The potting robot bringing colour to the streets of Leeds

The Leeds City Council-run garden centre and plant nursery is the largest local authority nursery in the country. Most of the plants they sell are grown in the massive 19,000 square metre glasshouses on the premises, and the site provides flowers and plants to be displayed across Leeds.  

How they manage to get millions of plants ready to bring springtime to the city is thanks to the state-of-the-art potting robot that has been in place since 2017. Working wirelessly, the robot lifts young plants from their seed tray and pots them into their final tray in one action.

The plants will soon be in bloom across Leeds in the city’s parks, roundabouts and flowerbeds.

Several hundreds of thousands of plants are also sold to the public at the nursery every year, which is home to a café with a view over the growing space, and a large play area. The play area, very popular with younger visitors, hosts a showstopper castle with a double tower, bridge and multiple levels.

Leeds City Council has been running a plant nursery since 1956, initially at the Red Hall Nursery in Whinmoor. As the nursery's national reputation grew it helped Leeds become one of the most floral cities in the UK, but this also meant the site reached growing capacity. In October 2017, the site relocated to its new home on the outskirts of Thorner and rebranded as The Arium. They can now keep up with demand from local residents, the city’s own flower displays, as well as grow plants for other local authorities, universities and hospitals.

The glasshouse growing areas are not open to the public, however the site offers guided tours during the last two weeks of April and first week in May, and for two weeks in September. They also host workshops where visitors can learn skills such as designing a hanging basket and making a Christmas wreath.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space, said: “Leeds is quite unique in having the local authority run a brilliant plant nursery and garden centre, and we are very proud of it. The glasshouses are an impressive sight to behold and I’d recommend booking in for a tour if you get a chance.

“The Arium is a way for people to invest back in their city when they shop for their homes and gardens and that is very special.”

Read more about the Arium at https://www.theariumleeds.co.uk/. To book a guided tour of the glasshouses, email arium@leeds.gov.uk.

ENDS