September 11th 1999

Cinderella grows in beauty

David Robinson reports

Horticulture, for long the Cinderella of Irish agriculture, is growing thanks to the beauty of many of our ornamental plants.

This largely overlooked sector has made substantial progress in recent years and this attracted over 200 garden centre owners from 16 countries to 41st World Congress aptly entitled - The last Congress of the 20th century in the greenest place on earth.

Visitors were amazed at what they saw apparently not so much by the greenery but by the brilliant colours and flair shown by our best garden centres.

High quality plants

As would be expected, the visitors came from some of the world's most affluent countries where gardening is well established.

They were accustomed to good plants and large, modern garden centres but they were not prepared for the high standards achieved in many aspects of the Irish gardening scene.

Their greatest surprise came from the quality and range of plants on display in the seven top class garden centres visited.

Chuck Johnson, president of the Garden Association of America, which includes 500 garden centres from New York to California, was amazed at the bright colour of flowers and foliage in August.

"Our plants don't have colour like this in late summer," he said, "Its just like perpetual spring here".

He was also interested in how well plants are displayed in beds and benches of varying heights so that customers can examine them at close quarters without bending.

Lessons in customer care

Another aspect that impressed delegates was the quality and enthusiasm of garden centre staff at all levels.

"The first thing I'll do when I get home will be to lecture my staff on the importance of a warm and friendly welcome" said Theadora van Hage who runs a 40 acre garden centre in Ware, Hertfordshire supported by a five acre car park to cope with1,000 cars.

"At every centre we visited, the reception by staff has been outstanding. You can teach us a lot in this area."

Most of the top centres in Ireland invest heavily in in-service training on customer care and staff/customer relations.

Garden Centre Consultant Eve Tigwell, Frome, Somerset, who has been involved with many of the top centres in Ireland said that her lectures to English and Irish audiences are very different. "In England, my first instruction to new staff is "Smile and speak to your customers when they arrive, but that message is unnecessary in Ireland" she said.

Apart from garden centres in Counties Westmeath, Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Carlow and Cork, visitors also saw some of the industries and activities that support the garden centre sector.

Visits included the Christmas tree farm of the Emerald Group in Borris where Noel Moran and David Hasslacher explained the Group's methods for producing top class trees.

This visit was of especial interest to British, German and Dutch delegates as Emerald has won over the major garden centre in these countries with their quality product.

Selling the sizzle

As garden fever spreads the demand for good plants is increasing rapidly. An Bord Glas estimates that three out of every four households in Ireland now purchase plants and flowers on a regular basis.

Over £40 million is spent annually by households on plants and flowers and the total garden centre market is worth over £110 million.

Owners of garden centres in Ireland were quick to see that they should be doing more than merely selling garden products.

As gardening becomes the main hobby of more and more people, plant centres are also selling dreams, excitement and anticipation. This means selling the sizzle along with the sausage.

Owners of the top garden centres in Ireland have gone about selling the sizzle in different ways. Obviously plants for sale must be healthy and of good quality and they are often enhanced by being displayed with appropriate artefacts or against a background of demonstration gardens.

These attractive mini gardens inspire and enthuse customers and show how nursery plants will look when mature.

Enhancing the shopping experience

In recent years, all the top garden centres in Ireland have invested heavily in facilities to enhance the shopping experience and to make centres more customer-friendly irrespective of the weather.

Extensive covered areas have been erected to provide shelter for plants with delicate flowers and to enable customers to shop in wet weather.

Many garden centres now contain a mini-information centre containing a table, comfortable chairs and a range of books, leaflets and fact sheets for customers to peruse. As success breeds success, so more knowledgeable customers make more successful gardeners who are more likely to spend heavily on their hobby.

Other important features of a modern centre include clear but non-obtrusive, main bed signs as in a supermarket, plenty of coloured bed card labels with information on the size and needs of the main plants on display and wide pathways so that plant trolleys and prams can pass easily.

Attractive surroundings, children's playground and cafe or restaurant are other useful features.

Garden centre owners in Ireland have shown great ingenuity in putting their individual stamp on how they develop their centres to make them different and, hopefully, more attractive than those of their competitors.

Competition there is in plenty but there is also a strong feeling of camaraderie. One of the main functions of the World Garden Centre Association is to provide an opportunity for centre owners to see what is going on abroad and to adapt ideas to their own conditions.