A potted history of Hedgehog Plants

 We didn’t start out in horticulture. In fact, we (Simon & Jay) both spent many years in all sorts of jobs. Everything from working in a laboratory to selling houses (badly!) to running a packhouse on a farm. Eventually though, our passion for plants and the call of the great outdoors became too loud and we both decided that quality of life was far more important than a regular wage. (Feel free to laugh at our innocence)

 So, with that in mind, in 2003 we both gave up our jobs and became “Hedgehog Gardens”, a gardening service in and around Hopton, Suffolk. We built a steady client base and gained a good reputation.

A change of direction

 In 2007 a local hard landscaping centre offered us the chance to run their very small plant section and we jumped at the chance, becoming “Hedgehog Plants & Gardens” in the process.

 Initially Jay ran the plant section having grown plants since she was ‘knee high to a gnat’ whilst Simon continued with the gardening side of the business. However, we both quickly decided that simply buying in the same old plants that you see everywhere and selling them on wasn’t for us.

 Slowly but surely we began growing other, more interesting hardy plants and introduced them to our customers. This went well and in 2008 we did our first ever plant fair at Wyken Vineyards in aid of SWWAG – Stanton Woodland & Wildlife Action Group. A fair we still attend every year.