Bedding plants, grow-your-own veg and compost: what's flying off the shelves at garden centres

Snaking its way round the car park, spaced 2 metres apart, a queue of more than 100 customers has been waiting outside Newbank Garden Centre in Radcliffe at 9am on Wednesday morning for over an hour. It’s been seven weeks since the centre closed its doors, and local gardeners are keen to step inside.

Staff were ready, equipped with disinfectant and plastic visors, while customers waited patiently for the one-in-one-out policy to allow them in. They chatted about dahlias, begonias and tomato plants.

"It took 10 minutes for me to get in,” one shopper told Manchester Evening News. “There were about 100 people in the queue waiting to get in this morning. Outside you have your trolley sprayed to wipe it clean, and then it's a one-way system.”

This is the new normal. On Monday, prime minister Boris Johnson announced that as of Wednesday May 13, the public will be able to visit garden centres if social distancing measures are in place.

Garden centres are taking the measures very seriously. Webbs Garden Centre in Wychbold has teamed up with DBpixelhouse, an Audio Visual (AV) and IT rental service, to trial a new footfall retailing tool to manage customers coming in and out of the store, while many centres across the UK are implementing one-way systems and strict social distancing measures.

Garden centre restaurants and cafes are to remain closed in accordance with government guidelines.  There is a shift in focus, too. Customers, while no doubt enjoying the thrill of wandering the aisles again, are bee-lining for certain products.

“Despite many of our customers being over the moon to be back in the centre, there is a specific focus now,” says Jo Nicholson, marketing manager at Webbs Garden Centres. “Bedding plants are coming into a league of their own at the moment, as well as colourful shrubs and furniture.”

This sentiment is echoed in Bagshot, where general manager Katrina Mann of Longacres Garden Centres says bedding plants, including cosmos, begonia, lobelia, geraniums, sweet peas and fuchsia, are flying off shelves.

“It’s been exceptionally busy,” she says. “Customers are very keen to get in and buy everlasting shrubs and bedding plants.” Hydrangea, with its gorgeously showy blooms, is a popular choice in store for bedding due to its tolerance of acid or alkaline soils; some hydrangea flower blue when planted in acid soil, while others planted in alkaline soil might flower pink.

“We’ve also seen an increase of interest in grow-your-own vegetables like tomatoes, chillies and cut-and-come-again salad leaves.”

Ian Lemmond, general manager of Whitakers Garden Centre in Prescot, said: “It’s been steady and we’ve had to restrict the amount of customers coming into the store. Everyone is so happy to be back. Of course, this time of year means that summer bedding plants and hanging basket flowers - sunset-coloured surfina, lobelia and petunia -  are doing well.”

This isn’t all of Whitakers stock, though, Lemmond tells me. Nurseries have been hit hard by the lockdown, with many reporting the risk of thousands of plants being binned. “It’s been incredibly tough for nurseries, especially local ones, to get back on their feet after the past new months,” he says.

“We missed the spring bank holiday and peak  buying period that generates a lot of income for us and our growers.” He is hopeful that as time progresses stock will start to flow regularly. “I’d recommend going for heuchera, a genus of evergreen perennial plant, as they come in great colours.”

Compost has been selling well, according to Lindsay Hurst, manager of Bents Garden and Home in Warrington. “We’re only allowing 150 people in the centre at a time and it’s a one-in-one-out policy,” she says. “Compost and mulch has been bought up quickly.” The centre sells aquatic compost, multi-purpose and bulb-planting compost. “It’s been difficult to get hold of multi-purpose compost during lockdown.”

Graeme Jenkins, CEO for Dobbies Garden Centres, the UK’s leading garden centre retailer, said: “Following a successful reopening of our Swansea store, it has also been a positive start to opening our 54 stores across England. Customers have been looking for plants, compost and other gardening products, as they are keen to spend time in their gardens this May.”

“It has been a really great start to reopening,” says Mat Muscat, general manager of Dobbies Havant.  “We have had compliments from customers about how well things have been managed and on how the store looks. The social distancing measures that we have put in place have been welcomed by customers. Plants and compost have been selling really well, rhododendrons in particular, as they are about to burst into flower.”

Similarly, Oli Neave, horticulture manager for Dobbies Cadnam, says that vegetables have been selling well. “We have had positive feedback from customers and good interaction between them and team members around being open again. Plants and compost have been selling well, with lots of appetite for fresh bedding plants and vegetables.”

Down in the south, Rob Brooks, general manager of Otter Nurseries in Taunton, notes a focus on after-pack bedding. “It’s been controlled and we’ve taken the best approach and limited numbers into the store but customers know what they’re coming in for.

“Geraniums and French marigolds are popular, as well as fertiliser and compost. While we’ve been in lockdown, keen gardeners haven’t been able to get hold of mulch so there is plenty of that being sold. Seasonal products like summer bulbs are going well, too.”

Best-selling plants to pick up this May

Bedding plants

Bedding plants like cosmos, geranium, lobelia, petunia and verbena are perfect for summer colour and relatively easy to look after. To start, fill up a container, basket or any size of pot with the bedding plants of your choice and fill in around them generously with compost. Water thoroughly. Later on, be sure to deadhead spent flowers regularly - this encourages more flowers rather than the formation of seeds.

Hydrangea

Reaching up to 15 feet in height, this hydrangea grows quickly and often fills in a space in just one summer. Flowers start in late summer and often last into early autumn, so this shrub can easily become the foundation plant to plan your garden around. The best time to plant is early spring, so get going now to ensure blooms this year.

Tomato plants

Flying off the shelves, tomato plants are much-loved for their juicy fruit. For an easy start, try a grow bag - we recommend  Westland Gro-Sure Tomato Planter Growbag (£5, Wickes) - and cut two x-shaped slits on the top. Water regularly and keep in the greenhouse for maximum results or against a sunny wall outside for fruit a bit later.

Sweet pea

One of the most popular cottage garden flowers, sweet peas are easy to start from seed in a pot or container. Try growing the everlasting perennial varieties that return year after year.

Compost and mulch

"Compost is the currency of the garden," says author and plantsman Huw Richards. Rightly so, getting hold of good compost is essential if you want flowers, vegetables and fruit to flourish. We recommend making your own but if you can't, get hold of organic compost and mulch from the local garden centre.

Summer bulbs

Summer bulbs like gladiolus, above, are great for quick summer colour. Alice Vincent's guide to bulbs to plant now for a beautiful display this summer should answer any lingering questions about buying and planting.