Wyevale Garden Centres (WGC) has just announced the sale of six more centres to Blue Diamond.

This follows the sale of eight centres to the garden centre operator in July 2018 and one in August 2018.

The acquisition of this portfolio increases the presence of the Blue Diamond brand to 36 centres and includes the following sites: Blooms Worcester, Canterbury Chartham, Hereford, Lower Morden, Rake and Tunbridge Wells. All sites will continue to operate as garden centres and the sales are expected to complete mid-September.

These acquisitions mean Blue Diamond now jump above Wyevale in terms of number of sites owned.

Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer of WGC said: Alan and the team’s decision to take on six more sites is testament to both the strength of our garden centres and the level of trust and confidence that has developed between the WGC and Blue Diamond teams through this sale process. I would like to say a big thank you to colleagues across these six centres for their passion, expertise and hard work and wish them the very best for the future under new ownership.”

Alan Roper, Managing Director of Blue Diamond, said: “I went back to Wyevale Garden Centres to look for only a couple more centres and came out with six! Geographically all the centres are a perfect fit and enable us to deliver our full Blue Diamond proposition. We look forward to working with our new colleagues across the centres and welcoming them into the Blue Diamond family. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Anthony and the team at Wyevale Garden Centres who during all acquisitions have been supportive, thoughtful and professional throughout.”

Following the completion of this and other previously announced sales, WGC will trade 34 garden centres plus 6 centres trading under license.

Of the 34 still to be sold, eight are Freehold sites: Chilton, Chipperfield, Hitchin, John Brown, Lewes, Par, Pulborough and Winnersh.

And 26 are Leasehold centres: Blooms Cheltenham, Blooms Swindon, Bournville, Braintree, Bridgemere, Brockworth, Carmarthen, Crawley, Elm Court, Findon, Harrow, Ongar, Osterley, Paddock Wood, Potters Bar, Ramsgate, Rayleigh, Springfield, Sprowston, Stanway, Stevenage, Syon Park, Thatcham, Tring, Upminster and Wimborne.

Staff from Garden Centre Association (GCA) member garden centres in the Midlands received awards during a presentation evening at East Bridgford Garden Centre last week (Thursday, July 18, 2019).

East Bridgford Garden Centre (above) was awarded Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (below) picked up the accolade in the Garden Centre (GC) category.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “We’d like to say a huge ‘congratulations’ to all of our winners, they all thoroughly deserve the recognition and are a testament to us.

“We’d also like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to our inspector, Michael Cole, for visiting each centre and providing extensive feedback on what he found. The feedback really is invaluable to our members and one of the main benefits of our membership.”

Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne also won the GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (GC), the Outdoor Living Award for Best Outdoor Living Retailer (GC) and the Indoor Lifestyle Award for Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (GC).

Steve Hodkinson, Garden Centre Manager at Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne, said: “It is truly an honour to receive this recognition. Our team always work tirelessly to not only achieve these awards, but to provide a memorable shopping experience for all our customers.”

William Blake, Director at St Peters Garden Centre was Area Chairman for the Midlands region and organised the meeting.

He said: “The Midlands area meeting was a fantastic success, hosted by Blue Diamond East Bridgford Garden Centre, which was great to see and was looking brilliant.

“We had a good turnout of more than 40 people from across the region and Michael Cole did an amazing job of keeping us entertained and showing us the highlights of the 2019 inspections. Thank you to all those who came along, and congratulations to all the winners.”

GCA Inspector Michael was responsible for inspecting member garden centres in the Midlands areas.

He said: “I am pleased to say that the inspection scores for the GCA Midlands this year have increased on last year, demonstrating that garden centres in the area continue to go from strength to strength.”

The next regional award meeting for Wales & West will take place on Tuesday, July 23 at Castle Gardens, Sherborne in Dorset.

The Scotland and Northern Ireland area awards meeting will follow on Thursday, August 29 at Klondyke, Mortonhall with inspector Jane Lawler.

The full results for the Midlands region GCA area awards are as follows for the GC and DGC categories:

Garden Centre of the Year: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Webbs of Wychbold

Environment and Community Award: Baytree Nurseries & Garden Centre

The Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: East Bridgford Garden Centre

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Notcutts Garden Centre, Wheatcroft

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: St Peters Garden Centre (DGC) and Stratford Garden Centre (GC)

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Planters Garden Centre – Tamworth (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

GARDENA celebrates triple success at the 2019 GIMA awards after being recognised for a total of three innovations.

The incredibly tough GARDENA Texile hose Liano was a finalist in the Growing, Planting Equipment and Sundries category and SMART Sileno robotic mower was awarded finalist in the Garden Tools, Machinery and Implements category.

But it was the GARDENA Metal Hose Trolley that stole the show, winning the Growing, Planting Equipment and Sundries award.

The metal hose trolley has a stable one-piece metal drum, with a high-quality aluminium handle for maximum durability. The patented foldable metal crank handle with soft component, together with the hose guide, make for comfortable and ergonomic winding, whilst the kick and stand function provides maximum stability during use.

What the judges said: “Excellent quality, love the adjustable stand to give extra stability - a great feature!”

Kees van Opdorp, Regional Director for northern Europe said: “Being recognised at the GIMA awards is a great achievement and success. I’m proud of our team in the UK building up our business again in one of Europe’s biggest and most important garden markets,”

The 39th annual GIMA awards were announced and presented on July 4th at the gala dinner at Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales.

Established in 1961 in Ulm, Germany GARDENA has been at the forefront of gardening innovation for nearly 60 years. Specialising in a range of gardening products from water and irrigation solutions, to tree and shrub care, lawnmowers and much more.

Selling products in more than 80 countries, GARDENA has established a reputation of quality and excellence due to the high quality of materials, exceptional warrantees and innovations to make passionate gardeners lives easier.

To find out more about GARDENA, head to www.gardena.com/uk , you can also follow GARDENA on Instagram @gardenauk and Facebook @Gardena UK.

Members of the Garden Centre Association in the South Thames region are celebrating after picking up awards during a presentation evening at Haskins Garden Centre – Snowhill. 

The title of Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre  category went to Stewarts, Christchurch (above) and the Garden Centre category award went to Squires Garden Centre – Hersham (below).

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive at the GCA, said: “Our third regional awards meeting of the week was a great success and it was fantastic to see attendees all actively engaged in the presentations and taking down lots of notes to share with the rest of their teams.

“I’d like to congratulate all of our very worthy winners and give a big ‘thank you’ to Haskins Garden Centre – Snowhill for being wonderful hosts and Alyson Haywood for inspecting the centres earlier in the year and presenting her findings.”

Alyson inspected 50 garden centres in the region within a 12-week period.

She said: “As always it was a privilege to be able to visit and inspect so many brilliant garden centres in the GCA’s South Thames region. The retailing standards were as high as I had expected, and 30 centres received the ‘Highly Commended Award’. 

“It was encouraging to see so many centres developing their houseplant ranges. There were some outstanding coffee shops and restaurants and it was exciting to see so many centres generally starting to appeal to a wider customer base through ranges and service.”

This is the third year running that Squires Garden Centre – Hersham has picked up the Garden Centre of the Year (GC) award.

Squires Garden Centre – Woking picked up the GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer and Squires Garden Centre – Badshot Lea was awarded the Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Innovation and Creativity.

Sarah Squire, Chairman at Squires Garden Centres, said: “I am thrilled that Squires in Hersham took the top spot in the Garden Centre category and that Squires in Woking and Badshot Lea came second in their categories, as well as winning other awards!

“Congratulations to Tim Spearman, Ed Ridgeon, Richard Wells and their teams. This is a fantastic recognition of all their hard work. These are truly brilliant achievements. The GCA inspections are such a great way for all garden centres to learn from one another and inspires us to improve standards across the board.”

Stewarts, Christchurch was also a joint winner of the Environment and Community Award on the night.

Terry Head, Retail and Marketing Director at Stewarts, Christchurch, said: “We are so pleased to once again win the South Thames award which recognises the consistent standards, professionalism and hard work by all the team. This also shows it’s not always about what you spend, it’s what you do to inspire your customers that counts. 

“Our determination to increase recycling and reduce our waste to landfill will make a real difference for generations to come for our loyal customer base.”

Gary Carvosso, Managing Director at Coolings Garden Centre and also Area Chairman for South Thames, organised the regional meeting.

He said: “We were hosted by a very enthusiastic Haskins team, with everyone having a tour beforehand of their new Snow Hill Garden Centre, which is now six months from opening. We had 90 retailers in attendance from the 50 garden centres audited this spring across central Southern England and the South East of the UK, for a very informative presentation by Alyson Haywood.

“The level of retail detail and well executed promotions among South Thames is both inspiring and helpfully challenging for us all.”

The next regional award meeting for the Wales & West area will take place on Tuesday, July 23 at Castle Gardens, Sherborne in Dorset.

The Scotland and Northern Ireland area awards meeting will follow on Thursday, August 29 at Klondyke, Mortonhall with inspector Jane Lawler.

The full results for the South Thames region GCA area awards are as follows for the GC and DGC categories:

Garden Centre of the Year: Stewarts, Christchurch (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Hersham

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Garsons Garden Centre – Esher 

Environment and Community Award: Joint winners Stewarts Garden Centre, Christchurch and Garsons Garden Centre – Esher    

The Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Innovation and Creativity: Squires Garden Centre – Badshot Lea 

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Poundbury Gardens

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: The Millbrook Garden Centre – Gravesend (DGC) and Knights Plant & Life – Godstone 

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Polhill Garden Centre – Sevenoaks (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Woking (GC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: Garsons Garden Centre – Esher (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Hersham (GC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: Ruxley Manor Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Hersham (GC) 

Blue Diamond CE Alan Roper has revealed more details of the significant rises in footfall and cash profit at the eight outlets acquired from Wyevale Garden Centres during the past year.

Roper told BBC Radio 4’s ‘You & Yours’ programme in June that turnovers at the former Wyevales had risen between 35% and 60% since joining Blue Diamond.

The latest figures he has now shared with GTN Xtra show that customer numbers across those stores in the first two weeks of July were 48% up overall on the same period last year, while cash profits rose by 92%.

Leading the way was the Bicester Avenue store, with a 92% customer numbers increase and 142% cash profits lift.

The weakest performance from the former Wyevale cluster was Sanders Garden World in Somerset, which saw customers numbers in the fortnight rise by only 22% and cash profits by 46%. A few miles further up the M5, Cadbury enjoyed a 64% lift in customer numbers and 122% in cash profits.

Figures at the rest of the Blue Diamond Group’s centres look tame by comparison – a mere 15% more customers and 17% extra cash profit over the same 14 days in 2018!

The GCA Westland Rising Stars program for 2019 is nearing the stage where the ten winners who will present at GCA Conference in January will be chosen.

Last month they met for the third time and made presentations about their projects which were chosen from: 

• Indoor - A growing trend (Houseplant sales up 15% YOY, Westland indoors sales up 47% YOY, Houseplants are everywhere on social media)
  Lawncare - An Opportunity to grow (only 1 in 5 gardeners feed their lawn, yet the lawn is the foundational and heart of the garden)
  Growing - Massive category, massive opportunity (78% of gardeners grow in pots, 24% grow tomatoes - we can help them maximise their success)
  Wild Bird - A year round opportunity, May is actually the highest sales month due to GC traffic (People are motivated to feed because they want to see the birds and they want to help them)

Previously the twenty Rising Stars, listed below, have received training from GCA Inspector Gordon Emslie and the Westland marketing team.  Rising Stars organiser Jo Wilkinson said: "Remember this year there is no overall winner, we want to celebrate the successes of all the participants, giving the opportunity for the top 10 to make presentations at the GCA conference in January. The final 10 participants will come back for a 4th round of training in November, where we will focus in presentation skills and preparation for the conference.

"Gordon will be calling each of the participants during the next few days to give feedback on their presentations and advise if they are through the final stage."

The twenty 2019 GCA Westland Rising Stars Delegates are:

Dominic O'Donnell, Ruxley Manor
Gemma Stace, Bents
Arif Khan, Perrywood
Josh Gilbert, Bosworths
Rachel Atkinson-Young, Stewarts Broomhill
Nathan Heywood, Bents
Michael Knight, Haskins Ferndown
Sarah Jane Toop, Haskins West End
Paul Birch, Planters Bretby
Charlie Watts, Squires Twickenham
Stuart Sullivan, Squires Badshot Lea
Bronwen Dains, Thurrock
James Townsend, Garsons Esher
Ben Lodge, Notcutts
Emma Lamb, Barton Grange
Rachel Wilkes, Webbs Wychbold
Jack Appleton, Webbs Wychbold
Naomi Smith, Poundbury
Adam Wallbank, St Peters
William Biehler-Wallis, Baytree

July overall garden centre sales are running ahead of the last three years, according to GTN Bestsellers All Product Sales Analysis. Plants are down on last year but growing activity is up and increased footfall is driving up non-gardening sales areas such as gifts and food.

As thoughts move to creating Christmas displays, activities to keep footfall high during the school holidays are the current focus. 

What new ideas have your team created to attract families into your centre over the coming weeks?  Please send us photos of your ideas: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Happy Summer Holidays!

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 28)
Garden Products - down 4%
Growing Media - up 18%
Wild Bird Care - down 3%
Veg-2-Gro - down 33%
All Plants Index - down 7%
All Items Index - up 21%

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

Bridport-based Groves Nurseries is to launch a hand-crafted gin distilled on site on the day and flavoured with violets grown at the nursery at its Summer Fair later this month (27 July).

Groves will be working with Devon Distillery’s ‘Still on the Move’ named ‘Ginny’, a 1973 VW Pickup with a beautiful Italian copper still called 'Prosperity.' ‘Mr Groves’ Violet Gin’ should be ready for tasting around 3pm, so locals have been warned to turn up early!

The violets in the gin come from a collection started Clive Groves’ father Charles William Groves, who noticed in the late 60s and early 70s that many of the older growers, mainly in the Dawlish area of Devon, were either retiring from growing or dying off. Violets were losing their popularity as a cut flower but Clive was collecting rare varieties from around the world and breeding new ones. Groves violets holds National Collection status awarded by Plant Heritage and now has the only collection of Viola odorata and Parma violets in the country. Groves Nurseries probably has the largest collection of violets in the world, so it’s fitting that they should have their own gin, given that violet gin is totally on trend this summer.

The range of  food, drink and crtaft stallholders on the day will include West Milton and Dorset Nectar Cider, Cherrytree Preserves, Ford Farm Cheesemakers, Dorset Spice Shed, Hot Hound Accessories, The Rhubarb Candle Company, West Dorset Soap and more.

The Groves team said a fond farewell recently to Annette Collins, who started working there 25 years ago to help Clive Groves set up their café, The Citrus Grove. From modest beginnings with just coffee and cake produced by a small friendly team who loved baking, the offering developed to include baked potatoes and full daily lunches. When a bigger restaurant, the Ivy House, was taking shape, Annette (pictured, centre) moved over to the plant nursery, where she became a much loved and much-valued member of the production team.

Wyevale Nurseries hopes its new tie-up with bespoke labelling specialist Joy of Plants will reduce the amount of single-use plastic in garden centres.

Wyevale Nurseries has supplied non-recyclable Correx point of sale boards with its promotional lines for many years. “However, having listened to our customers telling us that they no longer use the correx boards to promote their plants in the way they once did and that they would, in fact, prefer a more informative alternative, and one that is more environmentally friendly, we’ve taken some action on this,” said the grower’s customer support and innovation manager Carol Dickinson (pictured).

By working with the Joy of Plants ‘Print Your Own Bed Cards’ service and giving it access to the nursery’s extensive image and content library, customers now have a more eco-friendly alternative to Correx. 

“Our customers can now control exactly what point of sale they wish to print and how they wish to print it by using Joy of Plants’ service,” she added. “ The system allows garden centres to create bespoke promotional bed material, providing information to help gardeners make purchasing decisions and, at the same time, vastly reducing the mountains of Correx boards that are left unused every year in planterias nationwide.

“These cards can be printed on recyclable materials and are giving our customers far greater flexibility to produce exactly what they need, when they need it, all customised to match their own branding.”

Joy of Plants’ aims to make plant information easy and accessible to all. It has created a library of more than 14,300 UK garden plants and trees and offers a platform of tools to help garden centres, retailers and growers maximise their plant sales. It provides information in many forms including bed cards, apps, a plant finder for websites and touchscreen kiosks.

Terri Jones, MD at Joy of Plants, explained: “Our Print Your Own Bed Cards allow garden centre staff members to print their bed cards as and when they need them, and they don’t have to bulk buy and then waste the ones they don’t use.”

The recyclable blanks for printing bed cards from the Joy of Plants service are available from a number of industry suppliers including Dura-id. The inkjet and laser bed cards can be used indoors and out and by using UV inks they will last for many months in the sun and rain. When no longer needed, they can be recycled.

Joy of Plants offers standard bed card templates as well as custom templates so retailers can add in their logo, branding colours and other information as desired. Cards can be tailored to each retailer. 

For more information details about Joy of Plants, use this link. www.joyofplants.com.

“A family reunion!” is how the Fleuroselect Annual Member Convention is described by many of the participants. This year, about 100 delegates from 16 countries gathered in Kassel, Germany, for the AGM and to catch up with friends and colleagues from across the world. The German seed breeder Benary hosted the event following its 175th anniversary celebrations.

Matthias Redlefsen, MD of Benary, provided delegates with valuable insights into the German flower industry. The German pro-capita consumption of flowers is the highest in the world, probably thanks to cultural traditions such as balcony flower and flower beds instead of concrete memorials in cemeteries. But, Redlefsen warned, breeders will need courage and creativity to successfully tackle the future.

Klaudia Benary-Redlefsen, sixth generation and current owner of Benary together with her uncle Ernst-Günter Benary, gave an overview of the company's rich history. The story of her grandfather Fritz Benary, who left East Germany to build a company in the west, is a striking example of perseverance. Today, Benary sells more than 10 billion flower seeds a year –90% of them exported – and its turnover has doubled in the past 13 years.

During the AGM, Clover Seed from Hong Kong was welcomed as a new member. As well as importing and exporting seed, Clover supplies contract production of vegetable and flower bulk seeds for overseas companies in China. The Clover laboratory focuses on plant pathology and marker development.

A full day was spent at Benary, where delegates were able to to view the extensive trials field with its spectacular beds. Benary also planted a full gold medal and novelty trial.

The event culminated at the Alte Brüderkirche in Kassel for the gala dinner, where traditionally the Gold Medals are handed out. Three varieties were honoured for 2020.

Jean-François Ignasse, sales manager (Europe) at PanAmerican Seed together with Anne Leventry, President PanAmerican Seed and Ruud Brinkkemper, general manager Kieft Seed Europe, stepped forward to accept the medal for Leucanthemum superbum ‘Madonna’. Irma Jansen, account and product manager home gardening at Takii Europe received the Medal for Tropaeolum minus ‘Baby Rose’. Fleuroselect president Karol Pawlak and marketing & communications manager Ann Jennen accepted the Medal for Silene pendula ‘Sibella Carmine’ on behalf of Rob van der Voort of Van Hemert & Co. who was unable to attend.

The final highlight of the evening was the announcement of two new honorary members – Jacques de Vroomen, former owner of Muller Seeds, was treasurer in 2007 when he re-structured the finances to create the vibrant organisation we see today. Jean-François Ignasse of PanAmerican has entered numerous new varieties for the trials over the years and served as interim president.

Next year's convention  (30 June-2 July) will be in Amsterdam, where the central theme will be Fleuroselect's 50th anniversary.

Above: Will Haxby (Director of Marketing and Ornamental Sales, Haddonstone), Geoff Sage (Assistant County Organiser, the National Garden Scheme, Northamptonshire) and Andy Miller (Head Gardener, Haddonstone).

Cast stone garden features maker Haddonstone has been commended for its ongoing commitment to and support for the National Garden Scheme.

Based in Northamptonshire, Haddonstone has committed to opening its gardens as part of the National Garden Scheme for the past 10 years, raising more than £12,000 to-date.

Pictured: Will Haxby (left), Geoff Sage (centre) and Andy Miller.

Last week, Geoff Sage, the NGS’s assistant county organiser for the county visited the Haddonstone show gardens to present Will Haxby, director of marketing and ornamental sales, and Andy Miller, head gardener, with a commemorative certificate and trowel.

 “The National Garden Scheme is an exceptional organisation that is dedicated to supporting nursing and health charities across the UK,” Mr Haxby said. “We look forward to supporting the National Garden Scheme for many more years to come.”

Geoff Sage thanked Haddonstone for its continued support.

The NGS gives visitors unique access to more than 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England and Wales, and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake sales.

Founded in 1927 to support district nurses, the NGS is now the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK and its beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.  Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors, £58 million has been donated to nursing and health charities.

The entrance hall at next month’s Plantarium 2019 (21-23 August, Boskoop) will host a display based on compact living and recreation, combined with experiencing natural surroundings.  

The new buzzword in urban renewal and rural development circles is ‘small’, as in tiny houses' and tiny forests', among other things.

Developments in this area focus extensively on sustainability, and the idea of circularity. Wood is often the first choice when it comes to building material, and the natural appearance is enhanced by green roofs, vertical gardens, and ornamental plants.

The entrance hall is also the starting point for the ecological route that Plantarium has laid out for visitors, taking them past exhibitors promoting interesting products and services in the area of sustainability and health. Visitors can walk the route independently with the help of a map, or they can join a guided tour at fixed times in various languages.

Thanks once again to an initiative by the municipality of Alphen aan de Rijn, Plantarium by Night is being organised for the sixth time on Thursday evening.

This year, the central issues are greenery and health, through the stimulation of which the local authority hopes to reduce the demand for care. Gardeners, housing cooperatives, estate agents, catering businesses and horticultural businesses have been invited to attend on the evening. The programme includes three short lectures, and the evening will end with the Ecological route.

For more information, visit the website.

Plantarium is held on Denemarkenlaan at the International Trade Centre, Boskoop/Hazerswoude. More information can be found here.

More than 80 local school children entered a competition run by Squire’s Garden Centres in conjunction with the Environment Agency to design a planting scheme for a flowerbed at Teddington Lock.

The children were given a template of a circular flowerbed with a sundial in the middle, and had to suggest colours and patterns that could be planted up to reflect the design brief’s weather theme.

The winning design, entered by an 11-year-old girl, has been planted up at Teddington Lock, and pictures of the remaining entries will be on show there, in batches, over the summer holidays.

Tong Garden Centre has announced the winners of a competition run with Bradford Stories to win free passes for its new indoor play area...

Pupils at more than 20 Bradford schools were invited to create a name and a story for one of two new characters at Grass Hoppers indoor play, which openeds this weekend. The schools were selected by Bradford Stories, a National Literacy Trust hub to improve literacy levels in the city by promoting reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Eight-year-old Amelia from Beckfoot Nessfield Primary School named the new spider ‘Incy' and part of her winning story read: ‘I don't like putting my shoes on to play out because I have to tie eight laces.”

Incy's new friend at Grass Hoppers indoor and outdoor play is a caterpillar who was aptly named ‘Nibbles' by Knowles Wood Primary School pupil Mahnoor, also aged eight. Her story made reference to eating ‘juicy leaves and tasty petals for dinner, lunch and breakfast'.

Tong Garden Centre's Marketing Manager, Jo Dales, said: “We wanted to celebrate the opening of the new play area in a way that supports the great work of our charity of the year, Bradford Stories, so we launched this competition to encourage children to be creative in naming and describing the new characters that will bring Grass Hoppers to life.

“We're very pleased with how the competition has gone - it seems like the children and teachers really got on board with it which is great to see!”

The winners will receive a Grass Hoppers goody bag and a free play pass for themselves, plus a ‘class pass' for the winner's whole class. Bradford Stories rewarded the winners with a bundle of books for their classroom.

Pictured (left to right): Helen Verity from the National Literacy Trust, Sophie Davies from Grass Hoppers, Mahnoor and Julie Robinson, parental involvement worker at Knowles Wood School.

Groves Nurseries has said goodbye to one of its longest serving members of staff – Annette Collins.

Annette started working at Groves 25 years ago by helping Clive Groves set up their original café, The Citrus Grove.

From modest beginnings it just sold coffee and cake and it was a small and friendly team who loved baking. Slowly things changed and the cafe grew its offerings to baked potatoes and full daily lunches. It became so popular that the idea of a bigger restaurant was taking shape. Instead of moving to the new Ivy House Annette saw the opportunity to move to working with plants and moved to the plant nursery.

An invaluable member of the team Annette liked nothing better that sowing seeds and potting up violets to create the wonderful array of plants you see for sale at Groves.

With the radio on in the sunny warmth of the greenhouse Annette spent countless hours nurturing plants and joining in the banter that gives the plant team a special bond.

Annette will be sorely missed but her legacy lives on in the beautiful flowers and plants that survive and thrive from her careful planting.

with all the news direct to your e-mail inbox.  The best news service every weekend and all the breaking news as it happens.

Subscribe for free using this link

John Podolski has joined pots and planters supplier Apta as area sales manager for East Anglia, covering Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. 

John has 10 years commercial experience managing the area for other major brands, including Elho and Town & Country.

He is based at Wymondham in Norfolk.

Bug control, seed sowing and garden lighting were the activities that drove Garden Product sales increases last week according to the GTN Bestsellers weekly Epos data analysis.

Highlights were:

• Smart Solar’s Eureka! Neo Light Bulb Lantern in Clear, Blue or Pink stormed back into the chart at No 1.
• The Gardman Crest Half Seed Tray climbed 26 places to No 19.
• Vitax Nippon Ant Killer Ready to Use Spray 750ml was the highest new entry at No 39.

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

Another week of growing media sales up on last year, by 18%, illustrates the continued high level of growing activity through the month of July.

Highlights of the week were:

• Evergreen Garden Care Miracle-Gro Moisture Control, 40 litres, climbed 14 places up the GTN Chart to No 19.
• Westland Composted Bark, 70 litres, increased sales by 174% to re-enter at No 24.
• Evergreen Garden Care Miracle-Gro Eco Sense Peat Free Compost, 56 litres, re-entered at No 23 after an 86% sales increase.

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

Wild Bird Care sales took a dip as the weather warmed up last week but there was a boost in sales of feeders and nest boxes suggesting planned school holiday wildlife projects.

Highlights of the week were:

• Gardman’s Feeding Station and Bird Bath re-entered at No 36.
• The Gardman Paint Your Own Nest Box re-enterd at No 41.
• Gardman Mealworms Pack 1.2kg were the high moving feed line, up 33 places to No 10.

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

Herbs were again the Veg-2-Gro bestsellers for the week but seed potatoes for Christmas harvesting have started to sell through and we expect them to rise to the top of the charts next week.

Highlights of the week were:

• Colour Gro Healthy Herbs 6 Pot Carrier moves up one place to No 1.
• Taylors Autumn Planting Seed Potatoes Pentland Javelin re-enters the chart at No 14.
• Quantil’s Strawberry Hangbasket Albion 25cm is the highest chart climber, up 36 places to No 3.

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

Summer colour and heat tolerant plants continue to shine through for plant sales. Last week’s volumes were down on last year but ahead of 2017 levels.

• Antirrhinum were the highest re-entry into the GTN Top 50 Plants chart, at No 17.
• Delphiniums also re-entered, at No 20 .
• Sedum were the highest chart climber, moving up 15 places to No 34.
• Echinacea and Digitalis also re-enterd the charts at Nos 36 and 40, with sales that doubled week on week.

All Plants volume sales change: Week on week DOWN 15.7%.  Year to date vs 2018 DOWN 6.6%, vs  2017 UP

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

With excellent weather and the start of the sale season signalling the arrival of summer, online retail sales rose by +8.5% year-on-year (YOY) in June, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. The home and garden category garden was 9.8% up versus 2018, but  garden declined by 45% during a poor second quarter overall.

After a disappointing May, which saw online sales suffer their worst growth on record (+1.9%), June’s results represent the strongest growth so far this year, and are well ahead of the 3-month, 6-month and 12-month rolling averages (respectively -0.5%, +5.4%, +6.9%).

In terms of standout category, clothing recorded the highest growth so far this year with a rise of +15.7%. This was buoyed by good results in both menswear, which saw its strongest performance of 2019 at +31.2%, and womenswear, which reversed last month’s negative growth to achieve an increase of+3.3% versus 2018. Accessories and footwear did not fare as well, however, with accessories sales declining to their lowest ever June growth (-7.4%) and footwear also falling by -8.8%.

While further category analysis highlighted positive performances for health & beauty (+20.4%) and home & garden (+9.8), elsewhere the results continued the negative trend for electricals (-23.0%), and Gifts (-23.4%).

 Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director, IMRG, said: “The trading environment for online retail in the first half of the year has been tough; for the previous three months (March-May), growth was just +2.2%. June then can be interpreted as a bounce-back, particularly given it was building on strong growth of +16.1% in June 2018. However, the discounting has been heavy so the margins achieved may not be high.

“It is the summer sales period now, so end-of-season sales campaigns are in full swing. The key now for retailers is whether they can come out of discounting and maintain a reasonable level of sales growth before we get too close to the Black Friday period. Otherwise we may be in for another difficult peak where the rates of discount are wider and deeper than many retailers would like.”

Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in retail customer engagement, Capgemini, said: “June had a positive sales performance this month, reporting highest YOY growth this year, however it is to be considered with a note of caution; consumer confidence is down 25% vs last year, and the overall performance is masked by weaker comparable in June 2018 and higher discounting activity, indicated by higher conversion rates and lower basket values.”

He said the change of tune in June was also not enough to counter the overall quarter performance, and Q2 reported even slower growth than Q1 (+3.5% vs +7.5%), albeit up against a big Q2 2018.  The worst-effected sectors were garden (-45%), beer, wine & spirits (-6%), and accessories (-11%), partly driven by the weather and bumper events driving positive and impulsive spending last year.

Only Clothing bucked the trend (+11%), with a stronger performance in the second quarter.

RHS Ambassadors Nick Knowles and Carol Klein have joined a call to the public to help raise the final £4.8 million to complete RHS Garden Bridgewater, the society’s fifth garden, in time for a summer 2020 opening.

The RHS launched the appeal as it announced the creation of a ‘Mother Orchard’ for the North West in the Salford garden. The latest of many spectacular gardens in the pipeline is a traditional orchard garden on a three-and-a-half-acre plot which will wrap around the original 1834 Garden Cottage.

Nick Knowles said: “At 154 acres, RHS Garden Bridgewater will bring a sizeable patch of world class horticulture to within an hour’s drive of 8.2m people in the region, delivering significant benefits to people and the environment. This heritage orchard, which will save rare varieties of pear and apple for future generations, is just one example. We want everyone to help us make this exciting project happen.”

The Orchard Garden, designed as a collaboration between Curator Marcus Chilton-Jones and local landscape architect firm Gillespies, will be the largest of the 11 gardens within the majestic 11-acre Weston Walled Garden, one of the biggest walled gardens in the country. It will be created on the site of the original orchard which existed at Worsley New Hall in the 1840s.

The garden will have a more naturalistic feel than the adjoining gardens, acting as a space to relax and unwind. Curator Marcus Chilton-Jones said visitgors would reach a more traditional, relaxing space that helps to connect the intensive, cultivated horticulture with the wider countryside. “It will be a garden that grows slowly and evolves, with new riches revealed each year.”

The orchard will feature apple, pear, plum, cherry and damson trees, as well as soft fruits, echoing traditional orchards, with trees grouped naturalistically around the garden rather than in regimented rows. The mixed planting will encourage wildlife biodiversity and the old-fashioned rootstock selection will also add greatly to the lifespan of the trees.

It will include 37 varieties of heritage apple trees, keeping rare cultivars alive for future generations and becoming the first ‘mother orchard’ for the North West. The trees come from apples gathered from across Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and the old Westmoreland. Varieties will include ‘Florence Bennet’, once saved from a Liverpool rubbish heap; ‘Withington Fillbasket’ from Cheshire, ‘Scarlet Tiffing’, popular in Lancashire and ‘Manx Codlin’ from the Isle of Man. 

Carol Klein, RHS Ambassador, said: “One of the most important elements of RHS Garden Bridgewater is The Orchard Garden where endangered varieties, especially those local to the North West will be propagated and protected for future generations.”

The orchard will also include 14 varieties of heritage pear, first grown at Bridgewater over 170 years ago. When the RHS took over the garden in early 2017 the trees, which had been grown adjacent to the walls as restricted forms, had not been pruned for over a century, so had grown wild and sadly had to be felled. However, shoots from these trees have been carefully propagated to create healthy new trees, which will be re-introduced to the orchard and should last for around 200 years. Additionally, timber from the felled pears will be used to form the gnarled and twisted pillars of a new summer house, reflecting the heritage of the site.

The Orchard Garden will sit alongside a Wellbeing Garden, a Kitchen Garden designed by RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medallists Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg; a Paradise Garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith; a Learning Garden designed by students from Manchester Metropolitan University and community teaching allotments.

Carol Klein, RHS Ambassador, said: “RHS Bridgewater is a dream come true not just for the UK but especially for the North West. It’s a vital project for the advancement of horticulture, for local employment and to engage local communities in gardening. So good for body, soul and spirit. That’s why it’s imperative to do whatever we can to help the RHS bring it to life.”

The Garden Centre Association unveiled its winners for the North Thames region during a presentation at Poplars Garden Centre on Monday. Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree (above) won Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre category while Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (below) picked up the accolade in the Garden Centre category.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “The first of our regional awards meetings was a huge success and it was great to see so many of our members turn out.

“We’d like to thank the team at Poplars Garden Centre for hosting a fantastic event and to our inspector, Jane Lawler, for her crucial feedback from her inspections, which we know our members will take on board for the future.”

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant went to Poplars Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC). Poplars Garden Centre also received the Environment and Community Award.

David Little, Managing Director at Poplars Garden Centre, said: “Poplars are thrilled to have won two major awards at last night’s GCA area meeting. The award for best restaurant is a fantastic recognition of the hard work and attention to detail that our wonderful team of staff give our customers every single day.

“We are equally thrilled to win the Environment and Community Award. As a family business we are firmly entrenched in our local community and work particularly closely with our 13 local schools. To be recognised for our environmental work too is good for the planet and good for business. The standards on show last night were fantastic, the highest I’ve ever seen and every single member of North Thames should be very proud of their achievements this year – standards are on the up and as the GCA often says – better standards means better business.”

Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree also won the Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Innovation and Creativity.

Hannah Powell, Communications and HR Director at Perrywood Garden Centre, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have achieved such resounding success at the GCA regional awards last night. To be recognised once again by our trade association is testament to the continued hard work, passion and dedication of the entire team at Perrywood Tiptree.”

GCA Inspector Jane was responsible for inspecting member garden centres in the North Thames areas.

She said: “It has been a privilege and a pleasure visiting the North Thames centres and I’ve met so many enthusiastic and knowledgeable people. It’s no wonder the garden centre category is bucking all the retail trends and continuing to grow. There’s something to interest and engage at every turn!”

The Area Chairwoman for North Thames was Sarah Squire, who organised the meeting.

She said: “It was great to see so many North Thames members at the meeting and to welcome representatives from some of our newest members. We are so grateful to Poplars for their very kind hospitality and generous buffet.

“Jane gave us a very comprehensive and enjoyable account of her inspections. This is such a great way for us all to learn from one another and inspires us to improve standards across the board. It is a truly significant benefit to being a GCA member.”

The full results for the North Thames region GCA area awards are as follows for the DGC and GC categories:

Garden Centre of the Year: Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC)

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Scotsdale Garden Centre

Environment and Community Award: Poplars Garden Centre

The Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Squires Garden Centre – Stanmore

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: Poplars Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC)

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Aylett Nurseries (DGC) and Sunshine Garden Centre (GC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: Altons Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Stanmore (GC)

The North East and North West regional GCA awards were presented at Bents Garden & Home yesterday (Tuesday). The North East’s Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre category was Tong Garden Centre (above left) and Cowell’s Garden Centre (above right) in the Garden Centre category. In the North West, Barton Grange Garden Centre (below left)) and Fron Goch Garden Centre (below right) received the accolade.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “It was great to see everyone in attendance at our second regional awards meeting and paying close attention to our inspector, Gordon Emslie’s feedback. Now is the optimum time for our members to take this feedback on board, relay it to the rest of their team and start making any changes needed.”

Barton Grange Garden Centre also won the Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service and the GIMA award for Best Garden Products Retailer (DGC) in the North West during the awards meeting.

Claire Bryce, Farm Shop Manager at Barton Grange Garden Centre, said: “Winning these awards at yesterday’s GCA area meeting is such a fantastic achievement, especially seeing how close the competition is. It’s an excellent boost for staff to see that all of their hard work this year so far has paid off. It truly shows our team’s dedication and determination to do the best they can.

“These meetings are always beneficial. It’s a great opportunity to see the developments centres are making. This helps us to keep on moving forward and upping our game.”

Fron Goch Garden Centre also won the Environment and Community Award, the ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant (GC), Best Outdoor Living Retailer (GC) and Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (GC) in the North West.

Justin Williams, Managing Director of Fron Goch Garden Centre, said: “We have a very happy a team here! We are very proud of all our team and their hard work. The GCA is a wonderful tool that enables our team to network, share and learn via the regional meetings, inspections and conference. We would not be as motivated and engaged without it and it adds a personal and family feeling as we get to know other owners and teams.”

Tong Garden Centre has now won Destination Garden Centre (DGC) in the North East three years running.

Mark Farnsworth, Managing Director of Tong Garden Centre, said: “We are delighted to win this award again, we took over the centre four years ago and have set about restoring its reputation as one of the best garden centres in the North East and to receive this award again is very satisfying. This award is testament to the hard work of the whole team here at Tong, they have worked tirelessly, and we are incredibly proud of all of them”.

GCA Inspector Gordon Emslie was responsible for inspecting member garden centres in the North East and North West areas.

He said: “It has been a real pleasure visiting the North East and North West regions this year where again the standard of garden centre retailing has been outstanding. All the centres visited deserve recognition for continuing to strive to provide the best experience for their customers year after year.

“The overall customer experience has been exceptional where year after year each centre continually raises their operational standards. I would like to congratulate all this year’s award winners.”

Notcutts has recorded strong profit growth in the year ending February 2019 with operating profit up 52.5% to £1.5m. Gross margin improved by 0.6% points to 47.5% and stock turn improved from 3.4 to 3.9 during the year.
 
Sales were level at £74.7m in a year when four garden centres had normal trading patterns disrupted over extended periods by redevelopment and improvement projects.
 
Capital expenditure was £10.5m. Restaurant redevelopments were completed at Woodford Park and Dukeries (Worksop) garden centres. Full centre redevelopments, covering both retail environments and restaurants, were completed at Booker (pictured above)and Rivendell (Widnes) Garden Centres. In each of these schemes Notcutts’ iconic show gardens were included as part of the developments. A new website and e-commerce platform was completed and launched in the year and Notcutts new brand rollout was completed across all 18 garden centres.
 
Commenting on these results, Chief Executive Nick Burrows said: “We are pleased with our progress during a year in which we were able to deliver good growth in operating profit. A focus on margin and a successful cost efficiency programme helped underpin this achievement. This during a year when we completed our new brand rollout and launched a new website and online store.”

Garden and restaurant terrace at Notcutts Woodford Park Garden Centre.
 
Burrows was especially pleased to have completed sizeable refurbishment projects which form part of the Notcutts five year strategic plan to reposition and upgrade their garden centre estate. He said: “With the completion of major projects at Rivendell, Woodford Park and Booker we are now some two thirds of the way through our planned programme of improvements. Our attention now turns to further projects at our Garden Pride (Ditchling), Woodbridge and St Albans Garden Centres which will be completed in 2019/20.”
 
Chairman Nicky Dulieu emphasised the importance of continuing to redevelop remaining garden centres in the portfolio. She said: “We have now secured planning permission for further upgrade projects at our Solihull and Tunbridge Wells Garden Centres. With both of these developments we will be improving and extending our restaurants which are now so important to the overall Notcutts customer experience.” Dulieu, with all members of the Notcutts Board, has also championed the company’s developing e-commerce and digital capability, which is seen as a key component for the company in attracting the emerging millennial customer to gardening.
 
Notcutts introduced further show gardens in the year and now have these in 14 of their 18 garden centres. Caroline Notcutt, Vice Chairman, has hosted events for customers, partners and local communities as each show garden has been unveiled. “Our show gardens are attracting customers in great numbers,” she commented. “They are an important part of the Notcutts brand and customer proposition now and really showcase Notcutts’ horticultural credentials which extend back over 120 years. We have designed them to inspire customers with ideas for plant combinations and garden layouts. They are true wellbeing spaces and are becoming a real focal point for our customers as well as a sense of great pride for our garden centre colleagues who look after them throughout the year.”

Restaurant at Notcutts Rivendell Garden Centre in Widnes.

As Dobbies were revealing their Christmas 2019 ranges to magazine journalists in London this week, the rest of the garden retail industry was at SOLEX where the atmosphere was incredibly positive for the rest of the summer and optimistic for next year.

The weather is bound to be helping, but the mood was also added to by the high level of new design and innovation at the show. Gone was the sea of weave and that was replaced with stylish contemporary aluminium framed lounge furniture along with fusions of metal, wood, rope and weave.

Everyone we spoke to was confident they would sell through the remains of this year’s stock during the rest of the summer, before they get ready for Christmas. The big question is: how much of the new contemporary designed furniture they feel they can sell next year?

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 27)
Garden Products - down 6%
Growing Media - up 28%
Wild Bird Care - up 26%
Veg-2-Gro - down 9%
All Plants Index - down 9%
All Items Index - up 23%

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

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 week.

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.

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.

Get the GTN Bestsellers charts in full every week in the GTN Bestsellers newsletters for only £145.00.

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.

For further information contact karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call 01733 775700.

Buy your subscription today and start receiving the GTN Bestsellers charts this week.