HortWeek editor Matt Appleby and senior reporter Rachael Forsyth report on the essential horticulture stories of the week.

HortWeek editor Matthew Appleby and Rachael talk about:

• The "outrageous" ongoing delays and reports of damaged to imported plants
• The latest on the prospective peat ban
• What the garden centre of the future might look like
• 
  

Do check out our huge archive of HortWeek Podcast interviews with an unrivalled selection of prominent and fascinating figures from all corners of the horticulture sector.

Podcast presenters: Matthew Appleby and Rachael Forsyth

Podcast producer: Christina Taylor

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Fisher Tomlin, co-founder and director of the London College of Garden Design talks on the HortWeek podcast about his new book, The Modern Professional Planting Designer, was published by Rizzoli New York in October 2025.

In the podcast he talks about how the book came about and what impact he hopes it will have, what he thinks of Chelsea designs this year, his views on international garden design versus that of the UK, on horticulture education, trends for 2026, AI and what his favourite plant is.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Garden centre personality Rosie Bone brings her new ideas for garden retail to the HortWeek Podcast this week this week.

Founder of the World's End Garden Centre in 1970 with Len Bone, Rosie puts her success in garden retail down a focus on customer service, looking after your staff and above all "value for money". She argues if you get those three right, other considerations such as location are almost irrelevant.

She discusses her passion, which is sustainable garden retailing.

"Profit isn't a dirty word... but I think in this day and age we have to start to recognise that there is an environmental cost to everything any of us do".

She says that imports from China cannot be avoided in many product areas, but that carbon footprint could be offset by focusing on plant-based options in the restaurant:

"It's not about telling customers what they should and shouldn't eat, but presenting [food] in a way that encourages customers to make [a plant-based] choice for themselves but that can be done with clever marketing, clever menus."

After a period away from the industry Rosie reveals the garden business that revived her interest in and passion for it and what they do so well.

And she reveals some significant gaps in the market that garden centres, with their large footprints and nature-oriented client base, could capitalise on.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.