Until now, many garden centres have shied away from selling powered gardening tools, leaving them to the DIY sheds. A visit to the Stihl factories in Europe shows the next generation of battery-powered tools should be perfect for garden centres. Read more - members only

‘We'll be quiet in social media for a while but don't forget us…’ says Speyside Heather Centre, after it was destroyed by fire. Read more - members only

Marshalls says it is disappointed at a threated strike by drivers that would disrupt paving deliveries to builders merchants such as Travis Perkins and Jewson. Read more - members only

A digger fire temporarily halted all vehicle movements at Westland Horticulture’s Ellsemere plant earlier this week Read more - members only

Gardenforum understands that the bidding process for Dobbies has started with the deadline for initial bids tomorrow.

The Blue Diamond group is close to completing the purchase of Harlow Garden Centre and says the site has bags of potential. Read more - members only

Squire’s Garden Centre in Long Ditton has a stylish new look, following a £700,000 investment to make it bigger and better than before! Read more - members only

Blue Diamond completed a £1m refurbishment of Trentham Garden Centre at the end of March, winning the approval of its Staffordshire customers. Read more - members only

The owners of Leighton Buzzard Garden Centre have decided it will close in the autumn having failed to find a buyer. Read more - members only

Blue Diamond rolled out the red carpet on Wednesday, 16th March, hosting their 6th Annual Blue Diamond Awards, with Newbridge Nurseries taking the top award. Read more - open to all

Lynda Whalley helped herself to almost £166,000 over 9 years by falsifying the accounts at ACW garden centre in Bradford. Read more - members only

Grovewell Garden Centre has added a third garden centre to its group with the acquisition of MacFarlanes at Hawkinge. Read more - members only

The new owners of Aylings Garden centre, now called Maple Ridge have withdrawn an application to redevelop the site as a tourist centre and local hub. Read more - members only

Terra Firma has appointed Toys “R” Us MD, Roger Mclaughlan, to succeed Kevin Bradshaw who is to move on from being CEO of Wyevale. Read more - members only

A proposed Junction 10a on the M20 in Kent could see the closure of Wyevale’s Ashford garden centre. Read more - members only

Dan Zinner and Tim Patten are leaving Wyevale as two former Homebase directors are recruited, bringing more garden sector knowledge to the group.

This bank holiday Frosts are holding the official opening of their half million pound furniture showroom at their Woburn Sands garden centre. Read more - members only

It looks as if there are 4 and possibly 6 bidders in the competition for Dobbies Garden Centres, which can be viewed as a must win for Wyevale. Read more - members only

Dog Rocks Distribution Ltd has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.  Read more - members only

At the recent GIMA meeting Bob Hewitt, outlined the future for Klondyke and the industry, including suggesting that Wyevale may not be the only suitor for Dobbies. Read more - members only

T&M is crediting better customer service and a shift towards online trading for its improved profits performance in 2014/15 and promises further significant progress. Read more - members only

Speculation is spreading that Tesco will hang a ’For Sale’ sign on the doors of Dobbies Garden Centres.  But no mention was made in Wednesday's preliminary results. Read more - members only

“Winning the GIMA Innovators Seed Corn Fund has opened doors for us that we never imagined.”  Launched in July 15, Green Digit’s Seedcell has over 175 stockists across the country. Multiple-retailers such as Homebase and B&Q will follow soon. Read more - members only

In spades, Cardiff Wyevale is bigger than Percy Thrower in Shrewsbury and the official Guinness World Record holder in Texas. Read more - members only

Kingfisher is following Bunnings’ plans closely and has given more information about One Kingfisher and how it will rationalise the number of suppliers and SKUs with bathrooms and garden being first. Read more - members only

Wokingham Borough Council has threatened Hare Hatch Sheeplands with court action despite a planning appeal being scheduled for September and a local petition signed by 8500 supporters. Read more - members only

Eljays44, publisher of Garden Centre Retail, asks the people who preregistered for the Future Lines trade show why they didn’t attend. Read more - members only

40 people became unwell after visiting Old Railway Line Garden Centre on Mothers’ Day. The source of the outbreak is not yet known, but Norovirus could be the cause. Read more - members only

The MD of Barcham Trees warns, "Xylella is not in the UK yet, but if plant material keeps coming across from the continent without any thought to bio-security it is only a matter of time before this menace becomes a reality.” Read more - members only

The Tillington Group that pools the buying power of some of the country’s top garden centres has broken into the £200m turnover band. Read more - members only