A wetter more overcast June meant garden centre sales were 2% down on last year for the month of June – but non-gardening categories performed well.

A strong start to 2019 means sales remain up for year to June comparisons, according to the June 2019 issue of HTA Market Update published last week.

Garden centre sales are 10% up based on the calendar year to June 2019 vs 2018. Houseplants saw the highest increase at +20% for the calendar year to June, followed by growing media at +16%.

Weather reports show that June 2019 was wetter than June of last year across most of the UK, recording the highest number of rain days and most rainfall for the month of June since 2012.

HTA director of membership Martin Simmons said: “ In June, houseplant sales continued to grow, but sales of garden and outdoor ranges suffered in the wetter weather. Non-garden categories like gifting and pets, performed well in June. It’s good to see that a strong start to the year means year to date comparisons remain up on last year for all of the product categories reported.”

This issue of Market Update also contains a topical feature looking at what consumers say they use their gardens for. It is available free for members to download from the HTA website. https://hta.org.uk/learn-develop/market-information.html