NZ: People queue to catch whiff of corpse flower plant in Dunedin

People queued up at the gates of the Dunedin Botanic Garden to take a whiff of the city's famously stinky plant. About 50 people were already lined up at 8am on Saturday to…

Vertical gardening on the rise with Al’s Flower Pouch

As urban centres become more populated and residences grow upward, so do the gardens. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, housebound consumers have refocused creative energies on their outdoor spaces but, increasingly, they are working with smaller gardens and fewer beds than green thumbs of the…

UK: Calls for garden centres to close during lockdown to help "save lives"

Garden centres might be keeping their doors open during England's third lockdown, but one owner is urging the industry to remain closed to help "save lives" and "keep staff and customers safe". Chris Bonnett, who runs Bonnetts Garden Village in Brentwood, believes that nurseries should only open to the…

UK: Are garden centres open in Tier 4 in England? New rules explained

Around 44million Brits have been plunged into tough Tier 4 restrictions - but what does it mean for garden centres? In this article published at www.thesun.co.uk, all rules are explained. 

Woodlawn

HTA reacts to news of increased NI restrictions

Reacting to the announcement that Northern Ireland will introduce further restrictions lasting six weeks from Boxing Day, James Clark, Director of Policy and Communications at the HTA, said: “Although the developing situation with coronavirus is clearly something that demands action, we firmly believe…

US: Thriving Design to debut world’s first fully DIY plant support system at MANTS 2021

Thriving Design, the innovative garden product start-up of Colorado inventor Jason Rider and his sister Morgan Rider, announced the debut of its C-BITEs at the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show on January 6-8, 2021. C-BITE garden clips are a customizable, reusable, and super strong alternative to…

North Wales Garden World

"Action is required, but garden centres should be able to stay open"

Reacting to the First Minister of Wales’ announcement that Wales will move into a tier 4 lockdown from 24 December, James Clark, Director of Policy and Communications at the HTA, said: “Action is required to prevent any further increase in coronavirus cases in Wales, but we believe that garden centres…

Akarawut Lohacharoenvanich | Dreamstime.com

"Now suppliers are producing peat free products at a quality and at a price that will attract a consumer"

We are committed to becoming peat-free but this needs to be done in a realistic and sustainable way. This relies on consumers accepting that the quality of peat free media is of equal quality and reasonably priced. We have offered peat free alternatives for as long as I can remember, but consumer…

Aliaksandr Baiduk | Dreamstime.com

UK: Gardening grows Christmas cheer in tough times

The positive relationship people built with gardening as they navigated lockdown continues to flourish as temperatures drop.    Almost three million new people took up gardening during 2020 and as their enthusiasm to continue with their new-found hobby shows no signs of slowing, garden centres are seeing this interest translate…

Guiding customers with great garden center signage

In any garden center, there’s a lot of focus on plants, products, and what’s for sale. But one of the most important things in your garden center—and one of the first things each one of your customers will see when they arrive—is actually something surprisingly important: signage. Good signage is so important…

Netherlands: Luiten Greenhouses solves temperature problem at garden center Ranzijn Spijk

In a garden centre, it is nice if there is always a constant temperature, both for the plants, customers and staff. Difficult when this is not the case and you are chattering your teeth in winter and got sweat on your forehead in summer. Ranzijn Spijk had this problem and Luiten Greenhouses helped them…

UK: Garden centre customers find happiness in houseplants in October

Customers at garden centres across the country boosted their spirits by buying houseplants during October (2020) according to the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Barometer of Trade report. Compared with the same month in 2019, sales were up 48.2%. Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive explained: “Our mental…

Garden centre chaos in the UK

Britons have reacted with fury over the absurdly long and time-consuming queues erupting at garden centres across the country. Under the current guidelines, garden centres are allowed to remain open as long as they can operate in a secure way. Frustrated customers have accused others of abusing the measures thus causing large…

Squire’s Garden Centres

UK: Why gardening is a lifesaver in lockdown

Squire’s Garden Centres recently ran a survey in which 93% of people said that gardening was a “lifesaver” during lockdown in spring. With the second national lockdown in place, getting out in the garden is going to be just as important to people’s mental health and wellbeing this time around. Gardening…

"The idea of the platform is to collect everything connected to the garden business in Europe in one place"

"We wanted everybody in Europe, when looking for some garden product to find it in one place. So we started to gather database,” says Stefan Rusenov, one of the creators of eugardens.eu, an European Garden Business Directory. This online directory for consumers was launched two years ago and is…

Ashton Hall Garden Centre

Garden centres in England and Scotland to stay open

Following confirmation that garden centres in England can stay open, James Clark, Director of Policy and Communications at the HTA said: “This announcement to keep garden centres open in England during lockdown is a huge relief and very welcome for members – not only garden centres, but for those in the…

Enjoy Garden Centre

CAN (AB): Hole's Greenhouses rebranded as Enjoy Garden Centre

TEC Property Inc., owner of the Enjoy Centre, is rebranding its greenhouse business as the company begins to grow its own legacy in St. Albert.  A ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 2 officially welcomed back customers to the 100,000-sq.-ft. greenhouse space under a new name: the Enjoy Garden Centre. The property…