Features

Winter can be a beautiful time of the year. If you’re not caught outside in the middle of a frozen gale that is, looking at the wicked outdoors from inside with a cuppa can be relaxing. However, that’s easy enough to say from inside the comfort of your own home. If reports are correct, the Beast from the East is due to return this winter, which means for our plants, this experience won’t be so pleasant. There are some things we can do to help though. Now is the time to start preparing and protecting your garden from winter elements and the Beast from the East. Allow Prestige Lawns to talk…

Green Protect is a leading retail brand in Scandinavia (known there as ‘A Green Way’) which offers a simple, effective and sustainable route to a pest-free home. With many consumers adopting an eco-approach in their everyday lives, there is an ever increasing consumer focus over the mid-long term. We have seen an increase in the level of adoption of natural products in the European market and this is set to continue to grow across the continent with more eco-focused individuals than ever before. Green Protect products help to prevent pests without the use of chemicals, making them ideal for…

Pest-Stop is a leading manufacturer of high quality, market leading domestic pest control products for the retail market worldwide. The Pest-Stop brand offers a comprehensive range of market-leading products, from the Little Nipper mouse traps, one of the longest standing pest control brand names, to contemporary products designed with the domestic user in mind. Pest-Stop has over 120 years of brand heritage and brings professional expertise to the amateur pest control market with new product development being driven by Europe-wide technical knowledge. To become a Pest-Stop customer or…

The Wheat Bag Company pride ourselves on manufacturing quality products in the UK. We have our own in house designers who design our own bespoke fabrics that we use to make our Microwavable Wheat Bags, PADi Pillows and a range of textiles products. Our Microwavable Wheat Bags are filled with English wheat and lavender and are comforting, warming and relaxing and a natural way to soothe aches and pains. They are available in a large selection of designs with finest English lavender buds or unscented. We also offer bespoke eye catching wooden display units free of charge to display our products…

By Will Haxby, Marketing and Ornamental Sales Director at Haddonstone In the colder months, it’s easy to neglect, forget or put off looking after your garden. And it’s understandable, especially with the drop in temperature and sunlight that the winter months bring.  But, for many homeowners, the garden is your pride and joy. In fact, the average Brit spends more than 2000 days gardening in their life, and it can add as much as 20% to the value of a home. Your garden could be the reason you purchased a house in the first place, and where you plan to host friends and family for next year’s…

Garden Trade Specialist editor Victoria Galligan catches up with Malini, a leading brand in premium soft furnishings, to find out the interiors trends for 2020 and find out why the brand is a popular choice for garden centres… Malini is likely a brand you’ll have come across – its luxury cushions, throws rugs and quilts are stocked in many of the high-end garden centres in the country. When the company began trading in the 90s, its first big deal was with the Pier chain of furniture retailers and since then it’s gone from strength to strength, becoming a favourite supplier of premium…

The post-digital environment will see the horticultural sector ever more dominated by developing technologies and artificial intelligence – and sustainability remains of the utmost importance.  The horticultural industry contributes more than £24 billion a year to the UK’s GDP and employs more than 550,000 people.  Garden centres are booming, but how environmentally sustainable is the sector as a whole? Larger retailers have diversified their business with cafés, adventure playgrounds, gift shops, workshops, Christmas grottos and by hosting events to attract visitors all year round.  Smaller…

Over the past 10 years, Pictur-esque have established a solid reputation for high quality blank cards and Christmas cards, designed by Yorkshire photographer Charlotte Gale. Blank Cards Pictur-esque’s blank card ranges prove popular with garden centres, farm and gift shops. 
Charlotte’s vibrant and creative style ensures that her designs have a strong point of sale impact and naturally lend themselves to this type of retail environment. The versatility of the ranges and their suitability for a wide variety of occasions, means that they are also a firm favourite with 
customers -…

Copdock Mill is a family-run business with over a century of trading expertise, manufacturing and supplying premium quality foods for cage and wild birds, poultry and household pets such as dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. Today, the company also supplies its own specialist fishing bait and essential foods and bedding products for the equine industry. Established in 1912 by Herbert George Gladwell, Copdock Mill originally started as a country mill. The family run business continues today, whilst diversifying to produce and supply premium quality animal food supplies and accessories to…

Formbar stock traditional and modern, innovative trolleys and baskets so Garden Centres can give a true impression of their brand values from the first moment a customer arrives. We have a range of trolleys that are suitable in garden centres and our customers love. We have a traditional wire garden centre trolleys that your customers will be familiar with as well as some unique new products. We stock plastic Polycart trolleys and garden centres tend to love the plastic flatbed and the small 78 litre trolley.  We are the UK’s only distributor for Polycart - plastic trolleys. Their trolley…

Ecologists at garden centre specialists Malcolm Scott Consultants have been working with clients to help them take steps toward helping achieve the aims of the Government’s new Environment Bill. The Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 14 October 2019 and is scheduled to be passed by the new Government in early 2020.   It will bring into force a mandatory approach to Biodiversity Net Gain, and the business’s Environment team has been advising on measures to comply. Rob Harrison, Principal Ecologist at the garden centre consultant, said: “Ever since the Bill was introduced, we’ve…

ATTENDEES at this year’s Garden Centre Association (GCA) annual conference in January (January 26 until 29, 2020) will hear from co-founder and Executive Vice Chair of the award-winning Eden Project Sir Tim Smit KBE.   Tim will talk to GCA members on Tuesday, January 28 about the value of leading by example, how to engage teams and meeting challenges head on.   Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, explained: “We’re honoured that Sir Tim Smit KBE will be joining us for our annual conference. He is a fantastic and inspirational orator and we’re sure our members will thoroughly enjoy hearing…

Contemporary gift and homeware retailer, Enesco, is proud to present its second exclusive Mug of the Year, a new concept within the licensed Beatrix Potter Collection. Having launched in 2019 with none other than Peter Rabbit™ himself, the idea behind this offering is that on an annual basis, the featured character will change to showcase an original piece of artwork taken from author Beatrix Potter’s much-loved classic children’s tales, making the Mug of the Year a highly sought-after and super collectable piece with your customers. The Mug of the Year for 2020 features the ever-popular…

Specialist water-based paint manufacturer Thorndown, bring long-term colour and style to garden design. Their paints are made to the highest specifications using raw materials at the forefront of environmentally considerate water-based technology.  Colour plays an essential part in garden design and the use of wood paint to decorate and protect timber buildings and features is seen prominently in gardening magazines and on TV programmes such as “Love your Garden” with Alan Titchmarsh. Selecting the right colour can be a personal and pain-staking journey so when you’ve got that perfect…

DK Tools Limited caters to a new generation of DIYers who just want to get things done, quickly and simply. By Steve Hemsley The tradition of parents teaching their offspring basic household DIY is on the wane, but manufacturer DK Tools is reaping the benefits. The company, through its successful Amtech brand, designs, manufactures and distributes around 2,000 powered and manual hand tools to retailers and wholesalers. They’re aimed at shoppers who need affordable products to complete jobs around the house – such as putting up shelves, laying decking, pruning or basic repairs. However, the…

DK Tools Limited and their Amtech brand, has been identified and selected by The Telegraph Business Club for their senior business community, as one of fifteen cross-industry companies to watch out for in 2020. The Telegraph Business Club provides engaging and informative content that offers interesting insights into the strategic levers that drive success. The use of mini-documentary films about companies and key people, creates compelling viewing for a senior business community with a global footprint. The Telegraph expressed an interest in creating a short film about DK Tools, when one…