In This Issue
“Let’s tell Defra how to do it. Let’s make sure the gardeners of the future are coming to us"
Water feature displays pay dividends for garden centre
Garden centre benefits from WinRetail system
April ends on a high but it's still an average sales month
April plant sales thrive, says GTN Bestsellers
New plants revealed for Helping Children Grow
Electric Rhubarb to light up RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Plantscape team become overnight BBC TV and radio stars
Thompson & Morgan announces Chelsea entries
Garden Centre Tour - Mahoney Garden Centre, Boston, USA
SBM’s Lowri Walker gets set to see the world from a bird’s eye view!
First commercially available ‘ocean plastic’ outdoor furniture range
Strong start to gardening season continues through March, according to HTA Market Update
Award-winning Hydrangea to feature in 2020 catalogue
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Notcutts Norwich
Cold winds shrink trade involvement in World Naked Gardening Day
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
LeisureGrow appoints new Head of Pet for Petface
2019 GIMA Awards judging panel confirmed
Garden product sales down in April
Growing Media sales bounce back
Wild Bird Care volumes perk up
Cucumber is the new delight
‘Colour Trends’ hits the spot at Florna Plants
New Key Account Manager at Tildenet
Yodel delivers record number of flowers for Valentine’s and Mother’s Day
DLC approves SGS for Testing and Certification of Horticultural Lighting
New Super Slice from Burgon & Ball
The best of last week's
Raglan bought back from Wyevale by previous owner
The Davies's buy back Raglan from Wyevale
Become a GARDENA ambassador store and watch sales grow
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Forest Lodge
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Hillier Botley
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Baytree of Hilgay
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Blue Diamond Bicester Avenue
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Leading associations to host inspirational Keynotes at Commercial Kitchen 2019
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Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700






Plantscape team become overnight BBC TV and radio stars

 

The UK's biggest supplier of hanging baskets and planters, Plantscape, is basking in media stardom this week - having featured on BBC TV and radio in a matter of hours!

 

BBC Radio Derby's roving reporter Heidi Booth joined the early birds at the company's Egginton nursery at the crack of dawn for two hours to broadcast live to the station's breakfast show listeners.

 

She chatted to operations manager Mat Davison, senior operations manager Pete Halls and planter Fran Archer about the scale of the operation and the processes involved in planting up 90,000 blooms in 12,000 planters to distribute to 130 locations across England, Scotland and Wales.

 

Heidi learned how just one man, Stefan Banica, was responsible for watering every single plant - an all day job which he adores. She also discovered that Plantscape's 15-foot flower towers weigh a tonne once filled with compost and water, and that each member of the five strong planting team can put together up to 400 hanging baskets a day.

Fran told her that she found her job therapeutic, while Pete said the idea that the flowers could make someone's day was what made his job so worthwhile.

 

Mat, who describes the plants as his ‘babies' told her what immense pride he took in his job. "I absolutely love it," he told her.

 

No sooner had the Plantscape team recovered from the onslaught of questions from Heidi than BBC Radio Derby's televisual counterpart - BBC East Midlands Today - turned up for a spot of filming.

 

The nursery was described by BBC reporter Quentin Rayner as ‘the hanging baskets of Egginton.'

 

He chatted to Mat and Fran who told him she could plant up a three tier flower tower in just ten minutes. Mat said that even in these times of austerity councils still wanted to spend money on flowers because "they bring joy and happiness to people walking down the street."

 

Both BBC broadcast media were stunned by the immense scale of the operation and the fact that so many of the civic planters seen across the nation all radiate from a huge greenhouse complex in rural Derbyshire.

 

The BBC visits coincide with a record number of summer orders - with more councils, BID groups and corporate organisations buying Plantscape's services than ever before.

Towns, cities, In Bloom groups and Business Improvement Districts to benefit from the Plantscape magic include the ancient walled cities of York and Chester, Beaumaris and Worcester. Their pots also featured last month on BBC TV's Britain in Bloom series.

 

The BBC Midlands Today footage starts at 23 minutes in while the three BBC Radio Derby interviews can be heard at around 55 minutes, one hour 21 minutes and two hours 21 minutes into the show.

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