Millions of plants, shrubs and trees could be binned in the coming days and weeks as people all over the UK postpone trips to the garden centre and stay at home.
The closure of 2,000 garden centres and nurseries because of the coronavirus pandemic means makers of “ornamental horticulture” now have no outlets for their plants.
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There are fears that hundreds of venues – many of which are often family-run businesses – now face financial difficulties as demand for seasonal plants dwindles at what is normally the busiest time of year.
Ornamental crops
According to the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), many plants will now have to be thrown away because they are seasonal and therefore perishable.
It is calling on the Government to support the ornamental crop sector, which grows bulbs, bedding plants, cut flowers and pot plants for garden centres, supermarkets, florists and DIY stores.
Among its supporters is celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh, who warned of “irreparable damage” to gardens and open spaces if the sector has to weather the crisis unsupported.
Plants are big business, with the HTA saying there are around 650 businesses producing ornamental crops, contributing £1.4bn to the UK economy each year.
It suggests that the value of lost plant sales in the UK will be £687m by the end of June.
James Barnes, who chairs the HTA, told the BBC’s Today programme that the industry had “hit a perfect storm”.
“Growers will have spent the last three or four months building up supplies which they can’t sell and all of this stock is perishable,” he said.
“If they can’t sell it, it can’t get to the end user, it can’t get in the ground, then it has to be written off. They’ll have to be literally thrown away.”
Planning ahead
The warning comes after some garden centres reportedly experienced an increase in sales in the days leading up to the lockdown as horticulturalists tried to plan ahead.
While there are fears for the future, some nurseries are taking matters into their own hands to try and offset the impact of Covid-19.
Clockhouse Nursery in Enfield, north London, posted a video on social media showing a batch of summer pansies which were “holding back nicely” thanks to their efforts to reduce growth.
It said a reduction in watering, along with the removal of the growing area’s sides to allow wind to pass through, were both helping with the slowdown.