How Guernsey Gardens bloomed [SPON]

Wednesday 24 July 2024

Guernsey Gardens is celebrating its fiftieth year in business by reflecting on its humble origins, the evolution of its current plant centre base, and how it will continue to get plants from its vast greenhouse into people’s gardens across the island – being what management call a “one-stop shop” for islanders’ gardening needs.

Bob Paine, the firm's owner, recalls that it was a moment of “youth” and “arrogance” that saw him and his friend Dave decide to leave the nursery they were working at to “go on our own”. They later parted ways with Mr Paine focused on sourcing his own plants and landscaping.

Guernsey Gardens was born. 

Staff numbers increased as the business moved between several small vinery sites, until it eventually found its forever home in La Ramée. Initially just renting part of what was a dilapidated vinery, Mr Paine and his team eventually acquired the entire site and watched as it grew and bloomed.

Pictured: The Guernsey Gardens crew.

“We wouldn't be where we are but for two things,” he said. “Staff, who have been very important, vital for me because there are lots of things I can't do that other people can - the technical side of things, the machinery side of things, lots of technology which is not my forté - but also the clients. 

“We've had some very loyal and very good clients over the years. We wouldn't be where we are without them,” he recalled.

“We are very much a family orientated company because my two daughters and son in law are now working here, and Jerry's son and brother are also working here. Luke's been with us for longer than I think he cares to remember. Most of our staff have been with us for a long time.”

A major project for the nascent firm was supplying and planting thousands of plants for the Barclays brother’s project on the island of Breqhou. This included new species, not supplied by the company before, to withstand the elements on the exposed site.

“That was a major project, the biggest project we've ever been involved in. But we worked on several big projects in those days for builders and developers; we have close relationships with several developers who did different projects around the island. More recently, I think it's fair to say we're concentrating more on smaller, private clients,” Mr Paine said. 

But that ethos of getting homegrown and bespoke plants from plant centre to gardens still remains. Part of the drive was Mr Paine’s desire to get his hands on plants that were widely unavailable locally.

Pictured: Luke Ferneyhough, Jerry Gallienne, Emma Wilkins, Bob Paine, Tom Wilkins and Craig Gallienne.

“It's always been a key element of Guernsey Gardens that we've grown a lot of stuff that we want to grow, which we think is appropriate for the island and which we can readily source because we're growing it, or we've developed a lot of contacts over the years with very good suppliers,” he said.

“I think that comes with 50 years' experience and counting. We have seen how it's possible to grow certain plants in very exposed areas, like in Breqhou for instance. That was a good learning curve for extreme weather conditions. But we've also seen our climate changing. We're able to grow plants that 50 years ago I would have been very frightened about supplying, but now we supply them all the time.”

Jerry Gallienne, Managing Director, said Guernsey Gardens’ products and services are “tried and tested”.

“We're still working, obviously, for the developers and some contractors on the island, but we had to change the way the business operated. When Breqhou finished - it was always going to come to an end - we adapted. So, we started branching out by providing maintenance and looking after people's gardens.

“But we’ve got a keen eye. We keep our eyes out for new products, new plants, new suppliers. There's always something different that people want to do with their garden. We've got great teams doing all sorts of hard and soft landscaping works.”

A lot of the evolution has been at the plant centre itself, managed by the experienced and skilled Luke Ferneyhough who has been with the company since 1997.

“We've got such a range. We've worked hard on our supplier chain. We've got key relationships that have been going for decades. Plants from the southern hemisphere, Mediterranean plants, subtropical plants, all sorts. The offering and the range is just immense. That has been growing year on year since I've been here,” he said.

Pictured: Jerry, Bob, and Luke. 

“We worked hard over the years in revamping and making it more user and customer friendly. I think the plant centre used to be a bit more trade orientated, more for the Guernsey landscaping companies who would come in in their lorries and pick their own stock. Now we're changing it, and have been changing it for the last decade just to be more user friendly for the public.”

Mr Paine noted: “That's a major difference, but we've always underpinned it with Luke and other people who've worked here. There is a love of plants and a love of what we're supplying.”

Mr Ferneyhough said the centre can be judged on “the long-standing relationships, the absolutely diverse range that we supply, and the knowledge that we have as well behind these plants.

“We can really market them and advise people properly on what we're selling.”

Looking to the next 50 years, he added that they’re always on the hunt for new plants in line with trends, but always ensuring they are of a high quality and backing it up with “knowledge behind it”.

Pictured: Lucy Paine and Emma Wilkins.

Mr Gallienne also noted that the design side has improved significantly over the past decade and will be a cornerstone of the business, helping to get more plants from the centre into the ground.

“We were doing 2D drawings, which is just a basic plan. Now we do 3D visualisation, which is very, very handy when you go and show that to a client.”

He thanked all past and future clients for their support.

“If you need to know anything about what we do, then just pop in or send an email. We're more than happy to help out.”

Pictured top: Bob Paine by Paul Chambers.

This article first appeared in the July edition of CONNECT, Express' sister publication. 

The latest edition of CONNECT can be read HERE.