Frank P Matthews Ltd Tree Nursery
Can you tell us a little bit about Frank P Mathews and how it all started? Frank P Matthews is a family business and one of the largest tree nurseries in the UK, located just outside Tenbury Wells. We grow over one million container grown and bare root, fruit and ornamental trees every year for supply into garden centres, mail order companies, commercial growers and our very own Tree Shop. Our newly formed Landscaping and Design Department is also going from strength to strength.
The company was started by my great grandfather Frank Matthews in 1901. At this time, the nursery was located near Heathrow in Harlington. He began selling roses door-to-door and this shortly progressed into growing fruit trees on the nursery land.This was a natural progression, as roses and most fruit trees are part of the same Rosacea family and therefore have the same propagation techniques.The company progressed to be one of the main suppliers of commercial fruit growers. In the 1950s the land at Harlington was compulsory purchased in order to build the M4 and extend the Heathrow runways. At this time the company was moved by my grandfather to its current site next to the River Teme. In the 1960s we started growing ornamentals and in the 1980s and 1990s the container growing side of the business was started by my father Nick Dunn.We still supply commercial fruit growers but now the main part of our business is container grown trees, which we supply to the majority of garden centres around Great Britain.
Can you tell us about some of the species of trees that you stock? Any rare or interesting varieties? We sell one of the widest ranges of fruit and ornamental trees in the UK. Fruit from apples to quinces, medlars, nuts and many interspecific crosses such as apricots x plums. Ornamentals from acers to zelkovas and everything in between. We grow varieties to enhance gardens with diversity of plant species alongside with traditional trees such as the mighty oaks and hedging plants. We have our own breeding programmes for both ornamental and fruit trees and have introduced a number of new plants to the horticultural industry over the last 100 years. In our apple collection, for example, we hold over a thousand different apple varieties!
From your average garden to hotel gardens, is any job too big or small?Absolutely not! We supply everything from one tree or soft fruit bush for patios right up to big landscaping projects for private gardens and even thousands of trees for commercial fruit growers around the country, and everything in between.
Has your business won any awards? Yes, over the last few years we have won three RHS Gold Medal Awards – these were during 2018, 2019 and 2022 and were for our displays of Autumn Fruits at Malvern Autumn Show. Connected to this we also won the RHS Lord Stanley Bowl in 2019 and 2022 for best display of fruit presented to the RHS during the year at its shows.We have also been fortunate enough to win Best New Plant Awards many times at the HTA National Plant Show for introducing new, interesting fruit and ornamental trees to the horticulture industry. New introductions include Malus Halloween, Cercis Eternal Flame, Apple Trinity, Tilia Golden Sunset, Laburnum Yellow Rocket and many more.
Is there anything else that you would like our readers to know about your business? Trees are very much at the heart of our business and no order is too big or too small. We delight in finding the right tree for the right situation.You would be surprised at the range of trees that are available, there is always a tree to suit every space and every season.We are so passionate about our trees, they are very much in our blood and we hope to be growing them for generations to come.