About Us
Martin and Diane met at Oaklands College, St. Albans. Whilst both training in Horticulture. They came to Cardington in 1981, with four young children, a very old tractor and a serious amount of determination. Then slowly began to transform a four acre corn field, into Cottage Farm Nurseries as you know it today. The first year corn and potatoes were grown, a small farm shop began and the first glasshouse was built, over the next ten years several more followed. After a lot of very hard work, the nursery has steadily grown to the size it now is, and has one of the largest selection of plants and trees in the area.

In the early days we grew tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, followed by celery for several leading supermarkets including Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury. Due to low prices and the supermarkets preferring to import celery we were forced to stop growing it. So we started growing bedding plants, just a few varieties at first, gradually increasing every year. Now we grow over 150 varieties and the list is still growing. As well as retail sales, we supply landscapers, schools and councils, including Bedford and Milton Keynes with their bedding requirements for many years. Pricking out used to be done by hand, but now we have a new member of the team - a robotic transplanter (pricking out machine). She is very fast, one tray every 5 seconds! Come and see her in action on our open days. We also grow a very extensive range of hanging basket and patio plants, including the old favourites such as fuchsias and geraniums, but many new varieties too. Hanging baskets and planted containers are available for sale all year round. Also, we provide a basket making service, customers bring their empty baskets to us, we plant them up with plants of their choice, or if they prefer, using our own patterns. Then we grow them on until they are ready to be collected, mid May by which time they are well established and beautiful.

The last ten years we have spent building up a very large range of trees, shrubs, hardy exotics and herbaceous perennials, mostly grown here at Cardington and thanks to an excellent network of nurseries at our fingertips, we are able to source most plant orders within a week or two.

A hiring service is provided for weddings, parties, events, etc. Bay tree balls, and topiary hearts to name but a few. Any amount, from one plant to a jungle! We also operate the National Garden Gift Voucher service. Ideal for birthdays, weddings, etc. Now that our children have grown up, one son and a daughter work full time on the nursery. Robert is responsible for maintenance and deliveries. Clare is a trained florist and among her many duties is in charge of hanging basket making, Christmas wreaths and giving customers help and advice.

Our plans for the future are to continue expanding our stock of plants, improve quality even more, and to welcome you to our nursery very soon.