Newsletter

November & December 2023

Well here we go again! We’re getting ready for the festive season at the garden centre and anticipating our first delivery of beautiful fresh Christmas trees in November; you can even smell them from the end of our drive on arrival day!

Plants and trees

You may find it’s time to freshen up your containers; try pansies, violas, cyclamen and callunas. They mix well with a backdrop of a heuchera, euonymus or a small skimmia. Display newly planted containers in front of windows and doors so that you can admire them from inside the house.

Before the first frosts hit, please do remember to protect any tender plants in the garden by covering them with fleece or moving them into a shed or greenhouse. We sell fleece by the metre so you don’t have to spend a fortune on this.

Scented winter plants are great when placed near a door or gate; the perfume will waft over to you as you walk up the garden path. Try sarcococca, daphne (a favourite), hamamelis and mahonia. We’ll be stocking all of these over the next few months.

Indoor plants

Due to the colder weather, we have a smaller selection than usual of houseplants. However, we will always have something for you and don’t forget that we also stock all the ingredients you need to pot up, repot or to make a terrarium. Why not try an amaryllis this winter – they take about 6-8 weeks to bloom from a bulb so if you start one off pretty soon, they will be flowering at Christmas: they make great presents. Poinsettias will be arriving towards the end of November from one of our lovely suppliers in East Sussex.

Gifts and home

Come and support your local shops in West Dulwich this season – we’ll have baubles, garlands and wreaths. We have an offer on ‘Goodwill’ baubles where you get 3 for £9.95, a real steal. There’s also a good affordable selection of candles, both scented and coloured dinner candles, from St. Eval in Cornwall. There are some lovely little coloured glass tea light holders to create an atmospheric glow on your Christmas table.

Christmas Trees

At the time of writing, we are well into autumn and summer is but a distant memory. However we have started taking orders for Christmas trees (sorry to scare you!). We will have the same supplier of premium grade trees as over the last several years as the quality of the trees has been brilliant with very little needle drop and perfect classic shapes. We look forward to seeing or speaking to our regulars at this time of the year! New customers are also very welcome!

As usual you can submit your Christmas tree order online; just go to our website www.alleynpark.co.uk and follow the link on the home page. Once we receive your details we will give you a call to take payment and arrange a convenient delivery day

• Our Nordmann (non-dropping) trees are cut from sustainable stock and whittled to fit into a stand. This means that the base is reduced in size to fit most stands to save you the hassle of chopping into it at home. Virtually no other garden centres or retailers of trees routinely offer this service.
• Order and pay for your tree by the end of November to receive 10% off the price and get free delivery within our local area. If you order from 1st December onwards there will be a delivery charge of £10 and the full price of the tree as below will apply.

You can, of course, come by and check that you’re happy with the tree we’ve reserved for you prior to delivery (and change it if necessary and while stocks last). Alternatively, we can hold your tree ready for collection. Prices this year are as follows:

Wreaths, Table Arrangements and Cut Flowers

Christmas wreaths will be available towards the end of November. We’ll have plain pine covered wreaths or wire frames with all the accessories so that you can make one yourself and perhaps give it as an early Christmas present. Table decorations will start to become available in the first half of December.

We will have a good selection of cut flowers and foliage in December so you can put vases of mixed flowers together yourself.

Come and see our full-size Santa’s sleigh which will be arriving in November! (Children are very welcome to sit in the sleigh for a photo but must be supervised at all times by an adult.)

As always, we have a supply of wonderfully aromatic and slow burning olive wood, along with sustainably sourced hardwood, kindling and non-toxic eco firelighters; perfect for evenings outside round a fire, sipping a glass or two!

We hope to welcome you to the garden centre very soon and if you haven’t heard already, the Love West Dulwich day is Saturday 25th November when there will be many exciting activities going on in the area.

Lastly, as many of you are aware, there are parking restrictions in our car park. Please take a temporary permit from the gate and leave it in your windscreen; when you have finished shopping here, please put the permit back in the basket.

With warm wishes Robby and the Team