How Premier Polytunnels supports Wack’s Wicked Plants, North Yorkshire’s Chelsea gold medal-winning carnivorous plant nursery
When Peter Walker (“Wack”) outgrew his backyard nursery of Venus flytraps, sundews and pitcher plants, he needed a growing environment that could keep pace with a specialist nursery built entirely around some of the most demanding plants in horticulture. Since relocating to Scampston, North Yorkshire, in 2015, Wack’s Wicked Plants has grown from a backyard nursery into a multi-award-winning carnivorous plant specialist – and Premier Polytunnels has been there throughout, designing, manufacturing and constructing the polytunnels that make that growth possible.
About Wack’s Wicked Plants
Wack’s Wicked Plants is a specialist commercial grower based at Scampston in North Yorkshire, run by Peter Walker and his wife Helleentje. The nursery focuses on carnivorous plants including:
- Venus Flytraps (Dionaea muscipula)
- Sundews (Drosera)
- Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia, Nepenthes, and Cephalotus)
- Cobra Lilies (Darlingtonia californica)
- Bladderworts (Utricularia)
- Butterworts (Pinguicula)
Wack’s Wicked Plants has built a strong reputation on the UK horticultural show circuit, picking up gold medals and Best in Show accolades at events including:
- RHS Chelsea Flower Show
- RHS Malvern Spring Festival
- RHS Malvern Autumn Show
- Gardeners’ World Live
- Great Yorkshire Show
- Harrogate Flower Shows
In 2025, the nursery’s carnivorous plant displays featured on BBC’s Gardeners’ World, bringing their specialist growing techniques to a national television audience. That same year, the nursery was even awarded the prestigious National Plant Collection title for Mexican and South American Pinguicula.
Growing carnivorous plants commercially, at show quality, all year round is a different challenge to general nursery production – and it’s one that depends heavily on having the right growing structures in place.
Why Polytunnels Are Essential for Carnivorous Plant Cultivation
Growing carnivorous plants commercially in the UK without undercover protection is almost impossible for most exotics and challenging even for hardy varieties, due to their very specific cultivation requirements. Polytunnels provide a sheltered growing environment that helps maintain optimum conditions throughout the year:
Humidity control
Many carnivorous species are native to bogs and wetlands and need consistently high humidity to thrive and produce healthy, functional traps. A well-designed polytunnel holds moisture in the growing environment far more effectively than an outdoor setup, while allowing growers to regulate soil saturation levels.
Temperature stability
Unpredictable temperature swings can devastate delicate carnivorous species. Polytunnels provide a crucial microclimate buffer, safeguarding young plants and fragile trap and pitcher plants from both late-season frosts and intense summer scorch. This reliable protection results in reduced plant stress, improving plant survival rates and overall crop health.
Protection from wind and rain
Heavy rain and strong winds can easily damage traps, pitchers and flower spikes – a real risk for a nursery producing show-quality plants. A well-sheeted polytunnel protects nursery stock while still letting in the natural sunlight these species require to thrive.
Flexible, scalable growing space
Unlike a glasshouse, a polytunnel can be manufactured and installed relatively quickly and cost-effectively, making it far easier for a growing nursery to add capacity in line with demand – exactly the phased expansion Wack’s Wicked Plants has followed as the business has grown.
Year-round production
With the right ventilation and careful climate management, polytunnels allow a specialist grower to maintain propagation and successful plant establishment across all seasons, supporting a busy calendar of flower shows and online sales.
For a business that depends on producing consistent, healthy, show-ready plants throughout the year, this level of environmental control is fundamental to the quality of the plants leaving the nursery.
This is why Wack’s Wicked Plants turned to Premier Polytunnels to design and build seven bespoke polytunnels specifically for the nursery.
The Brief: Growing Structures Built For Specialist Plants
Carnivorous plants are notoriously demanding to grow commercially and meeting the conditions required to grow these plants at scale calls for growing space that is practical to work in day to day, straightforward to expand as the nursery grows, and robust enough to perform reliably year after year.
Premier Polytunnels was brought in to design and build polytunnels capable of delivering this level of environmental control on a working nursery site. The result has given Wack’s Wicked Plants the infrastructure to:
- Increase production capacity
- Improve dedicated propagation space
- Protect valuable specialist plant stock
- Extend the growing season
- Create dedicated growing zones for different species and stages of production
The Solution: Custom Polytunnels, Designed and Built by Premier Polytunnels
Premier Polytunnels designed, manufactured and constructed the polytunnels now in use across the Wack’s Wicked Plants site, tailored to the nursery’s exact layout and operational goals. As a specialist grower rather than a general plant nursery, the structures needed to strike a careful balance, providing enough cover to protect humidity-loving plants from wind and driving rain while maintaining a layout that allows Peter, Helleentje and their team to manage propagation, growing-on, and caring for their prize-winning exhibition displays side by side.
Polytunnel Sizes
The polytunnels supplied to Wack’s Wicked Plants range from 8ft wide up to 16ft wide, starting with a 16ft wide x 30ft long commercial polytunnel manufactured and installed on site in early 2015, followed by a second polytunnel of the same size later the same year.
As the nursery has grown, Premier Polytunnels has continued to add further polytunnels to the site, expanding growing capacity in line with demand:
- A third 16ft x 30ft polytunnel in summer 2017
- An 8ft wide x 30ft long polytunnel in early 2019, followed by a second tunnel of the same size later that year
- A 14ft wide x 24ft long polytunnel in 2024
- The latest polytunnel to be added to the nursery in 2025 was a 16ft wide x 42ft long commercial polytunnel
This phased approach has allowed Wack’s Wicked Plants to scale up production without over-committing to space they didn’t yet need, adding new polytunnels as new ranges, propagation areas and show stock required it.
Why Premier Polytunnels Was Chosen: Built for Specialist Growers
The seven polytunnels at the nursery provide a substantial amount of covered growing space across the site. Each UK manufactured polytunnel was designed and manufactured at our factory in Lancashire, then constructed on-site by our expert installation team – ensuring every structure was built to the exacting standards Wack’s Wicked Plants needed for their specialist growing operation.
Each of the polytunnels features:
- Robust frames, engineered with heavy-duty, high tensile galvanised steel
- Thermal Anti Drip UV stabilised polythene covers
- Anchor plate kit
- Timber base rail kit
- Polytunnel gutter kit on both sides
This specification was chosen to provide structural durability, efficient rainwater collection and practical growing space for the nursery team.
Commercial Nursery Polytunnels: The Engineering Behind Wack’s Wicked Plants
Here is how our engineered polytunnel specification directly supports the unique growing requirements at Wack’s Wicked Plants:
Robust, high tensile galvanised steel frame
At the core of every structure is a heavy-duty frame engineered from high tensile galvanised steel, giving each polytunnel the strength to stand up to demanding weather. The galvanised finish also protects against corrosion, so the frame is built to perform reliably over the long term with minimal maintenance – a crucial consideration for a commercial nursery that depends on its growing space year after year.
Thermal Anti Drip UV-stabilised polythene cover
Covering each of the polytunnel frames is our Thermal Anti Drip UV stabilised polythene, chosen specifically for commercial growing environments. The thermal effect of the polythene film helps to prevent heat being lost from inside the tunnels, retaining warmth during cooler periods to support healthier, more consistent plant growth. Anti drip additives within the film prevents large drops of condensation from forming and falling directly onto plants, reducing the risk of disease and plant damage, while mineral additives diffuse the light entering the polytunnel. UV stabilisation protects the cover from degradation caused by prolonged sun exposure, extending its working life and maintaining light transmission for the plants below.
Anchor plate kit
A secure structure starts below ground. Our anchor plate kits fix each polytunnel firmly into the earth, anchoring the frame and preventing movement or uplift in blustery weather. For a working nursery relying on its polytunnels day in, day out, this level of ground-anchored stability gives the team complete confidence in the long-term integrity of their growing space.
Timber base rail kit
Running along the base of each structure, the timber base rail kit provides a strong, long-lasting fixing point for the polythene cover at ground level. This keeps the cover taut and properly tensioned, reducing wear from wind movement and providing a stable foundation for the whole structure.
Polytunnel gutter kit
Fitted along the sides of the tunnels, the gutter kits capture rainwater running off the polythene roof and channel it away in a controlled way, rather than allowing it to run straight onto the ground. This keeps the surrounding area free from waterlogging, while also turning every polytunnel roof into a valuable water-harvesting surface.
For a nursery specialising in carnivorous plants, collecting and using rainwater is an important part of maintaining healthy plants. Carnivorous plants such as sarracenia, Venus flytraps and sundews are highly sensitive to the minerals and salts found in tap water, which can build up in the growing medium and damage the plants over time. Naturally soft rainwater, by contrast, closely matches the conditions these species need to thrive. By harvesting rainwater directly from the polytunnels, the gutter kits give Wack’s Wicked Plants a reliable, sustainable supply of exactly the water their collection depends on, reducing reliance on mains water and supporting healthier, more resilient plants across the nursery.
Every element of the polytunnel specification was chosen with the nursery's real working needs in mind. By providing robust, well-engineered polytunnels with professional growing features, we have helped Wack’s Wicked Plants create a reliable growing environment that supports both plant quality and business growth for years to come.
Polytunnels for UK Commercial Nurseries and Specialist Growers
Today, the polytunnels supplied by Premier Polytunnels form the backbone of growing space at Wack’s Wicked Plants, supporting a nursery that has solidified its status as one of the UK’s leading carnivorous plant growers. As the nursery has transitioned from a backyard setup into a respected specialist grower, Premier Polytunnels’ structures have grown with it – a partnership that continues as Wack’s Wicked Plants looks ahead to its next season of shows and awards!
Premier Polytunnels has extensive experience supplying polytunnels for commercial nurseries, specialist plant growers, propagation facilities, and horticultural businesses throughout the UK.
Whether you are establishing a new nursery or expanding an existing site, our commercial polytunnels can be designed and installed to suit your crop, production methods, and future growth plans. Contact our Lancashire-based expert team to find out how we can help design a solution tailored around your site and your goals.
*To find out more about Wack’s Wicked Plants and their collection of carnivorous plants, visit Wack’s Wicked Plants.
