The key to successful plant sales is to work smarter and work better, said Boyd Douglas-Davis at The Future of Plant Retailing event held this week.

A collaboration between Brandsfords Webbs, New Leaf Plants and Frank P Matthews, the event, held twice over two days, attracted around 120 from the garden centre and grower sectors. They heard from Boyd, who urged plant buyers and retailers to plan beyond Mother’s Day, consider vertical planting, telling stories about how great their plants really are, but above all to promote themselves as the plant specialists. “Technology is moving at a colossal speed – the level of knowledge children have now is way beyond what we had because they have access to the world,” he said. What gardeners are being presented with online isn’t always 100% accurate so customers need to have confidence in their local garden centres.

Understanding exactly how to get the best out of peat-free growing is also crucial and, he believed, every staff member should be trialling using the products at home. “We have to deal with the misinformation and we have to take the lead. We need to educate our staff right now so they can get their heads around it and be the experts,” he said.

The industry also has solutions to many environmental issue and should be shouting about British plants grown in peat-free compost. From the floor came an idea to create a logo for use on all labels and marketing – watch out for a competition coming soon.

Creating theatrics in the planteria through exciting special event plant launches and fabulous displays was also promoted as too was another competition, led by Boyd, to find the best Brit Pot display this summer. His offer of week in his Devon holiday home grabbed the delegate’s attention. More details coming soon.

Visits to the Brandsford Webbs nursery, a presentation by New Leaf Plants and a look around the Frank P Matthews site was useful for many existing and potential customers.