Britain’s biggest garden centre switches plants for extreme heat

Hydrangeas have long been among the most popular plants in Britain and a mainstay of summer gardens up and down the country. But the shrubs could soon become a thing of the past as soaring temperatures threaten to change the face of flowerbeds for good. Britain’s biggest garden centre chain has said it will start stocking more drought-resistant plants after this summer’s record-breaking heatwaves hammered sales . Blue Diamond, which owns more than 50 garden centres across the country, said it planned to increase the number of plant varieties it offered that can tolerate high temperatures.

Alan Roper, the managing director of Blue Diamond , told The Telegraph: “These days people want to maintain the look of an English country cottage garden, but they want varieties recommended that can deal with the dry and the heat. “It’s a much more common feature of the weather and I think the public are waking up to the notion that they need to adjust their radar in terms of what plants tolerate drier, more heat-intense summers. “In the same way that gardeners want to adapt, us as retailers have got to adapt, so we have the plants that they want.”

Mr Roper cited hydrangeas, begonias and rhododendrons as examples of popular plants that are struggling to survive the growing heat. Instead, gardeners are turning to varieties that thrive in hot, sunny conditions, such as the lavender-like perovskia, also known as Russian sage. The UK experienced its hottest ever summer this year, with five widespread heatwaves and 40 days where the temperature was above 30C. The Met Office has warned that extreme summer temperatures are now the new normal, while the Government’s climate advisers have predicted that British summers could be 1.6 degrees warmer and 13pc drier by 2050.

The changing climate has created trouble for gardeners, with the Royal Horticultural Society reporting a surge in people seeking advice about plants damaged by heat and drought. Mr Roper said the rising mercury had led to plant sales tumbling by 25pc during the heatwaves because of lower demand from customers, while plant margins also fell as many products withered on the shelves. Like-for-like sales at Blue Diamond rose by just 1.6pc during the first half of the year, though this was above the industry average.

Mr Roper said it had been the most challenging summer of his three decades in the business, adding that soaring temperatures had been compounded by hosepipe bans. Despite the slump in plant sales, Blue Diamond was boosted by higher demand for garden furniture over the summer, with bosses pointing to the growing popularity of pergolas and garden rooms. Restaurant sales jumped 17.7pc as demand for food and drink held up during the heatwaves.

In a further boost, Blue Diamond in June signed a three-year retail partnership with Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop to develop a range of co-branded gardening products. Overall sales rose 12.5pc to £216m in the six months to the end of June, while pre-tax profits climbed 16pc to £24m. Bosses said that despite subdued trading in recent weeks, the company remained well-positioned for the crucial Christmas period. Blue Diamond, which was founded more than a century ago, has grown into the UK’s largest garden-centre operator through a string of acquisitions and new site openings.

The group has acquired three garden centres so far this year, as well as a major new warehouse on the former RAF Snaith site just off the M62.