually busy with traffic so coaches should not park for long periods outside the property.

We recommend that you allow at least one and a half hours for your visit.

Please note that we have just the one toilet!

You may be interested in other places to visit in the area and also places to eat.

HOPLEYS NURSERY

The nursery was established in 1968 to help pay for a gardener and as a means of selling surplus plants grown for the garden.

The first commercial act was to purchase 1000 cuttings of X.Cupressocyparis leylandii (then an exciting new conifer) and 1010 rooted! This inspired a large collection of over 350 varieties of conifer to be grown in the open ground for sale as specimens and hedging.

A short dabble in heathers and roses was quickly replaced by flowering shrubs. Seedlings from the garden were often potted up and grown on, and one such resulted in a most fortunate colour break - the first red flowered shrubby Potentilla 'Red Ace' was born. The huge success of this plant worldwide inspired us to introduce many other new plants both raised at Hopleys and introduced from overseas. (see Hopleys introductions for further details).

When Aubrey joined full time in 1982 the business expanded in several ways: more perennials were added to the list, a mail order service was started, garden design and planting was offered and exhibits were staged at shows throughout the country.

Collections of long flowering perennials such as Penstemon, Salvia, Diascia and Osteospermum were built up as well as a wide range of half-hardy perennials following plant collecting trips to New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada and USA.

David & Barbara retired to half an acre of good growing land in Dorset in 1990 and continued to grow many plants for the nursery from seed and cuttings.  

Over 1500 varieties of trees, shrubs, perennials and rockery plants selected from the 6000 or so varieties grown at the nursery. Our catalogue changes by about 20% each year so that we can include new varieties and also bring back others.

In particular we offer a wide range of Campanula, Diascia, Euphorbia, Geranium, Helianthemum, Hemerocallis, Osteospermum, Penstemon, Salvia.

Nearly 300 varieties have been added since our last catalogue was issued. See full catalogue listings.

Free Parking with 20 spaces extending to over 100 when dry. Please drive in.

Reference Books are available for your use, but please do not remove from the sales shed.

Toilet.

Florist - with local, national and international delivery.

We have a wheelchair for you to use. All parts of the garden and nursery are accessible to wheelchairs although there are three shallow steps down to the toilet.

Umbrellas may be borrowed from the sales shed.

Self-service Refreshments including Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Canned Drinks, Chocolate Bars, as well as outrageously delicious home-made cakes and biscuits. An outside sitting area is available for you to enjoy these refreshments or your own picnic on picnic tables.  You are welcome to picnic in the garden.

The nursery and garden are both open from March to October at the same times as follows:

Monday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Tuesday

Closed all day

Wednesday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Thursday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Friday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Saturday

9.00am - 5.00pm

Sunday

2.00pm - 5.00pm

Bank Holidays

9.00am - 5.00pm

From November to February there is usually someone available at the above times, but we suggest you ring first.

The office is closed at weekends.

No dogs are allowed.

PLANT LISTINGS

All plants are given alphabetically. Comprehensive descriptions, prices and availability are given for each plant with the use of symbols and abbreviations in the same format as our published catalogue (Please send 5 first class stamps for a copy).

We often have plants available not listed in our printed catalogue. These are included on this website.

Note that plants cannot yet be ordered online.

Select first letter of Genus:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z

Over the last 40 years we have introduced over 100 plants to the British gardening public from varieties bred at Hopleys, from other nurserymen and customers both here and overseas. The following list gives details of many of these. We gratefully acknowledge the help and generosity of the numerous people who have enabled us to do this.

We are looking for the following plants:

Click for list.

PLACING ORDERS

We operate a mail order service throughout the year excluding January & February.

Payment is required before despatch. Our aim is to despatch orders within 28 days of receipt, weather permitting.

Mail order prices shown in our catalogue apply to plants of the following sizes:

Rockery Plants

7cm (3") or 9cm (4")

Perennials & Small Shrubs

9cm (4") or 1litre (5")

Shrubs and Climbers

1litre (5") or 2litre (6")

If these sizes are out of stock, other sizes may be offered at corresponding prices.

The following Postage and Packing charges now apply: (we use Business Post). No increase for 2009!

Mainland Britain £7.00 plus 10% of order value
Northern Ireland £11.00 plus 10% of order value

Please note that re-orders for unavailable plants do incur the Postage & Packing charge.

We shall advise you when your order is ready for collection. If we have not heard from you within seven days we shall assume your order is to be cancelled and the plants will be offered for sale.

To avoid delay when collecting, please give us at least 2 days notice of your visit so that we can assemble your order.

Please note our opening times.

Orders may be collected from any of the shows at which we exhibit excluding the Chelsea Flower Show.

Orders must be received in writing by the Monday of the week prior to the start of a show.

A charge of £2.00 is made towards the cost of administration. Payment is due on collection.

An advice note will usually be sent to you prior to the show; please bring it with you.

Orders not collected by 4pm on the last day of a show (unless by prior arrangement) will be cancelled, and the plants offered for sale.

Delivery can be arranged at a mutually convenient time for orders exceeding £500 to one address within 30 miles of Hopleys at a charge of £35.

At present we do not export although we are pleased to arrange phytosanitary certificates at cost if required. At least two weeks notice is required to do this.

TERMS OF BUSINESS

We reserve the right to alter prices without notice.

Prices for plants vary according to pot size.

10% discount is given for 5 or more plants of one variety.

A 5% discount is given on orders exceeding £100 in value and 10% if the total exceeds £300.

See also Trade Terms

Cheques should be made payable to 'Hopleys Plants Ltd'

Visa, Access, Switch, Solo cards accepted (except at shows)

Postal Orders

Hopleys Gift Tokens

We do not accept National Garden Gift Tokens

We are on the Agriculture Flat Rate VAT Scheme which means that no VAT is included in our prices, nor is any chargeable. VAT rated customers may, however, reclaim a 4% addition --- please ask for a VAT receipt.

Substitutes of the same Genus may be offered when plants are sold out, but they will not be supplied until confirmation is received.

Every effort is made to name the plants correctly and supply them in good condition. Should you have any complaint with any plants supplied, please inform us in writing within 14 days of purchase. After this time, we can accept no responsibility.

Liability for all plants supplied is limited to the purchase price paid for them.

PICTURE LIBRARY

Coming Soon.

Coming Soon.

HOPLEYS WHOLESALE

We are on the Agricultural Flat Rate VAT Scheme so if you are not VAT registered we do not charge any VAT, so don't forget that our prices should be compared with other suppliers VAT inclusive prices!  VAT rated customers may reclaim a 4% Flat Rate Addition.

Delivery by our own transport can be arranged at a mutually convenient time for orders exceeding £250 to one address within 30 miles of Hopleys at the following rates:

 

Orders under £250

Orders over £250

Within Much Hadham Parish

£5

£5

Within 5 miles

£20

£20

Within 10 miles

£35

£35

Within 20 miles

NA

£50

Within 30 miles

NA

£65

Within M25

NA

£80

Within London Emission Zone

NA

£150

Over 30 miles

NA

NA

Delivery is offered to kerbside only.  We cannot accept any responsibility for damage to property should customers request us to enter their site.

Help unloading would be appreciated.

We reserve the right to charge customers who postpone a delivery if this entails unloading and reloading etc.

Courier delivery can be arranged to other areas of mainland Britain in which case trade discounts will not apply.

We do not export, but phytosanitary certificates can be obtained and will be charged for at cost.

We do not operate customer accounts. All orders must be paid for on collection or before delivery.

Please feel free to ask the availability of any of the plants in our retail catalogue or indeed for any of your requirements - if we do not grow it, we may well be able to offer suitable substitutes. Send us your list and we will give you a quotation. Quotations are valid for a period of 4 weeks with offers subject to availability at time of order.

We guarantee that our plants are true to name and supplied in good condition.  Any discrepancies must be notified to us in writing within 14 days of receipt, and if found to be upheld will result in replacement or a refund not exceeding the invoice value of the plants in question.  After this time we accept no responisibility.

Orders are processed on the understanding that these Trade Terms have been accepted by the purchaser.

 

CALENDAR & EVENTS

Date (2009) Event
January & February Please ring before visiting
March 1st & 2nd Hellebore weekend

April 7th & 8th

RHS Event - Shrub & Perennial Propagation - Lecture & Demonstration

June 6th & 7th & 13th & 14th

Sculpture Exhibition

July 25th Hopleys Charity Evening
August 9th Garden Open for The Red Cross

October 20th & 27th

RHS Event - Autumn colour in the Garden - Lecture and Tour

November & December Please ring before visiting
Date (2009) Event
July 25th Hopleys Charity Evening
August 9th Garden Open for The Red Cross

Over the last 20 years we have exhibited at nearly 250 shows across the country and won gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show and Hampton Court Flower Show.  We won the coveted award for most innovative display at the Gardeners World Show in 2006.

We have shown or will be showing at the following shows:

Dates (2009) Venue Award
June 10th - 14th Gardeners World, NEC, Birmingham  
July 7th - 12th Hampton Court Flower Show  

July 19th

Chenies

 

We would be pleased to bring your orders for you to collect from our display at these shows.

Our festival of music, dancing, picnics and fireworks etc has become an annual event which we held for the 14th consecutive year on Saturday July 26th last year. Queen on Fire played their tribute to Queen. The purpose is to raise funds for charity whilst having a good time!  Our selected charity in 2008 was Herts Air Ambulance and £13006 was raised for this worthwhile cause.

This year we will be featuring 'The Bootleg Beatles'.  Our selected charity for this year is yet to be decided.  Saturday 25th July is the day with ticket sales from 1st June.  Adults £24, Children £18.

Previous events:

Year

Main Feature Charity Supported

Gift

1995

Pasadena Roof Orchestra Multiple Sclerosis

£5000

1996

Opus One Retinitis Pigmentosa Research

£5000

1997

George Thorby Orchestra St Elizabeths School & Home

£5000

1998

Real Steel Action Research

£5000

1999

Souled Out Much Hadham Youth Groups

£5150

2000

Zig Zag Band Much Hadham Millennium Party

N/A

2001

Opus One Cystic Fibrosis & Prostate Cancer

£7600

2002

Fri - Diarmuid O'Leary & The Bards (Irish night)
Sat - John Olivers 'Live' (Popular classics)
Children with Autism
Mencap (Grove Cottage)
Much Hadham Recreation Trust

£6500

2003

Fri - The Overtures
Sat - Humphrey Lyttelton & His Band
Isabel Hospice, Willow Trust
Much Hadham Recreation Trust

£8800

2004

Fri - Fairport Convention
Sat - John Olivers 'Live' (Popular Classics)

Leonard Cheshire, Isabel Hospice
Much Hadham Recreation Trust

Nil

2005

The Rockin' Armadillos Local charities

£1300

2006

The Swinging Blue Jeans

Much Hadham Scouts

£1300

2007

Bjorn Again

Motor Neurone Disease Association

 £7890

2008

Queen on Fire

Herts Air Ambulance

 £13006

Each month during the year we shall be focussing on a specific groups of plants at Hopleys. A wide selection of varieties will be available on these occasions, so come and have a look.

Month (2009) Focus on
March Hellebores