About The Community Plant Nursery

Back in 2006 I moved from Norwich to rural Norfolk and, working as a gardener and living in a house with a large garden, I had the opportunity to propagate plants of various kinds on a very modest scale. Over the following years I occasionally sold home-raised plants at sales and fairs, but never built up the large stock of plants needed to expand this into a business. I recognised that, like most businesses, any such enterprise would require substantial capital input to buy in stock (as well as other resources such as extra land) to trade on a scale sufficient to provide an income. However, I also realised that, unlike other businesses, a plant nursery has assets which increase, rather than depreciate over time – plants have a tendency to grow and multiply.

At the same time I became interested in permaculture and was involved, as a volunteer, at a site close to my home where trees and other plants were being propagated with the idea of starting a plant nursery. While the idea never got off the ground, in addition to gaining practical knowledge and experience, I began to research the possibilities of such an enterprise as a permaculture project.

When I moved back to Norwich in 2018 I brought with me my ‘micro- nursery’ stock of plants in pots. I soon realised I had too many to fit in my tiny garden and many were temporarily housed in the garden of a friend. At the same time, I became aware of the number of land-based community groups and projects locally and that land to grow plants and food is, in fact, often more accessible in the city than in the countryside. I began to think about how a plant nursery could be set up as a permaculture project in an urban setting.

In the summer of 2019, I had the opportunity to work with the Angel Yard Co-housing Community on a Norwich City Council allotment site at Valpy Avenue. Part of the site was already planted with mature fruit trees and bushes and was planned to be set up as a forest garden. This would enable the potted plants to grow in open ground where they could be used as the basis for propagation stock for the nursery, with new plants being produced from cuttings, division, layering and so on.

I first talked about the idea of a community plant nursery at the Norwich Seed and Plant Swap in February 2020. While the idea was well-received, the project took some time to get off the ground, mainly due to the Covid lockdown. However I already had a small stock of plants and with the support of some friends who I had met through a mutual interest in permaculture, began growing and propagating plants on an allotment plot at Valpy Avenue.

At the beginning of 2021 the Norwich Community Plant Nursery was established as an unincorporated association, its aims being to produce plants for the people of Norwich and the surrounding area (particularly community groups managing green spaces), to bring people together through community gardening and related social and educational activities, and to provide an opportunity to put into
practice permaculture ethics, design and principles. In addition a website was set up to publicise the project.

From the start the project has received support and publicity from Norwich City Council’s Outdoor Projects Network and Growing Communities Fund, which has provided vegetable and perennial seeds and connected the project with the growing number of community groups who manage outdoor spaces across the city.

In the Autumn of that year the City Council’s Allotment Officer offered the plant nursery a full-sized plot at the Valpy Avenue site, which had been unused for several years, with specific permission to grow and propagate plants, including seedling trees, in pots.

Also in 2022 we worked with Garlic Puppet Theatre and were able to supply young apple trees which were planted after three of their performances.

In February 2023 the Community Plant Nursery took part in the Norwich Seed and Plant Swap and has since been working with community groups close to our Valpy Avenue plot, supplying perennial plants to the Friends of Sloughbottom Park and Friends of Wensum Park. We’ve made links with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, whose Nature Nextdoor project is taking place locally,
and the Mile Cross Green Hearts. In September the Plant Nursery hosted an Outdoor Projects Network meet-up at the plot. We’ve also linked up to the newly formed Sustainable Food Norwich network.

With so much happening in the immediate locality, 2024 is looking to be an exciting time for the plant nursery. The project is firmly rooted in the Mile Cross area, with close links to other groups who are based at the allotment site, and involvement in local projects such as the Burgess Road Community Garden, currently under construction nearby. We’re hoping to begin work and social
sessions at the plot in the near future.

Thanks go to all individuals and organisations who have given their support so far.

Steve Land
January 2024