News

January 2019

Celebrating 80 years

2019 is our 80 year anniversary! We will be celebrating throughout the year with various offers and events around the garden centre and you can find out all about the Smith family and the history of the business here.

 

 

 


December 2018

The German Market Returns for the 4th Year

The German Market returned to Meadow Croft and was the most successful yet.  You can find out more about it and where it was featured in the news here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

July 2018

Mini Meadows Golf Opens

The mini golf course is named 'Mini Meadows' after a big competition is held to find a new name and officially opened to the public on the 21st July.  You can find out more about it here.

 

May 2018

Meadow Croft receives Tripadvisor 'Certificate of Excellence' for third year in a row.


December 2017

The German Market is a Big Hit

In 2017 our German Market was a big feature in the local news, you can find links to the features with all the pictures here;

 '12 Christmas Markets to Enjoy in Essex' in Essex Life Magazine.

'The Best Christmas Markets 2017' in Eastlife

'10 Things to Do in Essex this Christmas' on Heart Essex

'The Best Christmas Markets Essex & London Have to Offer' on Exquisite Concierge

Featured in the Little Miss Eden Rose Blog

Featured on Essex Live

And a Facebook live from Essex Live

 

 


 

July 2017

National Finalist in the Ruxley Rose Competition for Best Plant Area 

We were delighted to find out at the recent Garden Centre Association awards evening that we have been chosen from over 200 garden centres as one of the ten finalists for the Ruxley Rose Competition for best plant area 2017.

The team at Meadow Croft work really hard every year to improve standards and we are really proud of our recent successes. (See below for more details).  We strive to provide our customers with high-quality plants, products and food, so to receive another award from our trade association is wonderful!

We are one of ten plant areas who will now be audited again in September and the overall winner will be announced in January 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

Meadow Croft Schools in Bloom Competition Winners Announced

The Meadow Croft Schools in Bloom competition began as a way to support schools in outdoor provisions as well as encouraging children to garden at school and at home.

Every year, Meadow Croft invites local schools within a 5-mile radius to enter the Schools in Bloom Competition.  Plants are delivered to the participating schools in early April.  Schools then have until the beginning of July to grow the plants and display them in whatever containers, styles or plots they choose, ready to be judged by the Schools in Bloom panel. The winner receives a £100 Meadow Croft voucher to spend on gardening provisions or plants for their school.

The competition, which is in its 7th year, has seen some amazing efforts from the children.

The schools this year were asked to come up with themed gardens and they did not disappoint!  The judges said ‘It has been a pleasure to see all the gardens.  The children have clearly worked very hard and their efforts could give Chelsea Flower Show a run for their money!’

First place went to Peter Pan's Pre-school for their 'Peter Pan' garden.  They created their garden by recycling a broken piece of play equipment, the plants were well cared for and the children were all very enthusiastic about watering!  Well done to all the children and their adult helpers for creating literally something out of nothing!

Second place went to Collingwood Primary School for their 'African Garden'.  We particularly liked the use of shells and stones to stop pests from eating the plants.

Third place went to Purleigh Primary School for their lovely gardens.

This year, the Meadow Croft Young Gardener of the Year Award for outstanding contributions to school gardening went to Luke and Lily M from Purleigh Primary School.  

The schools that entered this year were:

Peter Pan's Pre-school, Hilltop Infant School, Collingwood Primary School, Woodville Primary School, St Mary's C of E Primary School, Danbury Park Primary School, Purleigh Primary School, Riverside Primary School, Rettendon Primary School.

 


 

May 2017

Top GCA Inspection Results for Meadow Croft

Every year members of the Garden Centre Association are inspected to make sure high standards are continually reached in our industry.  We are really pleased to announce that this year, we received a certificate of merit for both our hardy plant area and our seasonal bedding area and we also received a 'highly commended' for our overall inspection results.  

Our team work continually to improve standards and to offer the best plants and products available, so we are really proud of this wonderful achievement!

Meadow Croft Receives Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2nd Year Running

We are delighted to announce that we have received a Certificate of Excellence from Tripadvisor for the second year in a row.  Tripadvisor only give these awards out to members who achieve a consistently high rating, so we are absolutely delighted to have been awarded 2 in a row.  Thank you to everyone who has reviewed us.


We're pleased to announce our Music Line-up for this weekends Viola & Pansy Festival!
When visiting our Viola & Pansy Festival this week, check out our Meadow Croft Gardeners' Choice board. ⁠

A few members of staff have chosen their festival favourites! Why not take a look and see if you pick the same? ⁠

#festivalfavourites #meadowcroftgardencentre #violaandpansyfestival #meadowcroftgc
Here are our stallholders for our final Viola & Pansy Festival weekend! ⁠

Come along for:⁠
Check out our stallholders for this weekends Viola & Pansy Festival!

We’re super excited to show you all the new & evolving varieties.

Come along for:
Would you like to win a trolley full of garden goods worth £75? ⁠

Take part in our Viola & Pansy Competition. Visit our Viola & Pansy Festival this week and simply post a photo on social media of you, friends or family using our photo opportunity boards. Make sure you add the hashtag #meadowcroftgc or #violaandpansyfestival. ⁠

Winner will be announced on Monday 18th March. ⁠
Trolley of goods must be collected from the garden centre. ⁠

#competition #meadowcroftgardencentre⁠
⭐️ We're recruiting ⭐️⁠

We are approaching our busiest time of year on our nursery and are looking to fill the following roles: ⁠

SEASONAL VAN DELIVERY DRIVER / NURSERY WORK⁠
£12/hr + O/T⁠

SEASONAL HGV CLASS 2 DELIVERY DRIVER⁠
£14/hr + O/T⁠

To apply please email your contact details along with detail of any previous work experience to: transport@wdsmith.com or phone on 07548 101045 / 01245 320220 ⁠

W.D. Smith & Son is one of the leading growers of container bedding and vegetable plants in the UK. We are a family-run business and have been growing plants for over 80 years. We grow and deliver thousands of plants every year to Garden Centres & horticultural businesses around the South East of England.
Wondering how you can get a FREE hot drink at Meadow Croft Kitchen? ⁠

Take part in our Viola & Pansy Festival voting this week. ⁠
Anyone can take part! ⁠

Simply pick your top 3 varieties by looking at the batch number on each label. ⁠

⭐️ Why is voting important? ⭐️⁠
Each year new and experimental varieties are displayed for the first time. Visitors to the festival play an important part, by voting for their favourite varieties from amongst those displayed. Voting for your favourites will give the plant breeders an idea on what varieties our customers like and dislike. ⁠

So... this means your votes can influence what varieties are sold in garden centres across the UK! ⁠

#violaandpansyfestival #meadowcroftgardencentre
Our Music Line-up for our final weekend of the Viola & Pansy Festival!
Our plants team have chosen Photinia as their Meadow Croft Gardeners' Choice for March.
A refreshing Violet Lemonade especially for our Viola & Pansy Festival

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