The MD of Barcham Trees warns, "Xylella is not in the UK yet, but if plant material keeps coming across from the continent without any thought to bio-security it is only a matter of time before this menace becomes a reality.” Read more - members only

The Tillington Group that pools the buying power of some of the country’s top garden centres has broken into the £200m turnover band. Read more - members only

John Gillam, MD of Bunnings looks at the next 3 – 5 years for Homebase, adopting a measured approach that will start with getting ‘wider assortments and stronger stock weighting into the existing network’. Read more - members only

28 of the 29 Brantano concessions within garden centres have been saved as the shoe chain is bought back by the company that put it into administration. Read more - members only

The Sunday Times reports that Guy Hands is considering launching an auction for Wyevale Garden Centres having received takeover approaches. Read more - members only

Rosebourne starts a recruitment drive before opening its first site in August, promising a new benchmark in garden centres. Read more - members only

Retailers have been receiving bogus calls seeking to place big orders for Yankee candles, paid for with cloned credit cards.  THIS SCAM IS STILL HAPPENING. Read more - members only

Barton Grange made it five in a row beating Bents and Burston by the narrowest of margins to be GCA large destination Garden Centre of the Year.  Garden Wise was named garden centre of the year. Read more - members only

It has been reported that Brantano, the value shoe retailer that operates concessions on 29 garden centres has been placed in administration. Read more - members only

Australia’s Wesfarmers has agree to buy Homebase for £340m and promises new investment to build the DIY and garden group. Read more - members only

Wyevale Garden Centres buys Woodcote Green one of the South’s largest garden centres and promises it will be business as usual. Read more - members only

Tildenet has acquired Bosmere in a move that will confirm its position as a major retail supplier in the gardening sector. Steve Millington will stay with the business. Read more - members only

The Sunday Times reports that 800 jobs are at risk at Brantano, the out-of-town shoe retailer with concessions on garden centres. Read more - members only

Pennells Garden Centre at Lincoln completed a £2m major extension in the spring and has seen strong growth this autumn. Read more - members only

Daffodils are flowering earlier than ever in the exceptionally mild weather. But how are growers of shrubs and herbaceous plants managing? What happens if we get a cold spell as some watchers of El Nino predict? Read more - members only

A proposed Junction 10a on the M20 in Kent could see the closure of Wyevale’s Ashford garden centre. Read more - members only

HTA’s new Garden Centre Benchmarking service will get data flowing through garden retail, with the promise of predicting sales patterns based on the forecast weather. Read more - members only

Hayloft Plants has beaten bigger rivals to run The Telegraph online Garden Shop and is looking to add product. Read more - members only

Ingatestone Garden Centre in Billericay, Essex has been closed by its owner saying the business was no longer financially viable. Read more - members only

Consent has been granted for a Le Friquet style garden centre at Leeds, making it potentially the 18th garden centre for Blue Diamond. Read more - members only

Poundland has just introduced the Charlie Dimmock gardening range with a wide variety of gardening essentials, both practical and decorative, all at its famous £1 price point. Read more - members only

Wyevale Garden Centres confirms the purchase of Crowders Garden Centre in Lincolnshire. The Crowder family retain the nursery and online business. Read more - members only

GCA today revealed which garden centres are the best for plants, garden products, outdoor living products and garden furniture. Read more - members only

Local news sources are speculating that Crowders in Horncastle will be the next garden centre to be purchased by Wyevale Garden Centres. Read more - members only

Wyevale Garden centres has sold eight garden centres to Orchard Street Investment Management in a sale and leaseback deal. Read more - members only

It is widely reported that Home Retail Group is in advanced talks regarding the sale of Homebase to Australian giant Wesfarmers. Read more - members only

Lovania Nurseries acquires Seoint Nurseries and Neil Alcock is made managing director. Read more - members only

2015 was an eventful year in the garden sector. Here is a round-up of some of the most important stories on Gardenforum throughout the year. This article is open to non-members. Read more - open to all

Big losses are all part of the plan as Smart Garden invests in rapid growth, almost doubling sales in 2 years. Read more - members only

Thompson & Morgan has reported a 24% rise in seed sales through September to end of November 2015, compared to the same period in 2014, driven by vegetable seed sales. Read more - members only