Make Mine Chocolate! enlists the support of pet shops, asking retailers to suspend the sale of rabbits over the Easter period in order to raise awareness of the welfare needs of the pet rabbit. With the amnesty in place to prevent impulse purchasing, retailers have an ideal opportunity to discuss responsible rabbit ownership, or alternative pet options , with potential new owners before a mistake is made and the rabbit ends up in rescue or something much worse.

The spade, which stands at an impressive 12ft 9 inches, has been checked by Guinness World Record officials and has been confirmed as the world’s largest spade.

NGGV General Manager David Butler says “Participating members will receive supplies of point of sale materials to advertise the offer during the week commencing 27 February, together with supplies of notelets to hand to customers who buy any value of NGGVs.

Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre in Taunton is officially declaring Saturday, March 10 the start of its 30 week-long birthday party.

Your advertisement will also be up loaded on to our website to appear in the new website Recruitment section. Take advantage of our special introductory rate of just £100 for a quarter page advertisement! Call Jill Williams on 01622 699133 or email jwilliams@datateam.co.uk to book your advertisement or for further information.

The eLearning software, which is in line with the association’s new strategy, ‘Better Standards, Better Business’, will include internet-based modules applicable to all garden centre staff.

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.

The services have been tailored to suit exporting firms that may not have the time or the budget to arrange their own research visits or may not be able to exhibit at some of the international trade shows serving their sector.

The Greenfingers’ Knockout Challenge was held on January 22 at the Crowne Plaza Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire. Teams were made up of suppliers, GCA member retailers and garden centres.

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 13^th March.  

The plants, which are all grown in volume by the trade, will be readily accessible to garden retailers and customers.

“Garden Centres as Community Hubs” presents examples of community engagement by HTA members within their local area and provides useful tips on how garden businesses can contribute to the local economy.
 

The category of ‘High Impact, Low Cost’ gardens or garden area aims to showcase a practical approach to gardens that also provide a wow factor where visitors will be able to recreate the garden design, based on a fixed budget for hard landscaping, plant material and labour.

The new site enables customers with mobile devices such as Netbooks, iPads, iPhones, Blackberry, Android phones and other mobile and smartphone devices to find the nearest UK garden centre or garden retail outlet where they can buy and spend vouchers. The advanced search facility on the new site will also provide a useful resource for those looking for their nearest UK garden centre café or restaurant whilst they are on the move.

Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre at Monkton Heathfield near Taunton is offering between 50 and 100 saplings to schools, charities, village organisations and community groups that would like them.

The new site enables customers with mobile devices such as Netbooks, iPads, iPhones, Blackberry, Android phones and other mobile and smartphone devices to find the nearest UK garden centre or garden retail outlet where they can buy and spend vouchers. The advanced search facility on the new site will also provide a useful resource for those looking for their nearest UK garden centre café or restaurant whilst they are on the move.

The range of flower colours is vast, from light pinks to dark reds and stunning whites, with single, double and other flower forms available such as peony and anemone. Depending on the cultivar, the flowers can be enjoyed from November through to April. They grow particularly well in a container provided the container is placed out of the early morning sun in frosty weather.

A representative from Unwins will be at Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre on February 18 and 19 and Thompson & Morgan is on-site on February 25 and 26.

Suppliers to be awarded the coveted Made Aware label have to prove they are taking progressive action to reduce their environmental impact and to improve the welfare of the people who make their products.

Sales of National Garden Gift Vouchers, which celebrate their 50^th anniversary this year, are up for the year and 12% up for the last quarter of 2011. On top of that £100,000 of HTA Garden Gift Card sales have been achieved in the first two months of the pilot scheme being launched. The cards which are currently available for sale in Sainsbury’s and WHSmiths can be redeemed in hundreds of HTA member garden retail outlets nationwide.

Richard has led the organisation to its largest-ever membership, launched the ever-expanding SOLEX exhibition, and
was the inspiration behind the soon to be launched ‘Made Aware’ environmental
scheme. 
 

One of the first flowers of the year, their common name, primrose, derives from prima rosa meaning ‘first flower’.

Dog Rocks are an exciting and proven 100% NATURAL product used to help prevent urine burn patches appearing on your lawn, shrubs and box hedge as a result of dog or bitch urine. 

In his role the 52-year-old, who manages Sanders Garden World in Somerset and is the Regional Manager for four South West-based garden centres, will help boost awareness of the organisation.

Michael Heppell of ‘Flip It’ fame will discuss the importance of taking positive action and customer service at the event, which takes place in Oxfordshire from January 23.

National Pet Month’s aims are to

Initiatives that support local communities; including working with schools, offering community services and acting as a meeting place, not only provide genuine local benefits but in today’s tough economic conditions make business sense. The workshops ‘Engaging Communities & Growing Business – Locally & Online’ will feature case studies from garden centres across the country demonstrating the importance of local engagement. At the same time communities in the virtual world of social media increasingly represent more and more of the population.  The latest Future Foundation research shows that six out of ten people regularly use Facebook via their computer with a quarter regularly using it on their mobile phone. It is not just the younger generation who are using Facebook with 38% of those over 65 using the service. The workshops will show how garden centres are using social media to engage with their customers.

Representatives from a number of companies including Suttons Seeds, Lead the Good Life, Mr Fothergill Seeds, DLF Trifolium Ltd, Hayloft Plants, DPA Ltd, Scotts Miracle Gro and DeRee UK Ltd attended to look at ways in which they can work together.

There are many easy and affordable ways in which to support nature in the UK. From budding city gardeners with limited outdoor space, to those with expansive lawns, New Year is a superb time to begin planning how to support wildlife and making green spaces more wildlife-friendly. “We have seen gardeners become much more interested in the role their gardens have in helping UK wildlife,” says Helen Bostock, an RHS wildlife expert. “The New Year is the best time to plan how to make your garden more wildlife-friendly and joining the Defra-sponsored Big Garden Wildlife Competition is an excellent way to get yourself motivated.”

The grants, available under the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme, aim to increase profits and encourage greener and more efficient ways of working. They are available for schemes that:

The Societies have joined forces for 2012 to bring the competition to aspiring designers across the country. The competition, now in its third year, is open to all designers and students, aged 28 and younger. The most talented three designers will be picked to build their garden at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2012.

Solus donated over 450 key rings from its Woodland Wilf range of garden collectibles to each person involved in the record attempt named ‘Gnome Time’ organised by BBC Hereford & Worcester, which aimed to gather the most amount of people dressed as garden gnomes in one venue at one time. 

Designed to increase product knowledge and staff confidence to ultimately improve sales, the 4 venues have been chosen to provide convenience around the country. Places are limited and are already getting booked up fast. To find out more, or to book your place, please contact OASE UK on 01264 333225 or enquiries@oase-livingwater.com

The Foundation, set up following the death in 1992 of David Colegrave one of the UK’s leading seedsmen, has a number of scholarships available to assist students through their studies and provide additional learning opportunities both at home and abroad.

David will be spending more time at home and in France, whilst taking on some advisory and non-executive roles.

Gardenex member companies and potential members will have the opportunity to join in this anniversary celebration and on the same day meet with important buyers of garden and leisure products from Dubai,  Pakistan and Switzerland. 

Lord Taylor was speaking at the All-Party Parliamentary Gardening and Horticulture Group’s (APPGHG) 12^th Annual Reception in the House of Commons. 

The Italian manufacture has been a leader in providing cutting blades and hand tools since 1955 and offers a complete range of hand held cutting products for both the garden, home and commercial cutting requirements. Betakut historically, since the 1950’s, have provided their renowned steel cutting blades to many of the leading garden shear brands of today.

This exciting development brings together over 70 years of combined experience supplying theUKornamental fish retail trade. 

New for the 2012 season, the new look Yeominis brand has a fresh and funky design, and will feature three new characters – Yaz, Eddie and Ollie.  The range has been designed to offer all the right tools for the garden including telescopic and hand tools, watering cans, kneller pads, wheelbarrows and gripper gloves.  Yeominis also includes a range of fun outdoor clothing, ideal for muddy gardening days, such as wellington boots, socks, hats, scarves, gloves and raincoats. 

The company has launched the Growth Technology Foundation to help support regional and worldwide emergencies.

The report, entitled Britain in Bloom: transforming local communities, looks at how participating inBritain in Bloom has turned around the fortunes of places such as Nottingham, Brightlingsea andManchester. Based on the results of 231 community gardening groups which responded to an RHS survey, and an in-depth look at 11 neighbourhoods, towns and cities across the UK, the report identifies four impacts of the campaign: the transformational, economic, social and environmental.

At a glittering occasion, which attracted more than 400 leading figures to London's Grosvenor House Hotel, Little Devil picked up the honour amid fierce competition.

The SOL-K12 is a unique product that has been developed to utilise naturally harvested rainwater and provide regular irrigation and feeding.  The solar powered pump is a great way to achieve this whether your plants are in pots, hanging baskets, the veg plot, raised beds or the greenhouse. Irrigatia solar irrigation kits are the easiest way to water automatically from your water barrel. An Irrigatia kit will water every 3 hours. It will apply more water when it is sunny. It will not forget to water when you go away.

The choice of gloves available today is phenomenal and technology has played its part in producing gloves capable of offering that all important combination of superior fit, protection and dexterity. Today, one pair of the UK’s most popular gardening gloves - Town & Country’s Master Gardener - is sold every minute.

The Garlic Wonder range of products are natural and stimulate growth and improves resistance to insect pests and fungal diseases. Being safe and simple to use they are harmless to people, pets and wildlife. The range consists of:

Gillie has been instrumental in driving the GCA forward; helping full and associate members who have benefitted from her knowledge, “can do” manner and her smooth running of the GCA, assisting many Chairmen and making their lives much easier.

The campaign, which is set to kick off in spring 2012, aims to raise a minimum of £15,000 for the first ever ‘Schools Magical Play Garden’ to be built by Greenfingers, as well as promoting gardening in schools and raising awareness of safety in the garden. 

Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre is helping celebrating National Tree Week, which takes place from Saturday, November 26 until Sunday, December 4, by offering free expert advice to visitors.

Nursery Director, Richard McKenna, first saw the vehicle at the Four Oaks trade show in 2010 and immediately recognised its potential for moving stock around their 10 acre site. They had a demonstrator on trial for a week and the decision was made to buy one. A year later they have bought their second one.

The day of presentations by top name garden retail and market data experts – preceded by a bite-size Time Management breakfast – attracted around 50 suppliers and retailers from across the gardening industry. 

In addition to the hugely popular Original Multi-Use Wonder Wipes and Heavy Duty Wonder Wipes, the range now includes Glass & Shiny Surface Wonder Wipes and Home & Garden Wonder Wipes. Wonder Wipes have always been the wipes that work, and now they work in the Garden and on Glass too!

Results from a recent survey from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), have found that parents are lagging behind when it comes to gardening knowledge; with children and grandparents leading the way, mainly thanks to school intervention.

 The building, which is due to be completed by spring 2012, will provide the charity with a state-of-the-art facility in which to carry out plant disease and pest focussed scientific investigationsRoger Williams, Head of Science at the RHS, says: “This will be the first facility of its kind dedicated to advancing the science of gardening. We are very grateful to those who have already helped us financially. Without their generous support we would not have been able to start building. We still have some more fundraising to do but we are confident that we will get the funds to complete this important project”.

Our cute new hedgehog design on plum leather is sure to go down well with little girls, whilst little boys will love our denim shoe with teddy motif.  In addition we have two new festive designs, a plum angel shoe and red shoe with polar bear.  Daisy Roots washable little D’s are the perfect way to keep little toes warm after a bath and look great worn with pyjamas and a dressing gown.  Made from warm fleecy material with a non slip sole designs include a pink heart, a blue car, and a selection of spots.

Key speakers from all sectors of the fine food industry gave insightful presentations into how partnership and collaboration are vital for business success.