Features

bio-bean Limited, a Certified B Corp and manufacturer of Coffee Logs, has been named a Best for the World™ B Corp in recognition of its exemplary performance beyond commercial metrics. Ranking in the top 5% of all B Corps in its size group worldwide for their sustainable business practices, bio-bean earned this honour because of its excellence in its environmental performance and impact. bio-bean recycles spent coffee grounds from businesses across the UK and upcycles them into Coffee Logs – planet-friendly fire logs for wood burners and stoves – and other bio-based products. By using…

Christmas 2021 provides an opportunity for garden retailers to make up for losses sustained in the pandemic. With national Covid restrictions easing, this festive season promises to be a brighter one than 2020. And for customers, buying a real Christmas tree is all part of the experience.  Here, we speak to the British Christmas Tree Growers’ Association (BCTGA) about its work in promoting British-grown trees. And we hear from some of the Association’s members who offer their insight into being part of an industry that’s growing – in more ways than one. Making the most of your Christmas…

Fish4Pets®, home of the Fish4Dogs® brand has launched a new range of fish-based treats, specifically designed for puppies. The champions of fish are well known in the pet food industry for pioneering fish as ‘the perfect protein’, packed full of natural, healthy goodness for our canine companions. Karen Hubbard, Product Portfolio Manager at Fish4Pets® explains ‘we have one of the largest range of treats in the industry, utilising many different varieties and formats of natural, healthy, sustainably-sourced fish, and whilst many of our treats are suitable for puppies, we have never before had…

Kings Seeds are an Independent British owned company. We are able to offer you the very best varieties available on the market as we have no allegiance to any particular breeder. Our Qualified Technician tests all our seeds for purity, vigour and germination before being despatched to you. If you are unable to find a particular variety you want, just let us know and we will try to find it for you. We supply seed to commercial growers of flowers and vegetables, wholesale, to large users of seed and to the home gardener through our seed packets. On our farm, we have been selecting and…

Glee will return in-person on 14th – 16th September 2021 Industry leading brands set to appear on the exhibitor line-up. Glee’s theme will be Time to Grow, reflecting the opportunities for garden retail. After over a year away from in-person events, Hyve Group are delighted to announce that Glee will return to the NEC Birmingham from 14th – 16th September 2021. Following their Time To Grow manifesto, Glee will be designed to support the industry, helping garden retailers and brands to build on the momentum the industry has gathered over the past year. Working in line with Hyve Group’s Safe…

With the arrival of spring comes the perfect time to get out in the garden and make the most of your outdoor space. One way to completely transform your garden for 2021 is to invest in a garden sculpture. With so many styles and sizes to choose from, Ian Hay, Art Director at the Saul Hay Gallery in Manchester shares his tops tips: Think about WHY you want a sculpture When it comes to buying sculpture for your garden, ask yourself, what do you want the sculpture to bring to the space? Is it to offer sharp, bold contrast to the living elements of the garden, or blend in with natural forms? Is…

BY LEADING WILD BIRD FOOD MANUFACTURER, HENRY BELL & CO In preparation for the arrival of spring, wild birds start nesting early in the year. Due to climate change, nesting is starting earlier than usual when the winter ground is still hard and natural food can be scarce. So, it is essential to support the wild birds by feeding them nourishing food for their egg development and to ensure young birds receive the right nourishment to grow. Henry Bell, shares their top tips on what to feed wild birds and their young during this time.  Henry Bell & Co is a fourth-generation family-owned…

It is safe to say 2020 was a big year for change, and that includes the DIY industry. With people entering the first lockdown in March 2020, the home and garden quickly became more than just a home, suddenly taking on additional roles such as office, gym and even a holiday resort in the summer months.  With people spending more time in their homes and with little else to do there was a huge increase in DIY projects. Google reported an 80% increase in searches for the term “DIY” in comparison to 2019. At EnviroBuild we experienced a huge increase in demand over summer, with our customers…

We are nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions. It is needless to say that the virus caused an extreme effect on the garden retail industry with many stores forced to close several times during the different lockdowns. During these lockdowns, many consumers switched their spending to online platforms. Leading online marketing provider Garden Connect provides services to many garden centres to improve their online sales channels.  Rise of online sales Surveys show the restrictions have sped up the changing shopping habits for customers. Edwin Meijer, marketing…

For over 30 years Protek have been manufacturing water- based timber treatments that are child, animal, bird, bee, and plant safe from their factory in Somerset.  When everyone else was selling creosote (remember the smell and the industrial style gloves??!!!) they started selling water -based timber treatments.   A breath of fresh air- literally.   Today the environment is still at the heart of their family business. They are always looking for new ideas that could improve the wood stains and paints and that includes the packaging.  In 2020 they moved 80% of the range into tins, which could…

After a successful first year, the brand and chartered horticulturalist will have a focus on Chelsea Flower Show and charity scheme, Cultivation Street   After a hugely successful first year, leading garden care brand Evergreen Garden Care (www.lovethegarden.com), has announced that it will continue working with Chartered Horticulturalist and TV Gardener, David Domoney.   One of the key calendar events this year will be the Chelsea Flower Show, where Evergreen Garden Care’s leading brand Miracle-Gro will sponsor David’s major exhibit, entitled ‘My Houseplant Changed My Life’ inspired from his…

Notcutts Garden Centres are proud to have partnered with national charity Thrive to help cultivate the nation’s wellbeing through gardening.    Launched just before the first UK wide lockdown in March 2020, the ‘Cultivating Wellbeing in Gardens and Nature’ course has been enjoyed by many – helping them to connect with nature and understand why being outdoors is so beneficial.    The free online course, developed by experts in therapeutic horticulture from Thrive, has been designed to encourage people to use their gardens to spend more time connecting with nature as a tool to restore wellbeing…

It doesn’t seem like five minutes since we were celebrating an unusual Christmas and New Year in our isolated ‘bubbles’ but, as January races to a close, gardeners and allotment holders everywhere have one big job building to mountainous proportions in their minds.   Stormy winter rain, wind and snow might be upon us now, but nature waits for no-one and the time for us to pull on our gardening gloves and wellies will be here before you can say “dead leaves on my lawn”.    Faced with such a big job, green-minded folk everywhere are keen to start clearing away all this winter debris to make…

As spring approaches and gardeners start thinking about their gardens again, garden retailers will be pleased to learn that there is a new brand of high-quality organic topsoil launching to the UK market; a brand which is set to change the way we think about this often-neglected product offering – introducing The Real Soil Company.   The Real Soil Company  - previously known as EcoGro SuperSoil - has been brought to market by the team behind Boughton Loam Ltd, leading suppliers of soils, seeds and substrates to the amenity, landscape and construction industries since 1985. Aimed at the…

Searches for ‘indoor plants’, ‘best plants to keep indoors’ and ‘easy houseplants’ have all spiked since the start of the pandemic, and there has been a 402% rise in the number of people searching for Chinese Money Plants over the past few years. Originating from Southwest China, The Chinese Money Plant - or Pilea Peperomioides - is a perfect home office addition, said to bring good luck, money, prosperity and hope to the owner. The research, from homeware retailer Sass & Belle, also shows the growing popularity of plants including Aglaonema (+340%), Peperomia (+317%) and ZZ Plant (+313…

Carpe Lumen photography offers a large range of greetings cards and prints from a substantial portfolio which means that as well as standard ranges we can offer bespoke cards for clients; where your organisation has a number of outlets, we can offer exclusivity on images. We can also shoot requests; if you have your own ideas you would like us to develop, we can do our best to create those designs.  With all photography by Ed Crispin, the range is coherent but hugely varied. Ed has been a photographer for over twenty years, selling prints throughout that time and working in a variety of…