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…
HTA
Sweet chestnut trees hit by killer fungus
Another tree disease is threatening to wipe out one of Britain’s most treasured species. Arboriculture experts are calling for a ban on imported sweet chestnut trees – to halt the…
Wet winter will lead to big plant losses
Gardeners face forking out a fortune to replace plants that have rotted during the wet winter. Experts warned that trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants may fail to spring into life,…
Gardeners will pay for ash tree death
Gardeners could be hit with bills of up to £1,000 for removal of trees hit by ash dieback. Experts say the disease (Chalara fraxinea), which threatens to wipe out Britain’s…
Rip out your lawn, says celebrity gardener Bob Flowerdew
Owning a lawn could soon be regarded as an environmental sin – like driving a gas-guzzling car. So says Bob Flowerdew, the Gardeners’ Question Time panellist, who claims it’s time…
Drip irrigation to be allowed during hosepipe ban
Gardeners are to be allowed to use drip irrigation for the first time during hosepipe bans. Up to 20 million homes in central and southern Britain will be forbidden from…
Hosepipe bans to hit ‘by Easter’
Gardeners in the south are on track for the worst water shortages since the summer of 1976 – while those in the north face the risk of flooding. The north-south…
Garden centres show green shoots of recovery
Garden centres have continued to buck High Street gloom, with retail experts predicting that interest in grow-your-own will remain strong this year. The Horticultural Trades Association said UK garden centre…
A smarter way to shop
A technology revolution will change the way gardeners shop for plants and products. Hi-tech barcodes, called ‘QR’ codes (quick response), are appearing on items from plant pots to fertiliser and…
Garden spending spree goes to seed
The High Street’s economic woes have started to hit garden centres, with the first indicator that the fashion for grow-your-own is running out of steam. After a spring bonanza, which…