QD Stores buys Roman Way Garden Centre

Gilbert Evans has announced the recent sale of Roman Way Garden Centre to QD Stores. This is the third acquisition this year for the rapidly expanding group. See more... Read more - members only

Stewart aims for expansion as it moves to Banbury

A year after ECI took a majority stake in Stewart Plastics, the company has opened a modern factory at Banbury, which will double capacity and streamline operations both in the UK and for export. See more... Read more - members only

B&Q suffers from short term set of headwinds

Kingfisher, owner of B&Q and Screwfix in the UK, says profits fell 15% thanks to adverse weather and adverse currency movements. It is stimulating demand with YouTube videos and multichannel retailing. See more... Read more - members only

Scotts Miracle-Gro faces $12.5m in fines and penalties for breaching US pesticide laws

Scotts Miracle-Gro has agreed to pay $12.5m for illegally applying insecticides to wild bird food products and for falsifying pesticide registration documents. Both offences happened in 2008 in the United States. See more... Read more - members only

Gloomy Marshalls cuts capacity at cost of £18.5m

Marshalls has acted to cut capacity as profits tumble due to the weather and a deteriorating outlook for hard landscaping. See more... Read more - members only

New stores push Dobbies sales to £136m

Dobbies increased sales by £24m to £136.4m for the year thanks to the contribution of 7 new stores. Interest free borrowings increased to £96m. See more... Read more - members only

Highland Heathers falls victim of the weather and overseas competition

The BBC reports that Highland Heathers in Argyll is likely to close after being placed into receivership. See more... Read more - members only

Scotts Miracle-Gro donates $200,000 to Mitt Romney campaign

The Washington Post reports that Jim Hagedorn, flamboyant chairman of Scotts Miracle-Gro, has committed the company to donate $200,000 to Mitt Romney’s Presidential campaign. See more... Read more - members only

Further profits warning from Sinclair as wet halts peat harvest

William Sinclair reacts to wet weather by buying more peat drying machines and increasing capacity for SuperFyba. But, profits will be lower. See more... Read more - members only

Allwoods moves to Cheam

Allwoods Nursery, the specialist Pinks and Carnations nursery is moving to Cheam Plant Centre in Surrey. See more... Read more - members only

Flying Brands is grounded

Flying Brands has closed its Growing and Live Despatch Business and thus ceases to sell plants. An announcement about the future of the listed company, whose biggest shareholder is Sir Tom Hunter, will follow. See more... Read more - members only

Hortus Loci to add Cash and Carry business

Mark Straver and Robin Wallis expect to have acquired Whitewater Nursery within weeks and will add a Cash & Carry business to the existing nursery and retail businesses. See more… Read more - members only

Garden centre raiders target Yankee candles

Already one of the most popular items with shoplifters, Yankee candles have now become the target of night raiders at an Andover garden centre. See more... Read more - members only

Garden centre plans controversial wind turbines

Plans for 3 windmills on a Ribble Valley Garden centre have been called a blot on the landscape by local residents. See more... Read more - members only

Horticultural clearance hits B&Q Margins

Kingfisher says that B&Q sales were up in May and June but margins were hit by markdowns needed to clear horticultural stocks and by additional promotions. See more... Read more - members only

Smart Solar to distribute Haxnicks products

Day one of Glee was marked by the announcement that Smart Solar is to become the sole distributor of Haxnicks products in the UK. See more… Read more - members only

Dobbies extends North to Inverness

Dobbies plans to extend its estate north to Inverness, where it is seeking permission to open a garden centre next to Tesco. See more…
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Ex Virgin Chief to chair The Garden Centre Group

Stephen Murphy, who succeeded Richard Branson as group chief executive of Virgin becomes the new chairman of The Garden Centre Group. See more… Read more - members only

Dobbies given thumbs-up for King’s Lynn

Dobbies’ first joint store with Tesco has been approved by planners at Kings Lynn. Work should start next spring. See more... Read more - members only

Scotts to launch Flower Magic on TV

Scotts will use Flower Magic to head its 2013 TV campaign. Just sprinkle it, water it and within 6 weeks you have a mixed border that will flower all summer. Scotts hope it will be bigger than Patch Magic. See more…
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Kelkay to distribute Henri Studio

News will be released at Glee that Henri Studio is closing UK operations and that Kelkay will become the sole distributor of its products in this country. See more... Read more - members only

Next accelerates move into gardening

Next continues its expansion into gardening saying it has identified a further 19 locations for its new format Home & Garden centres. See more… Read more - members only

Rising food prices will lead to a boom in Grow-Your-Own

The poor harvest of grain, fruit and vegetables is already showing in the price of food, which is predicted to increase sharply in the autumn. Mr Fothergill’s expects this to boost interest in Grow Your Own. See more... Read more - members only

Poplars Joins Future Marketing

Poplars Garden Centre of Dunstable announced today they have joined Future Marketing, making it number 12 for the marketing and buying group. See more... Read more - members only

Plants and Products in the final Love Your Garden

Here are the plants and products featured in the final episode of Love Your Garden. Alan Titchmarsh, David Domoney and the team created a garden at Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice in South Yorkshire. See more... (open to all) Read more - open to all

Garden & Leisure win permission for Waitrose co-development

Garden & Leisure has finally won permission to redevelop Percy Thrower's Garden Centre. When completed the site will have a Waitrose supermarket alongside a new, larger garden centre. See more... Read more - members only

Focus and the disposal of Scotts’ Professional lead to massive losses in 2011

Gardenforum explains the £22 million operating loss made last year by The Scotts Company (UK). 2012 has also been a difficult year, but that is due to the weather. See more... Read more - members only

Plants and Products in tonight's Love Your Garden

Here is a list of plants and garden products to be featured in tonight’s Love Your Garden on ITV 1. Alan Titchmarsh and David Domoney create a garden for a young soldier injured in Afghanistan and his family. See more... Read more - members only

New Super-site for William Sinclair

William Sinclair has acquired a manufacturing ‘Super site’ near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire. It will provide the capacity to take production from Bolton Fell when it closes, and cover future expansion. See more... Read more - members only

A time of change at Solex

Sales down 20%, more competition from the Internet and new EU legislation for imported wood introduced a mood of change at Solex, which moves to a larger venue next year. See more... Read more - members only

To see earlier stories - Look in the News Archive