Growing gains

Summary
• Buyers were more focused at Glee this year.
• Greenhouses, cold frames and veggie beds were well represented.
• FSC-certified timber was prevalent.
• Cabins and summerhouses remain popular.

Whether it’s through necessity or fashion, the grow-your-own market has taken off big time – and a stroll through the halls of Glee last week revealed a plethora of products geared to meet the trend. The garden and leisure exhibition may have been smaller in size than previous years, but the consensus was that it was no poorer for it.

Buyers were still out in force, said M&M Timber managing director Nigel Poyner, expressing the view of many, and were “more focused”. Along with thatched gazebos, storage solutions,fencing, trellising and a range of traditional bird tables, M&M’s stand had plenty of new products to enablegardeners to keep up with the Titchmarshs.

A new range of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) timber and double-skinned polycarbonate greenhouses and cold frames were on display for the first time and attracted plenty of positive comments.

The Bayton greenhouse range comes in three designs – the space saving “mini”; a standard 1900x2200x2410mm with built-in staging and a stable door; and the “duo”, which provides a lockable shed section at the back.

There was also positive feedback on M&M’s use of micronised timber – using Osmose’s MicroPro treatment system – with many visitors remarking on the “clean” colour of the timber. And, said Mr Poyner, the new distribution alliance with the Dutch Outdoor Life Group, which includes Hillhout, had also been well accepted.

Raised veggie beds have become top sellers for M&M Timber, but there were plenty of variations on the theme throughout the exhibition.

Market leader Forest, for example, was displaying standard and slotted raised beds (the latter can double as a child’s sand pit), along with a more deluxe half log version. And it has extended its 2008 innovation, the Caledonian raised bed, which use joist-like timber sections, and can be configured in tiers.

As part of its continuing “Be inspired” theme, Forest was also promoting its new 8x6ft acrylic-glazed timber greenhouse, complete with staging.

And when is a greenhouse not a greenhouse? When it’s Forest’s Pavilion glasshouse, of course. Constructed from premium timber sections and featuring toughened glass, timber floor, brass door furniture and five sets of staging, this hits the top end of the market square on.

Forest recently announced that its entire product range is now FSC certified. “This gives us a much simpler selling message and means there is no need for consumer or trade buyers to cherry-pick individual FSC items,” said sales and marketing director John Gomersall.

Grange Fencing also had plenty to shout about at Glee as it was the company’s first public outing since acquiring Metpost from Expamet Building Products last month – a jumbo-sized Metpost on the stand proved the point.

“Metpost will run alongside Grange’s existing Post Anchor range and the two products will complement each other,” said marketing manager Beverley Main.

Grange, whose full product range has been FSC certified for three years, has also tuned into the grow-your-own trend and has launched a range of landscaping products designed to allow people with even the most basic DIY skills to build raised beds. The Jigsaw Sleeper, for example, consists of sleepers which can be locked securely together using a straight or angle connector to create any shape or size.

It was also promoting its new Toscana range of arbour seating and its dipped golden brown and dark brown Colourfast treatment, which, it claims, lasts three times longer than conventional treatment.

Another Glee regular, Hutton, the gardening arm of Severn Valley Woodworks Ltd, demonstrated its new range of heavy-duty picnic tables and raised bed kits, alongside its existing range of fencing, arbours, trellis and oak barrels.

Geared towards the commercial market, but perfectly at home in the back garden, the picnic tables are constructed from 45mm pressure-treated timber. Durability is a key selling point for the company, which treats all its raised beds to Hazard Class 4.

Severn Valley Woodworks’ managing director Simon Brown’s gut feeling told him that Glee numbers were down, but in his view “the quality of visitors was good” – a view shared by Dawid Kopalski, general manager of Polish manufacturer Jagram SA.

“Our stand has been very busy and I’m happy with the show,” he said. “I think it was a smart move for the Glee organisers to concentrate on a smaller space.”

Jagram has demonstrated its commitment to the UK market by setting up permanent shop in Doncaster and Mr Kopalski said he expects the company to jump from “around number five” to number three in the market leader board very soon.

While veggie beds, composters and planters are all new stars for the company, Jagram’s expanding Thermalife range is also attracting interest – as well as decking and balustrades, a Thermalife greenhouse now complements a cedar range.

If 2009 has proved to be the year of the grow-your-own bonanza, it’s also been one of the “staycation” and the continuing trend for working from home. As a result, garden buildings providing office, games and even accommodation space have remained big business.

TGB Sheds’s star attraction at Glee was Sandringham – a top end addition to an already extensive range of summerhouses, featuring double-glazing and a hipped, tiled roof.

Also pulling in the punters was its traditional Dutch barn and a new playhouse with full-height door, lending itself to conversion into a shed when the children have flown the nest.

TGB was upbeat about the market and the exhibition. “Business is up 25% on the year and the show has been fantastic for us, we’ve had a phenomenal response,” said managing director Graham Vernon.

The playhouse on York Timber Products’ stand proved similarly popular with visitors. The company has invested heavily in manufacturing facilities recently and now not only machines, but also pressure treats all its timber with Arch’s Tanalith E. “We now have quality control from start to finish,” said managing director Robert Sutcliffe.

As well as its new “economy” tanalised timber shed, York was also promoting its own brand Aquashield – a liquid wax waterproofing treatment for exterior wood.

Luxury cabins and garden buildings were the province of regular Glee exhibitors Lugarde and HSP Garden Buildings. Lugarde’s buildings feature a patented construction system that enables wall sections to be slid into aluminium-lined corner uprights without nails or screws. They are available fully kitted out with double-glazing, wiring and full roof and floor insulation where specified.

“They are all made to measure and very flexible in design,” said marketing director Andrea Wuestman, “so we always have new products by definition.”

The UK market remains important to the Dutch company, despite recent unfavourable currency fluctuations. That same issue has worked in HSP’s favour, according to sales manager Barry Harper, who said the export market had provided a welcome boost to business during the recession. And, as if to prove a point, a container-load of goods was sold to the Japanese market at the beginning of the show.

HSP’s USP is its use of tropical hardwoods such as sapele and meranti in the construction of its country estate-style buildings and its signature sheet lead roofs.

First-time Glee exhibitor livingARKs offered visitors the chance to make the leap from the ultra-traditional to the ultra-contemporary, with the pod-shaped gardenARK.

Part of the same ZEDFactory stable of zero carbon buildings, which includes the landARK, last seen at the Ecobuild exhibition, the gardenARK boasts modular design, easy assembly, Welsh sheep’s wool insulation and a green roof, which can be bespoke “to match your garden”.

Optional extras include solar and wind power energy generation, composting toilet and sink, and a rainwater harvesting system.

“We’re offering people the opportunity to go green and for retailers to diversify,” said livingArks’ Drew Woodhouse. “The company has a strong moral and ethical philosophy and we’re offering gardenARK at cost to organic farming, eco-tourism, conservation and education facilities.”