Recently one of our local garden centres was swallowed up by a well known chain of stores. *burp* The prices have gone up, the variety reduced, but the tat has stayed pretty much the same. This does not bode well. Attached to the centre, adjacent to the restaurant, is a small garden and playground. This area of mainly trees and shrubs is solely for the customer’s delight, not for gain. Not so long ago there was also a large pond, replete with carp, for whom you could buy paper bags of food. Adults and children alike marvelled at the gaping fish mouths, gasping for the bread in a very unseemly manner. It was filled in and laid to lawn a couple of years ago, no doubt a casualty of Health and Safety.
Yesterday we popped in to buy a terracotta pot and whilst we were there I sauntered in the sunshine. The wonderfully ridged horse chestnut tree doesn’t care who owns it, wearing its cape of ivy, reaching its boughs into the blue. I only hope the new owners don’t find a more profitable use for this calming space. Fingers crossed the tree’s nonchalance isn’t short-lived.
Off The Edge Gardening 
Be thankful! Here the reverse. Our local garden centre was vomited out of a national chain. “Wye?” you may ask. “Vale”, I vill answer in my best Dracula accent, the freehold was owned by a family who established the original centre then sold out the operation (but not the freehold). When the lease ended, they ceremonially ejected the chain and took it over. For a year it was gardening heaven (pardon pun (singular)). Then they saw opportunities. It is no longer “garden centre” but “garden village”. Now more indoor space is devoted to Cotton Traders than to gardening. There’s an off-licence wine store, ladies’ fashion area, pet grooming salon, aquarium centre, double glazing shop….. It goes on. They sell compost. The tills are about 200 metres from the car park which is about 3-4 metres higher than the ground level at the tills.
I don’t go there now.
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Horror story! Hope you have somewhere that actually sells plants close by. ps love the accent 🙂
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What a beautiful tree, they can live for so long. At Dunsland, a NT property near us, there are some sweet chestnut trees that are about 700 years old, planted in the reign of Edward I or II. They too are beautiful and we marvel at their longevity and ancientness every time we go there. Dunsland House burned down in the 1960’s but these wonderful trees remain. I hope ‘your’ tree gets to enjoy its potential lifespan.
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I got the post through email with ‘Aesculus’ but see that it was corrected 😉
Such a nice tree the Castanea, saw a few on Vancouver Island last year.
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It was a booboo but luckily it was pointed out! Schoolgirl error 😦
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