Douglas Harris's passion for plants (From Hampshire Society)

Douglas Harris's passion for plants

4:15pm Wednesday 3rd February 2010

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If Fortnum & Mason is England’s finest purveyor of gourmet food, so Penwood Nurseries in north Hampshire is the horticultural equivalent, supplying the discerning buyer with top quality and interesting trees, shrubs, roses, herbaceous perennials and more.

It is a very well known establishment, not only for what it sells but also for the sheer enjoyment a visit to the nursery will bring, with attentive and knowledgeable staff and a plethora of wonderful plants.

Penwood Nurseries is a family business, started by Douglas Harris with wife Margot 27 years ago.

Douglas had, by then, experience in many aspects of horticulture. As a young man he qualified as a Master of Horticulture and went on to work at Hilliers Nurseries where, under the wing of Sir Harold Hillier, he gained valuable experience in nursery stock production and landscape design.

In those days, the Sir Hillier Arboretum was a tree nursery before being made into the gardens we see today.

“I can still see the nursery lines where some of the stock trees were left in place if I look carefully,” laughs Douglas.

Six years later, Douglas joined an experimental horticulture station in Germany. While there he was awarded a Royal Horticultural Society Scholarship (Bowles Memorial) to work at the New York Botanic Garden in the United States and investigate many aspects of horticulture. Returning to England, a year working in the agrochemical industry and six years with the Ministry of Agriculture led him to realise that his interest was governed by his passion for plants.

So it was that he became manager and subsequently managing director of the world famous gardens at Exbury in the New Forest, home of the de Rothschild family and their collection of rare plants, especially rhododendrons and azaleas, and where he happily remained for the best part of a decade. During this time he also acted as a botanical guide on trips to the Himalayas and the Andes.

By 1982 Douglas and Margot had purchased 15 acres of land with a mixture of soil types a few miles south of Newbury. Speaking to Mr Harris about this varied ground one immediately realises just how expert he is on all garden-related topics.

Of course, knowledge of soil type is crucial to the successful cultivation of plants and he explains about the glacial drift overlying Bagshot Sand and London Clay and how that differs from the chalk downland with all the variations in soil texture and acidity.

It is the different soils that enable Penwood Nurseries to grow such a wide range of plants.

“Our speciality is diversity,” says Douglas. They grow 20 or more varieties of oak, maple, birch, beech, sorbus, magnolia and many more, as well as hundreds of varieties of shrubs and over 1,000 different herbaceous plants.

But that’s the point about Douglas Harris. If you ask him a question, you get a full and fascinating answer and it is this generosity and time that he spends with his customers, explaining about the plants and giving his recommendations that makes Penwood Nurseries such a wonderful place to shop and, I understand, to work.

His passion for plants and courteous manner rubs off on the staff who are intelligent and diligent.

With pride, Douglas and Margot tell me about some previous employees such as two of the “Saturday Boys” – one went to Oxford and then Kew Gardens, and the second won a Double First at Bangor University in Forestry!

Jeremy Stamp, who currently works at the nursery was the top RHS Certificate Student in the country in 2008 and all the employees ‘know their stuff’.

The second generation is now officially at the helm, although there is no question of Douglas and Margot retiring, as far as I can see.

Tim Harris studied at Reading University and attained an Honours degree in Horticulture and then travelled to the west coast of the United States and worked in nurseries where he developed a special interest in North American plants.

Witch hazels (Hamamelis) are another great interest.

Twenty varieties are budded or grafted, grown on and sold at Penwood. This wonderful shrub, which luxuriates in lime-free, well drained soil, flowers very early in the year on bare branches.

The spider-like clusters of flowers which vary in colour from yellow, through orange to red are winter hardy and many are scented.

Autumn foliage assumes a similar colour range and can be quite brilliant.

Tim’s favourites include Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Ripe Corn’ (Very floriferous with fragrant corn yellow flowers in February) Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’ (Bright yellow flowers produced slightly later than some, lemon scent and good autumn hues); and Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ (red flowers with good maroon/crimson autumn leaves).

This month would be a good time to go and see them in flower at the nursery and to make your selections.

The nursery also has eight 25m-long glasshouses that contain a variety of plants from young, newly rooted ‘babies’ to the more tender plants that would not winter outdoors successfully.

The eight full-time staff and two part-time have a variety of duties, from propagating and potting on, compiling orders for the many ‘trade’ customers such as garden designers and landscapers as well as the private individuals, and advising and helping the customers.

“Our customers include the rich and famous, down to people like ourselves, the poor and needy!” Douglas tells me. “Everybody is welcome.”

I love going to Penwood Nurseries.

They do not offer a mail order service, but let me assure you, a visit at any time of year will be worthwhile and interesting. They are all unbelievably expert in loading the most enormous plants into a car – I have personal experience of this – so make sure your rear seats are down and the car is empty when you go!

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