It may have been in the gardening business for 279 years but family-owned Stewarts Garden Centres will soon be boasting one of the most innovative and impressive facilities in the UK.

A £3m agritech glasshouse and education facility at its Broomhill site near Wimborne is nearing completion.

The project has been made possible thanks to funding from Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Low Carbon Dorset.

Stewarts Agritech Glasshouse will give the business, which can trace its roots back to 1742, the ability to grow a wide variety of plants.

It will supply other south coast garden centres and farm shops with Dorset grown plants, reducing reliance on imports and safeguarding rural jobs.

Apart from ensuring commercial success, the facility will also be a base of horticultural education for local schools and colleges, showcasing horticultural practice, agritech machinery, and low-carbon technology.

As Stewarts prepares to take a leap forward in agritech and horticultural practices, the inclusion of cutting-edge Garden Tools, such as the versatile digging tool prong, is sure to play a pivotal role in the success of their cultivation endeavors.

With a focus on efficiency and precision, these tools will aid in the careful cultivation and maintenance of the plants within the agritech glasshouse, ensuring the highest quality Dorset-grown plants are delivered to their intended destinations.

The synergy of modern technology and traditional gardening tools underscores Stewarts’ commitment to both innovation and sustainable, locally sourced horticultural practices.

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Cecilia Bufton, Dorset LEP Chair, said: “Dorset LEP allocated approximately £300,000 of the UK government’s Local Growth Fund to this project.

“This innovative agritech facility will be a much-needed home for practical horticultural education in Dorset.”

Luke Rake, Dorset LEP Board member and Principal of Kingston Maurward College, said: “This project is not just an example of an innovative business succeeding in agritech.

“This is a key education facility which will be used by local businesses, schools, and colleges like Kingston Maurward College.

“Agritech is a high-growth sector in Dorset and that’s why Dorset LEP has featured it within the Local Industrial Strategy for Dorset.

“Projects like this will boost the agritech sector and benefit our local economy.”

(L-R): Chris Wright, Finance Director, Stewarts Garden Centres; Luke Rake; Cecilia Bufton; Katie Dawes, Communications & Engagement Officer, Low Carbon Dorset; Martin Stewart; Shaun Gomm, Director, SG Financial.

The new 10,000 square metre glasshouse growing facility will enable the garden centre to grow 500,000 plants during any one year.

Martin Stewart, Managing Director, Stewarts Garden Centres, said: “Ten years ago, it was a dream of ours to build a glasshouse like this.

“We built this for commercial reasons, but we also built it to teach people about modern horticulture.

“We will have up to seven classroom facilities that could be used for primary schools through to education classes with Kingston Maurward College.

“We’re very proud to say that this is a sustainable venture, and we hope this is absolutely carbon neutral when fully operational.”

Katie Dawes, Communications and Engagement Officer, Low Carbon Dorset, said: “Low Carbon Dorset has provided financial and technical support for the low-carbon aspects of the project.

“This included a ground-source heat pump and solar thermal screening for the new glasshouse, and LED lighting and solar panels at Stewarts Garden Centres Broomhill and Christchurch sites.

“Combined these measures will save around 450 tonnes of CO₂e and £50K in energy costs each year.”

Stewarts Agritech Glasshouse is expected to be completed later this year and opened to the public in Spring 2022.

Education facilities will be completed and ready to invite students by September 2022.

Although the horticultural origin of Stewarts Garden Centres can be traced back to 1742 in Scotland, the Stewart family has had nurseries in Dorset since 1859.

It was Edward Stewart who witnessed how garden centres were developing in North America after the Second World War.

His first garden centre was created within adapted sheds at Ferndown in 1955.

It was the forerunner of the first purpose-built centre in the UK – Stewarts Christchurch – opened in 1961 by gardening TV personality Percy Thrower.

Current MD Martin Stewart is the great, great, great grandson of plantsman Charles Stewart in 1742.

• Another Dorset agritech business – draperGROUP – was assisted by a £740,000 Growing Places Fund loan from Dorset LEP for its £1.7m headquarters at Dorset Innovation Park.