Brexit forces garden centre to give away £100k of plants for free

Come on South West grans!
This is for you ???????????

At last! A Brexit Benefit!

Free plants. Whoopee...

(Shame about the garden centre losing income, but stuff happens...)

Hmm. This is the business of the rather controversial Tony Joyner who kept his garden centres open in defiance of lockdown regulations and had been involved in numerous dodgy dealings over the years. I doubt his staff shortages are anything to do with Brexit. Those towns and cities are not exactly short of working age people who'd be happy to do some seasonal work watering and keeping plants tidy.

Damn! Wish I still lived there.?
It could well be a canny marketing move.
Garden centres have been able to open throughout the pandemic silverbridge

Some background to the story:-)

westcountrybylines.co.uk/brexit-impact-on-horticulture/?fbclid=IwAR3oc468N8c_7yJeLfJGHJxy1hyxxE_MeNeRgGMsxDcBnuJK5ibmO4tExZc

lemongrove garden centres were closed during the first lockdown, I think they reopened on 11/05/2020 in England.

It’s a five minute drive from me but I’m not going. It’s more likely to be plants that aren’t selling and annual bedding that is past it. And there’s always the chance customers will buy other plants during their visit. Of course, that could be me being cynical. My friend might attend and if so, I’ll report back.

Really??ours seem to have been open forever.

More than likely that’s it Springy you go and buy something and they give you a wilted begonia.

Wilted begonias can spring back to life with a bit of nurturing.

lemongrove

Damn! Wish I still lived there.?
It could well be a canny marketing move.
Garden centres have been able to open throughout the pandemic silverbridge

Garden centres were only allowed to reopen from 13 May 2020. He stayed open during those earlier months despite council prohibition notices.

dont lets all rush its just a publicity stunt
springychicken is right
they do this every year even prior to brexit
the plants are all spent annuals mostly petunias and pansies
dodgy proprietor sums it up looking for excuses
dont believe it save your petrol

Cynic
It’s FREE

Lillie

dont lets all rush its just a publicity stunt
springychicken is right
they do this every year even prior to brexit
the plants are all spent annuals mostly petunias and pansies
dodgy proprietor sums it up looking for excuses
dont believe it save your petrol

Oh dear.

Not a Brexit Benefit at all then?

What a disappointment...

i have yet to find a brexit benefit

This was a tail end of the summer sale purchase at Dobbies 5 years ago. It was worse than half dead but still produced one flower the following summer

Gift horses, mouths and all that.

That’s interesting Silverbridge. My first thoughts on looking at photos accompanying the newspaper articles was that most of the plants looked like annuals such as petunias which will die anyway and nor overwinter which is why you would shift them now. Normally garden centres don’t reduce the bulk of surplus plants until September/October, and then a lot are perennials - they don’t actually over winter them. I have had many bargains this way but have to wait 6 months to see the flowers!

Maybe this is a publicity stunt to advertise as he does for staff for their nursery in Yeovil. But he has obviously seriously over estimated how much would sell and has grown too many plants which will only last another few weeks.

pretty flower
5 years ago before brexit mawbe exactly
common practice 40p a half dead plant in august
saves them disposing of them

I get the impression from the Byline Times story that perennials are part of the give away too. The claim being that they haven't the staff to maintain them and take cuttings.

Ironically, the plant nursery manager says they will have to import plants from the EU next year because they'll have no stock grown on for the spring.
A Brexit Benefit for EU plant suppliers, then?

if you read the facebook comments from people visiting the garden centres there are no perennials
even the wilting hanging baskets are not included

Lillie

if you read the facebook comments from people visiting the garden centres there are no perennials
even the wilting hanging baskets are not included

Fair enough, Lillie, I was just going on the article.

There's another nurseryman quoted at length in the article. He has Kernock Park Plants in Cornwall. Is there a gran prepared to dish the dirt on them, or is it a bona fide serious business whose owner can be believed?

Our garden centres where closed until relaxation of lockdown. I have bought most of my plants etc on line.

Lillie

pretty flower
5 years ago before brexit mawbe exactly
common practice 40p a half dead plant in august
saves them disposing of them

No, not 5 years before Brexit! 5 years ago -
I don’t get your point though or the relevance?

actually i am more concerned about the unnecessary queues of traffic down the country lanes leading to these places
all those fumes and pollution
many in vans
friday is changeover day in the south west and the roads are already busy busy

and how do we get over the fact that plants everywhere are grown in plastic pots which are thrown away
can they be recylced