"From head shaves to virtual walks, quizzes to minutes mowed, pot sales, skipping, #floralfriday and much more we really cannot thank the industry enough for their inspiration and for digging deep and putting the FUN into FUNdraising!..."

Mother’s Day week saw garden centre sales peak at the highest level of the year so far and on a par with the last week before lockdown #1 last year. As a result the GTN Bestsellers All Products Index now sits at 3.2% up year on year. That’s an amazing turn around from being 52% down after two weeks of February and all the more impressive considering restaurants are closed and social distancing and stay at home measures are keeping footfall low...

Hamac Trading has been a supplier to the garden trade since 1999. The company has four main categories of products which are suitable for all garden centres. Contact Hamac Sales office for the full range of catalogues and price lists... 

Following their launch year in 2020, Whistler Grills have made huge strides in the first two months of 2021 and are rapidly becoming a major player in the premium gas barbecue market...

After 65 years at the helm of one of the UK's most successful garden centre businesses, Eddie Topping has stepped down as Chairman of The Barton Grange Group...

There were plenty of plants given to Mums as gifts on Mother’s Day. That, and a surge of young veg plant sales, were the drivers behind an almost 10% week on week growth and sales totals that were more than double those for the same week last year...

Following updated guidance from the Welsh Government that garden centres may open, Dobbies Garden Centres reopened its Swansea store today (Monday 22 March)...

Garden centres businesses in England with multiple sites are being warned that they face a cash cap on business rates relief under the government’s extended discount scheme, announced in the spring Budget. Allen Evans, partner at retail property consultants Gilbert Evans, says the cap has been causing confusion among garden centre owners...

Jeyes Fluid, the British heritage brand that’s been proudly keeping the nation’s gardens clean for over 140 years, is leaping into the future with its new recyclable plastic bottle and updated formula. The revamped bottle will be kinder to the planet and can be used on more surfaces. It will be available mid-March from £4.49...

As part of its sustainability drive, Perrywood Tiptree have worked with CambridgeHOK to install three new Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs). These will save an estimated 79 tonnes of CO_² emissions a year, which is the equivalent to the average yearly emissions of 10 people in the UK...

The Garden Centre Association has teamed up with Planet Mark to help evolve its inspection process as part of its pledge to continue working on environmental challenges this year...

Discount retail group QD, which owns the QualityDiscounts.com and Cherry Lane Garden Centre brands, is going green with new in-store initiatives to bolster its eco-credentials.

Dobbies has announced a programme of exclusive virtual events this Spring, to help gardeners of all ages and abilities take their green spaces to the next level...

Award-winning Wellington boot manufacturer, Leon Boots Co Ltd, has produced a colourful range of garden ankle boots that are light, durable and comfortable...

Azpects Ltd has announced the signing of a new agreement with high street retailer Robert Dyas to offer Azpects’ products on its website...

Each year Squire’s Garden Centres gives a ‘Made A Difference’ award to one of their employees who has gone over and above the call of duty. The award this year has gone to Stuart Sullivan, Garden Furniture Department Head at Squire’s in Badshot Lea.

Leading sustainable plant pot manufacturer, elho, is committed to creating products with nature in mind. They are made using 100% wind energy, are 100% recyclable and are made from 80% recycled plastic. For its newest range, however, elho has gone one step further, using 100% recycled material from the waste streams from the artificial grass production process...

Inside Outside... a New Beginning. How the 5th room is changing the garden centre retailing market in the March 2021 issue of GTN.  Read on-line here.

• Next Generation to lead the way at GCA, interview with Tammy Woodhouse and Will Blake.
• Inside Outside… A New Beginning for the garden market.
• Empowering Change for a brighter future, LOFA team up with Planet Mark.
• HTA Column, Tales of the unexpected.
• GIMA Column, Somewhere over the rainbow, a ‘New Normal’ exists.