Briarwood Nurseries

Briarwood Nurseries
Saunders Lane
Mayford
Woking
Surrey
GU22 0NT

Closed down and no plants currently being grown.
Some glasshouse repairs are likely to be carried out at the premises in late 2023 and early 2024.

David and Sylvia Smith are now retired. You have our sincere thanks for your support over the many years in which Briarwood Nurseries has supplied plants and gardening goods. Best wishes for the future.


Mr. Cyril George Smith (known as Bob) passed away on Wednesday 28th December 2022 aged 94 years

Thank you for memorial Donations to the British Heart Foundation

Cyril George Smith was born at ‘Briarwood’ Saunders Lane in 1928, he was known by everyone as Bob.

Tragically his father (Frederick Smith) died just one year later, leaving him, an only child, to be brought up by his mother (Elsie) and grandparents, George and Ellen Smith.

Bob knew disadvantage and hardship, being brought up in the great depression of the 1930s, followed by wartime, rationing and shortages.

Bob inherited Briarwood from his grandparents in 1943 and started to develop Briarwood Nurseries. Records show he was trading by 1949.

He married Gwen in 1955, starting married life in a caravan on the nursery. They had two children, Pamela and David.

Bob worked hard and tirelessly all his life, he knew little else, it was his life. He loved to be with his customers, and they loved him.

Bob started to have setbacks with his health in his early sixties, but with every adversity he said ‘I am not going to let it beat me’. He just carried on with courage and huge determination. He never gave up.


Old news

March 2021

Everyone really needs their garden in these covid-19 restricted times, particularly during spring and summer. Fortunately the government has accepted that gardening is essential. Please enjoy your garden, but sadly without our plants.

Our decision as to whether we should trade another year needs to be taken in the autumn. This year we deferred and deliberated until Christmas, but at the last moment Christmas was cancelled as the national situation worsened. It was apparent we really could not predict future restrictions.

For us the first lockdown was incredibly stressful as we faced growing plants likely to spoil before we could get them off the premises. Every year there are always challenges to overcome, problems to resolve, however we have decided not to expose ourselves to the myriad of possible pitfalls ahead.

CLOSED DOWN Tuesday 9th June 2020

Thank you for your valued support over the last few weeks. We hope that your gardens bring much needed pleasure throughout the summer. Many of our regular customers were notable by their absence in 2020, you also have our good wishes in your isolation.

Grateful thanks go out to our son (in Edinburgh) for his emergency online shop development and implementation. This helped to get plants out of the hothouses and into gardens at a time when it was not legal for us to open. It was a particularly crucial time of rapid growth which was detrimental to the crop. Our daughter (in Cardiff) also has our thanks for her virtual customer support. Neither of these activities are their day jobs, yet were conducted with dedicated professionalism at all hours of the day or night.

All plants have found a home despite restrictions.  We sold some, as well as giving away a huge quantity to good causes.

18th May 2020

Our first weekend of trading fully open with covid-19 special measures in place has taken place. The crowds that we were concerned about did not materialise. Although generally busy, the spacious surroundings and check out arrangements are providing an environment which we feel are reasonably reassuringly safe. Cooperation is of course key to safe distancing, so do be aware that we are all having to adapt to these unfamiliar new routines. For us isolation began well before the lockdown. Now we find ourselves struggling to cope with our present situation. Please take care and stay safe.

15th May 2020 NOW OPEN

6th May 2020

We have opened a web shop where you can place certain orders for collection

28th April 2020

Unfortunately it is unlikely that we are legally able to open the nursery. However, we plan to soon open a web shop where you will be able to place and pay for an order online. You will then need to come to the nursery car park to collect your order, as we are not able to arrange delivery.

Please bear with us as everything is subject to change right now, we are very busy caring for our huge range of plants and trying to prepare for the days and weeks ahead.

29th March 2020

Over the past fortnight the covid-19 status has changed radically on a daily basis. We do not know what the position will be on the first of May, our planned opening date. We will comply with the law.

If we are well, and allowed to open, we will do so on the first of May or anytime thereafter into June. Currently we would not be allowed to open, even if it is possible to enforce social distancing on the premises.

Obviously we know you are eager to make the most of your garden this year, as it will be a heavily used and much appreciated sanctuary.

At present we are busy pricking out seedlings and potting up rooted cuttings etc. Everything here is watered by hand, and will require additional ongoing care to keep in good condition as the plants grow too big for their pots throughout May and June. Mr. Smith senior continues to grow his vegetable plants, a crop which we realise is now in big demand. The world beyond our boundaries changes too rapidly for a meaningful statement about our future, but it looks grim.

We will try to stay healthy so that we keep the plants growing and neither us nor our plants die.

If we cannot work the plants die.

If we fall ill while trading the place closes down.

Good wishes to you all over the difficult times ahead.

February 2020

We are growing some Impatiens walleriana Beacon – a downy mildew resistant Busy Lizzie which should be very similar to the old box bedding Impatiens which we stopped growing seven years ago due to disease problems.  This is the plant we have all been impatiently waiting for the plant breeders to produce. We will no longer grow New Guinea Impatiens as we hope you will be pleased to plant the Beacon busy lizzies in your pots and flower beds.

Our selling seasons have been impressively short in the last few years so we will grow fewer large Geranium in 3 litre pots.

In most other respects our production range of summer bedding plants will be similar to prior years.

2019

Opened Saturday 27th April

Closed on Friday 31st May.

Our closing sale and fundraising for the British Lung Foundation took place on 30th & 31st May.

Huge numbers of our loyal customers flocked in on our opening day. There was nowhere to park by 10.15 am and the queue at the checkout did not subside until 11.30am. 

We have brought forward our opening date this year to the last Saturday in April. It has become clear that demand is consistently highest at the beginning of May, and we aim to please.  Visitors at the end of April/early May will have the widest choice, however you should bear in mind that some of our plants will benefit from growing a bit bigger before leaving the cosseted environment of our heated glasshouses.

We close down when we sell out.

2018

On Tuesday 1st May 2018 our opening day dawned white with frost, however temperatures rose rapidly and the sun shone down upon us.  Plenty of customers once again returned to buy our popular annual plants.  The growing season had featured enormous variability as the weather ranged from winter wonderland to scorching summer suns.  We rapidly sold our stock throughout May, closing on Friday 1st June 2018 with a few plants helping to raise a modest sum for the British Lung Foundation.  

As spring became summer temperatures rose rapidly, watering was no doubt a challenge for many to ensure good plant establishment.  It is really important to get your bedding plants well established after planting, warm weather is great, but must be combined with adequate water availability.  Once growing on well outdoors your plants will toughen up, although the bigger the plant, the more water it uses.  We hope you all enjoyed the record hot summer – people and plants.

2017

For us 2017 was an overwhelming success with another early sell out.  Remarkably our busiest sales day was our opening day.  Half of our large planted wire hanging baskets sold on the first day.  We are seeing a change of peak sales now at the May Day bank holiday instead of late May during Chelsea week. Global warming is leading to earlier spring sales; or perhaps there is a desire to buy while we still have our widest range of plants available.  The place certainly looks at its best before we let the public in!  Customers without glasshouses are taking some risk with the weather, however most bedding plants stop growing rather than die if they get too cold.  Traditionally the bulk of the bedding season is over by Derby Day and we were glad to close on Derby Day, by which time we had very few customers and lots of empty glasshouses.  Plant quality generally remained satisfyingly high throughout our short selling season, however some plants were too small when sold and would have benefited from remaining with us for a little longer. We regained quality control once the second batches of plants were moved up for sale because we kept them in our growing houses until just right.  It was gratifying to sell our last box of perfect pink Begonia knowing that they were even better than the first.  Our thanks is extended to those who support our little business by buying our plants.