Wyevale Garden Centres, which operates 150 UK stores, said in its 2017 Growing Forecast report: “Today’s generation of younger gardening enthusiasts lack the basic horticultural knowledge of older generations and…
garden centres
Australian garden and DIY chain Bunnings opens in the UK
Bunnings, which bought Homebase for £340million in 2016, cut the ribbon at its first UK store at St Albans, Hertfordshire, in January 2017. The converted Homebase features a weekly sausage…
Garden centres fail in bid to open for longer on Sundays
Garden centres were set to make £70million more per year if Sunday trading regulations had been relaxed. The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) will now write to chancellor George Osborne and…
Homebase to shut up to 80 stores
The retailer, which currently operates 323 outlets across the UK, will axe what management described as a “tail of stores that are either unprofitable or in decline”. A Homebase spokeswoman…
Garden centre sales soar as economy recovers
Warm weather saw sales of garden furniture and barbecues soar by 23 per cent in May, compared to the same month in 2013. The statistics, from the Garden Centre Association,…
Garden centres stocking up for a record Easter
Garden product makers are getting ready for a record Easter – as gardeners rush to fix plots that have been battered by a winter of storms. Garden centres are expecting…
Gardeners spend £25k on their gardens over lifetime
If recent trips to the garden centre have plunged your bank balance into the red, you are not alone. That’s because UK gardeners spend an average of £25,000 on their…
Monty Don says garden centres have ‘no excuse’ for selling peat
Garden centres have “no excuse” for selling peat, claims Britain’s head gardener. Monty Don, the Gardeners’ World presenter, became embroiled in a row on Twitter after he told his 24,000…
Seed potatoes sprayed with fungicide
One of Britain’s leading garden retailers has taken steps to reassure customers that its seed potatoes are safe to handle. Shoppers at Homebase were confronted by signs warning that seed…
Kris’s blog: Look out for bargains in August
I hit my local garden centre this week, just as they were creating a stock clearance area out in the car park. I assumed this would be a range of…