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 The Suttons Seeds team are very excited about their plans to support the first Garden Re-Leaf Day this year!!! Garden Re-Leaf Day, which is being held on 13th March, is a new initiative that will involve many of the Gardening Industry’s suppliers and retailers. Events will be held right across the country to raise money for our industry’s charity, The Greenfingers Appeal, which builds gardens in children´s hospices (33 built to date) and also to help the community in general.
 Suttons Seeds will be providing a ground-force style team that will be transforming an uninspiring outside area for Mayfield School in Torquay, into a sensational Sensory Garden. Mayfield is a special needs school that caters for children with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties. We will be ensuring that all the five senses will be tantilised by planting varieties such as long lavender for the children to walk through, curry plants to smell and microgreens to taste. As some childen using the garden will be wheel-chair bound we will also be utilising raised beds and our Vegtrugs that are the correct height for every one of the children to sow veg and maintain them easily.
There will also be beautiful flowers and tasty fruit planted as well as gourds which can be used later to make instruments and bowls.
 The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) represented the garden industry at the Drought Summit yesterday, which was called by Defra Secretary of State, Caroline Spelman MP.
According to Thames Water, 45% of their customers believe that a drought in 2012 is unlikely but it is clear from today’s meeting that those people are in for a shock! Whilst the Government has been warning about water shortages for some time, the situation is getting worse. According to the Environment Agency, well over half of England is at ‘high risk’ of drought in 2012 and the Met Office has advised that ‘the chances of a wet or very wet March over the UK are low and lower than average’ and the three month outlook is no better.
Tim Briercliffe, HTA’s Director of Business Development, was present at the Summit and commented, “The south and east of the country are genuinely facing drought conditions in 2012 and the industry should brace itself for the introduction of water restrictions (hosepipe bans) probably from before Easter in some water company areas.”
Whilst severe shortages exist in parts of the south and east it is important to note that there is no water shortage problem in much of the north, Wales and Scotland. This is a regional issue, but if you are in an affected region then the impact is serious.
In 2006 garden retailers in ‘hosepipe ban’ areas saw an average 20% drop in sales as the public were scared off gardening by the bans. Tim Briercliffe continued “The summit was a great opportunity to highlight the impact of water restrictions on the industry and on the 20 million gardeners out there. We are developing a pilot programme with one water company to test the HTA/Waterwise proposals for phasing in water restrictions but that won’t help the industry this year. In the meantime, we are calling on water companies to work closely with the garden industry on how it communicates garden water saving messages to the public. We would also like to see the use of drip irrigation permitted during hosepipe bans as the evidence clearly shows that the use of such systems drastically cuts water use and embeds the importance of water efficiency with gardeners.”
“At the Summit, the Government agreed to focus on a National Drought Management Team and HTA will be ensuring that the voice of the garden industry and gardening public is clearly heard. The team will seek to bring about the consistency of communication between water companies that the HTA has been calling for since 2006 and is very welcome. In addition, Thames Water is taking the lead on co-ordinating the response of affected water companies and we are in close dialogue with them.”
It will be important for the industry to promote water-saving solutions for gardeners this year and HTA will be providing advice for members on messages that can be communicated.
HTA also raised the specific issues for ornamentals growers in having reduced access to water for abstraction. The widely promoted solution for this is the installation of water storage but for many ornamentals growers, with limited land, this simply isn’t an option. This is crucial for container and protected ornamentals as without water, the business goes. Nursery producers need to be protected.
Summing up, Tim Briercliffe said “I welcome the Secretary of State’s intervention in this serious issue which follows our discussion with her on this matter at the All Party Parliamentary Gardening and Horticulture Group (APPGHG) meeting with her in January. She is very aware of the impact of water shortages on the garden industry and we will follow up her commitment to work with us.”
 Chrysanthemum grower Woolmans has recently discovered one of its catalogues dating from 1912 – a year notorious for the sinking of the Titanic and Captain Scott’s arrival at the South Pole. The find has prompted John Woolman, a fourth generation member of his family to be involved in the business, to wonder if anyone has a Woolmans catalogue older than this century-old edition. He is offering a £100.00 Woolmans voucher to any customer who sends one from before 1912 to him.
“In addition to four generations, the nursery has had four locations – Shirley, Dorridge, Evesham and Spalding. Back in 1912 one plant of a new variety cost a shilling (5p), which is today’s equivalent of £4.30”, says John. “So a collection of six new varieties a hundred years ago would have cost the equivalent of £25.80, whereas a similar collection in our 2012 catalogue is offered for just £8.95”.
  None of the cultivars listed in the 1912 catalogue is offered in the 2012 version, as so much breeding work has been done to improve the chrysanthemum through the decades. “The original Rayonnante, which was pink and later gave sports of white and yellow, was sold up until the 1960s, but we stopped selling it because the neck was not very strong and the blooms needed support”, John reports.
Any pre-1912 Woolmans Chrysanthemum Catalogues should be sent to John Woolman, Woolmans, Rookery Farm, Joys Bank, Holbeach St John, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE12 8SG.
To request a copy of the 32 page, full colour Woolmans Chrysanthemum Catalogue 2012 or the new Garden Essential Catalogue 2012, which features a wide range of gardening equipment, go online at www.woolmans.com , telephone 0845 658 9137, fax 0845 658 9141 or write to Woolmans, Rookery Farm, Joys Bank, Holbeach St John, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE12 8SG
 Bayer Garden is offering shoppers at Scotsdales Garden Centre, Cambridge, the chance to win the star prize worth over £1,000, have TV gardening guru David Domoney in your garden giving you ideas and advice, win all sorts of gardening goodies in the week-long tombola and celebrate 50 years of the gardeners’ favourite fertiliser Phostrogen with some amazing discounts and the possibility of finding the Golden Ticket worth £50,000.
All this and more is open to everyone who visits Scotsdales Garden Centre, which, with sponsorship from Phostrogen Plant Food, is celebrating the first ever Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day on 13th March.
Inspired by Comic Relief, Garden Re-Leaf Day is a great way to raise money for Greenfingers, a national charity that creates magical gardens for children’s hospices around the UK, at the same time as kick starting the garden season with a buzz of excitement.
“We have backed Greenfingers for years, raising money for them in all sorts of ways including Dragon Boat races,” said Sally Spicer of Scotsdales Garden Centre. “We’ve really thrown down the gauntlet this time and set ourselves the challenge of raising thousands of pounds for Greenfingers in one week. Along with the team from Bayer Garden we have pulled together a week of tombolas, auctions and prize draws that should raise what we’re hoping for (and more!) and be great fun for everyone who comes in.”
“The whole gardening industry is getting right behind Garden Re-Leaf Day and hopefully many more children in hospices will be able to enjoy magical gardens created as a result,” said Laura Varey, Phostrogen product manager at Bayer Garden.
In celebration of 50 years of Phostrogen, Bayer Garden has placed a Golden Ticket in one packet of 800g Phostrogen. The person who finds the Golden Ticket by the 31st May 2013 will be able to claim the £50,000 prize.
www.gardenreleaf.co.uk
Scotsdales Nursery & Garden Centre:
120 Cambridge Road, Great Shelford, Cambridge, CB22 5JT
Normal opening hours:
Monday – Saturday 9.00am – 5.30pm
Sunday 10.30am – 4.30pm
On Thursdays, open until 8.00pm
 Gardeners struggling to spray can now put the pressure on eliminating unwanted weeds, pests and insects with Hozelock’s new range of multi-purpose pressure sprayers.
Designed by gardeners for gardeners and made in the UK, Hozelock introduces a new range of pain free spraying solutions. The new Standard, Plus and Pro pressure sprayers have been developed to provide a much more cost effective solution for your gardening needs. Ready to use, disposable sprayers can create environmentally un-friendly packaging waste and can be much more difficult to spray accurately.
You won’t have this problem with a new efficient Hozelock sprayer. Now there’s no need for bending or reaching, helping gardeners say goodbye to painful gardening aches and pains.
Hozelock’s new Standard, Plus & Pro pressure sprayers boast:
- Hozelock’s ‘last drop’ spraying system which completely empties the bottle while spraying, leaving no waste
- Advanced features including adjustable nozzles, lockable on / off flow for continuous spraying, wide foot grips for stability when spraying, and a pressure release valve to stop over pressurising
- Enlarged 90mm-wide bottle mouth to make filling and cleaning much easier
- On board Hose storage system located in the base for convenience
- A transparent dosing cup and last-use indicator to remind gardeners what chemical solution was last used in the bottle to prevent cross contamination
- A versatile 3-in-1 carrying harness for maximum comfort, which can be used as a shoulder strap, satchel or rucksack for ease of spraying
Gardeners now have the added convenience of using a pressure sprayer compared with a ready-to-use spray gun. This helps with the even control of pests and weeds quickly and carefully. Hozelock recommends gardeners use Roundup™ from Scotts, a concentrated weed killer that kills weeds right down to the root. For example the new Hozelock pressure sprayer filled with one 150ml bottle of concentrate covers the same area as using 54 handheld sprayers.
Available in Standard, Plus and Pro models that come in sizes from 5 litre to 16 litre sprayers; they have been developed for both amateur and experienced gardeners alike. All are easy to use and perfect for the care of greenhouse plants and general garden use.
Hozelock’s new Standard, Plus & Pro pressure sprayers are available from leading gardening and DIY stores across the UK from March 2012, and are priced from £19.99 – £24.99 for standard models, £26.99 – £38.99 for Plus models and £39.99 – £49.99 for the Pro range.
For more information on Hozelock’s full range of pressure sprayers and leading gardening solutions, customers can contact the Hozelock helpline on 0121 3131122 or go to www.hozelock.com
  Two top British fencers clashed swords amongst the phormiums and the cordylines at Hillier Nurseries this week in a sneak preview of „Duel and the Crown?, the Hillier Chelsea Exhibit 2012, sponsored by Beazley British Fencing.
Ben Peggs and Marcus Mepstead of the British international fencing squad immersed themselves in the world of gardening at the UK?s largest tree and plant nursery in Hampshire. Wearing the iconic Union Jack fencing masks, they fenced through the glasshouses, tended the plants and caught up on the best in gardening magazines.
 At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May, the Hillier Exhibit will be marking the Queen?s Diamond Jubilee and London 2012 with a spectacular garden exhibit inspired by the Olympic sport of fencing. It will feature live fencing displays by members of the Beazley British Fencing team, and celebrate the return of fencing to Ranelagh Gardens for the first time in over 70 years.
 Competitive fencing was often staged in garden settings, and Ranelagh Gardens, the annual site of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, were used as an outdoor venue for Epee Club tournaments until the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1932 Ranelagh presented the Epee Club with the “Ranelagh Cup”, which has been fought for annually ever since in the grounds of the Hurlingham Club.
The Hillier exhibit is also a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen, the Patron of British Fencing, as the nation prepares to celebrate the Queen?s Diamond Jubilee just a week after the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
A proudly British company and holder of 66 consecutive Chelsea Gold medals to date, Hillier Nurseries have supplied nearly 4000 British-grown trees to the Olympic Park for London 2012 and is rooting for Team GB.
For their part, the Beazley British Fencing team will be hoping that the success of Hillier Nurseries at Chelsea will rub off, inspiring them to medal glory at London 2012
The latest ‘new look’ HTA Market Update reports that garden centre and nursery sales in the last quarter of 2011 were up on the previous year and that interest in grow your own looks to continue in 2012.
The data from the HTA’s Garden Retail Monitor reveals that sales were up 5% in October, 6% up in November and 12% up in December. The December increase is exaggerated slightly by the heavy snows of December 2010 which depressed sales. Even so December 2011 sales are up 7% on 2009. This represents a strong end to the year for garden retailers who continue to capitalise on their reputations for ‘doing Christmas well’ and for the full year sales were up 6%.
Interest in grow your own remained constant in 2011 compared with 2010 both regard to the number of people engaged and sales figures from garden retailers. Tomatoes continue to be the most grown GYO crop although other crops, including herbs, runner beans, onions and peppers are showing increases suggesting that existing GYO customers are expanding the range of what they grow.
HTA Director of Marketing and Communications Andrew Maxted comments, “The garden industry ended the year in a good position and despite the gloomy economic outlook for the months ahead garden retailers remain cautiously optimistic in the light of events such as the Jubilee and the Olympics. Interest in grow your own continues and it looks like the category is maturing with people trying their hand at growing different crops after enjoying the fruits of their labours in previous seasons.”
He adds, “Research from Future Foundation shows that consumers are feeling the need to connect with rural life and are looking for authentic and local products. They are also looking for value and in a retail environment where three quarters think that they pay too much for food and organic vegetables ‘growing your own’ remains for many an attractive proposition.”
This latest edition of HTA Market Update is in a new format based on the feedback from members. It makes more market information available in an easy to use format. HTA members can download copies, free of charge from
www.the-hta.org.uk/marketinformation
 For five days in May the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, will be transformed into the spectacular gardens and floral displays that make up the world’s most famous flower show. Renowned as the “catwalk of the gardening world”, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by M&G Investments, is the first event of the summer social season, presenting the best examples of horticultural excellence and setting the latest gardening trends.
Tuesday 22 – Saturday 26 May 2012,
The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, SW3
22–23 May: RHS members only
24–26 May: RHS members and non-members
22–25 May: 8am–8pm
26 May: 8am–5.30pm (sell off starts at 4pm)
To buy tickets: 0844 338 0338 www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea
Ticket prices range from £16 – £55 for RHS members, £22 – £49 for non-members
All tickets must be bought in advance
For five days in May the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, will be transformed into the spectacular gardens and floral displays that make up the world’s most famous flower show. Renowned as the “catwalk of the gardening world”, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by M&G Investments, is the first event of the summer social season, presenting the best examples of horticultural excellence and setting the latest gardening trends.
2012 is an exciting year for the flower show with The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the build-up to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show centenary in 2013. This year, the show will feature some of the finest designers including Andy Sturgeon designing for M&G Investments, Cleve West for Brewin Dolphin and Joe Swift for Homebase. The spectacular Great Pavilion will be filled with displays of perfect plants and flowers by some of the best growers from the UK and around the world.
New for 2012 is Fresh, a category which challenges designers to come up with cutting-edge gardens that are experimental and less conventional in design than traditional Chelsea Flower Show gardens. Designers in this category will be under fewer constraints than in other garden categories, which means Fresh is sure to become an unmissable part of the show this year.
Also new for 2012 is RHS Environment, which replaces Continuous Learning and supports the RHS commitment to improving the environment through gardening. Exhibits in RHS Environment will centre round the subject of urban greening and will be of scientific or educational interest. Themes will include community, water management and harnessing the power of plants to help reduce energy usage and heating costs.
The Artisan Garden category, which was introduced in 2011, returns for a second year with designers making the most of natural, sustainably resourced materials and using traditional craftsmanship to create stylish designs.
In addition, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show boasts displays of floral design from some of the UK’s best florists and floral arrangers as well as scientific and educational displays. Throughout the show, RHS experts are on hand to answer any gardening questions.
Not only does it represent the pinnacle of horticultural excellence, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is also a great day out. A host of restaurants, bars and cafés provide the perfect place to sit, relax and enjoy refreshment in one of the most extraordinary venues around.
There are also plenty of shopping opportunities, with some of the newest and most innovative gardening products, not to mention a wide range of beautiful accessories to decorate any garden, large or small.
 Award winning garden designer and broadcaster Joe Swift will be designing the Homebase Teenage Cancer Trust garden, for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.
The garden, which is the first Joe has designed for Chelsea Flower Show, draws cultural inspiration from Joe’s local area of Hackney in London. He has designed the garden to capture the power of plants and natural forms within urban and suburban environments.
Joe Swift said: “I am thrilled to be designing my first garden, for Homebase, at Chelsea. Inspiration has been drawn from the contrast and juxtaposition of the different areas I pass in and around the city, leading me to develop the garden with an urban oasis feel.”
The aim of the garden is to connect visitors through a series of ‘views’, with four large cedar wood frames creating snapshots. These views vary as you move around the garden and draw the eye through the long vistas of the garden, as well as playing a key role in dividing up the space into distinct ‘rooms’. The combination of natural materials, water and plants invite the visitor to get close to and connect directly with the garden in an energising and original way.
 Stone and wood will provide texture and contrast, appealing in stylised forms. Oversized horizontally sliced boulders and wooden sculptures decorate and punctuate the space, as well as provide seating to relax and enjoy the garden from. The stone has all been sourced from a single quarry in Yorkshire, with many of the plants also coming from the UK.
The sustainable garden will consist of trees such as stemmed Cornus Mas and Prunus ‘Amber Beauty’, alongside a London Plane tree which have all been selected for their sculptural forms and the interesting colour and texture of their bark. Evergreen shrubby plants add solidity and a hint of the Mediterranean to the dry planting palette, while textural foliage and perennials inject shots of colour throughout.
The warm tones of gold, orange, acid yellow and splashes of burgundy will bring the dark and mid greens of the gardens base foliage to life. Combined with the yellow stone, the garden will infuse a feeling of freshness and originality.
In honour of the garden, Homebase is introducing a range of plants that have been influenced by the planting scheme for the Homebase Teenage Cancer Trust garden. The Chelsea Collection will be available from March 2012 and aims to inspire gardeners of all levels to re-create a bit of Chelsea magic, inspired by Joe’s design and themes. All of the plants within the Chelsea Collection are covered by Homebase’s five-year plant guarantee on hardy plants.
Amy Whidburn, Head of Corporate Responsibility comments: “We are delighted to have Joe on board designing the garden this year. His vision and creativity, both in the design of the garden and Chelsea Collection planting plans, will inspire even the most novice of gardeners to grow some Chelsea magic in their own garden.”
Teenage Cancer Trust is Homebase’s official charity partner and is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival for young people with cancer aged 13 to 24. Teenage Cancer Trust fund and build specialist units within NHS hospitals where young people treated together by teenage cancer experts in a place designed just for them.
Simon Davies, Chief Executive of Teenage Cancer Trust commented: “This is the first time that Teenage Cancer Trust has ever been part of the Chelsea Flower Show and we are very proud that Homebase have invited us to be involved. The garden promises to be an inspiring and stimulating space, a vision we also have when we build our specialist cancer units.”
During press day, Joe Swift will be available to talk about his garden design, planting and inspiration. Homebase representatives will also be available, including members of the gardening team.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show will take place between 22 and 26 May 2012. Homebase colleagues have so far raised over £1.3 million for Teenage Cancer Trust.
 Beverley Garden Centre, at Woodmansey, Hull, Humberside, has been acquired by the Klondyke/Strikes Garden Centre Group.
Commenting on the acquisition, Bob Hewitt, Chief Executive said ‘We are very pleased to acquire Beverley Garden Centre and are excited about the prospects for the future. It is a relatively new, purpose built centre in a good location and we have secured a much improved planning consent regarding the product range. The centre ceased trading at Christmas following a ‘closing down’ sale by The Garden Centre Group and will be fully refurbished prior to re-launch at the beginning of March. We look forward to welcoming all customers back to the garden centre.
This is an exciting time for the company. In addition to the acquisition of Beverley we are currently progressing substantial redevelopment and refurbishment projects at High Legh and Inverness, both of which will be completed prior to spring trading. This follows the successful redevelopment of Northallerton which was completed in 2011 and is in line with our on-going strategic aim to invest and upgrade key centres in the current estate. Finally the garden centre at Wilmslow will be rebuilt following the fire in 2011. We anticipate that the new centre will open late summer 2012.’
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