Growers forced to dump unsellable plants

Guy Barter, chief horticultural advisor to the Royal Horticultural Society, explains why plant growers have been forced to dump millions of plants, and advises how to get your defrosted garden ready for a colourful summer.

Every year plant growers get in an early to plant a group of hardy plants that can survive British temperatures to flower in full through the Spring. These plants, such as primroses and pansies, give instant colour to patios, window boxes and gardens.

This year however a majority of people have looked out the window and seen it is cold, gray and nasty, so they have stayed at home and kept their hands in their pockets. Garden centres suffered very poor sales so they bought less from growers.

The impact of this is that growers have large amounts of costly-to-produce, hardy plants that they cannot sell. They are now in the process of spending large amounts of money to get rid of them, as they have to be removed quickly to make way for the summer plants.

Summer plants, such as geraniums and fuschias are much more tender, and cannot grow in cold temperatures: they need to be grown in greenhouses and so the old, unsold plants are taking up the space growers need if they are to claw back the money they have already lost.

It is a terrible pity, as the Spring plants currently being dumped are strong, and had they been bought would have been flowering now. But what is done is done.

The important thing now is to focus on the rest of the Spring, as the sun is still high in the sky and there are still plenty of opportunities to plant. If beds are planted now you can still achieve a very attractive garden for the summer.

It has been a slow start, but it is by no means the end of the gardening year.

Guy Barton is the Chief Horticultural Advisor to the Royal Horticultural Society.