FAQs

Who pays for them? The Welwyn Garden City Business Improvement District (BID) commission the flower installations, which are paid for by the town centre businesses. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (WHBC) have absolutely no involvement in the additional floral displays. Please note this flowers are not funded by any of your local taxes. 

Why do Welwyn Garden City get flowers and Hatfield do not? 
Welwyn Garden is a Business Improvement District (BID) town centre and Hatfield is currently not. The flowers have been funded by the businesses of Wonderful Welwyn Garden City and have been organised by the BID team. 

Why do we install more flowers? In the plan that was voted on by the businesses, the first objective is: Animated and attractive - To create a place which has a strong sense of identity for residents, visitors and people working in the town centre to enjoy.
 
The flower installations are just one of the projects working towards achieving this objective. The BID identified that the flowers would have most impact in the concrete areas of the town, particularly in front of The Howard Centre.

"The flowers are a great addition to the town centre and enhance our already beautiful town" 

How much do they cost? The cost of the flowers is equal to 4% of the total annual budget. Each year the businesses get a transparent insight in how their money is being spent to continually improve the town centre.

How long will the flowers stay in the town centre? We take delivery of the flowers once the risk of ground frost has gone. The floral displays will arrive week commencing 9th June and will remain for at least 12 weeks, being removed mid September.

What happens to the black plastic planters? We only hire the planters and they will be returned to the company and re-used many times. 

Why do we use a company based in Kent? After much investigation this company was the most professional, well recommended and offered best value for good quality products and service. We had specific requirements which the company were happy to work with us on. The varieties and colour of the flowers have been chosen to reflect our new branding palette, based around the green of the garden city and red from the brick buildings. The new basket trees have been made for us and will be exclusive to this County. 

The company nurture the flowers from a young age and provide weekly maintenance, feeding and up keep, all paid for by the BID.

Vandalism? With any new structure or addition to the town centre this is always a concern. We had no major reports of vandalism in 2018 and hope that everyone can enjoy the flowers in one way or another. The flowers are also situated in CCTV areas. 

Why don't we have planters during the winter months? This is an idea we are keen to investigate using hardy foliage and winter flowers.

If you have any additional questions about the floral displays then please do not hesitate to contact us at: info@welwyngarden.co,uk

We hope you all enjoy the flowers as much as we do.