The Arium: Leeds Council garden centre and plant nursery using 'potting robot' to pot two million plants
Two million spring and summer plants are being potted by a state-of-the-art robot at a garden centre in Leeds.
The Arium garden centre and plant nursery is the largest council-run nursery in the country. The site provides flowers and plants to be displayed across Leeds, most of which are grown in the massive 19,000 square metre glasshouses.
Staff manage to get millions of plants ready to bring springtime to the city thanks to a 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.
Coun Mohammed Rafique 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.”
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.
Leeds City Council has been running a plant nursery since 1956, initially at the Red Hall Nursery in Whinmoor before being relocated to its new home on the outskirts of Thorner and rebranded as The Arium in October 2017.
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.