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Garden centres have gone from places for frazzled urbanites to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon, to one of the nation’s most in-demand services during lockdown. Now, Richmond’s Petersham Nurseries, one of the city’s top horticultural hotspots, has announced it will be reopening after being closed for nearly two months.
Following new government guidelines allowing garden centres to officially open their doors to the public again, the idyllic family-run nursery – which boasts a real meadow on its doorstep – will reopen part of its site on Wednesday May 20.
Customers will be able to head back into Petersham’s nursery and glasshouse shops to buy bulbs, seeds, compost, tools and garden accessories. However, things won’t be entirely back to normal.
In order to maintain social-distancing measures, there will be restrictions on the number of customers allowed into the nursery. The centre will limit visitors to one person per household and will only allow a very limited number of people on the site at one time. Its wonderful Teahouse and award-winning café will remain closed, although a takeaway service is planned for the future.
The nursery said: ‘Benefiting from plenty of outdoor space and large airy glasshouses, [the Petersham Nurseries] team have carefully considered the latest official government advice and undertaken a strict risk assessment, to prioritise the safety of all those on-site. Additional procedures have been implemented across the nurseries to protect staff and customers alike with all staff adhering to strict social-distancing guidelines and exercising the highest standards of personal hygiene.’
Petersham’s reopening follows other London garden centres, which are reopening their sites after losing huge numbers of plants at one of the busiest times of the year for the industry due to the lockdown measures.
It may not be quite business as usual yet, but our green fingers are already itching to get hold of some stunning Petersham foliage.
Not in south-west London? Check out the best London garden centres doing deliveries during lockdown.
Or visit Chelsea Flower Show virtually this year.
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