Wildflower Turf, the UK’s leading bio-diverse turf supplier, has expanded its operations with a new production site situated in Helperby, Yorkshire.
The new site complements Wildflower Turf’s production facility near Basingstoke in Hampshire, and will allow the business to service its northern customers with increased quantities of turf and a dedicated base for accredited training.
With general awareness and acceptance of wildflower spaces around the UK continuing apace, the additional production site will allow Wildflower Turf to continue to meet increased demand.
Partners in the new venture are the Spilman family, whose interest in wildflower diversification arose in 2015 after hearing of the announcement that Wildflower Turf were finalists in the farm diversification category in the annual Farmers Weekly magazine awards.
The Spilmans were already a well-diversified farming business, growing asparagus and strawberries amongst other things. With two sons in the business they were interested in looking at ways to further expand their operations.
In conjunction with the Spilman family, Yorkshire site production was established at the beginning of 2017, with an irrigation system installed on a block of free draining land under the guidance of Wildflower Turf’s Farm Manager. Several months later, the Spilman’s team were trained up on the specific production of Wildflower Turf, and the first turf beds were planted.
The initial harvest of mature Wildflower Turf was lifted in July of this year and supplied to a customer based in Yorkshire. Since then, the Helperby site has been filled with the target production figure of 60,000m² of turf, made up of three different types of Wildflower Turf; Landscape 34 http://bit.ly/2xENoYo, Native Enriched http://bit.ly/2xDRcsS and Shade Tolerant http://bit.ly/2xEIbQb varieties are all in production.
In addition to their new production site, Wildflower Turf have also run their first Accreditation Day in Helperby to cater for interest in, and training around, wildflowers and their maintenance. A second training day was held at the site on the 1st September, with additional training days planned for 2018.
Contact Wildflower Turf on 01256 771 222 for further information or visit them online at http://www.wildflowerturf.co.uk.
