It takes a certain type of person to risk a steady job to pursue a passion, and on meeting plantsman Robert Vernon, it soon becomes apparent that he and his late wife Suzette were among those courageous few. Together they founded the celebrated Bluebell Nursery more than 40 years ago, with little more than an ambition to educate visitors about the beauty of trees and shrubs and a small patch of land in Derbyshire on which to grow and sell them.
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Today, visitors are welcomed by Robert and his team with infectious enthusiasm and encyclopaedic knowledge, making a short trip almost impossible as you’re invited to tour the nine-acre arboretum, home to some of the rarest woody plants in the UK, and then perhaps buy a plant or two.
“People come here from near and far, and the nursery now supplies everyone from homeowners with small gardens to royal estates such as Balmoral and Sandringham,” says Robert. “While it’s not on the scale of Westonbirt Arboretum, because our trees are, at best, only 34 years old and grown from whips, it shows gardeners what they can achieve in a relatively short time frame.”
Gardens and plants have always been a big part of Robert’s life. “My father was a keen gardener and worked for the Electricity Board, making his way up to executive officer in charge of the landscapes around the power stations, designed by the legendary Brenda Colvin. His love of plants inspired mine, and by my early teens I was selling homegrown tomatoes to neighbours down the street.”
Robert left school at 16 to work in the local parks department, then applied to study for a national diploma in horticulture at Writtle Agricultural College. One condition of entry was two years’ practical experience, and to meet this requirement he secured an apprenticeship at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens. “On my first day at Hilliers I met Suzette, and within two weeks we were planning to marry.” The couple were also both booked on the same course at Writtle. They spent the rest of their lives together until Suzette’s death from cancer in 2022.
Climate change is a worry. not only the drought and high temperatures, but wet winters
After college, she worked as an entomologist and Robert became a tree surgeon before they set up their nursery on a one-acre rented plot, two miles from its current site, behind a pub called The Bluebell. “In 1992, our bank manager gave us a £20,000 loan for a six-acre windswept field on which to expand the nursery and create the arboretum,” explains Robert. “We planted a couple of thousand native tree seedlings to provide shelter, as well as lots of rare and unusual species. The debt felt crippling at times, but we had faith in the project and in 1997 our friend Roy Lancaster opened it to the public. Our field of twigs didn’t look terribly inspiring, but he managed to regale 40 guests with a wonderful vision of what they would become.”
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Those twigs are now a plant lovers’ paradise, with more than 100 towering redwoods, including Sequoiadendron giganteum, Sequoia sempervirens and Metasequoia glyptostroboides, together with rare Prunus, pines, oaks, birches, tulip trees, dogwoods, magnolias, camellias and more. “We label every plant and have created many posters to inform and educate visitors, as well as offering a one-to-one advisory service to help people create their own arboretum or large garden.”
Robert remembers a man who once came to visit the arboretum early one morning. “By four o’clock he hadn’t come out and I went in search of him, worried that he may have hurt himself. I found him taking notes on many of the trees, and he asked if I could help him create an arboretum on his half-acre plot. Well, to cut a long story short, he now has 250 acres, with over 300 species of oak and a glasshouse for Mexican species. It’s a real joy when someone like him comes in with no knowledge and gets fired up about trees.”
It’s a real joy when someone comes in with no knowledge and gets fired up about trees
Bluebell’s future is safeguarded by Robert and Suzette’s son and daughter-in-law, both trained horticulturists. “Climate change is a worry, though,” admits Robert. “The problem is not only the drought and high temperatures, but the wet winters. Last year, our trees sat in waterlogged clay soil for months and we lost many rowans, cherries and even hydrangeas, but curiously, not a single giant redwood, which hail from the Sierra Nevada where there’s very little rainfall.”
The icing on the cake for Robert was being awarded the RHS Associate of Honour, although it was tinged with sadness since Suzette wasn’t with him to receive it. He now shares his life with Val, an artist, who has broadened his vision for the arboretum, and the couple have introduced sculpture trails to bring in a new community of visitors. “We’ve also experimented with musical events and I’m hoping to offer more of these, too,” says Robert.
After a career spanning almost 60 years, Robert’s enthusiasm and energy appear undiminished. A life spent doing what he loves is no doubt a motivating force, but it takes determination and tenacity to see it through; qualities he has in spades.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery, Annwell Lane, Smisby, Ashby de la Zouch, Derbyshire LE65 2TA. Tel 01530 413700. Web bluebellnursery.com
