Guy Hands has written to investors explaining his plans for The Garden Centre Group, saying: “We intend to sharpen TGCG’s focus in its core garden business while growing a steady concession-based income stream.” See more… Read more - members only

Double H Nurseries, one of the UK's largest growers of houseplants, has won permission to build a power station in the green belt to provide heat and light from burning waste wood. See more... Read more - members only

Half year results show sales were level with last year for William Sinclair but profits were down slightly due to higher oil prices. Despite the weather, full year results are still expected to be in line with last year. See more… Read more - members only

Gardman is restructuring operations to consolidate bird food production onto a single site at Kings Lynn. The moves should reduce cost and increase the flexibility of its service. See more… Read more - members only

Boyd Douglas Davies’ Hillview Group is about to complete its second acquisition: Hilltop Garden Centre in Oxfordshire. See more... Read more - members only

Last August, Keydell Nurseries had planning permission refused for a new garden centre despite local officers recommending approval. Now they are offering to pay for traffic calming measures. See more... Read more - members only

Marshalls, the manufacturer of paving and landscaping product, says sales did not show their usual post Easter uplift.  Working conditions in April were disappointing, hampering sales and obscuring underlying market trends.  See more… Read more - members only

Just entering the annual GIMA awards presents unrivalled exposure for any company launching a new gardening product. See more... Read more - members only

Beckworth Emporium has said it will close for 2 days over the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee so that staff can join the celebrations. See more... Read more - members only

7 million viewers of Countryfile last night, saw the UK’s major peat harvester call for a ban on peat. The programme reminded gardeners that they have a choice whether to use peat on their gardens. See more... Read more - members only

Blue Diamond’s recent acquisitions make it the largest privately owned specialist garden centre group measured by turnover, with further growth to come. See more... Read more - members only

Blue Diamond has bought the Grosvenor Garden Centre business. All staff will be retained by the new owners, who look forward to developing the potential of one of the country's leading garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

The Garden Store has taken over the lease of Burford House Garden Centre in Tenbury Wells that houses the National Collection of clematis. See more... Read more - members only

The Garden Centre Group has agreed to take over the retail plant centre at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire. See more... Read more - members only

Dobbies has announced a bursary worth £150k to be shared between schools, charities and community groups around its garden centres to encourage them to get growing. See more… Read more - members only

Cherry Lane Garden Centres, a subsidiary of QD Stores, has bought Croft Nurseries and Garden Centre. This is their second acquisition of the year. See more... Read more - members only

Plans just submitted for the proposed Dobbies garden centre at Kings Lynn demonstrate a new way of Tesco and Dobbies working together on the same site. See more... Read more - members only

Companies wishing to enter the GIMA Awards must do so before June 15. These provide unrivalled exposure for new products and marketing ideas launched within the last 12 months. See more... Read more - members only

As predicted on Gardenforum earlier in the year, Next has confirmed that it will open a second Home and Garden store at the end of June, in Ipswich. A third will open this summer in Warrington with more to follow. See more... Read more - members only

The RHS has responded to the report of a man contracting Legionnaires’ Disease from compost with advice not to store potting media in hot greenhouses as these will heat up and may encourage Legionella. See more… Read more - members only

A planning application has been submitted to redevelop Percy Thrower’s Garden Centre twelve months after Garden & Leisure revealed the possibility of sharing the site with Waitrose. See more... Read more - members only

Westland is backing Diarmuid Gavin at this year's Chelsea Flower Show as he seeks to build the largest ever garden. You can watch the progress by clicking regularly on the website link below. See more... Read more - members only

The owner of Old Railway Garden Centre praised suppliers as delays in the completion of bank funding threatened to delay its £1.1m redevelopment. See more... Read more - members only

Terry Stannard, the non-executive chairman of Gardman Holdings is leaving the company. In his place, Jonathan Halford, the chairman of Forest Garden joins as a non-executive director. See more... Read more - members only

Briggs & Stratton is cutting capacity and cutting the workforce by 10%, saying it does not expect demand to return to peak levels in the foreseeable future. See more... Read more - members only

Construction is about to start on a £2.5m garden centre in Dunbar. This will be the second site for Berwick Garden Centre, which is also expanding. See more... Read more - members only

Gardman has announced its move into the pet care market, initially targeting cats and dogs. There will be three brands covering everyday accessories, design led fashion products and a more rugged range for the outdoor dog. See more… Read more - members only

Westland Horticulture has bought Cranswick Pet Products. Cranswick has two leading brands: Bucktons and Nature’s Feast. See more... Read more - members only

William Sinclair’s trading update says that after a slightly later start this year, the important spring sales season is now very much underway. See more... Read more - members only

A matter of weeks after announcing the sale of is gifts division to Interflora, Flying Brands has said it is selling the Garden Bird Supplies, Garden Centre Online and Listen 2 businesses. See more... Read more - members only