Our members enjoyed a strong trading performance during July with overall sales increasing by +10.66% compared to July 2025 according to our latest Barometer of Trade (BoT) released today (August 17, 2026).
Despite intense heat and water restrictions for gardeners in nearly all areas, garden centres nationwide delivered strong trading figures and exceeded expectations, and the year-to-date performance also remained positive.
Strong month
Peter Burks, our CEO, says: “Despite the terrific heat and temporary use water orders, our members had a very strong month sales wise when compared to July 2025; much to most people’s surprise and pleasure.
“It was great to see strong plant sales as customers were looking for fresh colourful replacements for those lost in the heat. However, while plant sales were certainly up, so were the costs for caring for them in both watering and wastage. Furniture as expected had a very strong month and it’s great to see the food offering also brought in good numbers. All in all, a very pleasing month.”
Furniture & BBQs
The strongest performing category during July was furniture & BBQs, which rose by +27.76% when compared to July 2025. Garden sundries also enjoyed an exceptional month, increasing by +16.72%, while clothing sales were up +13.41%.
Other categories posting strong growth included hard landscaping, +10.30%, outdoor plants, +8.50%, food hall/farm shop, +7.52%, seeds & bulbs, +7.40% and catering, which increased by +6.86%.
Gifts also performed well, up +3.42%, while pets & aquatics recorded a modest increase of +1.32% and houseplants rose by +0.37%.
Regional results
Regionally, the strongest growth was recorded in the North, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where sales increased by +15.43%. The East followed closely with growth of +14.97%, while Midlands, Wales and the West were up +8.96% and the South increased by +7.18%.