London chain Capital Gardens is embroiled in a row with the National Trust that could see it lose another of its garden centres.
The company's Morden Hall Garden Centre is sited within the walled kitchen garden of the National Trust's Morden Hall, in Morden, Surrey. It has run its business from there for over two decades, but now its lease is about to expire and the trust wants Capital Gardens out.

However, the garden centre operator is digging its heels in and has called in the lawyers.

Capital Gardens chief executive Colin Campbell-Preston told diyweek.net: "They're trying to take it over. Whether we can stop them or not I don't know. At the moment we're just talking to them and trying to resolve it."

He said that if the trust were to succeed in its efforts to remove Capital Gardens: "They, hopefully, will provide us with some compensation because it's not a clear-cut case, getting us off the site. We think we've got a very strong case, but I can't say any more because if it goes to court I don't want to prejudice my case."

A spokesperson for the National Trust told diyweek.net: "We are in discussions with Capital Gardens about the future of the garden centre at Morden Hall Park and have shared our intention that we would like to take the garden centre into our care.

"We hope that we can continue to work with Capital Gardens to find a resolution but as we are speaking with them directly, and with their solicitors, we do not feel it is appropriate to discuss the details of the matter at this stage."

Mr Campbell-Preston added: "Hopefully, by the year end, we might have a resolution of what the long-term future is. But we're likely still to be there beyond the end of the year."

And he said that if Capital Gardens were forced to close its operation at Morden Hall it would look to open another garden centre elsewhere.

Capital Gardens currently has just four garden centres, along with Capital Garden Landscapes, after it shut its Highgate Garden Centre in north London in July this year. The company put the closure down to falling sales. In 2012 it sold the freehold of the site for £2m.