Clever Pots - Kin Brands

E g g s t ra o rd i n a r y E a s t e r g e t s s e a s o n o f f t o a fl y e r

After a few weeks in March and April when sales dipped below last years levels and people were starting to wonder how the year would pan out, the sun shone well and truly for Easter and as the GTN Bestsellers graph below shows, volume sales reached a new peak, even exceeding the levels immediately after the end of Lockdown #1 in 2020.

Now one great week doesn’t make a whole season, but, with underlying trends of record sales for Grow Your Own plants and incredibly high volumes of growing media still coming through in the GTN Bestsellers data it does seem as though gardens are going to play an important part in many people’s lives this summer.

The long weekend for the Queens Platinum Jubilee could well be the catalyst for high levels of garden décor, garden furniture and BBQ sales. If that proves to be the case, it will be a right royal summer too!

Unfortunately, the GTN team were hit with COVID at the start of March, with the aftereffects taking a long time to clear, which is why this is a joint March-April issue to catch up on all that has happened while some of us have been out of action.

We’re all recovered now, which is a good job considering Glee is just 60 days away at time of going to press and there’s much to do in preparation for the first ever June Glee event at the NEC. We’ll see you there if not before while we are out on our garden entre visits.

Have a great May!

In this issue...

4 Shaping a new future at Coolings 8 Blue Diamond Awards – GTN Photo Exclusive

12 Garden Centres Aid for Ukraine

14 Primeur – Ready for 2022 16 Latest trends and products from the Garden

Press Event

22 LOFA’s Plant a Tree Campaign 25 Greetings from Woodmansterne –

GTN meets the suppliers 29 Easter Trading records broken –

GTN Bestsellers Exclusive

35 GTN Bestsellers – Subscribe Now! 36 YPHA member opens Dor’s Garden in Ross

On Wye 38 Glee 2022 Update 40 Garden Re-Leaf Day 2022 42 LOFA Column – Working Together 44 HTA Column – Reasons to be Cheerful 46 GIMA Column – Sourcing New Products

Advertisers in this Issue

3 Clever Pots - Kin Brands 7 Norfolk Leisure 10 GIMA Awards 11 STV International 19 Altico 21 Algon 24 Handy Distribution 28 Bulldog Tools 35 Bathgate Horticulture 37 Hartman 38 The Real Soil Company 39 SBM – Phostrogen 40 Four Oaks 41 Durstons 41 Fordingbridge 43 Whistler Grills 45 Vitavia 47 Patio Black Spot 48 SOLEX 22

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING

Garden Trade News Potting Shed Press Ltd Dairy Drove Thorney Peterborough PE6 0TX Tel 01733 775700 www.gardentradenews.co.uk

THE GTN TEAM

Editor Trevor Pfeiffer trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk Advertising Sales Alan Burdon Alan@pottingshedpress.co.uk Associate Editor Mike Wyatt mike@pottingshedpress.co.uk Digital Editor Neil Pope neil@pottingshedpress.co.uk Features Editor Anisa Gress anisa@pottinghsedpress.co.uk Subscriptions Karen Pfeiffer karen@pottingshedpress.co.uk

Design & Production

AT Graphics Ltd www.atgraphicsuk.com Kirsty Craner – Design Alun Jones – Production Manager Robert Tipping – Managing Director James Tipping – Technical Director Printing CG Print Ltd

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If you’d like to be added to the GTN distribution list, please send your details to Karen@pottingshedpress.co.uk to see if you qualify to be included. Alternatively, if you prefer your Garden Trade News digitally, sign up for GTN Xtra, our weekly e-mail newsetter at www.gardentradenews.co.uk And, if you want the fastest garden centre sales analysis, take out a subscription to GTN Bestsellers our printed weekly sales data newsletter. For just £145.00 per year you get Top 50 sales charts created from weekly garden centre epos data. Contact trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk for more details and to subscribe.

Potting Shed Press Ltd

Garden Trade News is published by Potting Shed Press Ltd who also publish: GTN Bestsellers, GTN Xtra, Glee Daily News and the Glee Catalogue, and the Solex Sun. Potting Shed Press also supply Garden Radio to over 100 garden centres across the country.

Director Trevor Pfeiffer

SMALL PRINT: All material © Potting Shed Press Ltd 2022. No part of this publication may e reproduced in any form whatsoever, either for sale or not, without the express permission of the publishers. The information supplied in this publication is published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. Potting Shed Press Ltd cannot accept responsibility for any error or misrepresentation. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or other damage caused by reliance on information contained in this publication or in the vent of any bankruptcy or liquidation or cassation of the trade of any company, individual or firm mentioned, is hereby excluded.