About Van Hage

With over 50-years experience at the cutting edge of garden plants and garden equipment, design and leisure retailing, Van Hage remains inspired by plants.

Theadora Warmerdam, one of the founders of Van Hage, was evacuated from the Netherlands to England in 1940, the eldest of 11 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 n 1953, and in the same year they 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.

The business has continued to grow into one of the pre-eminent and largest garden and leisure retailers in the UK.In 1996 Van Hage purchased a second garden centre, Chenies, in Amersham (which has recently seen an extensive refurbishment).

Van Hage has received an accolade of industry awards, including Best Houseplant Centre in the UK, Best Plant Area, Best Garden Centre, Best Christmas Display, Best UK Flower Bulb Display and a ‘Best Garden in Show' at Chelsea, receiving the Fiskars Sword of Excellence. For the latest garden that they showed in 2002, Van Hage won a Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show for their ‘Bridal Garden'.

Van Hage constantly strives to be a garden centre of excellence. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and look forward to introducing you to exciting top quality ranges of plants and lifestyle products for your home. As well as having exciting and innovative product ranges for all four seasons, there are also many other attractions to make Van Hage a great place for a day out at any time of the year.

Our Mission Statement is ‘To create for our customers an inspirational experience every time', and Van Hage never lose sight of the fact that the family business has been built from nothing to one of the most successful and innovative garden centre's in the country.
Van Hage aims to offer an inspirational shopping experience, backed by a wealth of horticultural expertise.