Finally enjoying the sweet smell of success (From Stroud News and Journal)

Finally enjoying the sweet smell of success

ONE year ago, Selsley Herb Nursery was ready for its re-launch at Bisley. Sadly, foot and mouth disease put paid to a grand start but like a hardy perennial, owner Rob Wimperis waited another year and weathered another winter before the grand anniversary opening on Saturday. Ben Falconer took in the sights and smells

FOLLOWING Rob Wimperis around The Selsley Herb Nursery is a mesmerising journey through the senses.

Ducking in and out of warm polythene tunnels, even warmer greenhouses, the dappled light of the shade house, the sticky heat of the humid propagation house, the potting shed, and out in to the showpiece raised beds and knot gardens, he often rubs a plant between his green fingers and breathes in its fragrance.

"Here, try this," is a regular refrain and I'm not disappointed. Moroccan mint - "If you go to Morocco, this is what they'll make your green tea with", curry plant - "Looks like a fairly normal herb, but the schoolchildren love this, they can't believe it's a plant which smells like something you just wouldn't expect," even his landlord's prized thuja hedge is given a good sniff.

He invites me to thrust a hand in to his new, peat free compost. Well, it would be rude not to, wouldn't it?

To be frank, it does not smell fantastic but I'm sure the thousands of plants which grow up here love sinking their roots in to it - the proof is in the smart outside sales area, bound in by manicured beech, pleached whitebeam and thuja hedges.

This is the new Hayhedge Lane, Bisley premises for the Selsley Herb Nursery, a business which he has gradually taken over from his parents who set up on a hillside in Selsley (where else?) nearly 20 years ago.

It still stocks and enormous range of culinary, romantic and medicinal herbs and many garden plants too, with the added benefits that a flat site brings, such as good customer parking and extra space.

Anyone who sees the photographs of the new nursery taken by rob's wife Sarah before they set a strimmer at it would not believe what they have achieved.

In around six months it was transformed from a redundant nursery to a specialist herb and garden plant nursery bursting with life.

On the edge of picture postcard Bisley but still in the shadow of All Saints Church spire, there can't be may better spots to be on a sunny afternoon.

It is the place to track down that hard-to-find herb or plant, or just some advice from the man himself and his expert staff.

Today, the first truly warm day of the year, Sarah is putting her back in to yet another raised bed with the fork and keeping an eye on their chatty children, Eliza (seven) and John (four).

Eliza is an expert potter and John is a big fan of digging, a skill he employed to the full when they had 17 tons of sand dumped on the site just over a year ago.

"He loved it," remembered Sarah. "He dug away for months, even when it snowed."

Dig a little deeper with Rob and Sarah and they reveal just how much work went in to transforming the nursery. Although nurseryman Peter Dinning left behind a handy infrastructure of poly' tunnels, greenhouses and the odd raised bed, underground pipes were laid, an automated sprinkler system installed, pergolas put up, that 17 tons of sand spread out for drainage, matting laid down, another poly tunnel put up and a rainwater collection system installed. And that was just the basic ground work - all 16,500 plants had to be moved up from Selsley too.

Wherever possible, local suppliers have been called on to get the nursery off the ground.

The ingenious rainwater collection system which captures water from the greenhouse roofs and sprays at night employs a pump from The Green Shop in the village, hand thrown Terracotta pots are on show and sale from the Forest of Dean and peat free compost comes from Tetbury.

The bulk of the work was finished before the scheduled grand opening in March 2001 and the nursery was ready to go for the spring and summer.

Then foot and mouth disease gripped the countryside and within a matter of weeks, the nation dared not venture out. Disappointed but philosophical about the situation, Rob called the opening off.

Although customers have been re-educated to head for Bisley instead of Selsley over the past year, foot and mouth ensured the business did not get off to a flying start and since then, Rob has been waiting in a kind of suspended animation for the grand opening, which was finally staged on Saturday.

Writer and Bisley resident Jilly Cooper cut the ribbon to mark one year in business at Bisley and a new start.

It is warm today but in the winter, the wind blows up here at around 700ft and Rob has endured two winters before reaching his goal of launching the nursery proper.

It is clear it is a labour of love for Rob, whose belief in his product is genuine and boundless.

"I really like selling plants, it's very worthwhile," said Rob, pointing to a lavender. "This one is £4 and you will get 20 years out of it. It's such good value.

"You could design plastic toys to go in cereal packets but where's the meaning in that?" Fans of The Good Life will know that Tom Good's philosophy was based around something similar, having abandoned designing plastic gimmicks to become a son of the soil.

I don't know if Rob is a fan but he is certainly a son of the soil and unlike the 1970s sitcom which made it cool to pick up a shovel, the show he and Sarah run at Bisley is a marvellous reality.

The Selsley Herb Nursery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sundays and Bank Holidays 2pm to 5pm, March to September. From October to February times vary - call 01452 770073 to find out more and to ask about the ever changing range of herbs and plants. Lists of what is on offer are available by e-mailing: Rob@selsleyherbs.fsnet.co.uk Specific requests can also be made via e-mail and there is much more information, including markets and shows, on the web site at www.selsleyherbs.co.uk BF