As predicted on Gardenforum earlier in the year, Next has confirmed that it will open a second Home and Garden store at the end of June, in Ipswich. A third will open this summer in Warrington with more to follow. See more... Read more - members only

The RHS has responded to the report of a man contracting Legionnaires’ Disease from compost with advice not to store potting media in hot greenhouses as these will heat up and may encourage Legionella. See more… Read more - members only

A planning application has been submitted to redevelop Percy Thrower’s Garden Centre twelve months after Garden & Leisure revealed the possibility of sharing the site with Waitrose. See more... Read more - members only

Westland is backing Diarmuid Gavin at this year's Chelsea Flower Show as he seeks to build the largest ever garden. You can watch the progress by clicking regularly on the website link below. See more... Read more - members only

The owner of Old Railway Garden Centre praised suppliers as delays in the completion of bank funding threatened to delay its £1.1m redevelopment. See more... Read more - members only

Terry Stannard, the non-executive chairman of Gardman Holdings is leaving the company. In his place, Jonathan Halford, the chairman of Forest Garden joins as a non-executive director. See more... Read more - members only

Briggs & Stratton is cutting capacity and cutting the workforce by 10%, saying it does not expect demand to return to peak levels in the foreseeable future. See more... Read more - members only

Construction is about to start on a £2.5m garden centre in Dunbar. This will be the second site for Berwick Garden Centre, which is also expanding. See more... Read more - members only

Gardman has announced its move into the pet care market, initially targeting cats and dogs. There will be three brands covering everyday accessories, design led fashion products and a more rugged range for the outdoor dog. See more… Read more - members only

Westland Horticulture has bought Cranswick Pet Products. Cranswick has two leading brands: Bucktons and Nature’s Feast. See more... Read more - members only

William Sinclair’s trading update says that after a slightly later start this year, the important spring sales season is now very much underway. See more... Read more - members only

A matter of weeks after announcing the sale of is gifts division to Interflora, Flying Brands has said it is selling the Garden Bird Supplies, Garden Centre Online and Listen 2 businesses. See more... Read more - members only

Contracts were exchanged over the weekend for Terra Firma to buy The Garden Centre Group. Terra Firma plans to develop the group and has funds available for further investment in the business. See more... Read more - members only

La Hacienda used its membership of ACID to enforce its IP rights against White Stores after discovering the company selling inferior quality chimeneas under the La Hacienda brand name. See more... Read more - members only

Barclays is investing £500,000 in developments at Studley Garden Centre, the first in the proposed chain of Hillview Garden Centres. It appears there could be a second acquisition soon. See more... Read more - members only

Boyd Douglas Davies’ Hillview Group is about to complete its second acquisition: Hilltop Garden Centre in Oxfordshire. See more... Read more - members only

Last August, Keydell Nurseries had planning permission refused for a new garden centre despite local officers recommending approval. Now they are offering to pay for traffic calming measures. See more... Read more - members only

Marshalls, the manufacturer of paving and landscaping product, says sales did not show their usual post Easter uplift.  Working conditions in April were disappointing, hampering sales and obscuring underlying market trends.  See more… Read more - members only

Just entering the annual GIMA awards presents unrivalled exposure for any company launching a new gardening product. See more... Read more - members only

Beckworth Emporium has said it will close for 2 days over the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee so that staff can join the celebrations. See more... Read more - members only

7 million viewers of Countryfile last night, saw the UK’s major peat harvester call for a ban on peat. The programme reminded gardeners that they have a choice whether to use peat on their gardens. See more... Read more - members only

Blue Diamond’s recent acquisitions make it the largest privately owned specialist garden centre group measured by turnover, with further growth to come. See more... Read more - members only

Blue Diamond has bought the Grosvenor Garden Centre business. All staff will be retained by the new owners, who look forward to developing the potential of one of the country's leading garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

The Garden Store has taken over the lease of Burford House Garden Centre in Tenbury Wells that houses the National Collection of clematis. See more... Read more - members only

The Garden Centre Group has agreed to take over the retail plant centre at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire. See more... Read more - members only

Dobbies has announced a bursary worth £150k to be shared between schools, charities and community groups around its garden centres to encourage them to get growing. See more… Read more - members only

Next says it has identified 19 sites where it hopes to open mini-department stores. A number of these will have garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

Grafted plants look set to change the way tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are grown at home. The first stocks from Suttons are being delivered this week to over 500 garden centres. Gardeners seem happy to pay the premium price. See more... Read more - members only

Dobbies is to give away water-wise products worth £10,000 to local community groups around 11 of its stores. Most are in drought affected areas. See more… Read more - members only

Both Dobbies and Haskins open new garden centres today in the South. See more... Read more - members only