Neal's Nurseries

25/10/2026

𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗳𝘀

Read this week’s blog to find out more about green roofs, which can be as small as the top of a bird box or as simple as a garden shed, bike store or porch, and do far more than look good.

How can a planted roof cool a city, slow floodwater, and give wildlife somewhere to live? What goes into the layers underneath, and what should you check before you build one?

Whatever the size, every green roof makes a difference.

🔗 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴.

24/10/2026

Breakfast, Lunch and Cake at Sherfield-on-Loddon Garden Centre & Café ☕

Whether it’s a full cooked breakfast to start the day, a tasty lunch, or a coffee and a slice of cake after a wander round the garden centre, our café at Sherfield-on-Loddon has something for everyone. Breakfast, lunch, hot drinks and cakes are served all day, with options for children, including our children’s lunch bag.

23/10/2026

Plant This Autumn, Enjoy It in Spring

Bulbs planted this autumn are what bring colour to the garden in March and April, and there’s plenty of time to get them in. Our centres have daffodils such as Ice Follies, Red Devon and Rainbow, ready-to-plant patio pots and Delft bowls for an easy display, and bulb planting mix to help them settle in.

Plant them over the coming weeks, leave them over winter, and they’ll be ready to flower as the weather warms. Privilege customers can save 20% on selected bulbs while stocks last, so now is a good time to choose your favourites.

22/10/2026

Our pumpkins have arrived, just in time for Halloween.

Whether you’re planning a carving session or an autumn display by the front door, now is the time to choose yours. Look for a firm skin, a sturdy stalk and no soft spots, and it will see you through to the big night and beyond.

🎃 Choose early for the best pick
🔪 Carve two or three days before Halloween so they stay fresh
🥧 Save the flesh for soup, roasting or a homemade pumpkin pie
🌿 Once the season is over, add them to the compost heap

Find them in-store now, while stocks last.

22/10/2026

Our pumpkins have arrived, just in time for Halloween.

Whether you’re planning a carving session or an autumn display by the front door, now is the time to choose yours. Look for a firm skin, a sturdy stalk and no soft spots, and it will see you through to the big night and beyond.

🎃 Choose early for the best pick
🔪 Carve two or three days before Halloween so they stay fresh
🥧 Save the flesh for soup, roasting or a homemade pumpkin pie
🌿 Once the season is over, add them to the compost heap

Find them in-store at all of our centres now, while stocks last.

18/10/2026

For the first time, a rare mountain agave at Kew Gardens is getting ready to flower, and Kew’s team are searching the country for a pollen partner.

Ali Barwani explains why this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, what it may tell us about London’s changing climate, and whether agaves could grow in your garden. You’ll also meet our agave-loving colleague, Smiley Tom, and hear about his collection of “rescued” plants in Spain.

🔗 Click the link to read our blog.

Smiley Tom is back from his holidays. There are three things I want to tell you about him. Firstly, Tom arrived here at Alexandra Palace Garden Centre around three and a half years ago with this nickname already in place. The second thing is that he is always willing to help colleagues and customers...

18/10/2026

Give Your Lawn a Little Autumn TLC

Autumn is the perfect time to give your lawn some attention before the colder winter months arrive.

From aerating compacted soil and improving drainage to feeding the roots and repairing uneven patches, a little care now can help your lawn stay healthier through winter and get off to a stronger start next spring.

Whether your lawn needs a little TLC or some more substantial attention, we've got the tools and treatments to help.

17/10/2026

Plant Now for a Colourful Spring 🌷

Now is one of the best times to plant spring bulbs, and our garden centres are full of choice. Pick up classic daffodils such as Ice Follies, Red Devon, and Rainbow; try a ready-to-plant patio pot or Delft bowl for an easy display; and grab a bag of bulb-planting mix to give them a good start.

Plant them over the next few weeks, leave them to settle over winter, and they’ll fill your garden with colour in March and April.

Privilege customers can get 20% off selected bulbs while stocks last, so it’s a good time to stock up.
Visit our centres

Terms and conditions apply. See website for details

16/10/2026

Our Pumpkin Patches are open this weekend, and we can't wait to see you 🎃

Along with our Sheffield-on-Loddon patch, you'll find other patches at Alexandra Palace Garden Centre and Woods of Berkhamsted.

Book to visit our pumpkin patch - www.capitalgardens.co.uk/events 🎃 👻 🐈‍⬛

🎃 Choose your own pumpkin to take home
🎃 Halloween colouring fun
🎃 Scavenger Hunt with a Halloween treat to win
🎃 Family hoopla game
🎃 Instagram-worthy photo frame
🎃 Colouring competition with amazing prizes

Family fun, photo moments and a pumpkin to take home - all in one visit.

Ticket price: £10 per child - adults go FREE!

13/10/2026

Book to visit our pumpkin patches:
www.capitalgardens.co.uk/events

Find them at: Alexandra Palace, Sherfield-on-Loddon and Woods of Berkhamsted Garden Centres.

🎃 Choose your own pumpkin to take home
🎃 Halloween colouring fun
🎃 Scavenger Hunt with a Halloween treat to win
🎃 Family hoopla game
🎃 Instagram-worthy photo frame
🎃 Colouring competition with amazing prizes

Family fun, photo moments and a pumpkin to take home - all in one visit.
Ticket price: £10 per child - adults go FREE!

11/10/2026

Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars: Growing Asters in the Garden

‘Skegness is SO bracing’ declares the Edwardian poster proudly advertising the merits of this Lincolnshire resort. And indeed it is, as is Rye Harbour, way down in East Sussex.

These wild, blustery landscapes, which at first can seem a little bleak and empty, are in fact teeming with life, the mudflats and salt marshes of their nature reserves home to flora including white sea campion, indigo viper’s bugloss and the pretty pale lilac sea aster. Blooming in late summer and autumn, defying the brisk coastal winds, its daisy-like flowers are the specialist food plant of the rare sea aster mining bee Colletes halophilus. It’s also an important source of sustenance for caterpillars of the star-wort moth.

🔗 Click the link to read our blog.

‘Aster’ derives from the Ancient Greek word for ‘star’. Arriving late to the summer garden party but putting on a display that more than makes up for it, these luminaries bloom in purple, white, lilac or pink, mostly with contrasting golden centres.

08/10/2026

On 28 June 2026, records began to tumble across London as the city entered an extraordinary dry spell. No rain fell from then until 5pm on 4 August — a total of 49 days — and even then, the rain was only brief.

At Capital Gardens, we have been observing established plants growing in gardens across London to see which ones not only survived this prolonged period of drought but continued to look presentable throughout the summer heat.

For us, established plants are particularly interesting. They have already experienced the changing conditions of a London garden, having withstood the vagaries of cool, wet winters before facing increasingly warm and dry summers.

We are building a list of plants that have demonstrated resilience through these contrasting seasons, with a particular focus on shrubs and other plants that can continue to provide interest later in the year. The list will continue to grow as we observe more plants and gather further information.

As our observations develop, we also want to explore why some plant genera appear to be more resilient than others. What characteristics help certain plants cope with prolonged dry conditions? Which plants continue to look good when water is scarce? And are there particular traits we should look for when choosing plants for increasingly challenging London gardens?

This is very much an evolving project, and we will be adding to the list as our own observations — and yours — continue.

🔗 Click the link to read our blog.

At Capital Gardens, we have been observing established plants growing in gardens across London to see which ones not only survived this prolonged period of drought but continued to look presentable throughout the summer heat.

06/10/2026

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝟮𝟬% 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗯𝘀.

The colour you see in March and April starts with what goes in the ground now. Bulbs are one of the easiest ways to get a garden full of colour with very little work. Plant them this month, leave them to settle over winter, and they'll come up on their own once the weather warms.

Not a Privilege Customer yet? Visit your app store and download the Capital Gardens App to get access to this exclusive offer.

Our top picks to plant now:
🪴 Daffodils for cheerful early colour that comes back every year
🪴 Tulips for bold spring displays in pots and borders
🪴 Alliums for tall, round flower heads that bees love
🪴 Crocus for some of the first flowers of the year

📏 Plant each bulb about two to three times as deep as it is tall
☀️ Most bulbs do best in a sunny or partly shaded spot
💧 Choose soil that drains well so the bulbs don't rot over winter

Head in-store now to find the full range.

𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵.

04/10/2026

𝗞𝗲𝘄'𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻

The UK climate is changing, and Kew's new Carbon Garden is designed to show gardeners exactly what that means.

What does a planting scheme running from cool blues through to burning reds have to do with over a century of UK temperature records?

Why is London's climate expected to resemble Barcelona's within 25 years, and what will that mean for the plants in our own gardens? And what is the giant sculptural pavilion at the centre of it all actually meant to represent, a fungus, a tree, or something else entirely? The answers point to some of the resilient, drought-tolerant plants we may all be growing before too long.

🔗 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴.

‘Ali! Come here!’ commands the stentorian voice. My ears prick up, and I rush to the balcony overlooking the shop area at Alexandra Palace

01/10/2026

New October offer for our Privilege App users.

Spend over £50 on bulbs and earn triple points on your Privilege App.

It's a great time to plant up pots and borders for spring colour, whether that's a drift of tulips or a few daffodils by the front door.

Valid 1 to 15 October 2026, T&Cs apply.

Not on the app yet? Simply visit your app store and search for 'Capital Gardens'.

If you are a Privilege Card user, you can download the app and register using your card details to unlock exclusive offers, app-only rewards and instant access to your points balance.