How to select & care for a fresh Christmas tree When selecting your tree there are lots of things to consider. Make sure you measure the space where it will go, as you don’t want a tree that’s too small or too big. Think about your colour scheme before making your selection. The colour of…
Bright ideas for spring-flowering bulbs Autumn is the best time to plant spring-flowering bulbs ready for next year including corms, tubers, rhizomes and bulbs. Most bulbs suit well-drained soils in full sun, but for shady areas, you could plant Anemone nemorosa, Corydalis solida, Erythronium and Galanthus. Benefits of planting now Most bulbs benefit from being…
Planting allium bulbs The perfectly formed allium is a sight to behold in the garden, coming in a variety of colours from white, yellow and sky blue through to deep claret and mauve. There are tall ones, short ones, single flowered and multi-headed ones that can add a different dimension to your planting schemes. How…
September’s BoT figures are out now! September’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) shows a ‘strong start to Christmas sales’ and some ‘encouraging’ figures. From the 13 categories logged by member garden centres, 10 were positive, when compared to 2024, with clothing in the top spot at +12.89%. Encouraging figures Our Chief Executive, Peter Burks explains: “Members…
Creating a winter window box wow Window boxes are wonderful for relieving townscape drabness and will add charm to any home in an urban or country setting. To add a striking note to winter containers use ornamental cabbages. Their swirls of crinkly-edged leaves add welcome textural impact to a mixed planting arrangement and their rose,…
Greenfingers’ Charity Shield returns to our 2026 Conference GARDEN centre and horticultural industry staff are invited to sign-up for a fundraising event being held at our annual conference at Carden Park Chester in January (2026). Teams will compete for the Greenfingers’ Charity Shield on January 25 to help raise money for Greenfingers, which is dedicated…
New GROW food safety course released We’ve launched a new Food Safety Level 3 course on our award-winning e-learning platform today (October 6, 2025). It’s the 98th course to be added to our Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) and it’s available to both our members and those of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA). Legal requirement…
‘National treasure’ at our 2026 Conference We’re delighted to reveal that writer, broadcaster, former MP and Government Whip Gyles Brandreth will be a keynote speaker at our Annual Conference at Carden Park Chester next year (January 25-28, 2026). Gyles, who is now a Chancellor of the University of Chester, is well-known for sporting jolly jumpers,…
First headline sponsor for 2026 conference We’ve secured Evergreen Garden Care as our first headline sponsor for our 60th anniversary year annual conference taking place in January (January 25-28, 2026). Evergreen Garden Care has also pledged to sponsor one of the main keynote speakers for the event – retail guru, businesswoman, broadcaster, author and activist…
A few jobs for the weekend Now is a great time to do a few essential jobs while things are a little quieter generally in the garden. Pruning Tall deciduous shrubs like roses, tree mallow (lavatera) and butterfly bush (buddleia) that will be pruned in early spring are best cut back by about a third…