The HTA has urged the UK to remain vigilant after Xylella fastidiosa has been found in Belgium for the first time, on olive trees imported from Spain. Read more

In a move away from single use plastics, Hillier claims to be the first nursery in the UK to grow a commercially potted crop in a recyclable pot. Unlike black pots, Taupe can be detected by infra-red recycling equipment. Read more

Bayer shares fell after a US court orders Monsanto to pay $289m and a Brazilian judge suspends glyphosate, in spite of a scientific consensus that the herbicide is not carcinogenic. Read more

“Once we leave the EU we will have the chance to … take swifter, more targeted action against serious threats like Xylella,” says Gove launching a strategy to protect England’s trees. Read more

The HTA has created a 30-day action plan to raise awareness of the threat of Xylella fastidiosa and the potential devastation it poses to the horticultural industry. Read more

The Plant Health Coordinator at one of the UK’s leading nurseries has contributed to a study published this month (April, 2018) in a leading scientific journal. Read more

Having warned of a risk of snow for Easter, the Metoffice now says for the majority of the country and for the majority of the time, this is not so. Read more

The Met Office warns there is an increased risk, later this month, of prolonged cold conditions over the UK with an easterly wind and significant snow, having detected Sudden Stratospheric Warming above the North Pole. Read more

The EU has finally lifted the threat to glyphosate by licencing it for a further 5 years. The herbicide is the active ingredient in Roundup and many other systemic weedkillers used in the garden. Read more

MEPs say the EU should draw up plans to phase out glyphosate by 2020, starting with a complete ban on household use. Read more

Scotts Miracle-Gro called on the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) to find that two adverts for Safelawn by Westland were misleading. Their complaint was not upheld. Read more

“Xylella is the biggest, scariest threat in my 30 years in the industry…  There is no messing about with this, we must protect our industry,” says an HTA panelist. An outbreak means no plant movements within 10k for 5 years. Read more

FOE draws commitment from garden centre groups not to sell flowering plants grown with neonicotinoids as EFSA draws near to decision on a permanent ban. Read more

Manufacturers dispute research findings that neonicotinoids damage bees' ability to reproduce. Read more

The Daily Mail says that ‘insect-friendly’ plants sold in garden centres and supermarkets are laced with chemicals that could be killing bees. Read more

Each year, Agricultural businesses let tonnes of glass go to waste instead of recycling – but an innovative new service is set to change the landscape of recycling in the area. Read more

Rolawn, a leading UK turf grower, has warned that prices are set to rise in the coming months, because of the extreme weather and rising costs. Read more

The Met Office says, the warm and dry weather is here to stay until at least the end of June and… we could be looking at similar conditions continuing into the start of July. Read more

National press highlights re-appearance of the oak processionary moth and the Spanish slug. Gardenforum looks into their threat and their spread. Read more

A Met Office study into long term weather changes predicts wetter winters.  In contrast summers could be 50% drier in the North and Scotland with more extreme weather events by 2100. Read more

The National Trust will phase out selling single use plastics by 2022 and is investigating the alternatives for single use plastics in its plant nurseries and plant sales areas. Read more

The Met Office has warned it will get colder at the weekend and there is the potential for some significant snowfall in places, particularly in the South East of England, by Sunday. Read more

2017 started with a flourish but lost momentum and settled to be an OK year. Suppliers worried about Brexit, the living wage, higher costs and Wyevale. Retailers and growers worried about Xylella. Takeover activity reached new peaks among suppliers, but no major garden centres changed hands. The industry said goodbye to some old friends. Read our review – (open to non-subscribers). Read more

With growing signs that Government is sympathetic to supporting ornamental horticulture, the HTA’s Raoul Curtis-Machin told a Parliamentary committee that growers could reduce plant imports and improve bio-security if given the right backing. Read more

New EU measures for plants at high-risk of carrying Xylella include preventing their movement anywhere in the EU except from sites which have been officially inspected. Read more

As the deadline nears, the EU has delayed the decision on whether to re-licence glyphosate. France and Italy threaten to vote against the weight of science as friction between Monsanto and the EU grows. Read more

Dobbies got no help from the Police when uninvited travellers pitched their vans in the car park of Peterborough Garden Centre last Wednesday. Read more

The HTA describes the massive impact on the plant trade across all business sectors in the event of an outbreak of Xylella fastidiosa in the UK. What should UK businesses be doing? Read more

Do we face opening the UK market to imports from the US? LOFA members fear exchange rate volatility. The HTA is concerned about retaining the relationship it has built with Government on ways to promote plant health and cut plant imports.  Read more

Following reports of genetically modified petunias being sold in Finland, the HTA has alerted the UK authorities to their existence in the UK supply chain. Read more