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GCA Column News
Grow Your Own Gardening Focus Garden Power Landscaping
10 Pest Control
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Spring thoughts I
Garden Centre Association Chief Executive, Peter Burks looks forward to the new season ahead.
always like this time of year in a garden centre, as you pack away Christmas, and you get the chance to set up for the brighter months ahead and get into spring gardening mode. This is a great
time to investigate new layouts, new customer routes and think about the location of your most profitable lines. It’s very important you know what these lines are and have them in the best location and in the right volume. If you do move these compared to previous
years, do keep a close eye on sales volumes, as sometimes just having them on the different side of a pathway can make big differences to what customers pick up. As we face the New Year, it’s always interesting to consider the likely challenges and issues we could face and how to overcome them. It was very heartening to hear the veteran economist Roger Martin- Fagg at our recent GCA conference dispel some of the myths around the gloomy economic outlook. He is convinced that the recession will be short-lived and shallow, and by quarter three our customers will be out spending the current pile of cash they are hanging onto as they await the end of the current energy crisis. I note the current wholesale price of gas is back to pre-war levels. What other trends are we likely to see in the year ahead? Well, clearly the ongoing reduction in peat use must continue and, again, it is so nice to hear how many garden centres, production nurseries and other outlets are already completely peat free. Producers are working hard to increase the quality of these alternatives and the consistency, which will be so important to the success of the end user. We don’t want the inexperienced amateur grower being unsuccessful and losing interest in having a go. The very hot summer last year is sure to be a focus in 2023. Think rainwater harvesting systems,
targeted micro irrigation and the encouragement for customers to mulch well, use larger pots as the extra compost gives a good additional water storage element, and, of course, plants that both love the sun and tolerate drought. Having said that knowing our variable weather, it will probably be a cold and wet summer. I hope not! Gardens as havens for wildlife is also a hugely popular topic, which our industry can develop further.
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Clearly attracting birds and butterflies into the garden is very enjoyable for us, but the addition of the right plants and other structures will also attract many other insects, including bees, creating a self-supporting eco-system, which helps with natural pest control. Educating our customers to reduce the amount of chemical use also has to be a priority. Much more
needs to be done in store on the education front, there is much to learn for most of us. At this time of year, it’s great seeing early spring colour starting to emerge in our gardens and it’s an ideal time to promote plants that are good early performers. Every garden should have Hellebores, as they now appear with their large exotic flowers, which last
for several months, in so many colours, but are happy to get swamped by the summer growth of fellow herbaceous plants and shrubs before becoming more visible again as the next winter arrives. The brightly coloured stems of Cornus, the dogwood, is very cheering on frosty sunny mornings too, but I think my favourite bark is on Salix ‘Britzensis’ but this is not widely grown. Even those with small urban plots can grow Hellebores and they are ideal in pots in a shady position. For further information, please visit
www.gca.org.uk
GCU Spring 2023
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