A much-loved Liverpool garden centre that "not that many people know about" is actually "like a Tardis."
Located on Aigburth Hall Avenue in Aigburth, Aigburth Hall Nurseries is an independent, family-run garden centre that has been open for over nearly 80 years. Established in 1945, the business started from humble beginning when the original owners would grow their own plants and vegetables and sell them from a shop on the historic site.
Running as a garden centre in one form or other since then, like other similar family businesses that have been open for generations, Aigburth Hall Nurseries began before the term "garden centre" was really created. Today, the garden centre has expanded to sells everything from bedding and houseplants to trees, bulbs, seeds, gifts, cards, pots and containers and more.
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In November 2009, husband and wife Robbie and Jean Cottier turned their passion into a profession when they took on the business, carrying on its legacy in the city. As part of the Liverpool ECHO's How It Used To Be series, we spoke to Jean about the history of the site and what life is like running the garden centre at the heart of this community.
Jean, 63, told the ECHO: "The whole site, the land, it used to be a monastery, and it's got a lot of sandstone walls around it. Then it changed to a farm and two brothers in 1945, they started growing there own stuff and then they started selling to the public - it all started from there.
"We don't grow anything for ourselves and back then that would have been a big thing. They would have grown everything from seeds or plug plants.
"Our plants are all bought in from Ormskirk and various other places. Most of our stuff is from the UK and some from the Netherlands.
"I was probably in my early 20s when I first went there. It didn't look much different, I think the layout is probably the same as it's always been.
"One of my first trips when I went to Aigburth Hall Nurseries was when I used to work away a lot and I wanted to buy my husband a tree to have it delivered whilst I was away. I put on the card 'as the tree grows watch my love grow.' It sounds corny now, but that’s a nostalgic trip I remember from Aigburth Hall Nurseries."
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During the recession over a decade ago, the previous owners wanted to sell the garden centre, but were unable to find a buyer. Robbie had been working there for eight years at the time and took the opportunity to take over the business, with Jean later joining.
For decades, generations of loyal customers have come to Aigburth Hall Nurseries, but to people elsewhere in Merseyside, they may not know a lot about it and for those who do, they may not realise the extent of the site Jean said: "People say my mum used to come here and it's definitely lots of families and neighbours that come in.
"But we are really in the centre of the community. It's just a lovely vibe, a laid back environment to be in.
"It's a place that not that many people know about. We sort of don't have a car park and we’re in a residential area between two houses, but we go right back and we have big greenhouses and a big garden out the back garden.
"I've just had a customer in who has been coming to me for years and she didn't know we had a back garden - she mentioned it to her neighbour who’s also been coming for years and she didn't know we had a back garden. People just think we’re a small courtyard and people go in to pay.
"We’re like a Tardis - people call us a Tardis - because we’re much bigger than you think. We’re more medium sized than a small garden centre."
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Like many business, over the years the garden centre has had to adapt to new trends, the rise of social media and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. But through it all, Jean said she loves the relationship her and Robbie have with staff and customers who have remained loyal through it all and are proud to carry on the historic Aigburth Hall Nurseries name.
Jean said: "The generation we'd normally get in are pensioners and the serious allotment people. But now since the pandemic, because everyone had decorated their houses, they then turned to their gardens and because of food shortages that is still the case now because of the cost of living, a lot of younger people are coming in now.
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"Parents are trying to get their children involved in growing their own as well. We have a huge, loyal, local base and my husband often delivers to L3 now so the word is stretching out there because of social media and because of recommendations.
"It has been tough, especially during the pandemic, we have had a few hiccups over the years but you just have to keep peddling. We have so many loyal loyal customer and a lot of them are friends."
To find out more about Aigburth Hall Nurseries, click here.
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