In This Issue
Homebase St Albans to be UK Bunnings Warehouse pilot
October breaks sales records in garden centres
Wyevale Garden Centres forced to close Folkestone store
Garden centre bid to increase car park in green belt land
Invasive Brazilian flatworm arrives in UK garden centre on an imported heuchera
Maximising your potential - masses of marketing input in only one day - Tuesday November 8th
Who will be the winners of GTN's first Greatest Marketing Team Awards?
Plant trees....for the sake of the iPad generation
Top UK nurseries to trial plant health management system
Squire's Freaky Friday face painting raises £304 for charity
Why Britain's just blooming great!
Promote Cornus for winter colour
Meet a great grower...of facial hair
Area Sales Managers
Brand Manager
Sales representative, South East
Horticultural / Plantarea Manager (Carmarthenshire)
Horticultural / Plantarea Manager (West Midlands)
Technical Growing Operations Nursery Manager (UK based)
Garden Sundries Retail Manager (Essex)
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Continued business growth prompts internal promotions and new recruits at Kelkay
Garden lighting products sell well during half-term
Christmas product sales are getting personal
Growing media sales continue to impress
Cyclamen is the bestselling plant during school break
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
The latest New Plant Varieties for Summer Colour
Demystify the millennial generation at free workshops
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
GTN's Greatest Awards 2016
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Dobbies Garden Café wins Quality Food Award
Situations Vacant
Area Sales Managers
Salary: Very attractive salary, bonus, company car and benefits
 
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Brand Manager
 
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Sales representative, South East
 
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Horticultural / Plantarea Manager (Carmarthenshire)
Salary: £20,000 - £25,000
 
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Horticultural / Plantarea Manager (West Midlands)
Salary: £20,000 - £25,000
 
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Technical Growing Operations Nursery Manager (UK based)
Salary: Excellent
 
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Garden Sundries Retail Manager (Essex)
Salary: £18,000 - £22,000
 
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Send us your news and great ideas
Contact us with your news. 

Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700
Promote Cornus for winter colour

Colourful cornus  – the dogwood -  is the HTA’s Plant of the Moment for November.

These reliable hardy shrubs provide a leafy backdrop to summer flowers before transforming into a rainbow of autumn colours that drop away to reveal brilliant wand-like stems.

This seasonal transformation is just the start of a host of new planting partnerships that can be enjoyed right through until spring. During winter the brightly coloured stems of dogwoods catch sunlight to create dazzling displays. Small gardens might only have space for a single plant, so position it where the low piercing winter sunlight will shine through, catching stems in its spotlight.

Many shrubby dogwoods also carry clusters of tiny flowers through summer. These are usually creamy-white, often leading to the formation of dense heads of white berries in autumn.

Shrubby dogwoods grow well in almost any soil, even moist sites and heavy clay ground. They’ll do best in a sunny position, but will tolerate some shade. Contrasting colours always work well when developing planting combinations, so consider planting groups of two or more together.

Try planting dogwoods in large patio containers to create seasonal displays with a difference, under-planting them with low winter bedding, leafy perennials and small shrubs.

There are dozens of plants to choose from as partners for dogwoods. Some can be planted as a background to show off the stems, while others provide flowering companions through winter. Low growers like bergenia and heuchera, can be planted in clumps to carpet the ground, or underplant with early flowering bulbs like snowdrops, crocus and narcissus.

Popular dogwood varieties for the garden

For summer foliage and winter stems:

Cornus alba varieties – such as ‘Elegantissima’,  ‘Aurea’, ‘Spaethii’, and Siberian dogwood ‘Sibirica’

Small trees with attractive flowers and foliage:

Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’ (AGM)

For winter flowers:

Cornus mas – dainty yellow flowers in winter, red fruits in late summer

Planning and planting advice for your information centre

  • Where dogwoods are specifically grown for their winter stems, they’ll need annual pruning. This is simply done by cutting all stems down to their woody base close to ground level every spring. This encourages new stems to develop during the year, and it’s these you’ll enjoy the following winter.
  • Try taking hardwood cuttings. Once leaves have fallen, lengths of stem can be prepared and inserted into slits in the ground filled with gritty sand. Heal in firmly and keep watered if conditions are dry. Cuttings should root over spring/summer and produce well rooted new plants by next autumn. They’re fun to take, so check online gardening websites (like the RHS) for full advice on taking hardwood cuttings.


Planting partners for winter displays

· Ajuga varieties

· Brachyglottis ‘Sunshine’

· Euphorbia varieties

· Snowdrops (Galanthus varieties)

· Winter Flowering Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)

Photo - © Adam Pasco Media

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