Late spring hits Shropshire garden centres

The coldest March since 1962 has meant garden centres struggled to get their plants ready in time for the traditional rush during the weeks after Easter.

And some centres have said their spring bedding plants and shrubs are almost a month behind the stage they should be at for the season.

Hillview Hardy Plants in Worfield, near Bridgnorth, today revealed it has seen sales drop by 30 per cent as staff struggled to produce plants in the unseasonal weather.

Centre owner John Millington said: "It's been very poor this year and that's putting it politely.

"Plants have been growing very late and business has been very slow. We're probably seeing about 70 per cent of the sales we would expect at the moment.

"We specialise in herbaceous plants and this year they're about three weeks behind.

"We have just come back from a flower show in Powys. Last year we took two truckloads whereas this year we turned up with five trays. We're just hoping the weather will be nice soon – sunny and warm during the day and raining at night."

Some garden centres have blamed Monty Don for keeping many customers away after the BBC presenter told gardeners not to bother planting until the weather breaks.

The Gardener's World presenter said: "You don't have to sow anything at all until April."

His advice was correct, because conditions have been more like those experienced in February than March and April. But it has meant that stock prepared for the usual annual rush has often been going to waste.

Janet Bourne, nursery manager at Mucklestone Nurseries, near Market Drayton, said people have been putting off buying plants because it will be difficult to look after them in the weather.

She said: "It is just picking up now. People haven't wanted the plants yet because the ground is too hard. They just think it is better to let the nurseries look after them for a while longer until it is easier.

"The weather has affected us, quite a lot of the plants have not grown on yet.

Tunnels

"The wind has dried a lot of the plants out and you don't know whether to water them or not because of the frost. We are behind by about two weeks outside, but the plants in the poly tunnels are fine."

She said over Easter people could not get to the nursery because of the snow but since then visitor numbers have been picking up, especially with the better weather Shropshire enjoyed over the weekend. It has also seen a slight increase in purchases over the internet for specific types of plants that garden centres may not sell.

Mary Jinks, of Country Garden Roses, based in Hadnall, said their bedding plants had been the worst hit. She said: "I think a lot of people are struggling. The weather has meant people have not been able to get into their gardens. I think the east wind did the most damage and bedding plants seem to be the worst hit. But things have seemed to pick up this week and the weekend was a good one for us."

In Telford, Steve Evens, manager of Lakeside Plant Centre Ltd in Priorslee, said the weather had meant they had to rely on other areas of the business instead of plants.

He said: "We are a small, local, independent company with a very loyal customer base so we have been less affected by the weather then some of the bigger chains. We have had to diversify into other areas of horticultural retail, and I would be very happy for some warm weather."

And bosses at Shrewsbury Town Council said the recent bad weather had also affected plants in its Weeping Cross nursery. The depot on the outskirts of Shrewsbury is home to more than 300,000 plants used for the town's Britain in Bloom campaign.

Town clerk Helen Ball said: "Everything is just a little bit delayed. But grass is very resilient and bounces back."