Only 10 weeks after we reported the lowest sales week in garden centres, GTN Bestsellers can now report that the week beginning with the May Bank Holiday Monday was the highest week ever for garden centre sales volumes.

Record Bank Holiday Monday temperatures and a week of "good" gardening weather sent sales volumes soaring to a record high, so high that the increase over the same week last year was greater than the shortfall from the last week of February when the record low was set in all that snow.

Now after 19 weeks of the year, the GTN Bestsellers All Product Sales Index is running at 6.3% down year on year to date.  That is a huge swing back from the minus 16.6% it was sitting on at the end of March.

See the headlines of the GTN Bestsellers individual Top 50 Charts in this weekends GTN Xtra, or see the full Top 50's and a lot more useful data from GTN Bestsellers with a subscription to our weekly newsletter service using this link.

Bosworths of Burton Latimer, near Kettering, have expanded to two centres by re-opening The Walled Garden Garden Centre at Elton Hall, near Peterborough.

Sam Bosworth (above) told GTN Xtra they got the keys four weeks ago and since then have been clearing and stocking the site.  "We aim to make The Walled Garden a special place for plants and food."

The liquidators from the previous tenants, who closed in February 2018, had removed almost every fitting, including the kitchen sink, so Sam is having to totally re-build the kitchen and restaurant.  "We will have 80 covers initially and I've promised Sir William that we will be open for tea and cakes, at least, by the 25th May which is when Elton Hall is open to the public for the first time this year."

"Suppliers have been very helpful over the past few weeks and it was great to be open for business last weekend, just as the weather improved!"

While staff recruitment is ongoing, Sam and one of the lads from Burton Latimer have been running the site.  "It's just like the early days, I'm really enjoying getting involved in all aspects of getting the new centre up and running," explained Sam, after he had just replaced one of the toilet seats that had "gone missing" within two days of opening.

Quentin Edwards were the agents for the site.

A Special Report in the Financial Times in April 2018 has highlighted Smart Garden Products as one of the fastest growing companies in Europe and have been listed in the FT 1000, a Special Report listing the European companies which have achieved the highest percentage growth in revenues between 2013 and 2016.  

Along with 156 other companies from the United Kingdom, Smart Garden Products is the only UK company representing the Personal and Household Goods sector.  With an annual compound growth rate of 36.5%, an absolute revenue growth of 154%, and a revenue in 2016 of over £30m, Smart Garden products were ranked 953 out of the 1000 European companies.

Jonathan Stobart, Managing Director, says “This is an extraordinary achievement, particularly when set against the backdrop of economic uncertainty and Brexit. However, we have always set our sights high, giving ourselves demanding targets to meet.  We have not only achieved these but exceeded even our most optimistic expectations”.

To be included in the list of Europe’s fastest growing companies, a company had to meet the following criteria:

• Revenue of at least £100,000 generated in 2013
• Revenue of at least £1.5m generated in 2016
• Revenue growth between 2013 and 2016 primarily organic

To view an interactive version of the results, go to ft.com/ft1000.

To find out more about Smart Garden’s market leading product offering please visit www.sgpuk.com

Home and Garden UK Ltd, suppliers of garden sculptures and ornaments, would like to inform everyone that the company is still alive and trading.

"We are not associated with the Home and Garden Group who went in to administration," said the company.

"We have never been in a stronger position and welcome everyone to carry on as normal regarding ordering."

This week’s GTN Bestsellers headline EPOS data analysis only includes two of the three Bank Holiday weekend trading days and as we reported on Monday, that appeared to be the best of the three. 

Last week’s data also compares with the week that had the Bank Holiday Monday in it too, so as with Easter, direct comparisons are not possible.

Star performers from a volume point of view, as the weather heated up, were plants.  The week was the highest so far this year for plant sales and the increase of 20% year on year for the week puts year to date plant volumes at only 7% behind last year. 

A few more weeks at that level and plants will be ahead of last year, but there are some big targets from last year to be beaten along the way.

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 18)
Garden Products - down 1%
Growing Media - up 10%
Veg-2-Gro - down 8%
Wild Bird Care - down 34%
All Plants Index - up 21%
All Items Index - up 10%

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Blue Diamond celebrated the acquisition of their 21st garden centre last week following the completion of the purchase of Orchard Park Garden Centre in Gillingham, North Dorset.

MD, Alan Roper, told GTN Xtra that it was an ideal addition to the group; "it is in a very good AB1 customer catchment area in a growing town and there is planning permission in place which will allow us to add 3,500 sq m to take the centre to 5,500 sq m overall.  Orchard Park is a very well located centre.  It has a loyal customer base and we were particularly attracted by the opportunity of developing the centre and moving the business forward.”

Richard Cumming, Managing Director of Orchard Park said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Blue Diamond will be taking over the business. We’ve worked hard with our staff to create a business which is successful at a local and regional level and has lots of potential”.

The garden centre was built in 2004 on a green field site and has developed a strong customer base. It is on an 8 acre site and has an existing planning consent to expand it more than three-fold to create a lifestyle centre.

Gilbert Evans acted on behalf of Orchard Park, Mike Gilbert commenting, “there’s a strong demand for well-run garden centres with potential.  We approached a limited number of parties and received very strong interest.  We’re all delighted with the result.”

Robbie Cumming, Richard's son told GTN Xtra: "This is great news, and I just wanted to say I am so chuffed for mum and dad who retire after having given absolutely everything to their careers in horticulture and garden retail.

"Both started from scratch with a small plant and nursery built on bare farmland (Milton Garden Plants as some may remember), battling against all odds financially (not to mention three football mad boys) to become a local institution. Outgrowing the original site, they had to start again in the larger local town and build a new business from the ground once more.

"Orchard Park is the centre of what is now a thriving business park and a genuine focal point for the local community. So congratulations to Alan and all at Blue Diamond, who obviously know a good thing when they see one."

The GTN Bestsellers plants chart tells us that Summer is here! Summer bedding and basket plants saw huge sales increases last week with all of the Top 17 plant groupings seeing significant volume growth.

The net result was the highest plant sales volumes of the year. More of the same please over the coming weeks!

• Alyssum climbed 13 places to No 12 after a 168% sales jump with Lobelia one place above.
• Pelargonium, mainly bedding ‘geraniums’, extended their dominance at the top of the chart with a 62% increase, selling 43% more than in the same week last year.
• All Plants volume sales change: Week on week UP 32.8%.  Year to date DOWN 7.1% on 2017

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Celebrating everything from hives and honey to the Queen and her worker bees, gardeners of all ages will be able to mark World Bee Day, a global initiative which raises awareness of the importance of protecting bees, at Poundbury Gardens near Dorchester on Sunday 20 May from 10am-4pm.

Culminating in a talk from the Dorchester and Weymouth Beekeepers’ Association at 2pm, visitors will be able to delve into the incredible world of bees and hear what goes on behind the honeycomb.

Lisa Bond from Poundbury Gardens explains: “Looking after bees that visit the garden is something that we always encourage our customers to do, recommending plenty of bee-friendly plants wherever possible.

"World Bee Day is all about giving everyone a deeper understanding about how important bees are in our environment and how we can all do our bit to keep them busy, so we are looking forward to joining in with this global initiative.”

Dorchester and Weymouth Beekeepers’ Association will also have a bee stand at Poundbury Gardens from Monday 14 to Sunday 27 May, with volunteers offering tips and advice on creating a bee friendly garden.

Picture credit: Anne Halpin

Influential buyers from a German garden and pet product mail order company and online shop, a Polish importer and distributor of garden items as well as buyers from a leading wholesaler/distributor of garden and horticultural products across the Baltic States are to meet with British suppliers in the latest ‘Meet the International Buyers’ event organised by the Gardenex and PetQuip associations. 

The event will take place at the Federation’s head office in Brasted, Kent on 7 June 2018, and British suppliers who wish to present their product ranges in one-to-one meetings with buyers are invited to contact the Federation.

The German company taking part in the event usually sources from more than half the companies seen during the ’Meet the International Buyers’ events, so is an important contact for companies looking to market their garden innovations in Europe’s largest market for garden products.  

The two buyers from the company will be looking for innovative, practical and decorative garden products, particularly those not already available on the German market. 

Nature-friendly plants and products such as rabbit hutches, chicken-houses, wild bird products and items related to pets being outside in the garden will be of particular interest to the buyers. 

The company distributes thousands of comprehensive mail order catalogues each year, offering seeds and plants, practical garden accessories and garden decoration, and is happy to include UK companies that are new to exporting.

The Polish buyer is from an importer/distributor of hobby greenhouses sourced from the UK.  The company has over 20 years’ experience in greenhouse sales, supplying garden centre retailers.  It has also acted as an importer/distributor supplying farmers with plant protection, fertiliser, feed and tools.  In addition, the company operates three on-line shops selling to end-users. 

One of the shops offers a broad range of garden items from boots and gloves to watering equipment, pest control and bird food, while the others cover hobby greenhouses and plants. 

The company also operates six retail garden centres/shops and two wholesale outlets.  At the 7 June event, the owner/buyer is looking for new and interesting products for distribution to garden centres and for online sales.

The two buyers from the Baltic States are from a leading wholesaler/distributor of garden and horticultural products.  The company was founded originally in 1995 as a wholesaler of garden and horticultural products to the Estonian market and the owners attended the Federation’s ’Meet the International Buyers’ events in 2010 and 2012.  

In addition to acting as a wholesaler, the company has an e-shop which offers a wide range of practical accessories for gardens, balconies and indoor gardening. Its main customers are garden centres and garden shops, DIY stores, supermarkets, landscapers/garden designers as well as professional growers. 

The company offers a broad selection of garden and horticultural products and items of particular interest are:

• Products for landscapers (decorative containers and hanging baskets, flower towers).
• Roof-top gardening and related products
• Technical gardening tools
• Hobby greenhouses, greenhouse shelving and other greenhouse accessories
• Outdoor children’s playground items (climbing ladder, climbing rope etc)
• Apple collection baskets with shoulder belts/harness
• Beekeeping for hobby and professional market • Fruit-picking products

To ensure that you don’t miss out on the opportunity to apply for 25 minute one-to-one meetings with any of the buyers on 7 June, or to find out more about future ‘Meet the International Buyers’ events for both the garden and pet sectors, email Katie-Mai Smith on katie-mai@gardenex.com or telephone 01959 565995 as soon as possible as meeting slots fill up quickly.

Ahead of this year’s National Children’s Gardening Week (26 May-3 June) a report has been published by the HTA on the uptake and benefits of school gardening in UK primary schools.

Together, we help children grow - The state of primary school gardening in the UK – highlights that 9 out of 10 primary schools run gardening activities. 94% of primary school heads and deputies believe that school gardening benefits either pupils’ health, mental wellbeing, social skills, concentration or learning.

In spite of this though schools have only 33p per pupil to spend on the activity, and are in need of more funding and volunteer support.

The report highlights the tremendous job that schools are doing with limited resources. With more support they could deliver even more benefits for the UK’s children. 

School gardening has been shown to have many benefits to health and wellbeing.

These benefits include:

• Children with access to decent green space are 24% more likely to be physically active.
• There is a strong correlation between happiness and feeling connected with the natural world.
• Working towards a common goal with peers (e.g. growing food for the school kitchen), helps pupils to break down many barriers to social interaction.
• Research has found that school gardening can give a greater sense of achievement and responsibility.
• School gardening has also been shown to improve concentration levels with children returning to the classroom ready and willing to learn.

Chris Collins, Lead Ambassador for National Children’s Gardening Week, comments: “The rise of school gardening has been staggering over the past decade. Gardening covers so many parts of the curriculum and it is the perfect vehicle for hands on learning.

"The benefits from involving kids in gardening are huge – from social and physical to emotional and educational and I look forward to highlighting this through National Children’s Gardening Week and The Great Escape Industry exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.”

While the research shows that teachers clearly believe in the benefits of school gardening too, they need for more funds and volunteers. 83% of primary school heads and deputies feel that more funds would help their school get more benefit from school gardening. 61% feel that more volunteers would help their school get more benefit from school gardening.

Currently only around 1.5 million of the 5.5 million primary school pupils in the UK actually get to do school gardening; and primary schools have only 33p to spend per pupil on school gardening.

National Children’s Gardening Week provides parents and schools with free activities that are great fun for kids, and lend themselves to developing children’s learning, creative and social skills. Some of these ideas and examples of the benefits of children’s gardening will be on show in the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in ‘The Great Escape’ exhibit which will be in the Discovery Zone in the Great Pavilion.

Together, we help children grow - the state of primary school gardening in the UK can be downloaded from the HTA website –  www.childrensgardeningweek.co.uk/resources

Hawley Garden Centre is one of the best gift retailers and card retailers in the UK, and has been selected as a finalist in The Greats Gift Retailer Awards 2018 and has reached the finals of The Retas 2018 greeting card retailer awards.

The Greats Awards, now in their 16th year, were launched by Progressive Gifts & Home magazine to recognise and reward the UK's very best gift retailers across the retail spectrum.

"These dedicated awards for gift retailers have risen immeasurably in status over the years and are now universally acknowledged as being true accolades of excellence," commented Sue Marks, Editor of Progressive Gifts & Home. "Being selected as a finalist was a fantastic achievement. There was a huge entry this year, with some outstanding, first class entries."

All retail finalists were decided as a result of an industrywide poll of gift suppliers, reps and agents and validation by a panel of experts.

The winners of this year’s prestigious gift retailing Awards  - The Greats 2018 – will be revealed at an Awards lunch at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, on Thursday May 17.

The Awards recognise and celebrate not only the top independent and multiple gift retailers regionally and nationally, but also outstanding retail employees.

Further details can be found at www.thegreatsawards.co.uk

The Retas Awards, now in their 14th year, were launched by Progressive Greetings magazine to recognise and reward the UK’s very best greeting card retailers from right across the retail spectrum. Greeting cards are sold in one in six shops in the UK, reaching the finals of The Retas is a notable achievement.

“The sending of greeting cards is an engrained part of UK culture, with the British public spending an unprecedented £1.7 billion on greeting cards in the last year alone,” commented Jakki Brown, editor and co-owner of Progressive Greetings magazine, which organises The Retas Awards. “The nation leads the world in greeting card design and sends more cards per capita (30 cards per person) – and The Retas Awards celebrate the very finest greeting card retail stockists in the UK.”

All Retas finalists were decided as a result of an industry-wide poll of greeting card suppliers, reps and agents and validated by a panel of experts.

The winners of this year’s prestigious greeting card retailing awards - The Retas 2018 – will be revealed at an Awards lunch at the glamorous Dorchester Hotel on London on Wednesday July 11.

The Awards recognise and celebrate not only the top independent and multiple greeting card retailers regionally and nationally, but also outstanding retail employees.

These dedicated awards for retailers have risen immeasurably in status over the last decade and are now universally acknowledged as being true accolades of excellence.

Further details can be found at www.theretasawards.co.uk

Crest Garden Ltd have announced that they will be repeating their successful regional Trade Shows with Westland Horticulture in June 2018. They will showcase their Autumn ranges and launch a new concept in creative gardening gifts inspired by Imperial War Museums.

The venues and dates for the Trade Shows are:

Perth -  Tuesday/Wednesday, June 12^th/13^th at Perth Racecourse

Coventry – Monday/Tuesday, June 18^th/19^th at Heart of England Conference Centre

Newbury – Thursday/Friday, June 21st/22^nd at Newbury Racecourse

The timing of the Shows will enable retailers to select and order their Autumn requirements as well as Flopro watering, all available for immediate delivery to meet the anticipated summer and early Autumn demand.

One of the highlights of the event will be the unveiling of the new Gift Range developed in partnership with the Imperial War Museums. Products and packaging draw on the images of the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign of WW2 when every spare piece of land was turned into allotments to help Britain become self-sufficient during the conflict. 

Today the renewed interest in ‘Grow you own’ is inspiring people of all ages to develop an interest and learn new skills by producing fresh home grown produce. The Dig for Victory collection will make ideal gifts for those with a love of gardening or history.

Further information is available from the Crest Garden sales team or https://www.gardenhealth.com/westland-are-touring

During Mental Health Awareness Week (May 14-20) Thrive is urging people to use the garden as a place of relaxation, fascination and as a place to enjoy gentle exercise and simply breathe in the fresh air.

Research has shown that two thirds of us experience a mental health problem in our lifetimes, and stress is a key factor in this.

By tackling stress, we can go a long way to tackle mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, and, in some instances, self-harm and suicide.

Therapeutic gardening has proven to be a key factor in how we can tackle stress and help improve our mental health.

Gardening can be a great stress reliever from everyday pressures and being outdoors can help you sleep better and boosts your mood. You don’t have to be a fitness fanatic or expert gardener to get out there and pull up weeds!

Improving mental health can come about from the fresh air and exercise that gardening brings and the nurturing and caring aspect of gardening is important as it gives hope, purpose and a sense of achievement which is so important for mental health.

Gardening is better and cheaper, and we think a more pleasant experience than going to a gym! You are doing something with purpose which can boost self-esteem, and physical, regular exercise, like gardening, can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, ADHD and more.

The physical act of gardening causes seratonin and endorphins to be released, our body’s natural feel-good hormone, which promotes mental wellbeing, while working with plants gives us an opportunity to nurture life, which has incredible psychological benefits. People with mental health issues might be unable to take care of themselves, but if they look after a plant, they can learn self-care.

There’s a wealth of evidence to outline the positive aspects gardening can have on our mental health and wellbeing.

Optimism, offering a regular routine, a sense of purpose and achievement all contribute. The eminent biologist Edward Wilson says we all feel better when we’re in contact with nature and believes we all have a ‘green gene’.

Developed by the Kaplans in the 1980s, Attention restoration theory (ART) asserts that people can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature. Their research showed that people who experience high levels of stress and anxiety such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia show very different behaviours in a health care setting such as a hospital compared to when they are in a garden.

Natural environments are full of "soft fascinations" which a person can reflect upon in "effortless attention", such as clouds moving across the sky, leaves rustling in a breeze or water bubbling over rocks in a stream.

Kathryn Rossiter, CEO of Thrive, says: “Gardens offer a sense of hope and fasciation; just being able to be outdoors, in nature offers a sense of wellbeing.

“The physical activity of gardening offers a sustainable interest which can help people connect with others and can be a social experience which can also boost your mental health.

“And when you garden with others, the benefits are huge. It gives a sense of belonging, of being part of something. You don’t need a high level of skills to be part of it and it helps combat social isolation. Something we see every day at Thrive.

“Tending plants can literally give people a reason to get out of bed in the morning and the nurturing aspect of gardening is very important as it give people hope, purpose and a sense of achievement which is really important for mental health.

“Gardening can build up your muscle strength, increase stamina, improve balance, mobility and ultimately people’s confidence.

“At Thrive we believe that just 30 minutes spent outside each day is good for you, helping to build up strength and stamina, relax your muscles, help movement and balance, keep your heart healthy and use up calories.”

The Government’s ‘Mental capital and wellbeing’ report considered how to improve everyone’s mental capital and mental wellbeing through life.

Evidence suggests that a small improvement in wellbeing can help to decrease some mental health problems and also help people flourish.

These five steps to improve personal wellbeing have been researched and developed by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) – we believe all can be connected to gardening.

• connect
• be active
• take notice
• keep learning
• give

Thrive offers courses on how to use social and therapeutic horticulture to benefit people with mental health support needs. Thrive has also created a new course entitled 'Building resilience using nature'. The course is suitable for anyone involved in using nature within a health interventional, promotional and educational context.

For more information contact Thrive’s information service on 0118 988 5688 or email info@thrive.org.uk.

Visit Thrive’s website www.thrive.org.uk for information on all courses and to download Gardening: The feel good factor. How can gardening improve my mental and emotional wellbeing?

A team of cyclists from Tong Garden Centre completed the challenging Maserati Tour de Yorkshire ride last week and raised £3,400 for Candlelighters in the process.

The team of nine, including directors, staff, suppliers and friends, rode 84km on some of the the same roads as the fourth and final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire pro race on Sunday, 6th May.

The ride included 1,228m of ascent, but riders were rewarded with stunning views along the route. Tong Garden Centre Managing Director, Mark Farnsworth said: "Candlelighters is a fantastic, Yorkshire based charity who support families both financially and emotionally when a family has to go through the horrendous ordeal of a child having cancer.

"As a business, Tong would like to raise £10,000 for them this year. I was joined on the ride by my fellow directors Tom, Charlie and David and we set ourselves a fundraising target of £2,000, so we're naturally delighted to have smashed it! There's still time to donate, so if you'd like to support, simply visit https://give.everydayhero.com/uk/team-tong-s-tour-de-yorkshire-challenge. "

Brian Curran, Corporate Fundraiser for Candlelighters is delighted with Tong's support: "We'd like to say a big thank you to Mark and the team. We need to raise £600,000 to renovate a property for use by families whose children are being treated at Leeds Children's Hospital for cancer, so any support you can give is much appreciated."

The team at Tong aims to raise the £10,000 through a series of fund-raising events and collection boxes at the tills.

The Candlelighters Trust (Candlelighters) is Yorkshire's pre-eminent children's cancer charity, providing practical, emotional and financial support to children living with cancer in Yorkshire and their families.

Pershore in Worcestershire, is for many, right at the heart of the garden of England.

As a county, Worcestershire has grown such variety of produce, flowers and plants for generations that growing is in the blood for many families living in the area.

However, one of the county’s leading High Schools, Pershore High, on Station Road Pershore has gone a bit further than most to continue that tradition. They offer their students the opportunity to take lessons in horticulture, and have even become a registered centre for learning and qualifications of the RHS syllabus.

Their efforts in gardening have been recognised by leading horticulturalist and gardening writer Peter Seabrook, who is creating a garden at this month’s Chelsea Flower Show. He has enlisted the help of students at the school to grow some key items for display in his garden.

The students have produced seventy Tea Pots of Mint, many of which will be seen as part of the display that will be viewed by people from all over the world at the show in London from the 21^st to 26^th May, and will receive many hours of TV coverage.

All the tea pots were donated by people living in the area following our plea for unwanted pots on social media earlier in the year.

Students have taken cuttings of 11 different varieties of mint, all from the plants grown at Fresh @ Burcot Garden Centre, and rooted these before potting them up to grow on and plant into the tea pots.

So why Tea Pots of Mint? Peter Seabrook explained:  “You may not know that, until the demise of the coal mining industry, mint was grown extensively on nurseries around the Vale of Evesham and into Gloucestershire, particularly during the First World War to supply the miners of South Wales with their mint tea. Yes, Mint Tea is not a modern drink for trendy households, it was consumed in vast quantities by those burley, brave miners as it was a great lung decongestant, and helped them rid their bodies of all the coal dust they breathed in.”  

Mr Phil Hanson, Pershore High Schools’ Headteacher, said:  “It has been a bit of a history lesson for the students as well as great experience in growing plants for such a prestigious show. Let’s hope we have been growing for gold at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.

"You may well have read Peter Seabrook’s column on the gardening section of The Sun in April, talking about the garden he is building and recognising the help and enthusiasm of the students at Pershore High School."

This month has also seen the first cohort of Pershore High School students gain RHS Foundation and RHS Level 1 qualification. Teaching Assistant Anne Watson who heads up the initiative at the school said:  "We have all been on a steep learning curve these last few months. The students have worked really hard, and the support we have had from parents, the community and colleagues is superb. On the restricted budgets we have in the school we could not have achieved what we have done without the generosity of time and materials from many people and businesses, not least Fresh @ Burcot Garden Centre at Bromsgrove. One of their owners, Neil Gow, comes into school every month to help students with their learning."

Also supporting the horticulture project at Pershore High School has been Stewart Plastics, Vitax, Gardeners Kitchen, Westland, Meadow View and Crest, with the supply of equipment and materials.

Parents and friends of the school, and customers from Fresh @ Burcot Garden Centre will have the opportunity to buy one of the Tea Pots of Mint, so they can have their own little bit of Chelsea in their garden at home. All the funds raised from selling the Tea Pots of Mint will be ploughed straight back into the horticultural facilities at Pershore High School for the benefit of current and future students.

We have a vacancy for Deputy Centre / Plantarea Manager at Scotland Nurseries Garden Store that we are looking to fill.

Scotland Nurseries Garden Store is a rapidly growing store in the Hillview Garden Centres group. With a 300 year heritage as a plant grower and seller it continues to punch above its weight when it comes to horticulture. From its location on the hills above Matlock it dominates the Derbyshire horticulture scene in more ways than one!

We're looking for an experienced plants/horticulture retailer to join the team at Scotlands. As well as driving the plants and gardening departments you'll also be deputy GC Manager, working closely with the store manager to ensure all budgets are achieved and the business goes from strength to strength.

Send your cv and an inspiring cover letter to boyd.ddavies@hillview-group.com

Garden products continue to lag behind plants with the GTN Bestsellers Top 50 volume sales index still sitting at 15% down year on year. 

Perhaps that’s because bugs and pests have not appeared yet and that plants are only just being planted out so there’s not much need for plant food. 

What are your theories behind sales of Garden Products not matching sales of plants?  Email: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Highlights this week were:

• New lines of decorative products sold well.
• Gardman’s Decorative Small Wild Rose is the highest new entry at No 14.
• Smart Solar Crystal Glass Stake Lights re-enter at No 12.
• Woodlodge 12cm Long Tom Pot sales grow by 233% to re-enter at No 21.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Veg-2-Gro Top 50 sales volumes are not recovering as fast as the rest of the market. Still running at 33% down year to date, sales increased last week but this sector seems to be hardest hit when it comes to replacing missing March and April sales.

Highlights were:

• Quantil Runner Bean White Emergo Strips are an interesting example, sitting at No 15 this year compared to being No 1 Bestseller last year.
• Quantil Sweet Pepper Red in 8cm pots is the highest chart climber, up 24 places to No 18.
• Nursery Fresh Plants Strawberries in 9cm pots stays at No 1 for the fourth consecutive week.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Growing Media sales bounce back up along with the temperatures. You’d almost think people have found a great way to use composts to keep cool! 

Year to date volumes are now 12% down, but that is a significant recovery from the situation of minus 18% only five weeks ago.

Highlights this week were:

• Scotts Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost, 56 litres, was the highest chart climber, up 33 places to No 16.
• Westland Gro-Sure Lawn Seeding Soil, 30 litres, grew sales by almost 100% to re-enter at No 40.
• Scotts Levington Tomorite Giant Planter with Seaweed moves up 2 places to No 2.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Eight Gardman Wild Bird Care lines return to the GTN Bestsellers Top 50 this week as deliveries from King Lynn keep growing week on week.

Other highlights were:

• Peckish Natural Balance Energy Balls 50 Tubs go back to No 1.
• Tom Chambers Scrummy Sunflower Hearts 3kg are the highest new entry at No 42.
• Jacobi Jayne Rowena’s Hedgehog Mix, 500g, re-enters at No 45.

A Japanese horticulturist has been enlisted to help restore Blenheim Palace’s historic Walled Garden.

Makiko Kuga has joined the UNSECO World Heritage Site’s Formal Gardening team in a new role as Kitchen Garden Foreman.

The role, created at the end of 2017, will focus on restoring the Walled Garden, including a selection of unique heritage fruit trees, back to its productive past.

Makiko Kuga says: “It is such an honour to be a part of the team which has a wealth of experience in managing one of the iconic English Landscape Gardens.

“One of my main jobs is to grow grapes for the RHS Harvest Festival Show in October. I had experience of growing grapes for ornamental display in the past, although I have never grown exhibition standard, so I am very pleased to gain new horticultural skills.”

She continues: “One of the biggest challenges in this role is the abundance of old fruit trees in the Walled Garden which require urgent restoration. These, wonderful heritage strains are a gift from the past and virtually impossible to find elsewhere, today.

Both of my grandfathers were very keen gardeners. I believe they definitely influenced me. After 10 hectic years working in Tokyo, I felt the need for a more calming and satisfying challenge and so came to the UK to study horticulture.”

Makiko, previously Kitchen Gardener at the English Heritage’s Audley End Organic Kitchen Garden, Essex studied Landscape Management at Greenwich University before becoming a trainee at Savill Garden in Windsor Great Park.

Head of Gardens, Hilary Wood says: “We are delighted to welcome Makiko to the Gardening team at Blenheim Palace. The Gardens are incredible here and restoring the Walled Garden and ancient fruit trees are an important part of the heritage of the landscape.”

Borde Hill is celebrating its 125^th year since Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke purchased the estate and created the Garden. This summer will feature an event programme offering a feast for the senses, celebrating art, creativity and imagination throughout July, August and September.

Andrewjohn Stephenson Clarke, owner and Managing Director said, “To celebrate our special anniversary and the beauty of our Garden, which has been carefully planted and tended for 125 years, we want visitors to experience something extra special this year and are offering a wide variety of arts and music events, both free and ticketed, to make it a summer to remember!”

The school summer holiday begins with ‘The Garden of Imagination’, a mystical trail with fantasy creatures and other worldly beings, including unicorns, fairies, giants and a golden phoenix. The trail will run through the Garden and Woodland from 1 to 31 August. There will also be children’s activities on selected dates, including the chance to ‘meet a mermaid’ and ‘make your own fairy garden’.

Throughout July and August, visitors can enjoy the Rose Garden at its peak, with 750 David Austin rose plants filling the air with a heavenly scent, or relax in the serenity of the Italian Garden, with its striking water feature, created by internationally renowned sculptor Angela Conner.

Photographic workshops for adults, children and teens, on 15 and 25 July, offer budding photographers a chance to improve their skills in the beautiful surroundings of Borde Hill Garden.

From 1 August to 30 September, visitors can also enjoy meandering through ‘The Artist’s Garden’; an exhibition of artwork inspired by the beauty of nature in stone, stained glass, ceramic, resin and metalwork. Kindly sponsored by 1^st CENTRAL.

Borde Hill will also host an eclectic musical programme, offering something for everyone to enjoy. This kicks off with a special 125^th Anniversary Operatic High Tea, sponsored by NFU Mutual, offering an elegant afternoon of operatic delights, performed by Opera Brava with a sumptuous high tea and a glass of fizz on 1 July.

Opera Brava will be back again to perform full length open air productions of La Boheme on 27 July and The Marriage of Figaro on the 28 of July, against the stunning backdrop of the Elizabethan Mansion House.

On the weekend of 7 and 8 July, Borde Hill will host ‘A Boundless Summer’, in the Parkland. The legendary UB40 will be headlining on 7 July, supported by ASWAD, whilst The Gipsy Kings, featuring Nicolas Reyes and Tonnino Baliardo, will headline on 8 July.

As an added enjoyment for all visitors to the Garden, there will be ‘Musical Picnics’ every Sunday in August between 1 and 3pm, where families are invited to bring their own picnic, kick back and relax to live music in the beauty of the Garden.

Throughout July and August the Garden will be open 10am to 6pm daily.

Find out more and book for ticketed events at www.bordehill.co.uk, 01444 450326./

Picture credit: Alex Rickard Photography.

Phew, what a scorcher!  After four glorious days GTN Xtra reports on prospects for Bank Holiday trading records being broken across the country starting with an update from Dobbies Garden Centres where they say sales sizzled over the Bank Holiday Weekend:  "Following a record-breaking heatwave weekend in April, Dobbies Garden Centres has continued to trade strongly, with the garden centre company seeing its biggest ever May Day Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 05 – Monday 07 May).  BBQ sales were particularly strong, up 229% compared to 2017. Plants and gardening categories also did well, with all three categories delivering their biggest ever weekend in terms of sales.

Graeme Jenkins, Chief Operating Officer at Dobbies Garden Centres, said: “The beautiful weather over the bank holiday weekend drove great sales for our plants and gardening ranges. People want to spend time in the garden when the weather picks up, and it’s only natural that they want to have it looking its best.  Barbecuers were clearly out in force over the weekend too. BBQs are great in that there’s one to suit every chef and every budget, from pack-up-and-go models to multi-functional grill and smoker combos.”

Martin Stewart of Stewarts Garden Centres told us on Tuesday morning: “What an amazing weekend. Sales for the 3 centres up 45% on the bank holiday of last year when we were running out of steam.

Yesterday broke all records by a good margin. The teams played a blinder. High stock levels helped a great deal. What is surprising for us when you are so close to some of the best beaches in the country is that such hot weather can drive people away from the Centres. It just shows how much genuine gardening demand there is out there. Although we are still down on last year it’s what things look like at the end of June that matters.”

Simon Bourne at Perrywood: “Well that was pretty awesome! We smashed our all time record today and ended up with a record weekend all round. Plants of all descriptions, compost, plant feeds, parasols, table sets and barbecues were all stand-out categories.  The next target is to have a huge May. I'd like to do 20% more than our previous biggest May, two years ago. We're well on track but it will be quite something if we get there.”

In the Midlands, Planters at Bretby recorded their highest figure yesterday beating last year and Planters Tamworth recorded it's highest ever Spring trading day.  Mark Shaw, Planters Bretby told GTN Xtra; "whilst very busy over the weekend at long last, we haven’t quite achieved the high figures from the corresponding Bank Holiday 2017, especially the Restaurant which possibly suffered due to the very warm weather." And Sarah Faulkener, Planters Tamworth added: “To my knowledge the weekend just gone has been the second best ever ,there is one weekend in December that is more. But for spring its beaten all others.”

In Scotland John Stevenson of Torwood Garden Centre thought they were in some alternative parallel universe from the BBC weather forecasterson Saturday where it stayed overcast and cool all day. "Sales were surprisingly good considering, so that was a plus at end of day. Sunday and Monday the sun shone at last and had the tills ringing with a record ever day on the Bank Holiday Monday. Will still be down on last YTD but things are getting back on track."

And even further North the weather wasn't helping at Brechin Castle Garden Centre.  Yvonne Richie tells us; "Our weather has not been great, Saturday was cold, Sunday was warm and sunny, and the sales reflected this, we have a tropical temperature today of 12 degrees.  It is Scotland, we live in hope of record breaking sales, but not this bank holiday."

In the North West, Jon Bottomley at Newbank Garden Centres said: “Our best ever day was recorded yesterday at Radcliffe branch. Beaten our best ever day by 20 percent. Thank god!”

Justin Williams at Fron Goch Garden Centre said: “We have just had two record weekends and today is looking good, with good weather coinciding with marketing for the 1st time this year. Looks on track to be a record breaker - but we have a lot to make up after March and April!”

Adam Wigglesworth at Aylett Nurseries was a little more cautious; “I don't think it will be a record but we have been very busy!  We will see what today brings...”

James Evans at Ruxley Manor told GTN Xtra: “Been a busy couple of days so far and so hopefully that will continue today... We certainly need it to!”

Andy Bunker at Alton Garden Centre said we should all wait to see what today brings before shouting about a record; “we’ve had very similar turnover in £ in plants, furniture and BBQ’s with  excellent numbers.  It was a buy it Saturday on all the above and do it on Sunday as quite a drop yesterday around 30%.  It is really relevant to WAIT and see what today brings.  My feeling is it will be bang in middle, not the dizzy heights of Saturday but better than Sunday.

At Brookside in Kent, Simon Shead told us: “The whole week has been record breaking, still got a long way to go but we should get there.”

Sam Bosworth chose the right weekend to open their new centre at Elton Hall to the east of Peterborough: “It’s been non-stop, but great fun.  We opened at Elton on Saturday, plants and gardening only though.  Booked some fantastic weather for opening day, cheaper and more effective than a gardening celebrity!  We are looking to get catering open by Saturday 26th May.  Still lots to do, but signs are good.  Very much a plant centre, and no doubt lots to learn, but hopefully it is what we are good at.  We’ve definitely had a record weekend at Bosworths and it has been mad trying to service that volume of trade.  Over at Elton it is nice and steady and calm but no staff hired here yet, so it is like going back in time for me.”

Colin Dale from Notcutts reports: “Saturday was about 70% over last year's plant sales & Sunday about 50%, so great hopes for today also.  There is a lot of pent up demand for plants & gardening, with furniture & BBQ's also doing very well.”

They are celebrating at Baytree in Spalding: “It has been a fab weekend so far, think we will smash all previous years at this rate,” said Nigel Wallis.  “We have Ben Bartlett doing demos today with Grillstream BBQs, live music through the day and a Baravan!!”

At Scotsdales, Caroline Owen thinks “that our shoppers will be out early on Bank Holiday Monday and may then choose rightly to spend the time in their garden. A record is a possibility.”

James Ducker at Langlands had packed car parks at all centres with bedding flying out.  “I was out helping staff load up lorries to deliver bedding from our nursery at 5am this morning. It’s set to be a record Bank Holiday weekend.”

Haskins MD, Julian Winfield is hoping for some cooler weather. “I expect the weather has been too good for records, everyone goes to the beach for three of our four centres.  Forecast looks good for the next couple weeks and a little cooler.  Saturday sales were very good.”

Further North sales have been high at Klondyke: “Yes it was a good weekend with the bank holiday Monday still to come. The weather further North has been good but not really warm, still good for gardening. We will see how the Monday compares,” reported CEO David Yardley

British Garden Centres, Phillippa Stubbs also told GTN Xtra they were having a very busy weekend “some of our centres have had record days and we are currently on target for a record weekend as our group which is excellent.  Long may this weather continue.  This is bringing us back level at some of the centres so positive.  Now to keep restocking and watering.”

Mike Ryan from, The Cherry Lane group who acquired Davids Nurseries last week said “Trading has been superb so far this weekend, with most of our garden centre's breaking records. If Monday goes the same way, some will have had their best three trading days ever!”

After an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live’s breakfast show on Sunday morning, Matthew Bent told us “It’s been two great days, customers are going mad for garden products." then after helping get stock out fro today with the team he added; "we did have a record weekend, it was the biggest ever in the spring season. Amazing weekend, many items we had our best ever day on, BBQs, planned containers as customers get ready for the nice weather."

Final word for today goes to James Debbage of Green Pastures in Norwich who was re-stocking until 9:30pm last night: “I literally just finished replenishing the basket plant displays ready for the morning. Not enough hours in the day at the moment! (I swear I’m even working in my sleep right now!).  Our weekend got off to a fantastic start on Saturday until there was an accident a mile up the road and the police closed the main route to us from Norwich which really put the dampers on the afternoon! Please can we have a level playing field? However, Sunday was a record day for the garden centre and the restaurant was full throughout the day, from breakfast right through to afternoon tea."

James then added on Monday evening: “Having narrowly broken our daily sales record yesterday, we totally smashed it today! Hardly any big ticket sales, just a LOT of plants!"

If you'd like to update us with your trading performance over the Bank Holiday weekend please use the comments link below or e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Thanks to Blue Diamond for the images, they well ad truly joined in with World Naked Gardening Day on Saturday and their social media was very busy as were we expect the centres...

Bids from interested parties have started to come in for Homebase/Bunnings as Wesfamers look to exit the UK.

Wesfamers are reported to be offering a large financial package to a new owner to help contend with its huge losses.  That could exceed £100m.

Sky News has reported this morning that Opcapita has tabled an offer for Homebase.  Others are expected to foolow.

See the full Sky News report here

Blue Diamond joined in the spirit of World Naked Gardening Day on Saturday as some of their brave staff undressed for the occasion in many of the group's plant areas. Pictures of those taking part were then posted on the company's social media platforms...

The garden centre group also invited its customers to join in the fun.

On its Facebook page it urged customers to get in touch with their exploits.

"Send us your images of you in your garden at Home and you could win a £100 gift voucher to spend at your local Blue Diamond centre.

"PM us your message or if you are feeling your naturist side of you coming out, share them in the comments in this post!"

Below is a gallery of some of the pictures posted on the Blue Diamond Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bluediamondgardencentres/

Carol Paris, the former CEO of the HTA, has announced the launch of a new garden centre group called Somerton Ltd.

Developing garden centres in Southern England, the business will focus on high growth sectors, including fresh local food and table service restaurants..

Puma Investments and individual investors have financed the creation of Somerton Ltd.

Puma Investments is the principle investor in Rosebourne, which opened its first garden centre in Andover 18 months ago and is currently developing a further site in Aldermaston set to open later this year.

Somerton Ltd has signed a franchise agreement with Rosebourne and will trade at its centres under the Rosebourne brand.

Carol Paris takes the helm as CEO of Somerton Ltd, bringing five years of experience as CEO of the Horticultural Trades Association. Rich in knowledge, she oversaw a £45million turnover at the Garden & Leisure Group as Operations and Buying Director before it was sold to Wyevale in 2013.

Rupert West, Investment Director at Puma and Head of Puma EIS, said: “We are delighted to be backing Somerton Ltd and to have such an experienced retailer at the helm in Carol Paris. 

“There is proven demand in the market for the kind of high quality offer that Somerton will be providing and the company is now well funded for site acquisition and development.”

Puma Investments is a fund management business with offices in London, Liverpool and Edinburgh.  It provides growth capital of £1million to £10million to UK SMEs across all sectors – https://www.pumainvestments.co.uk/growth-capital.

To get in touch with Somerton regarding potential sites contact: carol@somertongroup.co.uk

Leading home improvement and garden wholesaler, Decco has appointed Andrew Ballantine as its Chief Operating Officer, following the departure of Charlie Lacey to take up a position as Managing Director of the Stearn Electric Company Limited.  The appointment is effective from 1st June 2018.

Andrew joined Decco in 1998 and was appointed Profit Centre Manager for Sheffield in 1999 before taking up his current role of Profit Centre Manager for Leeds in 2003. With his 20 years’ service, he brings with him a wealth of knowledge of the industry.

Commenting on his appointment, Andrew said, “I’m delighted to be leading the team at Decco in these exciting times.  Decco remains committed to offering a great service to our customers and to offering our suppliers the best route to market for their products.”

Both Decco and Stearn are among the eight subsidiary businesses belonging to Newbury Investments (UK) Limited. 

With seven strategic locations around the country giving a total of over 350,000 square feet of warehousing space and holding over £10m worth of stock, Decco supplies independent High Street retailers and garden centres throughout the UK with a wide range of gardening, home improvement and housewares products. It’s strong partnerships with the leading suppliers enables retailers to benefit from the strength and differentiation provided by high profile brands.

To learn more about Decco, visit www.decco.co.uk.

Value garden centre group, Cherry Lane, has completed the purchase of David’s Nurseries in Martin Hussingtree, Worcester, as exclusively revealed by GTN Xtra earlier in the week.

The acquisition of David’s Nurseries on Ash Lane takes place with immediate effect, and makes it the 12th garden centre in the group owned by QD.

Cherry Lane is already starting to stock the shelves with its signature great value ranges including indoor and outdoor plants, as well as the introduction of new garden furniture and solar lighting lines, Wild Bird Care department and a clothing department featuring big brands at great value prices.

Boddington Koi Aquatic Centre continues to trade within the garden centre and the much-loved Olive Grove Cafe remains open as normal, serving freshly made food.

Further work to develop the garden centre will be undertaken during the summer.
 
The garden centre, now known as David’s Nurseries by Cherry Lane Garden Centres, has transferred all 15 staff over to Cherry Lane, enabling them to remain in their existing roles.
 
Eddie Reid, garden centre manager at David’s Nurseries, said: “We are delighted to join the Cherry Lane family. Cherry Lane has a great record in running garden centres and we’re very excited about this transition, which will create an even better centre for our customers to enjoy. We are looking forward to showing customers our exciting new products and additional departments.”
 
Nick Rubins, Chief Executive of the QD Group which owns Cherry Lane, said: “The acquisition of David’s Nurseries is another great landmark in the ongoing growth and success of our Cherry Lane Garden Centres. We are a family run business and this is a major purchase for our Group.

"We are very pleased to welcome the team from David’s Nurseries and are looking forward to sharing with shoppers our great value, excellent quality and ever-changing spectacular new deals.”
 
David’s Nurseries by Cherry Lane Garden Centres is now the 12th garden centre owned by Cherry Lane, the UK’s eighth biggest garden centre group.
 
For more information on Cherry Lane, visit www.cherry-lane.co.uk.

Click here to find out how GTN Xtra broke the news.

Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts and weekly bestsellers sales tips.

The full charts which provide useful insight into product sales peaks, new trends and new link sales opportunities are published in the weekly GTN Xtra newsletter.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2015 as well as 2016 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most up-to-date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.

Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Garden Plants Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Wild Bird Care chart for this week are here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts seriously improve the business of our subscribers.  Invest 15 minutes each week in improving your sales using the GTN Bestsellers charts and your turnover and customer satisfaction will improve too.

Get the GTN Bestsellers charts in full every week in the GTN Bestsellers newsletters for only £145.00.

GTN Bestsellers is the only industry source of weekly garden centre sales information, collating Epos data from centres with an aggregate turnover in excess of £120m.

Use the weekly Garden Products and Growing Media Top 50 sales volumes charts to plan your hotspot and other promotions and ensure you have the right products in stock to satisfy the needs of your customers.

For further information contact karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call 01733 775700.

Buy your subscription today and start receiveing the GTN Bestsellers charts this week.

The Mill Restaurant, at Millbrook Gravesend, is looking great and on schedule for opening in July.

The two story building, which will accommodate up to 400 covers, is modelled on a traditional Kentish Barn.  There will be a separate meeting and events room upstairs with views looking out over the Award Winning planteria.

See GTN Xtra's photos of the development, taken last Friday.  We look forward to reporting further when the restaurant opens...