A nation of gardeners: A history of the British horticulture industry

From the great country estate — as seen in TV shows such as “Downton Abbey” — to the humble small backyard, we British are a nation of gardeners. An estimated 27 million Brits engage in gardening activities — almost 40% of the population — and the roots of our love of gardening run deep within our blood and soil. Why is this so? The reasons are many and varied, but perhaps it mostly stems from our climate.

Britain is an island nation on the edge of Europe, a location providing a mild temperate climate with plenty of rainfall, resulting in a long growing season. Plants from many other countries and climate zones can be successfully grown here, enabling an enviable and extremely wide range of flora, which seems to be only extending because of climate change.

Brits have also always valued their land and ownership, seeking to make their large or small plot an individualized place of beauty, interest or food production. Our love of gardening took a quantum leap in the era of the wealthy “plant hunters” and collectors of the 19th century. They were able to exploit the British climate and their many personal resources in pursuit of botany, seizing opportunities to travel, catalogue, draw and bring back samples. Several centuries of being an imperial power saw these plant hunters set off with explorers, missionaries and traders.

Arguably, it was the Victorian era that saw the main proliferation in plant hunting. Characters such as E.H. Wilson, who affectionately became known as “Chinese” Wilson because of the amount of time he spent in China collecting plants, were influential in bringing plants back from their travels that were then commercialized by early entrepreneurial nurserymen.

This introduction of new plant species from across the globe sparked a growing public interest in gardening, resulting in the establishment of public parks and the further development of Kew Gardens, now the most biodiverse place on the planet. Whilst the wealthy elite established gardens at their big country estates, philanthropists and enthusiasts like the Victorian journalist James Shirley Hibberd helped lay the groundwork for the idea of gardening as a hobby for all, rather than just the wealthy. 

Gardening of course became a necessity for many during World War II — at least in terms of food. The British government’s “Dig for Victory” campaign encouraged people to grow their own produce in a bid for self-sufficiency and to ensure that all families had enough food to go around. The campaign was a success, and across the country, people took to their gardens to fill the gap that was left by strict rationing — 40% of the country’s vegetables came from gardens during World War II.

In modern times, gardening has become established as our nation’s favorite leisure activity. Sixty years ago, British nurseries learnt from their U.S. counterparts, who had established container plant production using cans from canning factories. This new method of production resulted in a proliferation of garden centers in the U.K. during the ’60s and ’70s, enabling consumers to buy plants all year round.

Now, there are 2,300 garden centers in the U.K., and whilst the largest group, Dobbies, has 75 stores and British Garden Centres has 65, most are privately owned, free-standing, single-site or dual-site operations. This proliferation has resulted in the garden retail sector being valued, according to land agent Savills, at £5 billion.

In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly boosted the garden center market by increasing demand and appreciation for outdoor space and indoor plants. Brits seem to have reconnected with nature, and in recent years, demand in gardening and plants has ballooned.

According to the Horticultural Trades Association, the leading trade body in the U.K. representing garden retailers and growers, 3 million new gardeners entered the marketplace during the pandemic. Not all may stay engaged, of course, but the signs so far are good.

Another driver for growth in sales is the number of sales channels now selling gardening goods. The traditional garden center sector accounts for nearly 36% of sales, whilst the big-box retailers such as Homebase and The Range account for 28% of the market. Online sales only account for around 7%, with Crocus being the largest online garden retailer in the U.K. for plants. This relatively small-sized online market is in part due to the continuing logistical difficulty in ensuring customers’ plants arrive in good condition, and part due to the typical British customers’ love of a brick-and-mortar store, where they can view, feel and handle plants.

The landscape market here is a huge consumer of plants, as are our regional governments. In 2019, the lobbying organization Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group (now called the Environmental Horticulture Group) suggested that the horticultural and landscape industries were worth £13 billion, but the same group predicts that by 2030, the value could be £42 million, supporting 760,000 jobs.

Clearly, we Brits love plants — to the extent that even despite the vagaries of the British economy, garden retailers have remained recession-resilient, something very few sectors can claim. Even in the worst of times, we tend to flock to our nearest garden retailer, even more so if the weather is good, and especially if there is a good café or coffee shop on site.

With a 2023 “farm gate” sector value (before a retailer’s margin has been added) of an impressive £1.7 billion, hardy ornamental nursery stock production accounted for just over £1 billion, with the balance coming from seasonal annual and half-hardy plants, flowers, bulbs and houseplants. The value of this production may seem huge for a small country with a population of 67 million, but it is not even meeting demand. In fact, the value of plants imported into Britain, largely from the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, now stands at £1.5 billion — almost the value of U.K. production. It will come as no surprise that due to the lack of capacity in the British nursery production sector, very little is exported. The value of exports in 2023 was indeed only £54 million.

So, can we increase production? Demand in the U.K. for garden plants remains solid and is unlikely to reduce, but the British plant production sector faces some strong headwinds that restrict opportunities. Brexit, a skills shortage and inflationary pressures have all impacted businesses.

We remain, however, a resilient, entrepreneurial and innovative sector, and one that as history has shown can adapt well to a dynamic changing world.

This article appeared in the April 2025 issue of Greenhouse Management magazine under the headline "A nation of gardeners."