After a dismal first four months of the year for garden retailers, was May good enough to catch up lost ground? Not according to the latest figures published this week by the Garden Centre Association. Garden furniture showed the biggest increase. See more... Read more - members only

Vegetable damage in British gardens and allotments appears to be more prevalent this year due to weed killer contamination of manure, following dressing with farmyard manure. See more... Read more - members only

Thermoflor has built a new garden centre in St Petersburg in Russia. The garden centre officially opened its doors to the public in April. The enterprise is intended to be the first branch of a new chain of garden centres that will be opened in Russia under the name of Greenland. See more... Read more - members only

The Princess Royal opened the new Barton Grange garden centre at Brock in Lancashire yesterday before 500 specially invited guests. See more... Read more - members only

The persistent rumours that Garden & Leisure might be sold have been fuelled recently by the revelation that Dobbies is considering an acquisition worth £45m. Gardenforum interviewed directors, Neville Prest and Carol Paris to find out the truth. See more... Read more - members only

New targets at B&Q propose to double profit margins as the new management at Kingfisher seeks to drive up shareholder value. However poor weather and an early Easter have inevitably dented the first quarter. See more... Read more - members only

Flying Brands, 29.9% owned by Sir Tom Hunter and the umbrella group for Flying Flowers, Gardening Direct and Garden Bird Supplies, has issued its second profit warning of the year. See more... Read more - members only

Visitors to Europlants UK Ltd last week may have been surprised that the company’s old offices were being raised to the ground! Read more - members only

Latest results on Gardenforum’s Company Results show profit growth at Grange Fencing, Alexander Rose, Proteam (UK), Stewart Plastics, Deroma, Doff Portland , W Crowder & Sons and Hillier Nurseries. But 12 companies show significantly lower profits or losses. See more... Read more - members only

The addition of Whitehall Garden Centres further strengthens the Tillington Group which now has a turnover of £170 million from 11 members and 30 branches. See more...
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May’s edition of Gardening Which? continues the lawns theme with a review of lawn treatments and a plug for greener hand cylinder mowers. See more.... Read more - members only

Grovewell Garden Centres wins permission for a second garden centre in Kent. Works start immediately. See more... Read more - members only

GrowVeg.com – the garden planning website for growing your own fruit and vegetables – has announced the top vegetables being grown in gardens and allotments in the UK this year. Based on plans produced by over 1,600 UK gardeners some interesting trends have emerged. See more... Read more - members only

The Garden Communication and Media Co has acquired Garden Trade News, the title that it has published under license from EMAP for the last 4 years. See more... Read more - members only

Returning from the World Retail Congress, the CEO of Kingfisher, Ian Cheshire, has commented in The Retail Bulletin that sustainable retail is one of the hottest topics in the industry at the moment and it is here to stay. See more… Read more - members only

This month’s updates to Gardenforum's Company Results pages include increased profits for Allensmore Nurseries, Mr Fothergill's Seeds, William Strike and Gordon Rigg (Nurseries). Among the other updated results are Frosts Garden Centre, Notcutts, Klondyke, Barlow Tyrie and David Austin Roses. See more... Read more - members only

The bulb specialist, P. de Jager & Sons Limited, has been sold by Thelma de Jager. She has retired after 50 years in her husband's family business. See more... Read more - members only

Positive May sales fail to make up for drop in seasonal sales at Homebase in March and April. See more... Read more - members only

The US consumer goods group Spectrum Brands announced the sale of their complete pet business, under the name United Pet Group (UPG), to the company Salton, Inc. In Europe, UPG is known as Tetra Europe, which includes the successful pet brands Tetra and 8in1. Read more - members only

Tesco has declared its bid for remaining shares in Dobbies unconditional and set the date for delisting it from AIM. With news of a new Wyevale in Kent, this sets the framework for the garden retail sector for the next few years. See more... Read more - members only

This year’s prices survey by Gardenforum shows that Wyevale has become the most competitive of the specialist chains, but fails to match the best independent. Also many plants and garden products show significant price increases, but there are fallers as well. See more... Read more - members only

Having lost a court battle to prevent Dobbies issuing new shares, Sir Tom Hunter's West Coast Capital has accepted an offer to sell its Dobbies shares to Tesco at £12 each. As a result Dobbies is to give shareholders more time to consider the open offer. See more... Read more - members only

Sir Tom Hunter's West Coast Capital is seeking talks with Tesco to find a fair solution for shareholders having today failed to persuade the courts to block Dobbies intended share issue. See more...
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Reports by Scottish newspapers on yesterday's court hearing between Sir Tom Hunter and Dobbies revealed an offer by Tesco and potential acquisitions for Dobbies. Hunter is seeking to block Dobbies’ plan to raise £150 million from shareholders. See more… Read more - members only

West Coast Capital, Wyevale’s owner, has started legal proceedings against Dobbies to prevent the company's proposed open offer to shareholders. See more… Read more - members only

Reporting results for the year to 3rd March, Home Retail Group warns that sales at Homebase have started weaker than expected this year, but that the group that includes Argos is well positioned both operationally and financially. See more… Read more - members only

Next week, Quality Ornamentals starts to deliver to independent garden centres what it believes to be the first 100% peat-free pack bedding pants. See More... Read more - members only

Scotts Miracle-Gro has today announced a recall of Miracle-Gro Shake 'n Feed with Weed Preventer All Purpose Plant Food in the United States of America. The recall does not affect the UK and Europe. See more... Read more - members only

The largest pet retailer in the UK continues to prosper with innovation and 20 new stores driving sales up 16% in the last 12 months. See more... Read more - members only

Scotsdales Garden Centre, one of the largest centres in the UK, has joined the Tillington Group of Garden Centres. This brings the Tillington Group turnover to almost £160 million. See more... Read more - members only