Fiskar’s Weed Puller won the GIMA Sword of Excellence for the best product in the 2011 GIMA awards last night, plus the Marketing Award of Excellence. Solus was named Supplier of the Year for the second year. It was also a good night for the Hozelock Auto reel. See more… Read more - members only

With sales and margins up, The Garden Centre Group has decided that ‘now it is time for the company to look at the various options going forward.’ See more... Read more - members only

The Garden Centre Group is to buy Country Homes & Gardens, whose garden centres trade as Country Gardens. This unifies the two groups that have been operating in tandem. See more... Read more - members only

William Sinclair has been refused permission to continue harvesting peat at Chat Moss on environmental grounds, which it says make no sense. At Bolton Fell where they have stopped production, compensation negotiations are delayed. See more... Read more - members only

The drive for excellence has boosted The Garden Centre Group revenue at the half year. Collaboration with David Austin Roses at Syon Park has quadrupled rose sales. ‘Click and Collect’ to be launched in the autumn. See more... Read more - members only

Figures released today show that Focus DIY owed over £61 million to suppliers. A number of leading companies in the garden sector face substantial losses with 5 owed over £1 million each. See more… Read more - members only

There’s a spat between ex-presenters of Gardener’s World arising from the 'I don’t Dig Peat' campaign launched by Garden Organic. See more... Read more - members only

Garden centre revenues in May have fallen for the last 3 years and this year they were 15% lower than in April, according to the GCA. Garden furniture sales suffered especially. See more... Read more - members only

Six and a half years after rescuing Stewart Plastics from administration, Lee Mowle has sold the Stewart Group in a deal valuing it at £17m. The buyer is private equity firm, ECI. See more… Read more - members only

Park Garden Centres are to start work as soon as possible on the first phase of the £5m redevelopment of its garden centre at Almondsbury. See more... Read more - members only

Dobbies is seeking to fund the transformation of communities around its garden centres with bursaries worth £66,000. These are distributed through its “Here We Grow” programme. See more… Read more - members only

B&Q credits Alan Titchmarsh with improving the quality and distribution of its plants. It sold over 1 million more plants this spring, with 24-pack bedding showing the biggest growth. See more... Read more - members only

Growers attending the HTA Amenity Suppliers meeting, held last week at Coles Nurseries in Leicestershire, reported a healthy market with trading much better than anticipated at the beginning of the year.

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As expected, Tesco has revealed that it will operate the supermarket next to the garden centre that Dobbies has long planned to open in a retail complex at East Kilbride, near Glasgow. See more... Read more - members only

There is speculation across the UK press that the administrators of Focus will today announce the closure of more than 120 stores. See more... Read more - members only

Choice Marketing puts a hold on the addition of further garden centres after Johnsons of Boston joins the group. See more… Read more - members only

Solus has announced the closure today of its small Newcastle depot. In future customers will receive deliveries from Edinburgh or Birmingham. See more... Read more - members only

Following the demise of Focus and several other retailers, consumers can be wary about paying deposits before delivery. B&Q is using TrustMark to build confidence. See more... Read more - members only

CEO Nicholas Marshall says the Mail on Sunday article claiming that PwC are about to sell The Garden Centre Group is a load of old rubbish. See more... Read more - members only

Wilmslow Garden Centre, one of the Klondyke Group, has been destroyed by fire and has closed. See more... Read more - members only

Oaktree Garden Centre near Bracknell, a 23-acre site, has recently been sold for an undisclosed sum. The purchasers, John & Eve Went, are looking to develop the £1.8m turnover centre over the next few years. See more... Read more - members only

Local sources report that Stephen H Smith is in talks with Marks & Spencer about opening a store on its site on the outskirts of Scunthorpe. See more... Read more - members only

The administrators have published the closure dates of the Focus DIY stores, with the first 10 closing on June 19th. More than 31 stores have been sold to B&Q and 13 to Wickes. Asda are also taking some. Click on the website button below. Read more - members only

After protracted negotiations, Garden Wise (Dumfries) has won permission to double the covered retail area of the garden centre. Work starts in July. See more... Read more - members only

Home Retail Group has experienced further significant decline at Argos while like-for-like sales at Homebase edged higher thanks to the weather. See more... Read more - members only

The first of Alan Titchmarsh’s new gardening series is due to air on Friday. GIMA has been helping the makers to source products and is keen to alert suppliers and retailers ahead of each show to items that will be featured. See more... Read more - members only

William Sinclair has issued a fresh call for the government to legislate against the use of peat in horticulture as it revealed a six-month increase in sales and pre-tax profits. See more... Read more - members only

Following the sale of Scotts Professional Division to the Israeli based speciality chemical company, ICL Group, a new global professional brand has been unveiled, named Everris. See more...
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The unusually high temperatures and light levels this spring have sadly taken their toll on the iris fields. The iris flowers are so far forward, that there will be no blooms left for the field open days, which had been scheduled for 2-4 June 2011. Read more - members only

Reports of a tie-up between Garden & Leisure and Waitrose are somewhat premature. Any agreement is subject to planning permission, which has yet even to be submitted to the Shrewsbury planners. See more... Read more - members only