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Burncoose Celebrating 40 years - Chelsea

Burncoose Celebrating 40 years - Chelsea
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Burncoose Nurseries Celebrating 40 Years

Stand: Great Pavilion GPB 031

RHS Chelsea Flower Show regular, Cornwall based Burncoose Nurseries, which is this year sponsored by The Prince’s Trust supporter, Hand Picked Hotels, is using their garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show to celebrate their 40th anniversary. 

Officially opened in March 1984, Burncoose Nurseries has grown from one phoneline, a caravan for an office and a team of six, to employing more than 40 people and selling more than 4,100 varieties of plants via their website burncoose.co.uk. Each year the website gets more than 1.5 million visitors. In 2023, visitors to the site spent more than 16,000 hours watching how-to videos. 

In 1984 there were four Founding Partners of Burncoose Nurseries; Charles Williams, Senior Partner; his brother David Williams; David Knuckey; and his son, Philip Knuckey. While David Knuckey has sadly passed away, his son Philip runs the landscaping side of the Burncoose business and his daughter, David Knuckey’s granddaughter, Cressy Knuckey, runs the Burncoose propagation department and is the Lead Designer for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show garden.   

40 years and 27 gold medals, 14 silver gilt medals, 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals on from that first show, the skilled and dedicated Nursery team return to Chelsea with a garden showcasing the very best of the past 40 years, alongside plants and species that may not be so familiar.  The garden is designed by Burncoose Show Team, Cressy Knuckey and Molly Jackson.

Charles Williams said: “It is wonderful to be celebrating 40 years of Burncoose Nurseries. While our large stand at Chelsea celebrates the 40 years since our business started it will, as usual, contain many interesting, unusual and little-known plants. This year we are featuring some exceptional small trees and large shrubs with dramatic architectural features both for smaller town gardens or larger woodland settings. We’re looking forward to sharing these plants as well as stories from our past 40 years, with visitors to the show.” 

Supporters of The Prince’s Trust, Hand Picked Hotels, a unique collection of award-winning country house and spa hotels located throughout the UK and the Channel Islands, is sponsoring the Burncoose garden this year. Julia Hands, Chairman, said: “Every year, the team pull out all the stops with beautiful garden design and plants, and this year is really the jewel in the crown. Burncoose provides endless inspiration for the gardens and estates across the Hand Picked Hotels properties, and as we continually improve our outdoor spaces across the group, I look forward to seeing the many rare and remarkable species that will be on display.”

Our stand inspiration

stand drawing.

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