It has been a positive start to this year’s Glee for Aylett Nurseries, as it was announced as the winners of the RSPB’s Conservation Garden Centre of the Year Award yesterday morning (Monday).

The St. Albans based retailer, owned by Julie Aylett and Adam Wigglesworth, was presented with the accolade by John Capper, National Account Manager at the RSPB and Sam Marriage, Director at Marriage’s, leading supplier of quality pet foods and animal feeds.

Aylett’s were awarded for their work on the Butterflies and Celebration Garden, located adjacent to the store.  The beautiful garden was created in 2015 to celebrate 60 years of the family business and is now part of the renowned National Garden Scheme (NGS).

The garden is alive with impressive blooms including roses, dahlias, shrubs and perennials, celebrating the work and patience of the Aylett family.  The areais a peaceful and tranquil haven containing a spiral maze, bug hotels and wildflower meadows at the heart of the garden, providing a riot of colour for the best part of the year and creating a wonderful habitat for bees, butterflies and insects. 

Julie and Adam were presented with a framed certificate on the Pets at Glee Seminar stage to proudly display in-store, as well as winning a fun, interactive family event at the garden centre, where customers can learn about birds and wildlife and how to be more conservation friendly in their own garden.

Matthew Mein, Event Director at Glee said: “Aylett Nurseries are worthy winners of the RSPB award, following all the hard work and commitment they have put into their Butterflies and Celebration Garden. So much time, effort and enthusiasm has been invested in the garden to create such wonderful havens of colour, as well as an appealing natural space for visitors and wildlife to enjoy.”

The RSPB will also be presenting at Glee this afternoon (Tuesday 5.15pm – 15.45pm) on the Pets at Glee Seminar stage, where John and Sam will be giving an insightful talk on “The Ethical Generation – how linking conservation, wild life and gardens can drive sales and add equity to your garden centre.”