About us
Hippopttering nursey began as a hobby by my father, John F.P. Gibbons, back in 1982 with the aid of my mother, Margaret Gibbons. After my fathers retirement from being a civil engineer in March 1985 this hobby grew into a small business and he began corresponding with leading Japanese Maple expert, J. D. Vertrees, author of the book: 'Japanese Maples - A complete guide to selection and cultivation'.
During their correspondence J. D. Vertrees suggested my father visit the Dick van Gelderen in Holland to see his fine collection of Acers (Dick Van Gelderen has also written teo books on maples titled, 'Maples of the World' and 'Maples for Gardens'). My father did just that.
Speaking of his visit to Holland my father said, "Mr and Mrs Gelderen made my wife and I most welcome and set us up with some larger Acer specimens, which were suitable for using in our displays at the flower shows". We built our first show garden at Leeds Flower Show in 1986. On a further visit to Holland to buy more stock trees we met Dick and Marjan Van Maat and their young daughters Diane and Ellen, who were both keen to learn English, while their parents had the nursery and were becoming more and more interested in growing Acers. We were able to exchange scions with each other to enable us both to have even more varieties."
By now Hippopottering had over 100 varieties. In 1987 and my parents joined the Horticultural Exhibitor Association and continued to build gardens at shows throughout the 90s, gaining many gold medals for their outstanding displays along the way.
I joined the business in 1999. I fell in love with maples after helping out a couple of shows and wanted to help keep the business expanding. Our most cherished accolade came in 2001, when we won our first Chelsea Gold Medal. My brother Jon also helped out around this time, helping to build Hippopottering's first website. We continued to grow and rapidly became well known across the UK.
My father stepped back from shows in 2001, leaving that side of the business to my mother and I. We continued to enter flower shows around the country and continued winning medals. In 2006 I was joined by my partner, Lolli McLarnon. Our knowledge steadily grew and our reputation steadily grew, leading to us being regarded as one of the best cultivators of Japanese Maples in the UK and gaining several high profile clients.
I have made TV appearances as a maples expert at Chelsea Flower Show and on BBC Gardeners World. I have also been part of Celebrity Theatre at Malvern Spring Flower Show with Joe Swift. Mine and Lolli's greatest achievements include Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2019. In recent years I have taken a step back from big shows, focusing more on the nursery and the website. I also run a Facebook Group called Mad4Maples, where I am widely regarded as the 'Acer Guru'.