F. Tate and Sons has 80 years of history as a family business in Ripon and we’re now into our fourth generation of gardening and growing. From a tiny plot, Tate’s has grown into a successful garden centre, continuing to
grow many of the plants they sell
Fred Tate founded the business on a Ripon allotment. Every day he cycled the five miles from Rainton to work on his land. He stayed there until he was able to rent some land on what is now a housing estate on Kirby Road, Ripon.
Fred soon had a thriving little plant nursery going, selling his plants at Ripon and Skipton markets. Soon his eldest son, Bryan, was taking the trips to market with him. And as soon as Bryan’s younger brother Frank was old enough, he was along for the ride too, eventually taking over the market operation himself. Bryan started to specialise in floral arrangements for weddings and funerals using the plants from the nursery, a skill for which he won many show awards.
Tate’s was now very much a family business. None of Fred’s children were allowed out after school until they’d done their share in the nursery, boys and girls alike. The daughters, though, tended to specialise in the markets – Tate’s was now selling at other local markets as well as Ripon and Skipton – and Bryan and Frank’s wives also joined the selling team, an operation that ran for about 35 years.
Frank‘s son, Simon, also started out on the markets, later helped along by his wife, turning his full attention to the nursery and a growing garden centre in 1991.
By then, Tate’s had been at its current site for just a year. Bryan had had to retire in 1985, and sadly passed away in 1996. Brother Frank continued to work in the family business he loved until his death in 2003.
So, Simon, his wife Jayne and his brother Nick took over the running of the business full time. True to Tate’s tradition, the younger generation did their share, and would often be seen serving customers. Nick moved on in 2012, and the Tate’s team is currently Simon, Jayne, and their son, Tom.
The third and fourth generation of Tates involved in the plant world have turned the nursery business into a successful garden centre offering
VIST US TODAY FOR A FANTASTIC RANGE OF GARDENING PRODUCTS, GIFTS & PLANTS FROM OUR NURSERY.
We’re here to help you too, with decades of experience at your disposal. Just ask us in the garden centre shop and we’ll do our best to answer any and all your gardening queries.
Don’t forget, we are a plant nursery as well as a garden centre, growing our own bedding and vegetable plants; that means consistent quality and brilliant value for our customers. It also means you can support a local business as well as buy plants that have been grown in similar conditions to those in your garden. You can also speak to the growers, the best way to get the right advice for successful growing.
Whatever you need we can help, so whether it is a label for a pot, lights for your garden or you want to start your own orchard, we are here to help you out.
We are easy to find, just off the B6265 to the west of Ripon, with a large free car park. Visit our
We look forward to seeing you and helping you make the most of your garden and green spaces.
Our Gardening Products
We can keep your plants upright and protected, watered and fed – growing happily and healthily. Hanging baskets will give you some high-rise colour, and we can help you divide and screen your garden beautifully.
We don’t just sell plants, we grow them. Our roots are deep in the Yorkshire soil, growing first for local markets, and we still love producing the best plants today.
We grow vegetables and seasonal bedding plants, selling them when they’re just ready for your garden. You’ll get a locally produced, environmentally friendly product of the highest quality, grown by experts.
