The aisles of a busy HTA National Plant Show hummed with discussions about Wyevale, Brexit, technology, early wastage and the shortage of hardy nursery stock. Read more

Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman will be hosting Cultivating Retail the new one-day event for retailers, suppliers and growers. The new conference and dinner, jointly hosted by HTA and GIMA, promises to be the must attend event of the year for the garden retail supply chain – tackling key issues and opportunities that the industry faces. Read more

By the end of May, many garden centres look set to make up what looked like an unbridgeable -10.5% shortfall in sales at the end of April. Read more

Ahead of this year’s National Children’s Gardening Week (26 May-3 June) a report has been published by the HTA on the uptake and benefits of school gardening in UK primary schools. Read more

With just over a month to go until the HTA Catering Conference now is the time to book your place to ensure you don’t miss out on this unique event for the garden industry. This year’s conference and dinner, themed ‘A Recipe for Growth’, takes place at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 June. Read more

The 2018 National Children’s Gardening Week is fast approaching on 26 May – 3 June but it is not too late to get involved! Read more

The GCA figures for March are dismal, but after a week of better weather the mood has changed as a message from Stewarts Garden Centres shows.  Figures from Dobbies and Wyevale have been added. Read more

Inflation is to fall, interest rates and wages are to rise. GIMA hears now is a good time for exporters, and how to reduce the currency risk with foreign exchange specialists.  Read more

Recently published figures show that the gender pay gap in garden retailers is generally smaller than the UK average. However, there are some interesting differences between the garden centre groups. Read more

Considered the garden industry event of the year, the GIMA Awards are set to return later this summer (12th July, Celtic Manor), with another glittering night of celebrations. Entry to this year’s awards are now open – with suppliers being urged to not miss out on their chance to win one of the industry’s highest accolades. Read more

The forthcoming GIMA Day Conference is set to offer a varied selection of speakers, including two popular retail stalwarts who will be providing an insight into the state of retailing in the year ahead. Read more

To celebrate the fourth year of National Children’s Gardening week and it’s ‘adoption’ by the HTA, a new look website for National Children’s Gardening Week has been unveiled, along with a suite of free resources for the garden industry to get behind the initiative. Read more

Wyevale, the country’s largest specialist garden centre group with 147 stores, has published a report on the latest gardening trends revealed by a survey of 15,000 garden lovers. Read more

Bents has pipped Barton Grange and Webbs of Wychbold to be the GCA Destination Garden Centre of the Year. Smart Garden has regained the prestigious Supplier of the Year cup. Read more

Christmas buying is getting earlier and overall sales have dropped in many centres, not helped by snow on the peak live tree weekend, closing some centres. Despite this, overall garden centre sales are up for 2017. Read more

The Beast from the East was forgotten as gardeners spent more in garden centres last month. Read more

A court case in 2015 opened up a potential loophole in the law which would bring nurseries into line with paying business rates. The Government has decided this week that this will not happen. Read more

Raoul Curtis-Machin is to leave the HTA at the end of June. His role will be split between the existing management team and two new posts that will be created. Read more

Recruitment and retention of catering staff, food counter visual merchandising, food inspiration from Australia and creating modern takes on traditional bakes are just three of the hot topics on the agenda for the HTA Catering Conference, ‘A Recipe for Growth’, which takes place on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 June at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Read more

As sales take off at garden centres pressure falls on a supply chain already impacted by the fire at Gardman. Gardenforum checks stock availability. Read more

Entries are coming in thick and fast. Make sure we receive yours before next month's deadline. It’s a great chance to get your entry in front of our panel of expert judges, which this year includes buyers from Crocus, Monkton Elm Garden Centre, Notcutts Garden Centres, Scotsdales Garden Centre & Wyevale Garden Centre. Read more

The first of three evidence sessions for the All-Party Parliamentary Gardening and Horticulture Group (APPGHG) inquiry into the future of gardening and horticulture industry took place on 17 April at Portcullis House in London. Read more

Former head of Scotts Miracle-Gro, Martin Breddy, tells how different it is to be a retailer now that he is MD of Squire’s Garden Centres. Read more

Perennial is reviving its traditional Festival Dinner, a fantastic evening of fundraising, with the help of partners and supporters from across the UK horticulture industry. Read more

Sales may be down +/- 15% on last year, but garden centres are confident they can catch up. 2013 was worse. But as one garden centre owner explained, “A season normally consists of 7 strong weeks, so we can still recover but we need those strong weeks to start!” Read more

A Scottish Horticultural Action Plan, highlighting the contribution of parks and gardens to the wider Scottish economy, has been launched. Read more

Garden Re-Leaf Day is fast approaching! With just under three weeks until the garden retail industry comes together to kickstart the season and raise much needed funds for Greenfingers, the event organisers are urging interested parties to sign up now and take part before it’s too late! Read more

HTA and Greenfingers Charity have cemented their partnership with the announcement of a number of initiatives at the Garden Press Event this week. Read more

Economist Roger Martin-Fagg forecast 2 interest rate rises and volatile exchange rates for 2018 as we head for a soft Brexit. The Government will have to consider a property tax. Read more

Veteran Sun columnist and broadcaster, Peter Seabrook has called on garden centres to back a National Rose Festival Week in the 3rd or 4th week of June. Read more