November 14, 2023
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Our quaint North Norfolk garden centre perches on the outskirts of Cromer, located in the small coastal village of Overstrand. We offer a stunning range of indoor and outdoor plants as well as locally made products and produce. We aim to source the majority of our plants from the UK and our focus on sustainability at Garden Centre Overstrand is an ode to our love of the local area and invites the community into a larger conversation of supporting not only our local environment but our local people too. At the heart of it all, a humble handpicked team with a passion for horticulture, and an ambition to live a greener lifestyle.
Come and Discover
Our location is something special and we love to share it with our visitors. The garden centre is a mere ten minute stroll away from the shores of Overstrand beach. Once upon a time a sleepy fishing station, now North Norfolk’s favourite fossil hunting spot. Overstrand offers a historic and natural wildness that shouldn’t be missed. Our visitors love a stroll along the clifftop when they swing by to see us, often followed by a cuppa and a treat at our Potting Shed tearoom. If you want to potter around the area during your visit to our garden centre, our helpful team would be delighted to give you some local tips!
Refresh, indulge and cosy up in our chic new tea room. Enjoy the welcoming ambiance brought to you by the team at The Gangway. Locally made cakes, scones and light lunches as well loose leaf teas and deliciously smooth barista coffees.
Come on in
In the name of being kinder to our planet, and living off the land, have a look at our planting calendar. Know what to plant and when all year round. It’s time to get your garden acquainted with your kitchen
Download Planting Calendar
01
Vivacious & vibrant
A fun and easy way to welcome more biodiversity into your garden is to experiment with colour. Introducing flowers and plants that show off an array of different shades will attract bugs galore and that, our friends, is the secret to a blooming good garden!
02
Hedges for edges
Fences are great for keeping our furry friends in and our nosey neighbours out… but are they good for a sustainable garden? The answer is no. A natural enclosure is far better for attracting nesting birds and wildlife. Depending on your taste, it might even be a preferable view too!
03
Let it grow
No doubt, we all find this a relentless task: mowing the grass. Although a well maintained lawn might look like suburban utopia, it’s actually not that great for the environment. They can clash with native ecosystems, and if cut too short, they can lead to unsightly moss. Sustaining a pea green lawn also requires a lot of water. So, put your hose away and lay off the mower.
04
Low, ground covering foliage
Covering vegetation is a fantastic and natural way to prevent the intrusion of those pesky weeds, as well as offering nooks and crannies for insects and small animals to hide in. Did you know that lizards, snakes and toads are great for your garden? If you don’t mind these scaly vertebrates hanging around, they snack on the insects that are not so helpful and serve to aid biodiversity.
05
Harvest your rainwater
Water butts, barrels, buckets, whatever you can get your hands on. When it rains, be sure to collect it, and recycle it back into the earth. It’s a far kinder alternative to watering your garden from the mains.
06
Bug hotels
Invite the bugs, worms and bees to stay. Worms are brilliant at keeping soil aerated and circulating nutrients, naturally cultivating the soil, making it nice and rich. And, we need our yellow fuzzy friends to keep our vegetable patches pollinated and thriving. So, welcome them in.
07
Easy with the slabs
Slabbing, paving and brickwork is undoubtedly an aesthetically pleasing, low maintenance solution for many gardeners. But go minimal, and allow the earth beneath to breathe. It can impede water drainage and let’s face it, is just another thing to keep clean or sweep!
08
Compost, compost, compost
Potentially one of the greenest (and rewarding) steps in our guide. It reduces landfill waste, greenhouse gas emissions, conserves water… We could go on and on. The nutritional properties of homemade compost are said to be far superior to many off the shelf comparisons. We stock a diverse range of organic, peat free options though if a compost heap is not feasible.
09
Hard graft over chemicals
If you can, pick up your tools and get yanking. Using chemical assistance to rid your garden of weeds can actually cause more harm than good. Sprinkling your plants with these toxic products can kill parts of your garden that you don’t want to kill!
In our blog we share helpful horticulture tips, the latest garden styles, as well as recent news and announcements from the garden centre.
