Garden lights are once again the star performers in the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart.  The total sales volume of garden lighting products in this week’s Top 50 is 54% up on the same week last year and 27% up on last week.  This is the fourth week in a row there have been 10 or more lighting products in the chart, helping keep garden product sales up at a time when they traditionally dip away until September.

Highest lighting product volume sales this week goes to the Revolution Ground Stake Candle Jar, coming straight into the Top 5.  Stake lights for borders or pathways are definitely popular as Smart Solar Butterfly solar stake lights are another high volume new Top 20 entry.

Gardman LED starlight strings of 50 lights (pictured below) are this week’s highest re-entry. Who would have thought we could be selling this many lights strings so far ahead of the Christmas buying period?

On the core gardening front, weed control is high on the agenda. Gardman Weedstop 10-metre rolls jump 22 places, Weedol Rootkill Plus Gun moves into the Top 10 and Neudorff’s Ready to Use Superfast and Long Lasting Weedkiller 750ml, is a re-entry to the Top 50 Bestselling Garden Products.

Woodlodge pots have sold well on their current promotion.  All four sizes of Laxour terracotta pots are new entries.

At the top of the chart Fito Orchid Drip Feeder sales overtake Tomorite sales to take the No 1 spot. GTN Bestsellers chart history points to them staying at the top through until winter.  Have you got plenty of drip feeder sales opportunities set up around your centre yet?

See the full GTN Garden Products Bestsellers Chart here.  Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here. 

If you're planning for next year, take advantage of our special New Year Planning offer with three months key data from this year included as a free bonus.  Click here for more details of the New Year Planning Offer

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Subscribe today and invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Garden Centre footfall and total volumes sales as indicated by the GTN Bestsellers weekly Epos data analysis, continue through August to be well ahead of last year, and higher than the summer of 2011. 

In fact the sales period from week 22, at the end of May, through to week 33, is the best sales performance in the past five years that we’ve been producing the GTN Bestsellers charts.

From the data we receive each week it’s clear that the increasingly varied ranges of products sold by garden centres, and catering offers that improve every year, are what’s helping attract footfall and volume sales. 

Early signs are that autumn gardening has the potential to be strong and it’s all systems go for Christmas. 

If as an industry we keep attracting more customers to garden centres for the rest of the year then, who knows, the total volume increase could be closer to 20% up. 

How many reatilers from other sectors would love to be projecting anywhere near that?

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business.  Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

GIMA are warning gardening firms to beware of fraudsters after the latest scam involving one of their members, who received a bogus order for products...

A statement from Gima said: "We have just received information from a member company of an attempted scam/fraud which you may want to bring to the attention of your sales/customer service/accounts teams.

"The details they sent us are as follows...

"They received a call  from someone calling themselves Ryan Taylor from Stax Manchester depot wanting to place a large order and collect from them on Friday. 

"They followed this up with a purchase order which the member believed to be fraudulent because of a number of tell tale signs:

"Stax do not operate in this manner.

"Email address was a yahoo address not an official Stax address.

"Purchase order paperwork did not match a genuine purchase order.

"Call was made on a mobile.

"The depot had never heard of him.

"Please treat this seriously as there would appear to be an increasing number of incidents of this nature."

http://www.hortidaily.com/article/3281/Canadian-couple-marries-in-greenhouse

If there are any UK garden centres who are already licensed as a marriage venue could they please let us know. Email trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

If growing media sales are a key barometer of real gardening activity, the GTN Bestsellers Charts can now confirm that this years gloroius summer has been the best yet for growing media sales and therefore hands on gardening activity.  Sales over the past 12 weeks have been up on last year for every week bar one and in total are the highest since GTN started producing the GTN Bestsellers Charts in 2009.

And this weeks sales volumes are a good indicator for the autumn planting season.  Up 23% on the same week last year with 30 of the Top 50 growing media product lines increasing their sale week on week is the performance we’d normally expect to see for the first week in September rather than mid August.

The clamour to plant spring bulbs has certainly got underway as soon as the bulbs have arrived in store.  Westland 20 litre Bulb Planting Compost packs have re-enetered the charts, coming straight back into the Top 10.

Multipurpose composts and soil improver lines have also seen big week on week increases.  Both Growise 20 litre Multipurpose and Scotts Levington 55 litre Multipurpose with John Innes doubled their sales.  Vital Earth’s Peat Free soil improver, 50 litre packs, increased sales by over 80%.

Bark sales continued to rise too.  Westland Decorative Mini Mark, 50 litres, increased sales by over 50% and 70 litre packs of Gem Cambark Chunky Chip Bark were the biggest chart climber, up 14 places.

See the full GTN Growing Media Bestsellers Chart here.  Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business.  Subscribe today and invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

A total horticultural contribution of £9 billion to the UK economy each year and with 1.7% of all UK retail sales creating an additional estimated £5 billion of value attributed to the UKs garden retail market (Horticulture Matters, 2013), it is clear to see the importance Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) members play in contributing to the economy and the horticultural industry as a whole.

Encouraging enthusiastic and talented school leavers to enter the industry through an apprenticeships route is a great way for the school leaver to learn, and provides both the apprentice and employer with a great opportunity to shape the future.

The HTA recognises this and has teamed up with Pershore College, as lead delivery partner, to define how the HTA can support its members in encouraging apprenticeship recruitment. The barriers faced by members include a traditional training delivery approach, poor standards of apprentices on offer and a lack of clarity of who is responsible for what and how to go about taking on an apprentice.

The HTA, with Pershore College, will be promoting apprenticeships and surveying its membership on the potential apprenticeship recruitment numbers, during the Autumn. The results of this, will define the service provided by the HTA and Pershore College, next year. The HTA have begun work to define an apprenticeship programme, setting the core standards of knowledge and skills required and considering how this can be delivered in a flexible way. Consultation with members will take place this Autumn to test out the recommended apprenticeship and delivery approach.

Penny Evans, HTA Training and Careers Manager, said “more school leavers are open to considering apprenticeships as a way of getting into the jobs market, rather than choosing to go to University. This provides our members with a great opportunity to recruit highly talented people, but trawling through the vast amounts of information available, from many sources can often put off businesses from taking the decision. Working with an experienced horticultural apprenticeship provider such as Pershore College, will provide a great steer as to what information and service can be provided to our members and ensuring the standard of training is set and remains high”.

Helen Dickson, Pershore College, Employer Engagement Manager, said “This is a fantastic opportunity for members of the HTA to understand more about apprenticeships and what is involved. Working with the HTA will allow us to educate Employers with the details of Apprenticeships and how they work. We plan to use partner colleges across the UK to help deliver Apprenticeship programmes, which will allow us to work collaboratively with all the HTA members. This will then provide job vacancies for young school leavers to be able to enter the industry and gain a nationally recognised qualification and the experience and skills needed to work in Horticulture.”

Local residents have expressed their 'horror' at a proposal to close Hansons Garden Centre near Clitheroe in Lancashire to make way for a housing development.

Barrow Residents’ Action group has hit out at the plans to close the garden centre in the village and build 62 houses on the site.

Margaret Mayor, who attended a public consultation on the proposal in June, said the village does not need more houses and jobs should be preserved.

Mrs Mayor reiterated the concerns of other people at the meeting such as worries over land grabbing and the loss of jobs and the capacity of the sewerage system.

She also questioned whether the infrastructure such as schools and roads would be able to cope with the large increase in houses.

I D Planning of Leeds, which is acting as agent for proprietor Chris Hanson, said the development would be set back by 15 metres from Clitheroe Golf Course after concerns were raised at the meeting that it would be too near.

Included in the plans are 34 houses with three bedrooms, 15 properties with two bedrooms and 13 houses with four bedrooms.

Rachael Bower, 40, from Clitheroe, said: “I find the garden centre very useful to have in the borough because it saves a long trip to Blackburn in order for you to get something for a weekend project.

“I understand that people might not go every week but without it I think people will notice a difference.”

Mark Gavin, 56, from Whalley, said: “From a business point of view it must make sense but having 62 more houses in Barrow will be terrible for the village.

“It has the prospect of more than 500 already hanging over it and this will just add even more pressure on the local infrastructure.”

Helen Carrow, 47, from Whalley, said: “The traffic along Clitheroe Road and Whalley Road will be horrendous and will offer no benefit to the area.

“It’s sad that a local business is not able to carry on but more housing is not in the best interests of the Ribble Valley.”

Virgin Trains’ customers arriving at London Euston Station last week, between Platforms 2 and 3, were confronted by the unusual sight of a luscious swathe of real grass framed by a white picket fence. Passengers were then encouraged to remove their shoes and socks and take a wander into this urban paddock, to ‘feel the grass between their toes’.

For just one week, Virgin Trains customers were invited to enjoy a piece of experiential installation art by taking a few minutes out of their busy day to relax, unwind and relish a brief interlude of calm and tranquillity in the centre of a busy railway station.

Commenting on the week long experience, Jim Rowe, Virgin Trains Senior Communications Manager says: “In an environment like London Euston station where people are often rushing to and from trains, we wanted to offer our passengers a moment away from the hustle and bustle and to have the therapeutic sensation of grass between their toes”

Is this the new entrance experience for garden centres like "The Old Railway Line" or for the entrance to Carriages Restaurant at Trelawney? 

An online garden centre has become the first in the UK to offer weeds for sale thanks to a new craze for wildflowers.

Gardeningexpress.co.uk says sales of dandelions, buttercups and even £7.99 stinging nettles have exceeded expectations since they were introduced last month.

The site introduced the plants – viewed by many gardeners as pests – following requests from customers.

Wildflowers are great at attracting insects and with the recent fall in the numbers of bees it seems some gardeners are actively seeking to encourage them.

Now the site is offering gardeners who aren’t able to cultivate wildflowers naturally a solution with dandelions priced at £3.99 each and buttercups at £5.99.

Even stinging nettles – hated by children across the country – are available for sale priced at a bargain £7.99 each.

The nettles are particularly successful at attracting caterpillars – thus sparing other plants from being munched.

In fact, the stinging nettles have proven to be so popular, initial supplies have sold out and due to the exceptionally high demand, the plant is now on pre-order only.

The company’s website state: “After many demands from customers, we've now added this selection of wild flowers to our range, some call them weeds, but we don't want to hurt their feelings, after all a weed is only a plant in the wrong place, much like finding a tulip in a salad.”

Chris Bonnet of Gardeningexpress.co.uk said: “It may seem strange to some but many gardeners have a growing appreciation for wildflowers.

“While plants such as buttercups and dandelions may seem like pests when they crop up in the middle of a lawn if they are cultivated in a flower bed they can look beautiful and really enhance a garden.

“Yet while many gardeners do have an appreciation of the beauty of wildflowers it seems most of us aren’t able to proactively cultivate them.

“That combined with a wish to attract more bees into gardens has meant that we were increasingly being asked if we could sell dandelions and even nettles which are formidable caterpillar attracters.

“So we agreed to introduce a line this summer and the demand has been astounding. We are already sold out of dandelions and we are having to clear extra space in our nursery so we can grow more.”

One customer, who placed an order for 20 dandelions, said: “Wildflowers are amazingly beautiful. My dandelion bed is an explosion of the most vivid yellow, it really is stunning.

“It’s always busy with honeybees which is another huge plus. With bee numbers down we gardeners should be doing our bit to help.

“But it’s also a fantastic talking point. Visitors always ask what it is and they seem taken aback when I explain it’s dandelions.

“Like any gardener I pull them up if they sprout in the lawn but I didn’t have a clue how to encourage them to cluster together in a bed to give the effect I was looking for. So I was very happy to find them for sale on Gardening Express.”

A link to the weeds page can be found here: http://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/weeds

Paxman Landscapes, a member of the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL), will be launching the latest innovation in artificial turf at Harrogate Flower Show next month.

The Huddersfield based firm will be launching ‘Grass Greener’, a product exclusive to Paxman Landscapes.  Grass Greener will offer the complete package to customers by providing a full service of artificial grass, installation, maintenance and support for all customers.

Justin Paxman, Director of Paxman Landscapes said: “People have hectic lifestyles nowadays and Grass Greener provides the perfect solution. It needs very little maintenance, there is no need to mow your lawn and no need for weeding, trimming, edging and feeding. Grass Greener will give you a garden that looks all year round.”

There are several different ranges and colours of lawn to choose from and each comes with a 10 year product guarantee as well as a 6 year installation warranty. Grass Greener has a specialised 2G double membrane process, which puts the product at the very top of the market for quality control, and longevity. Paxman Landscapes have also stated that they will be giving away a free* artificial turf vacuum cleaner with any orders above 50m meters squared.

Paxman Landscapes have been members of the Association of Professional Landscapers for 10 years and are a family business which provides both domestic and commercial landscape and garden design since they were formed in 1994.

They will be launching and exhibiting ‘Grass Greener ‘on stand GH3/02 in Gardening Hall 3 at Harrogate Flower Show, which takes place at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.  The show runs from the 13 – 15 September.

To book tickets, please visit www.flowershow.org.uk

Justin Paxman will also be speaking at the next APL Seminar – ‘Successful Sales and Marketing for Landscapers - are you sealing the deal?’  The seminar will take place on Wednesday 23 October 2013 at Provender Nurseries, Kent and will focus on the important issue of sales and marketing within the landscaping industry.  To secure a place, please complete the booking form or e-mail events@the-hta.org.uk

Aster is one of the late stars of summer and has been nominated as the HTA’s Plant of the Month for September. A favourite herbaceous border plant to provide continued colour through to the first frosts, Aster mixes well with other late flowering plants and is popular with bees.

As part of the HTA’s ‘Plan it, Plant it’ autumn planting campaign, Aster can bring your garden alive with colour and is one of the top ten herbaceous border plants that can be bought in garden centres and planted during the autumn months.

The name Aster comes from the Latin word for ‘star’ and describes the shape of the flower head.  They are also often referred to as Michaelmas daisies and there are several species and cultivars of different colours and heights.  Aster x fikartii ‘Monch’ is traditionally lavender blue and has flowering period from mid- summer through to late autumn and continues until the first hard frost. Aster Achillea millefolium and Echinacea purpurea look good with these daisies and add variety to any border.

Other popular varieties include Aster Bahamas, Barbados, Ibiza, Samoa, Tonga which come in rich purples and pink to bring vibrancy to your garden.  All varieties make for good cut flowers and are easy plants for beginners to try in the garden.  

Nominated and agreed upon by British growers and retailers, the HTA’s Plant of the Month campaign highlights the plants that are widely available and looking especially good in garden centres each month. Different varieties are recommended together with simple planting and care hints and tips.

Plant of the Month point of sale materials can be purchased through HTA partners Hortipak and Floramedia.

The plants included within Plant of the Month have been nominated and agreed by the HTA Ornamentals Committee and the HTA Retail Management Group to ensure the campaign meets the needs of both growers and retailers.

The aim of the Plant of the Month campaign is to make it easier for gardeners by selecting a plant on a monthly basis that will be looking great, is widely available from UK nurseries and easy to maintain in the garden.

For further information and to see the full calendar for 2013 visit http://www.the-hta.org.uk/plantofthemonth2013

For more information on Plan it, Plant it, this Autumn, please visit www.the-hta.org.uk/autumn

Leading catering consultants Catering Design Group have come up with valuable advice to help garden centres resolve the knotty problem of restaurant queues.

They say the first thing to think about is customer flow.

• To manage traffic around the main counter areas and till points, consider pick-up points for coffee and call to order items or remote location of condiment stations
• Create defined routes from entry to payment and seating areas to avoid customer confusion and crossover with staff
• To manage the queuing process – position display and retail points along the route with opportunities for impulse buying and cross-selling
• Consider the decision-making process – display menus ahead of the servery to avoid hold-ups
• Think about display styles - multi-tiers for quick and easy selection of grab ‘n’ go items or chefs’ tables which keep customers moving as they choose 

Contact the Catering Design Group at: info@cateringdesign.co.uk

http://www.cateringdesign.co.uk/ 

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 printed newsletter and on the GTN website www.gardentradenews.co.uk.

Every week we give sales volume comparisons with 2011 as well as 2012 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 upto date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, or subscribe on-line here

or e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers 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.

Knowing your market; reinventing the retail offer; serving the multi-channel consumer, and marketing to the future gardener are just some of the business focussed topics featuring at HTA Garden Futures 2013.

Titled Know it, Sow it, Grow it, the conference offers an impressive programme led by an inspiring group of speakers:

James Wong, botanist, presenter & grower, will present his fresh perspective of what the garden centre of the future might need to be like in order to attract and enthuse the next generation of gardeners.

Josh McBain from the Future Foundation, will give a horizon-stretching overview of the importance of multi-channel retailing now and how it will become an integral part of garden retailing in the future.

Pepijn Janssen from Store Performance Group, will talk through a new concept which will assist retailers to better connect with consumers through online, offline and loyalty programmes to help improve service.

Closing the conference is The Big Debate – Growing your market through the supply chain; a panel of leading industry figures will discuss the need to work more closely together across the supply chain in order to overcome the challenges presented by the weather, the economic situation and the changing consumer.

The dinner and conference, sponsored by Bord na Mona, Hozelock and Scotts Miracle-Gro, take place on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 October 2013 at One Great George Street, Westminster. Delegates have just one week left to get the early bird rate and hear all the speakers at a 25% reduction by booking before 31 August.

For more information and to download your booking form visit www.gardenfutures.org.ukor email events@the-hta.org.uk

Interest in Grow Your Own continues ahead of last year and sales volumes are indicating that gardeners are harvesting crops and starting to prepare for autumn planting. 

This week’s GTN Bestsellers chart sales volumes continue the overlying trend of being up 10% or more each week since the weather improved after Easter.

Autumn Planting Seed Potatoes from Taylors Bulbs remain at the top of the GTN Bestsellers Veg 2 Gro chart with Duke of York the most popular variety, followed by Maris Peer.

Following on from the seed spuds are winter greens and autumn planting onions.  Spinach plants from Quantil are the biggest chart mover, up 26 places.

Highest chart re-entry this week are Leeks F1 Verina from Gardeners Kitchen and the highest new entry is onion seeds from Suttons – North Holland Redmate.

Mr Fothergills have a new entry with Chive seeds, one of seven herb lines in the Top 50 – perhaps hopes of a long hot September is driving thoughts of more garden barbecue parties.

How are your plans for a Veg show this Autumn? It’s a great way to generate more interest in Grow Your Own and is a great crowd puller too.

See the full GTN Veg-2-Gro Bestsellers Chart here.  Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here

If you're planning for next year, take advantage of our special New Year Planning offer with three months key data from this year included as a free bonus.  Click here for more details of the New Year Planning Offer

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Subscribe today and invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Greenfingers, the charity dedicated to creating gardens in children’s hospices around the UK, is today calling on its supporters to host garden parties and raise funds for its Rosy Cheeks Appeal this September.

The nationwide charity is committed to providing inspiring and engaging outdoor spaces for children with life-limiting conditions, and their families, to relax in and enjoy.  Greenfingers believe that valuable time spent outside, away from the bedside, can bring considerable benefits to children in need. 

Earlier this year the charity launched its Rosy Cheeks Appeal, which aims to raise the funds to build at least ten new gardens at children’s hospices across the UK over the next two years.  As a fundraising initiative Greenfingers is now calling on supporters across the horticulture industry to get involved and host a ‘Greenfingers Garden Party’ across the weekend of 6^th, 7^th, 8^th September.

It is hoped the Greenfingers Garden Party initiative will encourage garden centres, nurseries and other horticultural organisations to get on board, adapt the garden party idea to suit their own needs and raise money for the Rosy Cheeks Appeal.  The charity would like to see at least 100 business taking part, each with the aim to raising £100 to help create more children’s hospice gardens.

Businesses are free to create a garden party that would suit their customers and staff.  Perhaps it might involve a cream tea promotion in the café; a family fete; a cocktail evening for core customers or a teddy bears picnic for children.  Greenfingers will provide supporting marketing materials such as posters and flyers to help promote any events.

Briony Markham, from Greenfingers, commented: "We hope the Greenfingers Garden Party idea will really encourage our supporters across the industry to get involved and help us raise the funds to build even more gardens under our Rosy Cheeks Appeal.  Just £100 from every business that gets involved will go a long way to reaching our overall target.  And who can resist a party?  This is a chance for our supporters to have some fun, enjoy themselves and support a worthy cause at the same time."

Any business interested in getting involved and hosting a Greenfingers Garden Party should contact Greenfingers on 01494 674749 or email briony@greenfingerscharity.org.uk

Here at GTN we’re getting plenty of requests for market information as buyers, managers and suppliers start to plan for next year.

Garden Trade News and our weekly GTN Bestsellers Charts are among the best ways to see how products both new and existing have performed across a basket of garden centres and how suppliers are marketing their new products to retailers for the year ahead.

If you’ve not been a full subscriber before you’ll have missed the GTN sales charts for the critical sales periods throughout May, June and July when business finally turned around this year and you won’t have been able access issues of Garden Trade News to keep an eye on all the market activity.

So that you can get the best possible value from a subscription to Garden Trade News we now have a very special next year planning offer to make you:

GTN Bonus Subscription Offer

• If you take out a subscription today I will send you bonus back issues of the GTN Bestsellers Charts for May, June and July 2013 so that you have a complete set as you plan your products and marketing for next year.  As the subscription price is only £145.00 per year, that means you can have 15 months of key garden retail sell through information for the equivalent of less than £10.00 per month, plus issues of Garden Trade News every month and full access to the GTN on-line archive.

All you have to do is click the "pay now" button below and we’ll send the bonus back issues too you straight away along with log-in details to access the GTN archive.

Retailers and suppliers, large and small, are benefitting from increased distribution and sales as retailers use the GTN Bestsellers charts to stock and sell products they know are bestsellers elsewhere and use ideas and supplier hints and tips in Garden Trade News to further increase sales.

This offer closs at the end of August so don't delay, subscribe today.

Buy your special Next Year Bonus subscription* to Garden Trade News and GTN Bestsellers for only £145.00 here:

* Your subscription includes a copy of GTN Bestsellers every week posted to you, exclusive access to the GTN Bestsellers Charts on-line, monthly copies of Garden Trade News posted to you, full access to the GTN archive and the GTN Xtra e-newsletter.

See a sample issue of GTN Bestsellers using this link

We do hope you are able to take up this offer and look forward to having your company receiving Garden Trade News every month along with the weekly GTN Bestsellers charts which also include our renowned money making GTN Bestsellers Tip of the Week.

Special subscription rates are available for multiple user subscriptions.  Please phone 01733 775700 or e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk for more details.

Consumers in the 25-34 age group are the biggest spenders on gardening products, according to new research by pots manufacturers Stewarts.

The study also suggests they are the most enthusiastic about growing their own fruit and vegetables, especially in pots and containers.

The research sampled UK consumers across the 25-34, 35-54 and 55+ age groups to find out about their levels of involvement and average gardening spend. 

Based on the amount of time they spend on gardening, respondents were categorised as keen, occasional or rare.

The survey found that the 25-34s have average annual outlay of £300 per head, compared to £240 per annum per head spent by 35-54 year olds and £200 by the over 55s.

Nearly 30% of the spend by keen gardeners under 35 goes on seeds, propagation, pots and hanging baskets, suggesting that this group may be driving the grow-your-own movement. Some 88% of respondents in the group are actively growing fruit, vegetables and other plants from seeds or bulbs in containers. By contrast, just 23% of respondents age 55+ say they grow their own fruit and vegetables this way.

Limited outdoor space is a likely driver of container growing for the under 35s. The group is also the most likely to involve children with gardening and to prefer recyclable plastic products. Under 35s use the internet widely to research products and get new ideas and have a good idea of what they need before they get to the garden centre.

A significant finding across all age groups is the increasing preference for lightweight plastic planters, as against planting in the ground. 

Gardeners in the 35-54 age group are revealed to be biggest users of compost (69%), suggesting that they may have larger gardens, with more space for larger products. In this group, the study says, many do prefer to grow in the ground.

Across all age groups, almost half of all respondents said they would welcome more gardening advice and help in store.

Although gardeners under 35 are the key target audience for grow your own products, the 55+ age group accounted for 28% of respondents in the study, so this is clearly still an important group for manufacturers and retailers of garden products.

Writtle College governor Paul Downer is climbing the UK’s three highest peaks – and cycling the 427 miles between them all – in just six days.

Paul, 46-year-old Managing Director of West Bergholt based landscape contracting company Oak View Landscapes Limited, is undertaking the feat of endurance with a team of 15 landscapers and industry colleagues from across the south and east of England. They hope to raise £20,000 for Perennial, the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society.

The team travel to Fort William on the 5 September and the challenge starts the following day when they will climb Ben Nevis and cycle 18 miles to Ballachulish. They will then cycle 122 miles on day two, 114 miles on day three, climb Scafell Pike and cycle the 23 miles to Grasmere on day four, ride 100 miles on day five and finish off the feat with cycling 50 miles and climbing Snowdon on the final day!

Paul, a governor of Writtle College since 2008, explained his gruelling training schedule:  “I have been in training since March working to a programme supplied by our organisers, Mountain and Glen. Basically this has involved two gym sessions a week and two or three cycle rides a week at up to 75 miles. I have been training with my 15-year-old son James and last month we completed a 20 mile climb in the Cairngorms in seven hours as I can’t just concentrate only on cycling!

“This is going to be an immense challenge as it will be six continuous days with little time for recovery. My training has gone well but I have long standing knee injuries which are troublesome but Perennial is such a worthy cause there was no way I would turn down the opportunity to support this horticulture industry charity.”

To find out more and to sponsor Paul and the team, visit http://www.justgiving.com/3PeaksExtreme.

The stars of Great Taste 2013 will be on show at the first ever Great Taste Deli at Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London (September 8-10 at Olympia).

Each day of the trade only show, the Great Taste Deli will host a galaxy of 3-star winning producers who will offer tastings of their exquisite food and drink to visitors at the show.  From Burren Smokehouse smoked salmon to Grumpy Mule coffee,  Hebridean Seaweed Biscuits from Stag Bakeries to Blackcurrant Curd from Thursday Cottage – some of the very best Great Taste 3-star award winners will be up for tasting.

“The Great Taste Deli will be a place to drop by and taste the kind of food that had our Great Taste judges in raptures.  It’s a pop-up deli complete with deli displays and shelving, tasting tables, and more from the deli experts at wbc (www.wbc.co.uk) and each of the producers will be offering tips on how best to taste their products in visitors own delis, farm shops or food halls," said John Farrand, MD of The Guild of Fine Food, organisers of Great Taste.

"We hope to welcome a stream of visitors to the Great Taste Deli which is a new venture for The Guild of Fine Food and especially want to see as many people as possible on the morning of Tuesday , September 10,  when our newly announced Great Taste Supreme Champion will be taking the spotlight!” 

For more information visit www.finefoodworld.co.uk www.greattasteawards.co.uk

The Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Barometer of Trade (BoT) results for July (2013) revealed people were continuing to make the most of the sunshine by improving their outdoor living spaces.

Barbecues and furniture sales were up 72.75% for the month as compared to July 2012. The category now stands at 12.22% up for the year to date.

Peter Burks, Chairman of the GCA, explained: “July was the fourth consecutive month of good sales for our member garden centres, with overall sales up 14.61% up as compared to the same period last year. The overall year to date figure now stands at 3.21% up.

“Other good sellers in July were outdoor plants, 15.84% up, garden sundries, 22.88% up, hard landscaping, 24.87% up and food hall/farm shop, 10.4% up.”

The GCA BoT reports are compiled using actual sales figures and provide an up-to-date trading position statement.

The BoT reports produced by the GCA allow member garden centres to compare their trading positions with other centres.

Julian Winfield, Chief Executive of Haskins Garden Centres, whose stores all performed well in the furniture and barbecues category during July, said: “Having possibly under-performed in recent years we have worked hard, with fewer suppliers, to get the price points right all the way through the range.

“We have not shied away from the higher priced ranges and encouraged our centres to do special customer orders for non-standard product lines. However, furniture sales are still substantially down on 10 years ago.”

For further information, please call 0118 930 8918. Alternatively, please visit www.gca.org.uk, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAssociation or follow the organisation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.