Joseph Bentley A Brief History

Founded by Dr. Joseph Bentley, a Chemist with a passion for gardening, the Joseph Bentley company has been a leading name in Horticulture for well over a century.

Dr. Bentley was a renowned breeder, grower and exhibitor of Roses, Chrysanthemums, Carnations, Sweet Peas and Vines. Frustrated by the lack of effective proprietary chemicals to nourish his plants, combat their particular diseases and discourage “bugs”, he set about applying his Chemists skills. So successful was he that his fellow growers and exhibitors persuaded him to share his secrets, and more importantly, were prepared to pay handsomely for the privilege! He very quickly became something of a celebrity and turned from Medicinal to Horticultural Chemistry full time. The Joseph Bentley brand name was born.

Dr. Bentley also realised that many of his customers were landowners with large country estates with formal gardens and nurseries employing Groundsmen and teams of specialist gardeners. He quickly devised Lawn Treatments, Worm Killers, Nicotine Sprays, Orchard Fluid, Spidacide (red spider mite annihilator!), Mildew preventors and a host of other highly effective preparations that could be supplied in both large and small quantities. We are sure that the various regulatory bodies governing today's market will be disappointed that we have no intention of re-introducing any of these highly effective but mostly toxic preparations!

We can do little better to illustrate the standing of the Company than to quote from the actual Foreword to The Joseph Bentley - “Things Needful” Booklet, dated 1925:

“Our claim to be the largest and the leading manufacturers of Horticultural Specialities in the United Kingdom is incontestable. Moreover, nearly all best-known proprietary preparations for the garden have been introduced and manufactured by us during the last forty years. The secret of our enviable success is our consistent combination of reasonably low prices with the highest achievable quality.”

Over the years Joseph Bentley has been the proud possessor of Royal Warrants and several Gold Medal awards from Chelsea as well as hosts of testimonials from Grounds Keepers, Head Gardeners and the Nobility! An enviable and hard won reputation!

Even more significantly however, he recognised the benefit to his Company of supplying other companies products to be used in conjunction with his own. Many of the brand names, such as Nutscene, Bulldog and Haws are still trading successfully today.

He became what we would recognise today as a Wholesaler, with Orders being delivered from Barrow upon Humber, “Carriage paid to any railway station in Britain”! It is amazing that the Joseph Bentley business, under numerous different ownerships, has operated out of the same area of North Lincolnshire for so many years.

Today, Joseph Bentley is part of the Decco Organisation, the largest wholesale distributor of its kind to the UK market. Thankfully, the Decco operating philosophy still allows Bentley’s to operate as an entrepreneurial and wholly autonomous business within the Group, able to pursue those initiatives most suited to it.

We have been truly inspired by this wonderful sense of history and the long standing tradition of quality and innovation, personified by the original Dr. Joseph Bentley himself, to recreate a range of garden tools that would look at home in historic pre-war editions of the Joseph Bentley Horticultural Catalogue. A golden age for horticulture.

Clearly times have changed, as has the whole of the Horticultural industry. What remains as an inalienable constant is our fervent desire to service the horticultural trade with high quality products inspired by our heritage, designed to appeal to today's modern markets - and all at a very reasonable price!

We are sure that the original Dr. Joseph Bentley would have approved!