Thursday night’s ITV consumer programme about garden centres and the items on BBC Breakfast on Bank Holiday Monday didn’t throw up any issues we are unaware of, and certainly they are issues as an industry we are all concerned about and working towards solutions and improvements.

The ITV programme was unfortunately typical of consumerist TV that the programme failed to give a balanced perspective as to the great things about garden centres. Surely some mention should have been made about the benefit they bring by enabling the nation’s gardeners to grow plants that have a positive environmental and emotional benefit to society.

This morning on BBC Breakfast they focused on the peat issue and gave plenty of mentions to peat free alternatives.

So far, from the garden centres we have spoken to the feedback from customers is quite negligible, possibly because many people are away on holiday, or just not in the gardening groove at the moment.

Neil Gow from Fresh@Burcot Garden Centre told GTN Xtra:  "I think the only people who watched the programme were probably those involved in the industry who were lucky enough to be home from work that early! We caught it on catch up.

"James Barnes did well not to rise to the bait. The programme was out of date by a couple of years and such a missed opportunity to promote the benefits of horticulture and gardening. The programmes was biased and one sided as you would expect. Sadly today there is no news unless it is bad news these days and negative comment!

"This is a great opportunity for the HTA and our friends at Spun Gold TV to make a positive sequel showing and promoting all the benefits of plants, gardening and horticulture. I bet there would be enough sponsorship raised around our industry to fund it? You might even find enough allotment holders, even in Yorkshire, to tell the benefits!!

"I suspect we the trade got a bit excited about the possible negative impact of such a programme and frankly it was about as much a none event as Brexit or the Millennium Bug!!"

Adam Wigglesworth of Ayletts Nurseries said: "The rush to peat free 10 years ago set the whole peat free debate back by years.  We are not and must not be complacent about being better.  As soon as we can we must give the consumer the choice of good products at good prices."

The problems caused by the initial surge of moving to peat free were underlined by martin Stewart:  "Back in 2013 we moved all of our production nursery to Peat Free growing media from green waste.  That costs us and the environment thousands as the whole years crops were swamped with nettles and wasted.  We've been very wary ever since but this could be a game changer.  I now don't see any need to sell products that are for soil conditioning that contain peat."

Andy Bunker at Altons reports: "From my area, outside and plants I've had absolutely nothing from customers.  All the conversation has been from the trade, with the feeling being it was not quite as damming as first feared."

Gary Carvasso of Coolings who re-opened Wych Cross garden centre on Saturday said: "No one has mentioned it as yet, although generally customers are becoming quite passionate about our eco credentials and whilst appreciating what we are doing they will soon expect even more I am sure. We won as you may know a few weeks ago, out of 50 other commercial entrants’ in the Kent in Business excellence award for environment."

At Baytree Garden Centre in Spalding, Nigel Wallis told us: "I have not had one customer say anything to me about the program!"

What has been your feedback from customers and how do you think we, as an industry, should be taking advantage of this impetus to reduce peat usage in gardening?  Please use the comments button below or e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 33)
Garden Products - up 33%
Growing Media - down 19%
Wild Bird Care - up 1%
Veg-2-Gro - down 18%
All Plants Index - down 26%
All Items Index - down 2%

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

Garden industry figures have retaliated to criticism voiced in an ITV investigation screened last week that garden centres are “not as green as people believe”.

The  ITV Tonight programme, ‘The Trouble with Garden Centres…’ presented by Chris Choi, the consumer editor of ITV News, suggested the industry was not doing enough to meet the government’s targets on eliminating the use of peat, encourage the recycling of plastic plant pots or cutting the risk of pests and diseases from plant imports.

The programme makers have in turn been accused of a simplistic one-sided approach that failed to highlight the complex issues involved or to recognise the industry’s increasingly positive contribution to the environment.

Former GCA standards inspector Roger Crookes said in a Facebook post: “There is nothing like balanced reporting - and that was nothing like balanced reporting.”

He told GTN Xtra: “It would have been more balanced if they had shown more of what the independent garden centres and smaller groups are doing to become increasingly environmentally friendly.

Chris Choi said the “industrial scale” harvesting of peat in Ireland was destroying a treasured eco-system as garden centres continued to sell peat-based compost. The programme then interviewed some allotmenteers in the north of England who said they grew crops in peat-based composts on their plots – a practice regarded as unrepresentative amongst most experienced gardeners.

Crookes, a former garden centre operator, told GTN Xtra that the majority of growing media purchases were for use in containers and baskets and not for digging into the soil, for which other non-peat materials were more appropriate. “We need to be responsible and realistic in our approach and continue to develop more 'green composts' which perform really well for the ever growing [numbers of] container gardening consumers,” he added.

The programme highlighted the lack of a standard approach to labelling on bags of compost, making it difficult for consumers to judge whether or not they contained peat and how much of it.

Interviewed by the presenter, HTA chairman James Barnes admitted the industry would “find it difficult” to hit the government’s 2020 target for the removal of peat from bagged composts but said peat content had been reduced to 56% across all growing media. He also said the industry’s new Responsible Sourcing Scheme, which could be in operation by next year, would result in more effective labelling.

Steve Harper, chair of the Responsible Sourcing Scheme (RSS), which is being developed with input from retailers and consumers as well as manufacturers, described the ITV programme as “slightly sensationalist”.

He said the RSS was the right approach towards a realistic solution of the peat debate. “We do not yet fully understand the carbon footprint issue of peat or all the other materials used in growing media, “ he told GTN Xtra.

“For example, what are the implications of washed coir from faraway countries that do not have enough drinkable water?

“Cost is another factor. I accept peat has always been the cheapest material but if we were to remove it entirely, how many of the people interviewed on the programme would currently be prepared to pay three, four or five times as much for their compost?

“Then there is the question of the availability of raw material – there would not be enough to meet current demand [if we were to remove peat]. And we can’t access coir in the monsoon season, when it can’t be harvested and dried.”

He also said the nutrient-rich nature of green waste meant it could only constitute 20% of a peat-free compost. There was added competition from the biomass fuels industry for materials like UK timber waste.

The RSS, currently nearing the review stage, will audit the environmental impact of all growing media components and award scores, which will appear on bag labelling.

Overall, said Harper, most consumers do no understand the peat issue. He believed the move towards peat-free is being driven solely by government targets rather than consumer demand.

Meanwhile, Westland Horticulture, the UK’s biggest producer of growing media for gardeners, says its New Horizon peat-free range, re-launched a year, ago has enjoyed outstanding success.

It claims it has increased non-peat content of its growing media from 38% to more than 70% over the past 10 years and says the new version of its top-selling Multi-Purpose with John Innes will be ““the most significant step in reducing peat consumption across the whole industry in 2020”.

Kith Nicholson told GTN Xtra:  "It's great to see that the TV companies are highlighting the success and growth in the garden retailing sector, and profiling the work being done to further the industry.

"However, the programme lacked the science and research to show the work really going on in the industry to truly inform viewers and give a balanced argument.

"If approached for comment, we would have highlighted the considerable work we have put into reducing peat in our growing media and the substantial investment in R & D to launch of our new generation, high performance peat-free compost, New Horizon containing the peat alternative BIO3. Now over 70% of total material used in Westland products is non peat which will be furthered in 2020, headlined by the our move to reduce peat content in the UK’s lead compost, Multi-Purpose with John Innes - Single biggest step in driving the industries peat reduction.

"We have also already achieved “zero to landfill” in all our facilities and have removed over 800 tonnes of plastic from our product packaging, including growing media.

"Gardening, by its very nature, is a green and very positive sector for the environment and social wellbeing. Westland will continue to support change and work with garden centres to deliver a strong and sustainable future for all gardeners.

Trevor Pfeiffer, MD of Garden Trade News, told GTN Bestsellers readers last week that the ITV Tonight programme was typical of consumerist TV that failed to give a balanced perspective. “Surely some mention should have been made about the benefit garden centres bring by enabling the nation’s gardeners to grow plants that have such a positive environmental and emotional benefit to society as a whole,” he said. “The programme did not throw up any issues we are unaware of. They are issues that, as an industry, we are all concerned about and working towards finding solutions and improvements for.”

On facebook on Friday we found posts from two garden centres who are already working positively with eco issues:  Alban Hill Nurseries in Newport Pagnell (above) and Woodlands Garden centre in Kent (below).  It's a shame the ITV researchers didn't take their film crews there or to the likes of Coolings or Ayletts where along with so many other garden centres plenty of good work is in action every day.

Zest 4 Leisure is gearing up to showcase a new range of quality decorative timber garden products alongside many garden trade favourites at Glee this year.

The award-winning company manufactures and sources FSC® Certified timber garden furniture, fencing, trellis, gazebos, arches and a wide range of planters.

Commenting ahead of Glee, Steve Morgan, Zest 4 Leisure’s Managing Director said:

“We are really looking forward to returning to Glee. It’s a great place for us to showcase not just new products but also some of our most popular top sellers. We also get to talk to customers about the changes that we’ve made to the business over the past year. These developments have laid a firm foundation for the future which will enable us to support customer needs whilst offering an even wider choice of products.”

The diverse new range includes the elegant Santorini Swing which has been designed with comfort and style in mind. The swing is built with bowed laminated supports giving a beautifully enhanced look, which also allows an uninterrupted panoramic view of the garden. With beautiful trellis panels incorporated into the design and a new shaped canopy, the Santorini Swing is a focal point for any garden.

In response to outdoor entertaining trends, the new Appleton Gazebo is perfect for cooking outdoors and al fresco dining. With an open entrance and slatted side panels, the Gazebo has a very open feel and is ideal for a BBQ. The solid panel back gives privacy and protection from a breeze, whilst the curved roof with apex supports gives a solid and stylish look.

Zest 4 Leisure is focused on producing more “how-to” animated style videos, showing every detail of how a product fits together, which are designed to be used alongside standard assembly instructions.

Visit Zest 4 Leisure and the team on stand #20Z30 to learn more about its 2020 range of quality timber garden furniture.

Give Room To Nature – that’s elho’s calling and it’s why they’re building a brand that your customers will recognise and love. You’ll see an increase in consumer focus over the coming months, with an emphasis on core gardening, lifestyle and interiors press, as well as inspirational new display materials.

The first elho multimedia campaign, The Beauty of Waste, launched in 2019 in Europe, with a TV commercial in the Netherlands and Germany. In the campaign, elho share their passion for making beautiful designer pots out of recycled plastics using 100% wind energy.

The hero product for the campaign is the new Greenville Collection – with a Hanging Basket, Round planter and Bowl all made entirely out of plastic production waste and designed with an integrated water reservoir to make plant care easy.

Watch the elho Beauty of Waste TV commercial here.

Watch this space for elho innovations launching at spoga+gafa in September. Including the unique Corsica Vertical Forest, new for 2020 – a simple solution for vertical gardening that builds on the success of the GTN bestselling Corsica Easy Hanger. There’ll also be new additions to the Greenville Collection and lots of exciting products to be announced soon, involving Smart LED technology, new contemporary designs and colours.

Elho also invested in its headquarters in the Netherlands this year. Launched this Summer for elho’s 55^th birthday, elho HQ in Tilburg will act as the major trade showroom where retailers can visit and be inspired by the many new product launches that take place each season.

David Nicholson, Sales Manager for the UK & Ireland, comments, “We have an excellent network of great garden centres and stockists and now it is time to focus on building our brand and reputation with consumers.

“We have always worked really closely with our audience and inspiration comes from customer stories, feedback or requests. For example, the award-winning Corsica Door Stopper was introduced at the request of a customer wanting an easily moveable plant pot to keep her patio doors open.”

Elho is a family-owned company and the leading innovator in the synthetic pottery market. For more than 55 years, elho has dedicated itself to the product development and production of grow your own, outdoor, indoor and designer pots and planters. Every year elho launches dozens of innovations that continuously inspire people with fun, functional and creative products.

www.elho.com 

www.facebook.com/elho

Hopefully last week was the low point of the summer for plant sales as plants for autumn really start to get some sell through impetus.

• Cyclamen leapfrog Chrysanths to be the No 1 Bestselling plant of the week.
• Pansies zoom up 22 places to No 6.
• Helianthus provides instant late summer colour, up 15 places to No 27.

All Plants volume sales change: Week on week DOWN 3.1%.  Year to date vs 2018 DOWN 6.7%, vs  2017 UP 1.8%.

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

Festive has recently teamed up with the world’s largest battery brand, Duracell, to help you maximise your Garden Centre battery sale opportunities.

According to extensive research carried out by Duracell, there are two types of battery shoppers: 

1. Those that buy batteries as a destination purchase.
2. Those that buy on impulse, when they see a point of sale display in store.

This relatively new and exciting partnership gives you the opportunity to boost your sales and profit from both types of shoppers.

According to an IPSOS Quantative study, batteries are ranked the 2^nd most wanted and expected item at the checkout. In fact, 40% of all battery sales are bought on impulse, where the shopper is only adding batteries to their basket after seeing them on display - which tells us that display is key.

To help you boost your sales by 40% and add to your profit margin, we now offer a huge selection of Duracell batteries in a number of bespoke quality displays at a competitive price.

How many items do you sell that are powered by battery? On average, there are 17 battery operated devices per household. This figure is expected to increase by 20% year on year.

Our fully merchandised support for the world’s leading battery range also includes a replenishment system to provide all year round management of the category. With the peak selling season for batteries fast approaching, be sure to place your order now for autumn delivery.

Here’s to winning with Festive.

To learn more about our Duracell offering and how we can help you, get in touch today.

http://www.festive.co.uk/duracell-batteries/

This month Claire, who joined the Gordale team in 1979, celebrated forty years of service. A great achievement for a dedicated team member, Claire has worked very hard throughout her years at Gordale, offering advice to thousands of customers and watering millions of houseplants.

Claire joined the team when Gordale had been established for just 31 years. This year Gordale has celebrated its 71st Birthday. The Wirral based garden centre has continued to develop throughout the years, and now is home to an extensive four acre plant area, complete with a lake and resident wild fowl. The houseplant department, where Claire works, has evolved into a tranquil environment, home to Bonsai, Cacti, Orchids, Ferns and large specimen plants; to name just a few. The store is now filled with a huge array of quality products, many from local suppliers, including giftware, clothing, solar lighting, BBQ’s, garden furniture, and artisan food and drink.

Claire is such a significant part of the Gordale team, Gordale are very appreciative of her commitment and hard-work. Like Claire, many of the Gordale team are long-standing employees and have served Gordale for many years.

Gordale would like to thank Claire for all her hard-work throughout the years. Gordale provided cakes to mark the spectacular occasion.

Bord na Móna will launch the Happy Compost range at this year’s Glee event, boasting a completely peat-free brand featuring six new products.

The Happy Compost product range includes vegetable compost, tomato planter, rose, tree and shrub compost, soil improvers and an all-purpose compost available in two different sizes. Bord na Móna is pleased to launch a range that caters to the needs of any gardener, whilst also staying true to its environmental responsibilities.

The most eco-friendly range yet, Happy Compost’s packaging is recyclable, using 30% recycled plastic in the bags – the highest amount achievable. The core raw materials in Happy Compost products are either recycled or by-products including bark, green compost, wood fibre and coir, all of which are 100% peat-free.

Happy Compost is manufactured in Great Britain at the most modern growing media factory in the country and trialled extensively over two years, outperforming all brand leading peat-free compost. Bord na Móna is currently moving all production to the UK at a new site in Liverpool and a new distribution site in Cambridge.

Steve Harper, Head of Commercial & Marketing for Bord na Móna UK, says: “Happy Compost is our most innovative and versatile brand yet. The name Happy Compost is inspired by the feeling of happiness and contentment. The new products channel this by providing great gardening results and also supporting our environmental responsibilities by going 100% peat free. We invite everyone to visit our stand at Glee to get a first look at Happy Compost.”

SylvaGrow® Tub and Basket launches at GLEE and, for next spring, garden centres can sell RHS Endorsed Melcourt products in a re-usable Melcourt Bag for Life

Like all of the products in the award-winning Melcourt SylvaGrow® range, new SylvaGrow Tub and Basket is a peat-free blend of fine bark and wood fibre. To meet the particular demands of plants grown in tubs and baskets, it contains a water-retaining aid to give the compost greater resilience against drying out as well as rich, balanced nutrients sufficient for the first 4 - 6 weeks of growth. The product is available in 50L packs and 15L carry bags. The new product is based on one widely used throughout the UK by professional growers and is suitable for a wide range of uses around the garden. As well as being peat-free it contains no green waste.

The Melcourt Bag for Life offers retailers and gardeners the chance to reduce their use of single-use plastic by making available some core Melcourt products in a maxi-bale which is then dispensed into re-usable bags which can be refilled time and time again. With just two refills of the Melcourt Bag less single use plastic will be in circulation. Of course, there is no reason why the Bags for Life should not in fact last several seasons.

Products available for this kind of sale are:

Melcourt SylvaGrow® Multipurpose
Melcourt SylvaGrow® with added John Innes
Melcourt SylvaGrow® Organic
Melcourt SylvaGrow® Tub & Basket
Melcourt SylvaGrow® Ericaceous
Melcourt Composted Fine BarkTM soil conditioner
Melcourt Spruce OrnamentalTM bark mulch
Melcourt Ornamental Bark MulchTM
Melcourt Pine Mini ChipsTM

Each maxi-bale contains 2500 litres of product, is spun wrapped, labelled and comes complete on a recycled and recyclable ‘one way trip pallet’. With every maxi-bale, garden centres also buy a supply of Melcourt Bags for Life which are in turn sold to end-user customers, to fill repeatedly with their chosen product. Uniquely, all products and the Melcourt Bag for Life concept are endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society and the Bag for Life carries that endorsement.

“Since its launch only 5 years ago, sales of SylavGrow® have grown at a phenomenal rate. In fact, we’re about to install a second new bagging line in the space of 18 months to cope with demand,” says Andy Chalmers, Melcourt Managing Director. “The new Tub and Basket formulation will complement the existing range perfectly, and our new Bag for Life concept is one we know will meet a need felt by many gardeners to reduce single-use plastic in their gardens. This all comes on the eve of the first of the key dates set by Government, for peat use in retail products to be reduced to zero. We know that the future of British gardening is peat-free and we feel that Melcourt continues to lead the way.”

Griffioen Wassenaar supplies from the spring of 2020 perennials will be in pots and trays, made of 100% recycled plastic. This avoids new plastics to get into the chain. Due to the Modiform´s ‘designed to recycle’-principle the pots, as well as the trays, are fit for re-use. Both companies make an effort for effective recycling and make explicit choices for the used commodities of their products.  Stefan Verbunt (Assistant director Griffioen Wassenaar): “Our goal is it to use the plastics at least 5 times. Because of this, less commodities are needed and plastics will not get into the environment.”

Griffioen offers via garden centres  a return program for the trays and pots. With this return program Griffioen Wassenaar bans out all ‘single use plastics’. The returned products will be recycled by Modiform. The return flow will be organized in a cost-neutral way. The investment costs for the new tray and pot will be covered by Griffioen Wassenaar and Modiform as investment in a sustainable future. Menno Krijger (Sales Director Modiform): ‘sustainable production is in our DNA and we are always looking to achieve more sustainability on all fronts. From Design up to recycling. And for that end we enter into cooperations within and outside the sector.’

The new, recyclable trays can be clearly recognized by their light grey colour. Modiform produces the trays from plastics, taken out of old refrigerators. As basic material for the Griffioen´s typical square P11 pots, Modiform uses consumer waste. The three colours for the pots can be detected and because of that recycled by the waste processors. Consumers can dispose of their pots with the domestic waste.  

By intensively guiding their customers, Griffioen makes sure, that as much recyclable plastic as possible, will be collected for re-use. Modiform will expand its assortment, based on recycled materials to enable an increasing number of growers to use responsible products. In doing so, the grower will contribute in a positive way to the recycling process. Together both enterprises will involve other chain partners closely to make it possible for the use of recycled materials and the recycling of uses pots and trays to become the standard in horticulture.

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Another week where Garden Product sales were significantly up on last year pushes the year on year growth of the sector to 4%. 

This week’s big movers were pots with three new entries, one re-entry and a new pot topper line featuring in the GTN Top 50.

Highlights were:

• Woodlodge Heritage Churn No 1 is a new entry at No 19 with the No 2 Churn close behind at No 21.
• Kelkay Pot Toppers Chilli Red are a new entry at No 34.
• Apta Plain Malay Planter 26cm and 38cm are also new entries at Nos 46 and 47.

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

'Green Fits All' was the slogan everything was centred around at Plantarium and GROEN-Direkt from 21 to 23 August. Both trade fairs again took place under one roof and offered international trade professionals a complete green experience in
Boskoop.

The beautiful entrance and the new layout connected the two trade fairs. This was enhanced by the 300-metre-long green carpet. "The green carpet took visitors past a beautiful presentation by green participants, suppliers and novelties. Together with the Ecological route and the programme, we once again succeeded in presenting a great edition," says trade fair manager Jos van Lint.

Ecological route
The entrance hall was the starting point for the Ecological route that visitors could walk at Plantarium. The route went past 20 companies that presented interesting products and/or services in the areas of sustainability and health. The guided tour was very much appreciated by both visitors and the companies.

Visitors plant ideas
A survey entitled 'Visitors plant ideas' was conducted among Plantarium visitors and participants to find out what wishes people have from the market point of view. After three days of in-depth interviews with visitors and participants, hundreds of ideas and suggestions have been gathered for the further development of 'our' Plantarium! From simple tips to visionary ideas that will help us choose direction. The board is sincerely grateful for all the suggestions and involvement and will set to work on them.

Plantarium 2020 will be held from 26 to 28 August 2020 at the International Trade Centre at Denemarkenlaan in Boskoop/Hazerswoude. Further information can be found at www.plantarium.nl.

How will growing media sales trends change following the ITV programme on Thursday night? Last week the biggest selling peat free compost line was Westland New Horizon All Purpose compost, but that was at No 11. 

At present customers are voting with their purchases and choosing lines that include peat on a bigger scale. Watch this space for reaction and any possible shifts after this weekend.

Highlights of the week were:

• Westland Landscape Bark, 100 litres, climbs up 23 places to be No 18.
• Evergreen Levington Multi-Purpose Compost, 50 litres, is the highest re-entry at No 28
• Westland New Horizon All Plant Organic Compost, 20 litres, is the second highest peat free compost line at No 24.

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

Wild Bird care sales continue on their upward year on year trend as we move through August with feed lines the best areas for growth.

Highlights of the week were:

• Tom Chambers Luxury Fat Balls-6 Pack No Nets is the highest re-entry at No 11.
• Tom Chambers Nyger Nibbles 1.5kg plus 33% Free are the highest chart mover, up 25 places to No 20.
• Jacobi Jayne’s Goldfinch Taster is also a re-entry at No 14.

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

At its August Press Day, leading sweet pea seed supplier Mr Fothergill’s introduced a new and exclusive ‘Spencer’ variety for the forthcoming season as part of the 400th anniversary commemoration of the sailing of the Mayflower to the new world in 1620. Sweet pea Mayflower 400 (RRP £2.40 for 20 seeds) is a ‘Spencer’ type, bred by world renowned hybridiser Keith Hammett, and produces frilly flowers in a pastel pink flake on a cream background. It is vigorous and free flowering, with a high scent.

The Mayflower transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth to the ‘New World’ of America in 1620. All 102 passengers, from England and Holland, established a Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. Their story is one of suffering and survival in a harsh environment. The Voyage is one of the most famous in early American history.

Mr Fothergill’s Commercial Director, Tim Jeffries said, “A full and exciting programme of events is being planned for 2020 to celebrate the sailing of the Mayflower. We are delighted to have a great relationship with breeder Keith Hammett to obtain this wonderful sweet pea Mayflower 400 and by introducing it now gardeners can celebrate with blooms in the anniversary year.”

Chief Executive of Mayflower 400, Charles Hackett commented on the new sweet pea, “I am delighted that the commemoration of the Mayflower’s voyage will be marked by having its own sweet pea named “Mayflower 400”. The breadth of events and activities marking this historic voyage is incredible and to have our own sweet pea flowering in the commemoration year will add another unique aspect to the year of the Mayflower 400.”

Sweet pea is available from Mr Fothergill’s retail stockists throughout the UK and from the company’s latest Seed Catalogue or online. Visit your local garden centre for the full range or head over to www.mr-fothergills.co.uk.

John Stirland carried out the naming ceremony at the Mr Fothergills Press Day.

Seed potatoes for Christmas harvesting continue to dominate at the top of the GTN Bestsellers Veg-2-Gro chart in an otherwise quiet time for veg plant and seed sales.

Highlights of the week were:

• Taylors Autumn Planting Seed Potatoes Charlotte continue as the most popular for adding to the Christmas table.
• Suttons Green Manure Winter Mix climbs up to No 7 overall as people prepare plots for next year
• Farplants Rosemary Common is the highest re-entry for the week at No 8.

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

Summer is well underway, and the crisp autumnal season is just around the corner. This means there are plenty more picturesque garden moments to be captured for the National Garden Gift Voucher (NGGV) Photography Competition.

NGGV have already had hundreds of entries of stunning plant and wildlife shots from nectar feeding bees and dancing butterflies to wildflowers in bloom and we’re calling for more!

Open to the public, garden centres and their staff until 13 October 2019, the competition is a fun way of keeping people enjoying the garden and gardening over summer and autumn.

NGGV are looking for six photos that could be used on National Garden Gift Voucher wallets and gift cards. All consumers need to do is submit their garden themed photographs via the National Garden Gift Voucher website to be in with a chance of winning some terrific garden themed prizes.

The grand prize winner will receive a framed print of their photo, National Garden Gift Vouchers to the value of £500 and 2 tickets to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020. Five winners will each receive a framed print of their photo and National Garden Gift Vouchers to the value of £100.

The competition appeals to keen gardeners as there’s a big overlap between interest in gardening and interest in photography, so please get involved and invite your customers or staff to take part.

Share the link to the competition website in your emails, newsletters and social media activity nationalgardengiftvoucher.co.uk/photography-competition

Find out more at hta.org.uk/photo2019 where you can also download artwork to promote the competition.

Follow the competition @GardenGiftVouchers

Photo above:

Nectar feeding bees entry from Dennis Forman who’s favourite Garden Centre is Mains of Drum Garden Centre in Drumoak, Banchory.

With only 22 centres "still to be sold" the state of play for garden centre groups changes with every new sale announcement.  Here is our current "State of the Nation" chart along with a list of all the Wyevale transactions to date.

Over the past few weeks we've been asked by several readers for a list of the Wyevale centres that have been sold and to who.  Here is our A-Z list, including the 22 that are still to be sold.  We believe this to be correct as we go to press this morning...

Wyevale Garden Centres has this morning announced the sale of Bournville Garden Centre, which will be sold to British Garden Centres. This is the fourth transaction with British Garden Centres following the sale of one centre in December 2018, six centres in February and eight centres in June 2019.

Bournville will continue to be run as a garden centre. The sale is expected to complete mid-August.

Anthony Jones, COO of Wyevale Garden Centres, said: “I am pleased that Bournville will continue as a garden centre, run by an operator that we now know well thanks to having sold centres to British Garden Centre’s over the last year. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our colleagues at Bournville for their hard work and passion, and wish them all the best for the future under new ownership.”

Charles Stubbs, MD of British Garden Centres said: “We are proud to announce the purchase of Bournville Garden Centre into our rapidly expanding British Garden Centres family. Phillippa, Robert and I and all the British Garden Centres teams are looking forward to supporting Bournville in the set up for the autumn/winter trading period.”

Wyevale Garden Centres also announce today that Swindon Hay Lane Garden Centre’s landlord, Studley Grange Limited, will continue to operate the site as a garden centre. It will be operated alongside the existing Butterfly World and Craft Village, which are also situated on site. The site will continue operating as a Wyevale Garden Centre until the end of September.

Anthony Jones, COO of Wyevale Garden Centres said: "We strive for a positive outcome with all our centres and I am delighted that Swindon Hay Lane will continue to be run as a garden centre, with all employees to transfer over to new ownership. I would like to wish them all the very best for the future.”

Tony Miller M.D of Studley Grange Ltd said: “I am over the moon to bring the garden centre back in house, allowing us to fully integrate the garden centre with the Craft Village, Butterfly World, Farm Park and Zoo, on the 25 acre site. We have recently obtained planning approval for a building linking the Garden Centre and Craft Village together, with more favourable conditions on use. Our existing management and staff are excited and looking forward to working with their new colleagues at the garden centre.”

Westland will give the trade its first close-up look at the newly-formed Gardman Crest business at Glee next month.

Westland acquired Gardman at the end of 2018 and has since re-structured the brand with its own Crest Garden division, to offer the Gardman, Kent & Stowe, Flopro, Grow It and Cole & Bright brands. Every single product in these ranges has been analysed and improved, with branding, packaging and POS revamps.

The company stresses that the re-vamp involves genuine innovation and not simply redesign and refreshing. Significant new products include a brand new range of Kent & Stowe gardening gloves, footwear and kneelers, as well new products in the tree care and traditional cutting tools ranges. Product developments for Cole & Bright include a new decorative range, as well as motion sensor security lighting. The Gardman brand will regain much of its former splendour and heritage with hanging baskets and planters, as well as the UK’s first range of decorative jute co-co liners.

Grow It has new advanced growhouse solutions and innovations with stability pockets for wind resistance as well as stronger covers, zips and shelving. Walk in models have new ventilation in the form of side roll doors designed to ensure an even air flow.

Head of marketing Natalie Searle said: “The team has made amazing progress and we can’t wait for Glee to showcase all the work that has taken place since last October. We have reinvigorated the brands to give them a new lease of life and where we have been able to make improvements we have, all to serve the needs of today’s gardener. We’ve introduced new products and developed strong brand identities, all whilst ensuring quality, design and functionality are at the core.

“We have kept all of the great products and brands that Gardman has done for the past 25 years, as well as retaining the two leading brands of Kent & Stowe tools and Flopro watering from Crest Garden. Plantpak has merged with Grow It and is now a fully comprehensive range of growing and propagation. However, we have also spent this year enhancing our product offering with high quality, innovative products in all of our ranges.”

Gardman Crest will share the Westland Horticulture stand and will showcase all the new products, branding refreshes and POS materials as part of a lifestyle display alongside visualisation of the in-store proposition.

The Garden Centre Association is encouraging its members to do what they can to help reduce the amount of plastic going to landfill.

Two of its member centres recently worked with Herefordshire and Worcestershire authorities to get non-black PP plastic pots and trays accepted in household and kerbside recycling bins.

Will Blake, Director at St Peter’s Garden Centre in Norton, Worcester, said: “There has been a lot of discussions among GCA members about how we can help reduce plastic waste, especially as there is a large amount of it in the garden centre industry currently.

“Myself, along with Nick Baker at Webbs of Wychbold garden centre at Droitwich Spa, have recently been in touch with the local authorities to see how we could help.

“Nick wrote to the local councils, only to find out, that many will not accept plastic plant pots in recycling, however I visited the reprocessing plant for our counties and discussed it further with them. They had heard of the taupe plant pot and welcomed a visit to discuss the situation. I took a whole selection of PP pots with me – Popplemann Teku, Taupe, black and also some trays.

“We put all the pot types through the plant, and the good news is that, every single non-black PP pot was identified by the infrared scanners and sorted into its correct plastic category. 

“The particular company I visited, Severn Waste Services, were extremely helpful, and really appreciated my input. Within a week of the visit, they had updated their website (which lists exactly what can and can’t be placed in the recycling bins) and they met with the county council to advise of the acceptance of non-black PP plant pots, which is great news for the people of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.”

All non-black PP plastic pots and trays can be accepted in household and kerbside recycling in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire areas.

Will added: “As garden centres, St Peter’s and Webbs of Wychbold are now actively advertising this to our customers, both instore using posters, but also through social media.

“We were initially inspired to do something about this issue after David Chilvers of Bransford Webbs Plant Company, which is a GCA Associate Member,pioneered a taupe pot initiative in 2018.

“A group made up of the largest growers in the UK, came together and established that they needed to change the colour of the plant pot, to enable them to be recycled. This has now been widely adopted and the majority of plants grown in the UK, from spring 2019, are now done so in recyclable PP plant pots.”

While garden centre footfall and total volume sales continue to run at levels up on both 2017 and 2018 garden centre management teams’ thoughts are turning to next year and looking forward to Glee.

In the September issue of Garden Trade News you’ll read the Expectations for Glee from a number of retailers and exhibitors and there is a common theme of looking for sustainability and green credentials in products they want to be selling next year.

Adam Wigglesworth from Aylett Nurseries explained: “2019 has been a great trading year so far with customers showing real interest in all ‘green’ aspects of the products they are buying. Never before have I dealt with so many queries on the detail of all products in terms of their environmental impact. There is a real ‘head of steam’ behind consumers’ desire to improve their environment and to reduce their footprint at all levels. Curating the correct range of products for this changing market will be challenging but bring opportunities.”

With entries steadily coming in for the New Product Showcase at Glee, which we organise, we will be watching to see how many of those entries are making the most of the opportunity Adam refers to.

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 32)
Garden Products - up 70%
Growing Media - up 7%
Wild Bird Care - up 10%
Veg-2-Gro - up 1%
All Plants Index - down 19%
All Items Index - up 8%

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

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RHS Retail Director, Damian Powell, took GTN's Trevor Pfeiffer on a guided tour of the new plant centre and retail areas at RHS Wisley last month.

With 70% extra display space across the shop and the plant centre stocks have been increased stocks to fill the new plant area.  That includes 30 metres of Ferns which are in great demand.

Read the full interview with Damian Powell in the August Issue of GTN, out this week.

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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 2017 as well as 2018 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 Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here

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

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro 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.

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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.

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