RCN soon established his business in Woodbridge, moving with Maud into the old Georgian House on the nursery.

As RCN developed the nursery, his interests widened, holding membership of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Flower Show Committee for 30 years, of the Linnaean Society and of the Council of the Roads Beautifying Association (one of the earliest associations concerned with the environment). In 1912 he was appointed a JP. He served as a member of the Woodbridge Urban District Council for 33 consecutive years, being elected chairman in 1937.

RCN had an intense love of the countryside; as an expert on trees, his counsel and help were especially valued by the Suffolk Preservation Society, on whose Executive Council he served. In 1934, he donated the 4 acres of Kyson Hill to the National Trust - their first donation in Suffolk. This is a lovely stretch of hillside, with wide views of the River Deben.

RCN became particularly interested in trees and shrubs, amassing a large collection. He published "Flowering Trees and Shrubs: a handbook for gardeners" in 1926.

His management style reflected the times. The office manager was Ernest Bilney, and the nursery manager was Edward Thatcher. Each loathed the other, and would take every opportunity to tell RCN of the other's failings, so although RCN was regularly away from the nursery, he knew exactly what was going on.

In 1938, disaster struck. In January of that year RCN died of a heart attack. Like many first generation businessmen, he had not thought to the future, and had not trained Tom to succeed him. Although Tom dealt with all the sales correspondence in the office, and conducted customers around the nursery, he had not been involved in the day to day operation of the nursery or in controlling the indomitable Bilney and Thatcher. Suddenly he was expected to achieve all this, and to report on each day's activities to his mother, Maud. Unfortunately, it was not to be and Tom died that September.

Shows: 1897 - 1945

As a result of his success at local shows with exhibits of Chrysanthemums from the Broughton Road Nurseries, RCN saw the value of showing locally and nationally in increasing his Woodbridge Nursery business. The RHS shows were then the key to national renown, much as today.

The year after taking over the Nursery, RCN won a Silver Medal for an exhibit of Apples and Pears at the RHS September Crystal Palace Show. The RHS Great Spring Show was at that time held in the grounds of the Temple, where he won a Silver Medal for herbaceous flowers in 1901, 1902 and 1904, progressing to a Silver Gilt Medal in 1905 and 1906.

By the time of the International Horticultural Exhibition in 1912, held in the grounds of Chelsea Hospital, RCN's landscaping skills had also developed. He staged a Rose Garden, which won a Silver Gilt Medal. The show was such a success, that the RHS moved their Great Spring Show to Chelsea in 1913, where it has remained ever since. RCN exhibited at this first "Chelsea", but it was not until the following year that he won his first Gold Medal for an Azalea Garden. Notcutts are one of only some half dozen nurseries to have exhibited at every Chelsea Show, winning Gold Medals most years.

Exhibits won medals further afield too, such as a Silver at the Royal Show in 1911, and a Silver Gilt for fruit at the Shropshire Horticultural Society in autumn 1913.

The Woodbridge Horticultural Show was the major local event of the year and RCN encouraged other exhibitors to attend, thus enhancing the show's reputation. Its splendid Silver Medal shows the Shire Hall built by Thomas Seckford on the Market Hill in Woodbridge.

RCN continued showing successfully throughout his life; the exhibits were the mainstay of the business. In 1934, when Tom asked for permission to return from Chelsea early to see his newborn son, this was refused! Shows continued after RCN's death; the last RHS medal before the Second World War was a Lindley Medal for an exhibit of Syringa species in June 1939.

The Nursery Market: 1897 - 1945

The great country houses of Victorian and Edwardian England had large kitchen gardens which produced all their own fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. Extensive parklands were planted with conifers and forest trees, rather than ornamentals. Woods Nurseries, and then RCN, supplied this market comprising of a relatively small number of key customers.

The imperious Head Gardener was a "highly important person", as his custom was critical to the Nursery. On visits to the nursery he was ceremoniously received and conducted around, as his large order was hopefully written down. Each summer RCN invited all the Head Gardeners to a special tea party in the yew hedge garden on the Nursery. At Christmas he wrote to each employer requesting permission to send a Christmas box to the Head Gardener.

After the First World War, the number of staff looking after large gardens declined - as did the annual orders. The business adapted to supply many more modest houses, with their smaller gardens and orders.

These orders were delivered locally by horse and cart, and later by one of the first lorries in Woodbridge. More distant orders were expertly packed in bracken, "a torture to use" as the stems split, and caused wrists to bleed as the willow shoot ties were tightened. Large orders were collected from the fields and taken straight to Woodbridge Railway Station to be packed directly with wet straw into goods wagons.

Orders still came from visitors conducted around the Nursery, and from the ever important shows, but also increasingly from the catalogue. Originally intended to aid other methods of selling plants, this became the only annual contact with many customers across the country.

RCN became particularly interested in the many new trees and shrubs, such as Prunus 'Ukon' and Fraxinus oxycarpa 'Raywood', being sent back by plant hunters, like Forest Wilson and Kingdom Ward. These plants were grown on the nursery and introduced to cultivation. His catalogue, which listed 961 varieties of general nursery stock in 1897, grew to 2,724 varieties in 1936, including a total of 19 plants raised and selected by RCN. In 1904, he raised and selected four varieties of Papaver orientale, following this by 1919 with three varieties of Aster Novi Belgii. He raised and selected Cotinus 'Notcutts Variety' in 1928, Viburnum opulus 'Notcutts Variety' in 1930 and Hibiscus syriacus rubus 'Woodbridge' in 1937 amongst others.

During the Second World War, there was a reduction in nursery staff numbers. Fields were turned over to vegetables; five of the seven greenhouses grew tomatoes, and the frames were full of cucumbers. In only two greenhouses was Johnny Crane, then propagator, able to save precious stock of many plants. Despite his efforts, many varieties, including some of RCN's own introductions, were lost, and by 1947 only 989 varieties were being grown.