East Northdown Nursery, Thanet, Kent.
East Northdown Nursery, between Margate and Broadstairs, Kent is our home nursery in the North East corner of Kent. Our coastal and chalk loving plants are propagated from stock plants in the gardens that have been proven to suit the local Mediterranean micro-climate with chalk soil, low rainfall and drying winds – trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and ferns and a range of ‘old fashioned’ half hardy conservatory plants. These plants are listed in our online catalogue with RHS nursery location code SEND (South:- East North Down). We stock a limited range of bedding plants in season as well as a limited range of sundries – pots , composts , mulch , stone etc. , but we are a plant nursery , not a typical garden centre. Our plants are grown and propagated on site and available all year round – not just when in flower fresh off the lorry !
Together with the perennial plants, trees and shrubs propagated at our other nursery in the Midlands (MMuc) we are able to offer a uniquely wide range of garden plants for growing conditions across the country. link to RHS online ‘find a plant’ service is :- https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-form
We, William and Louise, personally propagate the plants , maintain the grounds and run the business centres at both sites between us, with a small band of part time or semi retired staff. Opening hours have been reduced accordingly. East Northdown Nursery is now closed on Mondays all year and on Sundays from mid-Aug to mid- April, except in Dec, ( for the sale of our own Christmas Trees) .They are Closed on Easter Sunday , and from Christmas to mid January. Visitors may need to call us , if they can see anyone working around the nursery nearby.
We have been granted planning permission in 2022 to refurbish the nursery buildings , in the ‘Tomlin’s Yard’ area, to improve our facilities and increase our range of affordable business premises :- stores, workshops, studios and concessions – during 2024, 5 & 6.
Visitors are encouraged to explore the grounds and gardens, and bring in sprigs or photos of any plant they wish to identify or match up .
Taddy’s Barn Cafe & Tea Room, run by Lee Mitchell, serves breakfasts , lunches and teas . It is a popular meeting place for locals and families, taking a break from exploring the Gardens, local beaches, Margate’s up and coming art scene and retro shops, and can be booked for family events etc. Taddy’s Barn, and other concessions , are open separately at different times. It is named after James Taddy , and William’s great Grandfather James Taddy Friend of Northdown House. The folding doors were salvaged from ‘Taddy’s’ fishing boat house that stood 1st at ‘Friend’s Gap’., and then in the stackyard below the Oast in East Northdown Close until the 1980’s
Whilst most of our customers live locally, we also see holidaymakers, and weekenders too, who are staying in the nearby towns or visiting relatives in the area, or customers beating a path to our door to track down some of our unusual range.
We are always happy to see any visitors and you can be sure of a ‘Friendly’ welcome when visiting the nursery.
We have extensive plantings around the car parks, road frontages and business centre areas as well as the farmhouse gardens. We liken this to the plantings around a university campus or college.
Our range of plants are chosen to cope with local chalky and coastal conditions and include many rare or unusual slightly tender zone 9 inland ‘Mediterranean’ plants. The U.S.Dept.Agric. hardiness zone map for Europe shows Thanet as having the same hardiness zone, 9, as Barcelona, Rome, Marseilles and Istanbul. We also keep a wide selection of less hardy Zone 10, coastal Mediterranean /conservatory plants grown in pots that we bring in to sheltered/ frost free areas for the winter plants. These stock plants in coloured pots dotted around the nursery are not for sale themselves , but smaller plants propagated from them are.
