Poor weather failed to deter shoppers at garden centres in February, according to the latest Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures released by the Garden Centre Association (GCA) on March 20.
The data shows it was a “very encouraging month” for members, with more than two-thirds of categories recorded by GCA members showing growth compared with February 2025. Clothing led the way with sales up 10.48%, followed by food hall and farm shop sales, which increased by 9.69%.
GCA CEO Peter Burks said: “Despite the poor weather, our members had a very encouraging February 2026, with the month being almost 7% up against last year and resulting in a year-to-date increase of 7.56%.
“There were good increases across all three gardening categories – plants, seeds and bulbs, and gardening sundries. The non-gardening categories also showed up well, with good increases in gifts, clothing, food hall/farm shop, and catering. We now move into some much more challenging figures year-on-year, as the sun started shining from early March last year and didn’t stop from then onwards.”
Seeds & bulbs ranked third in February’s BoT category line-up with growth of 9.02%, followed by outdoor plants at 8.85%, and catering at 8.58%.
Garden sundries recorded an increase of 8.04%, gifts were up 7.97%, and furniture & BBQ rose by 4.2%. Pets & aquatics also posted a small gain, increasing by 1.15%.
Only two significant categories saw declines during the month, with houseplants marginally down by 0.05% and hard landscaping falling by 13.74%.
The BoT reports are compiled using actual sales data from member garden centres and provide an up-to-date trading position statement. The GCA represents more than 200 garden centres across the UK and supports members through information sharing and its inspection programme, helping maintain high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.
