Q: Why should visitors come to your seminar?  

James says: Pick up any industry mag in the last 12 months and it will inevitably contain an article lamenting horticulture's declining audience - in particular amongst the younger demographic of the 'Facebook generation'. Yet scan through page after page of such news stories and you will find that specific ideas on how to turn this tide around seem few and far between.

Addressing this emerging crisis, my talk will cover my own -very personal- views on strategies that I believe garden retail (and in fact the whole industry) must adopt if it is to speak to younger audiences in an exciting, fun and relevant way. Whether it's to get 'em to pick a course at college or to secure a purchase at a garden centre.

Q: What’s your favourite plant?

James says: It has to be the Chilean Guava. It's got shiny evergreen foliage, stunning lily of the valley flowers, an intoxicating scent and deliciously sweet berries, all wrapped up in an easy-to-grow package. What's not to like? 

Q: What do you think the future holds for the garden sector?

James says: As much as it pains me to say this, I believe the garden retail sector in the UK currently lags decades behind that of the food industry.

The all-consuming dedication to innovating radically new products, the active encouragement of customer experimentation and the huge influence of foreign travel - all of which have revolutionised supermarket offerings in the last 30 years - seem sadly seem to have passed the average garden centre by. I have always found this mismatch strangely perplexing as foodies and gardeners are generally the exact same demographic!

If our industry is going to survive it will need to take a leaf out of the books of ruthlessly innovative supermarkets, who are constantly striving to surprise and excite an increasingly discerning customer, instead of just churning out more of the same. For this reason I believe that inevitably garden centres will begin to need to look & feel more like plant 'food halls' than factory outlets in the very near future.

Q: Following a difficult season what advice would you give to garden retailers?

James says: Reward your core audience. Die hard gardeners wait all winter poised to get out and grow and unlike your average BBQ or hot tub customer most will be itching to get spending (on something!) whatever the weather.

Rewarding these horti-customers with a spread of exciting, novel varieties, quirky in-store displays and useful point of sale 'how to' advice - just like food and clothes retailers do  as standard - is a guaranteed way to keep plant geeks (novices and veterans alike) wanting more.

Visit the Seminar Area, sponsored by Barclaycard, to be inspired and motivated by fantastic speakers including James’ at 10am on Tuesday 25 June. Register to attend the show now at www.nationalplantshow.co.uk.

HTA National Plant Show takes place Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 June 2013 at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry.