TV Alan’s sadness over £200m plants left to rot
DAILY Express gardening columnist Alan Titchmarsh spoke of his sadness yesterday at the loss of plants worth £200million that are in danger of being thrown away in the coming weeks due to coronavirus.
The closure of 2,000 garden centres and nurseries due to the nationwide lockdown comes at the worst possible moment for producers at the beginning of the peak March-to-June planting season.
Hundreds of nurseries and growers, many of them family businesses, face ruin as the market for seasonal plants is shut down at the busiest time of year when people normally flock to outlets to restock their gardens. Seventy per cent of bedding plants are sold at this time.
Because many of the plants are seasonal and perishable they will have to be binned.
The Horticultural Trades Association says the value of lost sales in the UK will reach £687million by the end of June.
It says about 650 businesses across the UK contribute £1.4billion to the economy each year, employing more than 15,000 people directly and almost 30,000 in related businesses.
Damage
Both Alan and the HTA are apealing for Government subsidies for the sector, which grows bulbs, bedding plants, cut flowers and pot plants for garden centres, supermarkets, florists and DIY stores.
TV presenter Alan described the “heartbreaking stories” of “an industry that is going to be brought to its knees” and warned of “irreparable damage” to gardens and open spaces.
He said: “This three-month period is what the industry is all geared for.
“Firms are going to go out of business because they can’t weather the debt.”
He said many of the annual plants that are grown for this one season would have to be thrown away. “There’s nothing that can be done for them if they can’t sell,” he explained. “They are useless.”
He also pointed out that now, more than ever, gardening is helping people’s mental wellbeing. He added: “These growers fuel the green world, for pollinators, insects, wildlife, these plants which can’t get out there this summer make such an important contribution.”
Alan said: “Hundreds of nursery owners and growers are facing huge losses of plants and revenue.
“This means not only a loss of billions of pounds to the UK economy and of thousands of jobs but, more than this, it will decimate an industry that will be unable to recover for the foreseeable future.
“I urge the Government to put in place a rescue package. Without it, our gardens and open spaces will suffer irreparable damage.”