In This Issue
Apta acquired by AMES
GCA Christmas competition winners announced
Primeur’s ECO Garden display stands set to revitalise sales of garden borders and stepping stones in 2020
The stock market is the “natural place” for Dobbies and it will look to float
Dobbies announce 12% sales growth to February 2019
‘A strong and vibrant ornamental horticulture sector’
New Strikes Garden Centre, Stokesley Opens
RHS Garden Wisley bucks the trend against High Street sales
Customers voting for Christmas at garden centres
Christmas success for Brimsmore...even with no glitter
Administrators sell off National Polytunnels business assets
Wish you were here! SOLEX winner enjoys prize in Barbados
Hillier announces environmental audit to cut carbon footprint
Brother and sister give up day jobs to run Kent centre
Vitax grows charity's funds by over £11,000
New book offers tips on reducing plastic in the garden
Wyevale Nurseries expands sales support team
Whartons invests in marketing with new management position
Inaugural Elm Stand Planted at the National Memorial Arboretum as Hillier Trees ‘Re-elms the British Countryside’
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Westland Group Announces Key Appointments to Leadership Teams
At 76, is this Santa's most senior Elf?
‘A strong and vibrant ornamental horticulture sector’ the HTA’s general election 2019 manifesto
Christmas on a new high
Environmentalist to speak at 2020 GCA conference
Keenies are still gardening
GCA conference attendees to hear from Eden Project co-founder
Lights at number one again
NGGV helps boost sales in National Tree Week
Pre-Christmas plant boost
Houseplant and pet categories perform well in October, according to HTA Market Update
The best of last week's
Christmas trees are slimming down
Horticultural ‘Oscars’ highlight gardening as force for good
Sustainability brings opportunity for garden industry
David Austin Roses launches sustainable packaging for bare root planting
Garden Centre Photo Tours
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Drinks suppliers flock to show their wares at Casual Dining
Yorkshire chef launches first cookery book with a demo at Bradford garden centre
Situations Vacant
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New book offers tips on reducing plastic in the garden

A new book tackles the thorny issue of use of plastics in gardens – the first ever guide showing gardeners a way to cut back on un-recyclable materials.

 

It plots a path through the confusion, highlighting progress, revealing where problems lie and giving gardeners guidance and a wealth of practical ideas on how to reduce their reliance on plastics.

 

 'Plastic-free Gardening', written by Fiona Thackeray, head of operations with Trellis, Scotland's therapeutic gardening charity, includes tips and techniques on how to reduce or eradicate plastics as well listing stockists and suppliers of products made from alternative materials.

 

 It also provides up-to-date information on which plastics can and can't be recycled and how the gardening industry and local authorities, which handle kerb-side collections, are responding to the challenge.

 

 It's a timely message for anyone who has ditched supermarket shopping bags and faithfully recycles drinks bottles and milk cartons, but who has been overwhelmed by the tide of containers, plant labels, tools and compost sacks that seem to be an inevitable part of gardening.

 

 "These are changing times and progress is being made towards replacing and recycling the plastics involved in gardening, but there is no one, clear answer to the problem," says Fiona.

 

 Plastics have invaded every corner of the garden, and it's not just pots - from the linings of foil seed packets to outdoor clothing, packaging for plant foods and fertilisers and in crop-protection materials such as fleece, cloches and polytunnels - plastics proliferate.

 

Fiona talked with scientists and leading experts in the field about what's being done to solve the issue and what alternative materials are coming on stream.

 

 “In writing the book I didn't want to make gardeners feel guilty about their choices, but instead give them the best information possible on how they could find alternative ways of avoiding or reducing plastics,” says Fiona.

 

 Her own commitment to reducing plastics was given added impetus in 2014 when, on a beach in São Paulo State in Brazil, she found a loggerhead turtle being pecked by vultures and dying of plastics ingestion.

 

The power of small steps like replacing plastic plant pots and the disposable cups Trellis uses at to ones without a plastic lining should not be underestimated, Fiona says.

 

Fiona's tips for reducing plastics in the garden include:

 

  • Switch to pots made from cornstarch, rice husks, bamboo, seaweed or some of the alternative materials that are now becoming available.
  • When replacing garden tools choose those with wooden handles.
  • Consider switching what you grow to plants and crops that don't need protection from fleece or other plastic products   
  • Opt for wooden garden furniture and storage, not synthetic alternatives.
  • Make your own fertiliser from seaweed, comfrey or nettles.

 

‘Plastic-free Gardening’ is published on 3 December by Trellis Books, £11.99

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