8
THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • APRIL 2018
• SHOW REVIEW
Harnessing thepower of garlicandother natural
plant extracts toencourage resistance toaphids,
whiteflyandother pests inprotectedand
outdoor crops. Simple foliar application.
One of the new
GarlicBarrier
products fromSolufeed
Bugzof
Top quality speciality fertilizers
For the full story andmore, go to:
solufeed.com
01243 554090
Plant health thenatural way
Noorders are expected from the visitors – numberedonly
in hundreds – by the 110 exhibitors at this year’s annual
GardenPress Event. Their reward for taking stand space
is publicity from thewriters andbroadcasterswho came
through late February snow to theBusinessDesignCentre
at Islington. Together they reachout tomillions of owners
of gardens, and increasingly topeoplewho simplywant
tomake themost of thebalcony of their flat – or even just
their kitchenwindowsill, writes JohnSutton.
The event, in its thirteenth year, is now jointly sponsored
by theHorticultural TradesAssociation and theGarden
IndustryManufacturer’sAssociation (GIMA). Visiting
the one-day show, always held in London, continues to
be restricted to journalists, editors andothers directly
involved in the horticultural mediaworld.
Public interest in eco-friendly pest anddisease control,
bio-stimulants andorganic growingwas reflectedby the
proportionof the exhibitors selling in this field. Among
thesewereAgralan –well-known to commercial growers
– EarthCycle, Ecofective, HotbinComposting, Neudorff,
Plantworks (formycorhizal fungi andbeneficial soil
bacteria) andSBMLifeScience.
Seed andplant suppliers have always been a large
element amongGardenPress Event exhibitors. Thompson
&Morganwasmaking nomistake about promoting
SunBelievableBrownEyedGirl, its new interspecific
sunflower hybrid. Freely branching, eachplant produces
itsmid-sized sterileblooms over a summer-longperiod.
Looking ahead, growers can very probably expect a
strongdevelopment in this innovative type of sunflower.
Witness last year’s launchbySyngenta of Sunfinity.
In theplant supply sector, exhibitors sellingdirect to
consumers included the online garden centreGarden
Beauty. Owner IanAshton toldme that their customer
base included landscapers aswell as gardeners, and that
their wide rangewas particularly strongonMediterranean
and southern hemisphereplants, well suited to their
Solentside location. Growing inpeat-free compost,
and a next-day delivery servicewere features that were
appreciatedby their customers.
Thebiggest gardeningwebsite in theUK is the claimof
Crocus, a long-standing exhibitor at theGardenPress
Event. The onlinebusinesswas launched in 2000, and
offers a choice of 4,000 varieties.Many of these are grown
on their ownnursery atWindlesham, inSurrey. Crocus
also sells all manner of other garden requirements. This
year it is ‘expanding still further on container solutions’, by
offering an evenwider range of containers and associated
equipment, likeplant supports. This reflects their sense
that an ever-increasingproportionof their plant sales are
for container growing.
Any innovation that drives an increaseddemand for plants
canonly be good news. Rainwater Terracewas showing
how the humblewater butt canbe transformed into an
attractive focal point in a gardenor even in abackyard.
Rainwater Terrace’smodularized rainwater storage system
provides a home for flowering and foliageplants, using
some of thewater that is stored in thebutt as a controlled
irrigation system.
Lechuza is another exhibitor’s name verymuch linked to
water. Their self-watering containers come in a range of
imaginative and award-winningdesigns. The sub-irrigation
GARDEN PRESS EVENT 2018
Part of the newproducts competition area.
