Stagecraft has secured a £300,000 contract to carry out the shop-fit element of an exciting new garden centre development in the North West being built by the Barton Grange Group.

Tetra, the global leader in fish food, treatments and equipment, has updated the TetraClub section of its website to make it even more informative and easy to use. Answers to questions from TetraClub members will now instantly be available on the site, along with helpful articles and monthly tips. There is also an area for readers to upload photographs of their aquariums and ponds, which other Club members can rate.

Businesses across Europe will be able to sell their products across EU countries far more freely following the adoption of a package of measures at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

CASCO Europe has tripled its UK warehousing as part of a major expansion programme. With 25 years trading in the US and over 10 years in Europe, CASCO Group are seeing accelerated growth and the need for extra manufacturing and storage in the UK. Along with much larger warehousing comes a doubling of office space in preparation for extra personnel across many departments.

Fairweather's Garden Centre in Beaulieu is disclosing the "Elixir of Life" for the garden, by offering customers its best kept secret for growing healthier and more productive plants. From April a revolutionary new plant food called Compost Tea, which is brewed in a garden shed on site at Fairweather's, will be available to purchase. The organic plant food, which was previously unavailable to the public, offers a holistic approach to gardening with the benefit of cutting harmful chemical use.

Exhibitors across Spring Fair 2008 reported steady orders and high levels of interest in trends and new products, despite some caution from certain retailers as expected in the current ecomonic climate. Tens of thousands of quality buyers visited from across the UK and abroad, as solid business was written for the year ahead.

Carbon footprints have worked their way up the agenda in all walks of life, including the garden centre industry which is working hard to maintain its reputation for being "green" and environmentally friendly and as the 2008 Garden Centre Association conference came to a close the message on everyone's lips was climate change. 

In the second of his articles on how garden centres can improve their own publicity, gardening pr consultant Graham Paskett discusses the importance of timing.   Something that should be second nature to anyone associated with the seasons.

Bayer Garden is teaming up with gardening expert Chris Holden for a series of in-store staff training days at garden centres across the country.

One of Somerset's leading independent, family-run garden centres has launched a new website containing free gardening advice and an online mail order service for customers.

Grosvenor Garden Centre is celebrating once again after receiving a Garden Centre of Excellence award for the eighth consecutive year!

With the DIY & Garden Show and Totally Tools over for another year, the real work for exhibitors now begins as they follow up the business leads they took at the show.

Whether they be fountains, urns, goddesses or cherubs - garden ornaments say a lot about their owners. And in turn, they say a lot about the garden centres that stock them. The sector has been subject to considerable consolidation in recent years and as a result suppliers have become more specialised.

The word herculean suggests great power and size, and is derived from Hercules, a mythical figure of immense strength.

Finia^TM water feature reservoirs once again top all sales in their field. This unique design and unrivalled capacity for strength and durability outperforms all others in the market.

Put the sparkle back into your pond this spring the fun and easy way with the Blagdon Pond Monsta. The days of emptying the entire pond for a spring clean have been swept away!

Henri Studio is demonstrating its commitment to creating and producing sculptural features that will add beauty to a wide range of garden settings by introducing three more self-contained fountains. The latest fountains each differ in size and design and are worthy additions to Henri's fountain range, the popularity of which has resulted in over one million being sold worldwide since the company's inception.

If 2008 follows the pattern of past post storm periods it will be a flat year and so we will all have to drive sales ourselves. To achieve this Grange and Britannia have initiated a number of programmes to support their stockists, but the key to developing the market is product and service innovation.

Look out for the NEW range of janitorial products from Draper Tools.

A new pressurised pump sprayer delivery system and a new product to kill standing trees, tree stumps and Japanese Knotweed have been added to the Roundup family of weedkillers for 2008. This brand-leading weedkiller will also be supported with a £1 million nationwide TV advertising campaign to drive sales of existing and new products.

Tetra, the global leader in fish food, treatments and equipment, is delivering banded promotional packs of Tetra AquaSafe with free samples of Tetra EasyWipes and a care leaflet, giving consumers the chance to test the product for free. 

Kasp®, the UK's leading brand in security, has launched a new rekeyable version of its tried and trusted 180 Series Hardened Steel  Padlock, combining the security of a heavy duty padlock with the versatility of a rekeyable cylinder.

The new 18 inch Predator^TM Garden Saw from Spear & Jackson - the UK's leading manufacturer of gardening tools - offers great all-round cutting performance in a handy compact woodsaw style format, and represents a superb sales and profit opportunity for distributors and resellers.

It's important to offer value for money combined with performance - which is why the annual Gardening Which? compost trials are so important. William Sinclair Horticulture, makers of J. Arthur Bower's and New Horizon brands, has seen its products do well in the performance trials for the second year running. Top of its section was New Horizon Organic and Peat Free Grow Bags, while J. Arthur Bower's Multi-Purpose Compost was the leading branded product in its league.

Following the success of last year's brochure, Rowlinson Garden Products has launched its 2008 catalogue aimed at both trade and consumers, illustrating its popular range of outdoor living products and showcasing ten new additions for the 2008 season.

Cuprinol, renowned for its heritage and expertise in woodcare, is meeting the challenge of sustainability and performance head-on with the launch of two new water-based products to its Cuprinol Trade range, which deliver the same excellence in function and user benefits of solvent-based equivalents.

Don't miss out on a visit to Stand 4.1/A-018 where Draper Tools will be launching its 2008 catalogue.

Finnforest, the leading supplier of wood based products, services and solutions, has drawn upon its extensive knowledge of the industry to provide many new products from cabins and arbours to fencing and decking within its ever popular Gardens Inspirations range.

Following last year's successful launch of its AquaArt 30 and 60 litre aquariums, Tetra, the global leader in fish food, treatments and equipment, has now produced new high quality AquaArt stands for both tanks. The 30 litre goldfish AquaArt stand and 60 litre tropical AquaArt stand will be available from Tetra immediately with RSPs of £41.99 and £59.99 respectively.

Stagecraft has added significantly to its portfolio of displays for garden centres and DIY stores by offering innovative products from New Zealand company Woodham Manufacturing.

The key to the success of Maxicrop's Houseplant Fertilisers is the unique blend of seaweed extracts that the range contains.