Blue Diamond is committed to developing best practice in environmental sustainability as well as responding to growing, eco-conscious customer demand.

The company is therefore proud to be launching a new range of British houseplants which are grown in a variety of tried and tested peat-free medium. Over the next year, this range will expand to over 200,000 British houseplants on sale throughout its 44 garden centres, representing a significant shift away from the current, predominantly Dutch-based supply.  

Blue Diamond is leading the way on this initiative through its collaboration with The Horti House, a collective of growers committed to peat-free cultivation. Its founding partners are Double H nurseries and Bury Lane, two family businesses with a rich heritage of growing and sourcing plants. Double H has made the transition to peat free across all its production, specialising in British Orchids, green plants and indoor flowering plants.  Bury Lane meanwhile brings its range of foliage plants such as ficus, calathea and monstera varieties. Rather than competing against each other for a share of the UK retail market, these nurseries are working in harmony, and with other growers, through the Horti House platform to complement each other’s strengths and produce a larger range with more depth. Blue Diamond has been keen to support this innovative approach, showcasing the best of British growers and their environmental credentials. 

The move towards peat-free helps to conserve rare peatlands and their unique biodiversity, as well as combatting climate change. The new houseplant range selected by Blue Diamond has been grown in a variety of peat-free compost, including recycled coir as well as more novel waste materials. The Bury Lane plants for example have been grown in a special recycled medium created from green waste from cut flowers (such as lily and peony) and soft fruit production. The material is shredded and then steamed to create a perfect growing media with good water retention and ideal texture​. New point of sale and care instructions have been developed to help tell the peat-free story and facilitate a greater understanding of its importance.

Nick Jones, Head of Product Direction says, ‘We are delighted to be supporting this initiative to help meet our responsibility as a retailer in eradicating the use of peat. The recycled growing media has produced fantastic plants which we are excited to now stock in our centres. We will be keen to continue to work with our UK growers to ultimately develop peat free propagation material and provide a 100% peat-free range’.

Blue Diamond is committed to embracing sustainable best practice. The move towards British-grown plants significantly reduces transportation and its corresponding carbon footprint. Furthermore, the new range of houseplants demonstrates the potential for green technology using the latest developments in biomass heating, solar energy and recycled roof rainwater as part of the growing process.  

The new British grown houseplant range will be rolled out across the Blue Diamond Garden Centres in February 2024. Plants includes favourites such as phalaenopsis orchids, calathea, dracaena and monstera in addition to seasonal products, in 12 and 17cm pots. 

Blue Diamond repurposing the morning brew!

 The Blue Diamond Group of Garden Centres is launching, a new and exclusive range of stylish and contemporary, plant pot covers. The range, called ECOMADE, are British designed and made in a purpose-built facility in Glastonbury, Somerset, using 30% UK sourced coffee grounds and 55% recycled and recyclable plastic.

In the UK, we drink approximately 98 million cups of coffee per day, which means that half a million tonnes of ground coffee waste go to landfill. When breaking down in landfill this releases harmful methane gases, creating a greenhouse effect 28 times higher than carbon dioxide. The aim is to reduce this waste destined for landfill and in with the initial order of the pot covers, Blue Diamond will recycle 530kg of coffee waste destined for landfill.  From bean to pellet to pot, we like to think it’s all about repurposing your morning brew!

The covers are made using renewable energy sources, including solar power. The site in Somerset has over 2000 solar panels and is committed to only use 100% green energy from 2025 onwards.

The range includes 4 colours, rose, dark blue, sage and light blue and 2 pot sizes 14cm and 18cm.  The RRP’s range from £5.99 to £9.99. The 18cm pots will be launched in 44 Blue Diamond Garden Centres February 2024 with the 14cm to follow in May.  

At Blue Diamond, we are aware that we are part of a greener, cleaner future. We are taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint and promote a greener, cleaner way of working and we know there is much to do to reduce impact on our environment.  

For further information on Blue Diamonds environmental strategy visit https://www.bluediamond.gg/environment