Below is listed news items from April 2005.
Easter Trading Brisk
Good Friday brought the first real – much-needed -- rain for some weeks to
many parts of the country but a generally warm Easter Weekend drew gardening
people out of their homes and into their garden centres.
GCs Commercial Horticulture Magazine (Comm Hort) contacted all reported brisk
sales. Trees and shrubs were moving well and this was attributed at least in
part to the success of an industry effort over the past several years to promote
Autumn as Nature’s Planting Time.
Said John Phillips of Greymouth Nurseries:."The drive to make
Autumn a key planting time appears to have become part of the mindset of many
gardeners."
And Linda Fussell of Athol McCully’s Garden Centre, Riccarton:
"Monday was beautiful with brisk sales. The tree and shrub area was given a
good workout although ground is still quite dry further down. Still, people are
more aware now of Autumn as a time to plant."
Zenith closes in Lower Hutt
We make the point in April Comm Hort that the closure
of this top garden centre will come as a shock for most and is not what the
industry needs to see.
Zenith’s manager, Neville Chun, cited many reasons why his family had chosen
to close the door on the business his grandfather had started more than 40 years
ago, among them being competition from the box stores, changes in the weather
pattern making gardening less attractive, fewer people gardening especially the
younger ones, other leisure pursuits and smaller sections.
The land on which Zenith sits has become so valuable a garden centre business
can’t provide a sufficient return on investment anymore. With New Zealand’s
real estate prices now among the highest in the world, this is a reality many
garden centre operators throughout the country must be facing.
We can only hope that, for the future good of our industry, they don’t follow
the Zenith lead.
Change for the McCully’s
News comes that Athol and Cheryl McCully have sold their shares in the
Christchurch garden centre group which carries their name. Sheryl has moved into
real estate sales and Athol, who is staying on as chairman of the NGIA retail
sector, says he has plenty of projects on the go, including the building of a
new house.
The Cranford St McCully’s GC, meanwhile, has been closed as part of a revamp
and restructuring of the group.
Landscape Conference to be on Waiheke
The Landscape Industries Association of NZ (LIANZ) is holding its conference
this year on Waiheke from 5-7 May. There’s more on this in April Comm Hort or
contact lyndell@ihug.co.nz or visit www.lianz.org.nz
Meanwhile, representatives of LIANZ and the NGIA have been meeting to develop
closer links and start working together on common issues.
IPPS and NGIA conferences
‘Tis the season of conferences . . . IPPS has its on 12 – 15 May in
Tauranga, with the restrictions on importing new plants being high on the
agenda. The Minister for MAF and Biosecurity, Jim Sutton, will be there to hear
the industry’s concerns first hand.
The NGIA meanwhile has come up with a fantastic incentive for retailers to
attend its annual conference 29 June to 1 July in Hamilton. If retailers
register by 20 May they will receive an early-bird discount PLUS -- a free
pallet of potting mix. This excellent and innovative offer has been funded by
various potting mix suppliers and the NGIA’s retail sector group.
For further information contact the conference organiser, Luke Paardekooper on
04 568 4576.
There’s more detailed information on the programmes of the above conferences
in April Comm Hort.
The Problems Importing New Plants
This business of the Biosecurity Act and the Hazardous Substances and Noxious
Organisms Act now effectively stopping the importation of any new plants into
New Zealand – it’s clearly not going to go away. As mentioned above, it’s
on the agenda of the IPPS Conference and is a talking point wherever growers
meet.
If you’d like to be put in the picture as to what the trade is concerned
about, click on the Commercial Horticulture Magazine button above then Articles
and you will find nurseryman Peter Cave’s 2004 Banks Memorial Lecture in which
he sets out the problem very succinctly.
Also, click the We Say You Say button and you will find Graeme Platt’s (NZ
Botanical Research Institute) strong statements on the matter and a response
from Malcolm Woolmore of Lyndale Nurseries.
If you’d like to contribute a comment, send it to comhort@nursery.net.nz
UK garden centre tour and GLEE
If you’re looking for an excuse to visit the UK or Europe this year, why not
think about joining the John Stanley guided tour of UK garden centres?
It takes place in the week leading up to the giant Birmingham garden and leisure
industries show, GLEE, on 18 to 20th of September, so you can attend both tour
and show. John Stanley is an international garden centre management consultant.
For more details visit www.rosstours.com.au and www.gleebirmingham.com.
You can join a NZ stand
There is also still time to join the export business and exhibit your products
at GLEE. Two NZ companies are sharing a large stand with room for a couple more
to join them. 28,000 visitors are expected through GLEE this year.
If you’re interested contact export consultant, Joy Lamb, 09 524-6606.
News in Brief . . .
Ross Bayliss of Bayliss Nurseries, Christchurch, is starting a
specialised live plant transport service in the South Island.
Zealandia Christchurch has bought Valley Nursery.
Willory Agencies has bought The Pot Warehouse, Wellington.
Evandale Gardens is now Evandale Plant Production Ltd, a joint venture
between Peter and Sharon Brass and Allan Dippie, of garden centre operators,
Nichols.
Brent Cardno has taken over from Murray Faulkner as manager of Albany
Nurseries.
Kirsten Kiernan has sold her Fantham Greenery GC in Hawera to
landscape designer Carmen Clark, who is renaming it Renaissance.
Mike McDaid has left Dawn Nursery, Auckland, after 16 years.
Fence-Crete has been renamed Frazers after its founder, Frazer
Fletcher.
Kate and Graham Jacobsen have sold Waitati Gardens to an American
landscaper.
Robinson’s GC and Nursery, Masterton, has introduced a new deschampsia
called Daybreak and Tandarra Nursery, Hamilton, has three new novelty lines,
including containers of five 1.3m Money Trees whose trunks are braided into a
single standard and containers of cactus "turrets" on the tops of
which other different-coloured species have been grafted.
There’s more on all these stories in April Comm Hort
We welcome your input
If you have any news, views, or comments, please email them to
comhort@nursery.net.nz
Upcoming Trade Days
Next Trade Days are Auckland 17 August at the Epsom Showgrounds and Christchurch
September 8, at the Pioneer Stadium.
Click on the Trade Days button above for more information and reports of
previous Trade Days or call 09 358-2749.
COMM HORT THIS MONTH
April Commercial Horticulture Magazine features:
Our usual coverage of industry news, plus obituaries for Mike Geenty of Hamilton
City Council, and Gary Taylor of Plantorama Nursery, Timaru.
An overall report on the Aussie NGIA Conference in Fremantle.
Personality of the Month – "I didn’t really want to work in the
nursery . . . however, 25 year later, I am still there, married to the boss . .
."
The lady speaking is Liz Butler, of Butler’s Nursery, Blenheim, who we profile
this month.
How is Retirement Changing?
With the older generation being such an important market segment for the
nursery trade, it’s important to understand how people are changing their
behaviour patterns.
Retirement Commissioner, Diana Crossan, sets out her theories on the new-look of
retirement.
New Children’s Garden at Ak Botanic Gardens
Pictures and story of Prince Charles opening the new Potter’s Children’s
Garden at the ABG.
Meet Mr Peter ‘EFS’ Cox
An interview with the new general manager of the Ellerslie Flower Show, where he’s
coming from, and his plans for changing the event.
The Pittosporum People of Mangapiko
Kerry Johnstone traces the story of how dairy farmers Ron and Ngaire Phillips
became the specialist pittosporum growers everybody knows.
Give me Libertia!
There are several plants reported to be in short supply over the recent
past, and one of the stand-outs among them is Libertia.
This grasslike hardy native, in big demand by the landscape industry and for
council planting, has yet to catch on in the home garden but is sure to as
people become more familiar with it.
In this 6-page special feature, Comm Hort talks to growers about their
experiences with Libertia, how they grow it, its plus’s and minus’s and
where they think it is heading.
Retail Consultants tell How to Succeed
Two important articles for retailers from international garden centre management
consultants, Bill Brett and John Stanley, tell you some of the things successful
independent garden centres overseas are doing to increase their sales and market
share. They agree -- it can be done but you have to do it right. . .
Explaining Tropisms – what makes plants
react to touch, light, heat?
Did you know that plants whose branches are touched regularly will tend to be
shorter and more compact? Do you really know the mechanism that makes plants
turn towards the light?
Comm Hort’s contributing botanist, Fiona Eadie, gives us another in her
intriguing series of articles on what makes plants tick.
You can read this article on-line -- click on the Commercial Horticulture
Magazine button above, then Articles – we hope it will make you want to become
a subscriber to Comm Hort so you won’t miss Fiona’s future articles!
Comm Hort’s April issue also carries a great
4-page coloured brochure of special prices and new products from mail-order
supplier, Kauri Park Distributors, who are looking for more re-sellers for their
wide range of hardware lines, garden tools etc.
Ring them on 0800 12 52874 for more information and the brochure if you haven’t
got one.
Above is a synopsis of articles printed in one issue of Commercial Horticulture - Magazine of the Nursery Industry.
For information on Commercial Horticulture, including subscribing, please visit the Comm Hort Feature Page.