RANGE REVIEW: GARDEN & WOODCARE
to force stuff on. But, this year, it has been so much warmer, we can just put stuff in the cold store when we need to hold it back and it much easier that way.” Explaining
the process, he
continues: “We normally wait for 20-30% of flowers to come out on the plant, then we put in the cold store. You can then remove those flowers for Chelsea and more buds will come out.” Plants can stay in the cold store for up to two months prior to the show but some items can be in there for as long as four months.
Despite the amount of planning and work that goes into the preparation for the show, there is still an element of ‘winging it’ when it comes to building the garden on site, as the design team never quite knows what will have made it to the show – either because it couldn’t be forced on or held back or something even as simple as it not surviving the journey from glass house to show ground. “We’ve got our ideal plant
spreadsheets ready to go, of course,” explains designer Lily Gomm, “but
DIYWK-12APR19-Benchmark_Layout 1 10/04/2019 11:47 Page 1
it’s just seeing whether those that are on the list are ready for the day. They are growing lots of back- ups, which is great. You have to not be too precious about a section having a particular plant because that might not happen. The good thing about Hillier is that there is so much variety here, so you have lots to choose from.” With the incredible investment required to be part an event such as
Chelsea every year, how does Hillier make a return?
Robert Hillier tells DIY Week: “It’s a challenge because it does get more expensive every year and you question the value of it – particularly taking our staff away from our garden centres during a busy time of year to have them on stand to answer questions. But it is such an important event to us.” Last year the business had a total
of 120 people working on the garden across build up and the flower show week, which is a significant chunk of its 600-strong workforce. Robert’s son, George explains: “We have become more commercially minded about it and every garden centre has a piece of Chelsea near the entrance to catch the eye and let customers buy the plants used on the garden. We produce a special edition Chelsea magazine, which is distributed at the show but also mailed out to a large proportion of our Gardening Club, which has around 250,000 members. We give out 25,000 copies of the magazine at the show alone.” Hillier retail director Chris Francis adds: “95% of the plants used on the garden are exclusive to us, which is important. We sell the Chelsea range on trolleys in our centres and our customers are aware of that now, where previously we didn’t shout about it enough. So many people can share in our Chelsea experience now either in store or via our social media posts, imagery, and the magazine. They feel like they’re part of it.”
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www.diyweek.net 26 APRIL 2019 DIY WEEK 15
Publication date: June
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