Welcome to Architectural Plants of Sussex

"Some plants are born architectural, some achieve architecture and some have architecture thrust upon them"

Architectural Plants nurseries are located near Horsham and near Chichester in West Sussex and specialise in plants that are both shapely and exotic - Japanese and European Topiary, hardy palms, bananas, bamboos, plants for screening, and a huge range of rare evergreen trees. They are the home of the interesting, unusual, quirky and bizarre - the tropical and the jungly, of both big and small specimen plants. Winners of a number of awards for their innovative approach and high level of presentation. The Antidote to Garden Centres.

Planting by Us

When I started the nursery 20 years ago, I had no idea how many plants could fail because of poor planting, incorrect positioning and poor husbandry. Our response has been to set up a new part of the company : Planting and Creative Maintenance - the two areas of horticulture that we feel are so sorely overlooked and underestimated. We'll guarantee the plants for their first year (always the trickiest) and the only thing you'll have to put up with is our occasional nagging phone calls - "You have watered them haven't you?" In the majority of cases we will have seen where the plants are going - the general aspect, the degree of shelter or exposure and the type of soil. We've grown the plant, we've seen the site, we've planted the plant - surely we can offer some kind of guarantee after that? Ask for a quote - distance from either nursery can obviously be a problem but there's no harm in asking.

Creative Maintenance

What does it mean? I think the best way I can explain it is by imagining going up to a plant and saying "You're a nice plant but is there anything I can do to make you look even nicer?" In most cases the answer is a resounding 'Yes'. Raising, thinning and shaping the crowns of trees and shrubs, removing the tired old leaves on palms and yuccas - you'll see some examples on this site. It's all to do with producing a garden of beautifully sculpted plants and a look of well groomed verdancy which is what Architectural Plants are all about anyway. Most of the techniques that we've developed over the last 20 years are borrowed from nature and if you can look at a garden that's been Creatively Maintained by us and yet it still looks completely natural - then we have succeeded.