Forest Edge Nurseries

The challenge

Forest Edge Nurseries is a specialist heather nursery established in 1974, located in the south of England. For over fifty years they’ve built an outstanding reputation within the trade, supplying heathers — Calluna, Erica, and Daboecia varieties — to nurseries, garden centres, and the landscape trade. With over 100 varieties available across various pot sizes, they are one of the most comprehensive heather suppliers in the country.

But their online presence told none of that story.

The existing site was outdated and sparse. A nursery with half a century of expertise and one of the widest selections of heathers in the UK had a website that looked like it was built in the early 2000s. Trade buyers and retail customers alike struggled to find what they needed.

Product information was hard to access. With over 100 varieties of heather across different pot sizes, the previous site had no structured way for buyers to browse the catalogue. Trade customers — garden centres, landscapers, and wholesale nurseries — needed to see availability, variety details, and ordering information at a glance.

The nursery’s heritage was invisible online. Fifty years of specialist growing knowledge, a reputation built on quality stock, and deep expertise in heather cultivation — none of this came through on the old site. New customers had no reason to choose Forest Edge over a generic wholesaler.

The approach

Understanding the trade

I spent time with the team at Forest Edge to understand how their customers actually buy. Trade buyers have specific needs: they want to see what varieties are available, in which pot sizes, and at what volumes. Retail visitors, meanwhile, want inspiration and guidance — which heathers work in their soil, what blooms when, and how to create year-round colour.

This dual audience shaped every design decision. The site needed to serve both the practical, transactional needs of the trade and the aspirational browsing of retail visitors.

Showcasing the collection

With over 100 varieties spanning three genera — Calluna (summer-flowering), Erica (winter and spring-flowering), and Daboecia (Irish heaths) — the catalogue is the heart of the business. I designed a browsing experience that lets visitors explore by genus, flowering season, colour, and pot size, making it easy to find exactly what they need.

Earthy, authentic design

The visual language draws directly from the nursery itself. Earthy greens and warm browns, generous white space, and large photography that puts the plants front and centre. The design feels organic rather than corporate — a deliberate choice to reflect the family-run character of a business that has been growing heathers since 1974.

The solution

The homepage is designed to serve both audiences immediately. Trade buyers can navigate straight to the catalogue and ordering information, while retail visitors are drawn in by seasonal photography and curated collections. The nursery’s heritage — established 1974 — is woven throughout, reinforcing the depth of expertise behind every plant.

Heather catalogue

The catalogue is the core of the site. Every variety has its own detailed entry with:

Botanical and common names for both trade and retail audiences
Flowering period and colour so buyers can plan for year-round interest
Available pot sizes with clear availability indicators
Growing conditions — soil preferences, sun/shade tolerance, and hardiness ratings
Companion planting suggestions helping retail customers create effective planting schemes

The catalogue is managed through WordPress, meaning the nursery team can update availability and add new varieties without touching code. Each variety page is optimised for fast loading and strong SEO.

Seasonal content management

Heather is inherently seasonal — different genera bloom at different times of year, and stock availability shifts with the growing cycle. The content management system is designed around this reality:

Seasonal landing pages that can be updated to highlight what’s currently at its best
Featured variety sections on the homepage, refreshed as the seasons change
News and growing tips — expert advice content that drives organic search traffic and establishes authority

Trade-focused features

For the wholesale trade — nurseries, garden centres, and landscapers — the site provides:

Trade catalogue with wholesale pricing and volume breaks
Availability lists that can be updated regularly during busy ordering periods
Delivery information including lead times and minimum order quantities
Direct enquiry forms for bespoke orders and large landscape projects

Performance and SEO

As a specialist nursery, Forest Edge competes on expertise rather than marketing budget. The technical foundations are designed to maximise organic search visibility:

Structured data — Product and LocalBusiness schema helping search engines understand the catalogue
Variety-specific pages — Each heather variety has its own URL, targeting long-tail searches like “Erica carnea Springwood White” or “Calluna vulgaris pot sizes”
Image optimisation — High-quality plant photography served in modern formats, keeping pages fast without sacrificing visual quality
Mobile-responsive — Trade buyers browsing on tablets in garden centres get the same experience as desktop users

Gallery

The results

The new site has transformed how Forest Edge Nurseries presents itself to the world:

Professional online presence — A website that finally matches fifty years of horticultural expertise and the quality of the stock
Improved trade enquiries — Wholesale buyers can find what they need quickly, leading to more direct enquiries and orders
Stronger search visibility — Variety-specific pages ranking for specialist heather searches that competitors aren’t targeting
Easy seasonal updates — The team can refresh featured content as the growing season progresses, keeping the site current year-round
Increased visitor confidence — Customers report that the website gave them confidence in the nursery’s expertise before making contact