over 60 years
of gardening experience

A brief history

With over 60-years of experience at the cutting edge of garden and leisure retailing, Van Hage remains at the forefront of the horticulture industry. Theadora Warmerdam, one of the founders of Van Hage, was evacuated from the Netherlands to England in 1940, the eldest of six children. When her father died in 1948, Theadora took over the running of the business, aged just 20. Cornelius Van Hage was a young entrepreneur exporting bulbs from Holland to the UK - they met and married in 1953, and in the same year opened a nursery on a run down pig farm at Spitalbrook in Broxbourne, a mile and a half away from the present site at Gt. Amwell. By 1968, Mr and Mrs Van Hage saw the opportunity to create a garden centre with a difference, and they bought the famous rose nursery of Chaplin Brothers at Gt. Amwell. This was formally opened by Percy Thrower, the top national gardening celebrity of the 1970’s, and one of the many celebrities who frequented the site over the coming years.
Our History

Your gardening partner

The business has continued to grow into one of the largest garden and leisure retailers in the UK. In 1996 Van Hage purchased a second garden centre, Chenies, in Amersham; and in 2010, opened a brand-new garden centre at the heart of PE1 Retail Park, Peterborough. We have a team of friendly and knowledgeable staff who look forward to introducing you to the exciting range of plants and lifestyle products available at each of our three garden centres which offer a number of exciting attractions to make Van Hage a great place for a day out at any time of the year.

A future with Blue Diamond

In November 2022, Van Hage was acquired by The Blue Diamond Group.  Managing Director of Blue Diamond, Alan Roper said, “For me personally, this is a landmark acquisition.  Van Hage’s was one of 3 garden centres in the early nineties I would visit as a younger man for inspiration and would feel in awe of what they had achieved and never imagined that one day, we would be the proud owner of such a business.

The Van Hage family said: “The Board and Shareholders of Van Hage &Co. Holdings can today confirm the sale of our Trading company, Van Hage and Co. Ltd and our Garden Centre business to the Blue Diamond Group.

The entire trading business, all colleagues and centres are now part of the successful Blue Diamond family of garden centres.

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