Brighten your life by visiting a nursery with a difference in Herstmonceux

Not many nurseries offer wild swimming and the chance to loll in its own wood-fired hot tub.

But when conifer specialists Lime Cross Nursery launched its own wellbeing concept in 2015 it offered just that – and more. Wellbeing in the Wild uses the whole of the 24-acre site to host a range of activities including yoga, tai chi, meditation, Pilates, massage and wellbeing education, as well as the aforementioned wild swimming. The newly installed hot tub is perfect for winding down afterwards.

The classes take place next to the 20-year-old nursery reservoir, which as well as irrigating the nursery site has its own healthy colony of fresh water mussels living on the banks.

Olive’s Café, based at the nursery, serves food made using home grown and locally sourced ingredients. The café and wellbeing programme were launched by Lime Cross Nursery’s co-owners, sisters Helen and Vicky Tate. They are the third generation of the same family to run the nursery, which from the 1960s to the 2000s boasted a booming wholesale growing department specialising in conifers. The growing for wholesale sector had to be discontinued because of competition from emerging markets such as Holland, although Lime Cross Nursery still grows more than 600 varieties of conifers for its own retail sales.

This month Lime Cross is launching its new website, which will feature the full schedule of classes for the rest of the year. Among the treats on offer are wild swimming, followed by wine in the hot tub; yoga and massage; and stand up paddleboard yoga. There will also be masterclasses in cooking, wine and gardening.

One date to mark in the diary is the action-packed Wellbeing in the Wild weekend - held in conjunction with The Makers Market - from Saturday, May 6 to Sunday, May 7. The weekend will have wellbeing taster sessions in yoga, tai chi, meditation, wine tasting and wild swimming, as well as woodland walks, pop-up dining and special guest speakers, alongside The Makers Market, which will have its own workshops in pottery, weave-making, wreath-making, printing and more.

For more information visit the new website at www.wellbeinginthewild.com