In This Issue
spoga+gafa 2021 is postponed to August
All sales up by 93%, plant sales up by 170%
Christmas & Gift 2021 cancelled
PATS Sandown is cancelled
SOLEX 2021 CANCELLED
Heaven Sends welcomes buyers to showroom to view new Christmas Collection
Scottish businesses and key personalities unite in call for garden centres to be re-opened
Happy sowing, happy growing, happy days!
Garden centre set to reopen in Northern Ireland
More events confirmed for Garden Re-Leaf Day 2021
Plants sales at the double
SylvaGrow Farmyard 100% Peat Free wins New Product Award
Turbo charged gardening as February breaks all records
Garden centre food hall and farm shop sales stay positive in January
Engaging 3 million new gardeners and being kind to our planet: key themes at the 2021 Virtual Garden Press Event
What Lies Ahead for 2021? - GTN's February Issue On-Line Now
Evergreen Garden Care partners with PlantSnap to make plant identification and care as simple as snap and grow!
UK’s first ‘Home of Gardening Science’ to open on June 24
Luxury, complete houseplant care solution launched
How the pandemic changed the way customers shop at their favourite garden centre
Tong supports Kirklees School with role play setting
New BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair
Altons BBQ World, Aylett Nurseries, Barton Grange, Baytree, Busy Bee, Groves, Pengelly, Pughs, The Old Railway Line and Squires Badshot Lea are the winners of GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards
Christmas Future Trends at Glee's Festive Focus Day
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Are New Gardeners the key to gardening sales increases?
Frank P Matthews Delivers Over 4000 Japanese Flowering Cherry Trees
The natural way to protect Box plants
Double bubble for Growing Media
Highest weekly turnover in ten years at Royal Flora Holland
68% turaround for Veg-2-Gro sales in February
She Grows Veg launches first book to promote “beautiful and bountiful” growing
HTA reacts to Chancellor's budget
The best of last week's
February sales - 37% above average - Gardening is Essential!
Hillier Nurseries bidding farewell to 2021 Chelsea Flower Show
Dobbies reports 51% increase in sales
Half term sales set course for a record February
Going from strength to strength
Why choose Meadow View Stone?
Hayes Garden World launches online Grow Your Own range
Bents introduces new virtual shopping service
The GIMA Awards are back!
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Barton Grange Christmas 2020 - Exclusive GTN Xtra Photo Tour
Squires Badshot Lea - Christmas 2020
Perrywood at Christmas 2020 - with correct photo gallery now...
British Garden Centres open their 58th centre at Thatcham
Haskins Snowhill re-opens after £15m re-vamp
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to the GTN Bestsellers printed weekly newsletter
All the latest news from the world of pet products
Natures Menu celebrates 40th anniversary
Pawfect Foods launches Nature’s Feast
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Email trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 07973 504214

 

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Engaging 3 million new gardeners and being kind to our planet: key themes at the 2021 Virtual Garden Press Event

One of the biggest trade events in the gardening calendar, The Garden Press Event, has taken place virtually for the first time in its 16-year history.

 

For some members of the sector, The Garden Press Event in 2020 may have been the last time they attended an event in person before the UK was locked down.  

 

Last weeks digital event saw the use of online roundtables alongside a series of videos, to provide an interactive way to network and to kick off the 2021 gardening season from the comfort of people’s own homes. 

 

The event, run by HTA and GIMA, gave 57 exhibitors the platform to showcase their company and products while speaking directly to members of the garden media.

 

Around 300 journalists, bloggers, feature writers and other members of the media attended the popular event to find out about the latest trends and products for 2021. 

 

The hashtag #GardenPressEvent proved popular on Twitter feeds and opened the floor for discussion about current themes and trends in the industry. 

 

Mark Pitman, General Manager at Wildlife World, commented: “From an exhibitor’s point of view, I am very happy – the event worked exactly as a virtual event should do. We had advanced notice of who was attending, so knew who we wanted to talk to, and the video chat rooms allowed us to connect with these people and other visitors throughout the day at our leisure. I would even go so far to say that we got more out of it than a physical event.”

 

Key themes and stories of the event: 

  • Understanding more on why the nation turned to gardening during lockdown was a theme echoed across exhibitors, such as Westland. Pippa Greenwood announced that 3 million people have discovered or re-discovered gardening as a direct result of the pandemic, and the focus for the garden industry now is how to keep this new audience engaged.
    Dalefoot promoted its latest compost ingredient, hailed ‘the organic gardener’s best friend’, which yields significant levels of natural nutrients, trace elements and minerals to nourish growing in plants. This has been nurtured over the past five years and is now blended into Dalefoot’s composts, providing some of the best peat-free growing media on the market.
    Echoing last year’s sustainability focus, exhibitors such as Haxnicks and Dalefoot reinforced the important message of living more sustainably.
    Participants got a sneak preview of what to expect from Floriade Expo 2022.
    Westland used the event to showcase its new products for 2021, including The Capability Trowel and soil-based planting mediums that are set to deliver ‘green growth’ in the coming year.
    Hayter, as part of The Toro Company, demonstrated its commitment to sustainability and developing safe and high-quality products that are designed to yield performance and productivity
    Green4air Greenwall showcased its vertical garden system, which is suitable for domestic or commercial installations, both indoors and outdoors.

Entries to the New Product Awards raised around £1,700 for the children’s charity Greenfingers, who work to create gardens in children’s’ hospices across the UK. Melcourt won the prize for the second year running, this time for SylvaGrow Farmyard, their 100% peat-free soil improver. 

 

The transition to an online event may have been daunting for HTA and GIMA, but it proved to be a success. Lucy Hutchings, who runs the shegrowsveg Instagram account, commented:  “How inspiring to see the Garden Press Event triumph in such difficult circumstances. The digital platform created for this year’s event was truly impressive, and actually resulted in a more personal and focused interaction with exhibitors. 

 

“The opportunity to sit down and have direct face-to-face meetings with people without any distraction was great. Well done Garden Press Event!”

 

All content from the virtual event will be available online for the next 30 days, meaning participants can revisit any videos they may have missed on the day. 

 

Next year’s Garden Press Event will take place on Wednesday 9th March at the Business Design Centre in London.

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