“I’ve never been to a garden centre where someone educated me,” said Mary Queen of Shops at the HTA conference. There is a new world order in retailing, said Mary Portas and the changes are a big plus for garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

Bedding Focus 2010 - 28th October at Ball Colegrave - seems to be a must attend event for any grower or retailer looking at the future shape of their business. See more... Read more - members only

In the light of falling viewing figures for Gardeners’ World, the HTA and the BBC have discussed new garden programming to appeal to the younger gardener. See more... Read more - members only

Any garden centre or plant manager who can spare half a day tomorrow (Wednesday) and get to London, should visit the RHS Autumn Harvest Show. They will pick up enough ideas for this Autumn and next. See more... Read more - members only

Gardening TV has new owners with ambitious plans to double the number of host garden centres within 12 months. See more... Read more - members only

James Barnes, chief executive of Dobbies Garden Centres, will be the keynote speaker at the GIMA business meeting on 7/10. Other topics include advice on how to succeed with sales agents and TV shopping. See more... Read more - members only

The latest figures from the GCA Barometer of Trade show that it is new areas such as farm shops and garden clothing that are providing any growth there is in garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

Motorists keen to break their journeys to check their emails or use the Internet can now do so at 89 garden centres in The Garden Centre Group. See more... Read more - members only

Wiseweather predicts more rain after a sunny start to September and a chance of ground frosts from the 2nd week onward. Read more - members only

Quoting from the Garden Industry Monitor Market Update, the HTA predicts tough trading conditions for UK business in the short to medium term. However, this may present opportunities for the garden sector. See more... Read more - members only

There have been strong early bookings for the 2011 National Plant Show, encouraged by a successful first show this year and early booking discounts. Next year it will be bigger. See more... Read more - members only

Stock up with charcoal, Wiseweather says that August will be warmer drier and sunnier than average, particularly for the south. But the bank holiday looks less certain. See more...
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The government has honoured the promise made in March by Lord Taylor of Holbeach. Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has today announced that the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) will be abolished. See more... Read more - members only

A new trade show has been launched for the landscape industry. Landscape is scheduled for the 13th and 14th April 2011 at Olympia. See more... Read more - members only

The industry has called for more consultation as the first hosepipe ban starts tomorrow, affecting 2.9m homes. Filling ponds is allowed but watering vegetables with a hose is not. See more… Read more - members only

The boom in TV home shopping, how to succeed with agents, an update from Dobbies, an invitation to the Edible Garden Show and a vote on Glee were topics that filled a fast moving GIMA meeting last week. See more... Read more - members only

It was an encouraging start for Aqua 2010 at Telford. Over 700 visitors attended the first day. See more... Read more - members only

In advance of tomorrow’s GIMA meeting, the Garden Manufacturers Association has reacted to fears of a tough 2011 by freezing membership fees for a 4th year. See more... Read more - members only

Local Internet retailer Garden4Less has been hit by a unique online scam involving the Amazon website. See more... Read more - members only

At Gardenforum's invitation, 6 entrepreneurs braved the stage to ask the Glee Garden Angels how to get access to garden centre buyers. The results were unexpected. As one company said afterwards, "I learnt more in 15 minutes with the Angels than I would have gained in hours with a consultant." See more... Read more - members only

Some of the most innovative companies in the garden industry have been outraged by blatant copying of their products at Glee. See more... Read more - members only

The HTA’s PlantforLife campaign and British Conifer Group have produced banners and a merchandising guide to help retailers build eye-catching displays that will have gardeners up and down the country pining for British Conifers. See more... Read more - members only

Glee Garden Angels, hosted by Gardenforum, is an exciting and different event at Glee this year. Based loosely on the BBC's Dragons Den, three Angels will offer advice and perhaps a little more, to companies bringing innovation to the garden sector. We can now reveal the identity of our Glee Garden Angels. See more... Read more - members only

Dobbies Internet operation Dobbies.com has teamed up with leading tool hire company Hire Station to offer over 2000 different tools. See more… Read more - members only

Container Centralen is tightening up on the use of rogue CC trolleys with the introduction of a new RFID label. Garden centres and nurseries are being offered an amnesty to bring unplated trolleys into the pool. See more... Read more - members only

Mary Queen of Shops is to visit several garden centres and deliver her views on the state of the sector at this autumn's HTA conference. The presentation will be followed by what is likely to be a lively debate. See more... Read more - members only

Perennial is the charity that helps people who have worked in horticulture, gardening and garden centres. Last year 937 people were helped to overcome personal crises. See more... Read more - members only

The GCA Barometer of Trade shows that garden centre sales increased by 8% in June. As a result, sales from January to June have caught up with those of 2009. See more... Read more - members only

A YouGov Sixth Sense report on DIY and garden centres says that major DIY stores are key players in garden retailing, but the specialist garden centres are underperforming. See more... Read more - members only

LOFA has used a third successful Solex to introduce two initiatives. Made Aware leads members through a process to reduce the social and environmental impact of their products. VirtualSOLEX is a database of products from the show that can be referenced throughout the year. See more... Read more - members only