About Us
Things you need to know.

• We are a small family nursery, run by myself Karan Junker, my husband Nick and our son Torsten.

• We propagate and grow everything that we sell ourselves - we don't buy in.

• We grow the majority of our plants in the open ground.

• The plants are lifted to order when sold, then root-balled and wrapped ready for planting.

• Our availability follows nature's cycle, typically being from December through to March.

• We also offer a range of young plants in 3 litre pots, which tend to be available from October until May or thereabouts.

• There is no online ordering.
  We have too wide a range of plants, in too many sizes, all in small quantities. Email me your requirements at karan@junker.co.uk to discuss.

Click HERE to read some Planting Tips.

Click HERE to go to our Catalogue and Plant Information page.

More detail about who we are and what we do

We have been growing plants for a living since 1986 and bought the land here around 2010. It was a green field site when we bought it (part of a farm that was split into multiple lots to be sold) so the process of relocating the nursery took a number of years. Initially the only access was a field gate opening directly onto the road, so first we had to make the entrance safe to use. We had to install the infrastructure of access tracks, water and electricity supplies, we needed to build a barn to store equipment, put up polytunnels and build beds for growing the plants. Many of these steps required planning permission and we even had our mini-tractor stolen, so it was a bumpy ride on occasions! At the same time, we had to look after our existing nursery to continue to earn the money to pay for the new development and back then I was also caring for my my mother-in-law who was suffering from dementia. Oh and did I mention that we had to build a house here too? Looking back, I'm not sure how we did it all!

Early in this process, our son Torsten's physics teacher suggested that he should take the Oxbridge entrance exam. This made him stop and think about what he wanted to do with his life. I don't think it was quite what she had in mind when he decided to leave school early (already with a raft of top exam results) and join us on the nursery. Fast forward to the present day and he is now increasingly running things, as Nick and I start to think about sinking gently into retirement. 

The purpose of the move was to allow us to do things a bit differently. Looking back I think we were ahead of our time, because we had come to the conclusion that the use of plastic pots and peat was not sustainable. We're fundamentally different to most places - the principle here is that everything we sell, we propagate and grow ourselves - we don't buy in. That much hasn't changed for a great many years. However, the important change was that here we can grow the majority of our plants in the open ground. This system has a number of practical advantages as well as environmental ones.

The plants grow more naturally, forming a lovely rootball in the soil, with no fear of root-spiralling or being pot-bound. The plant itself will be more compact and the wood firmer and riper, already acclimatised to the weather and needing minimal staking. Thus the whole plant is more robust than the equivalent one pushed on in a container under protection. This is becoming increasingly important as we experience periods of extreme weather conditions. They are root-balled and wrapped (not to be confused with "bare root" which is much less satisfactory) and we are having brilliant results in this manner. Our availability follows nature's cycle, typically being from December through to March.

Normally, we also offer a range of young plants in 3 litre pots. These will inevitably be smaller and lighter but provide a cheaper option if cost is a concern. In many cases, I personally prefer them to be a little more mature than this before they leave home.

So, this is our home as well as our work and once more we have a vulnerable family member living here. The nursery has been closed to visitors for the duration of Covid 19 and that continues to be the case. It has been a challenging time in many ways and due to circumstances beyond our control, unfortunately we have a more limited range of varieties and sizes available than usual this season. Hence there are no smaller open ground plants and a very limited range available in pots (although we are delighted that the latter group does include some lovely winter flowering daphnes, available now in 3 litre pots.)

Nevertheless, we are selling a limited range of our rootballed plants from the open ground. We have a wonderful range of special trees and shrubs to offer, in a range of older sizes, including some spectacular specimens.
 
Given that we have a huge collection of plants, and grow them in a wide range of sizes, there are so many individuals available that it is impossible to keep the catalogue up to date with individual prices and availability details. Therefore, it is much more satisfactory for me to personally check the actual plants for each enquiry in order to give you accurate size and price detail, as well as a photo of the specific individual (weather permitting). We price fundamentally by age rather than physical size, although inevitably there is some degree of correlation within the characteristics of the cultivar. Given our current lack of the youngest sizes, in principle we are offering the following price groups this year (all from the open ground as previously described). 
      - this season, there will be very little available at less than £500 each.
      - there is an extensive range of beautiful older / larger / more mature plants increasing in price incrementally with age and size, from around £499 - £599 - £699 - £799 and on up to £999 
      - for many plants, there are even more spectacular semi-mature specimens, available from around £1099 - £1299 - £1599 - £1999 - £2999 - £3999 - £4999 - £5999 and so on.
      - and then there is a more limited range of the very best, most mature specimens at higher prices, to over ten thousand pounds.

We simply have too many plants for me to be able to check and detail every option for everyone, so if any of these are potentially of interest, I would need you to give me an indication of your target price group on this basis please. That will enable me to personally check the actual plants to give you accurate size and price detail of the most relevant plants for your purpose.

Since we have such an extensive collection, we don't propagate all cultivars every year. Hence we don't have all cultivars available in all sizes every season and as the season progresses, things will sell out. Given the extent of our collection, it's often the case that we have a similar alternative available at an appropriate level. Feel free to let me know if an appropriate alternative might be of interest. I'm also happy if you want to describe the visual effect you want to achieve, if there are certain characteristics of shape, habit or vigour that are important to you. All these details will enable me to check the best plants to fulfil your requirements.

For many years we have been mail order specialists, but unfortunately we are not currently able to offer a delivery service. You are however, welcome to arrange collection by prior arrangement in a covid-safe manner. Please feel free to discuss with me if and as needed. Perhaps this will change in the future.