LANDSCAPING
COME RAIN OR SHINE T
BMJ looks at landscaping, discussing how the weather impacts sales, the rise of social media and the enduring effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the industry.
here’s nothing the British like better than talking about the weather, though messing around in the garden comes high on the list too. Sometimes, all it takes to boost sales of landscaping materials from a merchant yard is a period of dry, warm weather, preferably over a bank holiday weekend.
One of the biggest challenges in the early part of 2026 was the weather across the UK. It may seem hard to recall now, with the Whitsun weekend’s scorching heatwave, but the South West, southern England and the east of Scotland had their wettest January on record according to statistics from the Met Office. Some areas of the country, including the Cornish village of Cardinham, had rain for a continuous streak of 55 days in the early part of the year, and that has posed a challenging start to the year for the landscaping sector. Travis Perkins’ group senior category manager Sam Wood says: “The weather really dictates the practicality of what can be built and when. A huge part of the market has moved toward large- format porcelain and sandstone, but these aren’t ‘all-weather’ products. They require a rigid installation on a full mortar bed, often with a priming slurry.
“When you’re hit with relentless rain, you’re fighting a losing battle with the mortar mix. Excess water weakens the bond and can lead to laitance - that thin, dusty layer on the surface that causes slabs to fail or ‘pop’ later on. It’s a major risk for call- backs, which is why many landscapers have to pause those projects when the ground is saturated.
“That’s why we see a shift in the yard towards concrete block paving (CBP) during wet spells. Because it’s a flexible system laid on a dry-sand bed, it’s much more resilient to the elements. It allows contractors to keep their crews working and their projects moving, even when the British weather isn’t playing ball.”
In the 2023/24 storm season, there was a record of 12 named storms, which continued into the back end of 2024 with Storm Darragh and Eowyn both seeing peak winds in excess of 90mph.
The high winds cause significant damage 28
to homes and gardens, meaning that sales for landscaping essentials like fencing increase.
Category manager Oliver Gray says: “Storm disruption influences the demand for fencing massively, as when there is damage, it leads to a subsequent increase in repair work.
“This year, there have been far fewer named storms on a national level than in previous years, which has meant demand for fencing has remained relatively low to date.” Trends come and go, which means merchants need to stay on top of what is popular in the market.
Wood adds: “The data tells us that homeowners are going away from mixed modular patterns when it comes to hard landscaping, with customers purchasing sandstone and porcelain in one specific size rather than in project packs with a variety of different sizes.
“Large-format porcelain is being used
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2026
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