从两个邻居的菜地到 1990 年开业
水滨花园中心 Waterside Garden Centre 在彼得伯勒附近的巴斯顿，紧挨 A15 公路，是一家家族经营的独立企业，1990 年开业。苗圃的起点比这早两年：Andy Parrott 和 Alan Walters 两位邻居都爱种菜，1988 年干脆把这门爱好做成了全职生意，在 A15 路边一块旧水芹田的位置开张，当时叫 Waterside Nursery。
几年后现在的地块空了出来，两人当即搬过来建更大的场子。经过几个月的筹备，花园中心在 1990 年 3 月 17 日圣帕特里克节当天正式开业。1992 年底两栋原有建筑之间加建了连廊和一整面温室前脸，后来又添了办公区和洗手间；2002 年整个植物区推倒重做成面积大得多的新布局。
可以开合的屋顶
2010 年，苗圃在室外的植物区上方装了 Rovero 的 Roll Air 温室。这种屋顶能完全打开也能完全合拢，顾客几秒钟之内就能从露天转到室内，也可以反过来说走就走。苗圃自己对这个说法的表述是，它因此成为英国为数不多的、能提供全天候购物环境的花园中心之一。
屋顶之外，植物区按用途分了区：靠验证的耐寒灌木花卉、按种植位置配好的组合，以及照主题搭出来的样板，伙计在盆栽台边上提供咨询，也办动手课程。另外还有室内植物区，专做仙人掌、多肉、兰花和空气凤梨。
水族与户外家具
园里另设一个水族部门，是这家的特色。鱼缸分十五个大池子养着，金鱼有 Comet、Shubunkin 和 Sarasa 等品种，锦鲤从三寸到十寸都有，还养 Diamondback 和 Siberian 两种鲟鱼。旁边配有泵、过滤器、太阳能泵、水质处理剂和各类鱼饲料。
水生植物按季节进货，睡莲与莲藕、增氧植物、岸边植物和漂浮植物分开放在多个水槽和托盘里，店里自称是伯恩、斯普尔丁和彼得伯勒一带水生植物备得最齐的商家之一。水族缸那边还卖 Tetra、API、NT Labs 等牌子的器材与饲料。户外家具区则是另一块大场地，藤椅、长椅、柚木和户外加热炉都摆在露天。
餐饮与合租商户
吃饭的地方有 Waterside Restaurant，套餐、小食和甜点都做；食品大厅里有一家 King Street Butchery 肉铺，货是从当地供应商进的，也有卖无麸质食品的获奖产品。此外还有艺术手工艺画廊、家居装饰与礼品区，以及一间观鸟喂食和野生动物护理的小店。
还有几家独立商户在同一片场子里做生意，商品线互不重叠：爱丁堡羊毛厂、Pavers 鞋店、Gladwells 宠物与乡村用品店、Refresh & Renew 厨房。园内有免费的花园俱乐部会员卡，本地配送，无障碍通道覆盖全场和咖啡区，并提供五年耐寒植物质保。营业时间周一到周六九点到五点半，周日十点到四点半。
第二家园子与网购
2016 年，苗圃买下了 Polebrook 附近奥恩德尔的第二座花园中心 Olive Grove Nursery。投资翻新了建筑、停车场，同样加装 Roll Air 温室后重新开业。那家专做橄榄树和地中海植物，自称拥有英国数量最多的橄榄树苗。两边可以互相导流。
不想跑现场的也可以在网站上下单，园里各部门的东西都能买。订单满额可免运费，也可以下单后到店自提。店里还设有虚拟现实骑乘项目，带孩子的家庭把它当成一次出门的理由。按店方的说法，这里已经从当年那家苗圃，变成了一座可以逛上一整天的综合商场。
From two neighbours’ veg patch to 1990
Waterside Garden Centre sits at Baston near Peterborough, right beside the A15, and is a family-run independent business dating from 1990. The nursery began two years earlier: Andy Parrott and Alan Walters were neighbours who both loved growing vegetables, and in 1988 turned the hobby into full-time work on an old watercress bed site by the A15, trading as Waterside Nursery.
When the present site became available a few years later they moved straight away to build a bigger centre. After months of work, Waterside Garden Centre opened on St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1990. Late in 1992 a linking area and a large conservatory frontage went up between the two original buildings, with offices and toilets added later, and in 2002 the whole plant area was redesigned much larger.
A roof that opens and closes
In 2010 the nursery put a Rovero Roll Air greenhouse over the outdoor plant area. The roof opens fully and closes fully, so shoppers can step from outdoors to indoors in seconds and back out again. The way the centre puts it is that this made it one of a handful of garden centres in the country able to offer all-weather shopping.
Underneath, the plant area is sorted so people can shop by what they need: varieties proven to perform, collections put together for particular positions, and themed displays. Staff give advice at the potting bench and run demonstrations and masterclasses. There is also an indoor plant section specialising in cacti, succulents, orchids and air plants.
Aquatics and outdoor furniture
The aquatics department is what sets this centre apart. Fifteen vats hold the fish: goldfish including Comets, Shubunkins and Sarasas, standard and ghost koi from three inches to ten, and both Diamondback and Siberian sturgeon. Pumps, filters, solar pumps, treatments and feeds sit alongside them, from names like PondXpert, Hozelock, Tetra and Nishikoi.
Aquatic plants come in seasonally, with water lilies, lotus, oxygenating, marginal and floating plants held in separate vats and trays. The centre calls itself one of the best stocked pond plant suppliers around Bourne, Spalding and Peterborough. Tanks, gravels and aquarium plants are sold under the same roof. Outdoor furniture is the other big draw, with benches, pergolas, oak sets and outdoor heaters on display outside.
Eating and the partner retailers
Waterside Restaurant does meals, snacks and desserts, and the food hall includes King Street Butchery, stocked with local produce and award winning gluten-free products. There is also an art and craft gallery, a home decor and gifting area, and a small wildlife and bird feeding section.
Several independent traders trade on the same site without overlapping: Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Pavers Shoes, Gladwells Pet & Country Store and Refresh & Renew Kitchens. The centre offers free parking, a free Garden Club reward card, local delivery, step-free access throughout including the cafe, and a five year guarantee on hardy plants. It opens Monday to Saturday 9am to 5.30pm and Sunday 10am to 4.30pm.
A second site and shopping online
In 2016 the centre bought a second garden centre, The Olive Grove Nursery at Polebrook near Oundle. New buildings, car parking and another Roll Air greenhouse went in before it relaunched, specialising in olive trees and Mediterranean plants and claiming the largest selection of olive trees in the UK. Customers are pointed between the two sites.
Those who cannot visit can order the department ranges online instead, with free delivery over a set order value or a click and collect option. There is also a virtual reality ride on site, which gives families a reason to come along. In the centre’s own words it has evolved from a nursery into a retail centre in its own right, and a place worth spending a day.
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