The UK plant retail season has kicked off in earnest, with many UK garden centres reporting excellent Easter sales.

There was much anticipation over the weather leading up to the crucial Easter trading period, but prolonged periods of sunshine drove many people out into their gardens and consequently out to buy plants.

The HTA’s director of commercial services, Andrew Maxted, said that while it was still early days this week represented a ‘good solid start to the season,’ with feedback from retailers being almost entirely positive.

Good sales figures have seen many firms far up on the same period last year, with some reporting a return to the good times of three or four years ago. A number even reported record sales.

Maxted told Commercial Grower was that one unusual development was the vast number of customers turning up at garden centres on Good Friday and Easter Monday rather than the middle Saturday. However many people were still not getting the message about Easter opening hours, with vast numbers reportedly being turned away at the gates.

Another welcome trend is the fact that there is a perceptible move towards actual planting, compared with the heyday of ‘makeover’ shows when decking and garden furniture were higher on the list of gardeners’ priorities.

Maxted said that this was part of an increasing public interest in ‘instant gardening’, a way of cheering up their gardens via colourful plants, for which they are prepared to pay a premium.

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