Gardening, growth and why the business of horticulture matters

The Environmental Horticulture Group’s latest economic analysis puts the sector’s total contribution to UK GDP at around £38 billion in 2023, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs once you include supply chains and tourism.

The coverage of the APPGHG reception in the trade press underlined this point, highlighting that ornamental plant producers alone generated well over a billion pounds of value and that environmental horticulture and landscaping directly contributed many billions more to UK GDP.

These are not niche numbers. They put horticulture firmly in the green economy mainstream, alongside other sectors that are far more visible in Westminster and in the business pages.

Crucially, the Environmental Horticulture Group’s research suggests this contribution could grow significantly over the 2020s if the right policy and investment conditions are in place. That growth will not come purely from “more plants”. It will come from:

• Better designed and better used domestic gardens
• Smarter, greener housing and infrastructure
• More productive, innovative suppliers and retailers
• A workforce that sees horticulture as a credible career path

Which is where the themes touched on at the reception start to intersect with the day-to-day decisions made by brands, retailers and their marketing teams.

Water resilience and climate risk
Drier summers, wetter winters and the lack of new reservoirs are putting pressure on the water system. The Environmental Horticulture Group is calling for a more joined-up approach to water resilience, including better support for growers to capture and store water, and smarter public communication than simply “hosepipe bans”.

For brands, that means:

• Designing products and services that help gardeners and professionals use water more efficiently
• Communicating in a way that acknowledges public concern about water use without undermining confidence to plant and invest in gardens
• Working with retailers to position gardening as part of the solution, not part of the problem

Skills, careers and workforce
The sector supports a large and diverse workforce, but horticulture is still too often seen as a “Cinderella” industry of small businesses and seasonal jobs. The EHG and HTA are pressing for horticulture to be recognised within green skills strategies and for education to embed plants and growing throughout the curriculum.

Commercially, this is about:

• Ensuring there are enough skilled people to design, grow, sell and care for plants and green spaces
• Positioning your brand as a place where people can build meaningful, future-facing careers
• Using your marketing to make the sector look as modern and opportunity-rich as it actually is

Trade, regulation and the cost of doing business
From plant health regimes and border processes to the peat-free transition and vehicle taxation, the reception surfaced a familiar list of pressures on growers, manufacturers and retailers. The Environmental Horticulture Group’s growth plan calls for regulatory frameworks that enable investment, innovation and fair competition with international producers.

For brands, this reinforces the need to:

• Build resilience into supply chains and product portfolios
• Invest in storytelling that makes the cost and value of higher standards (for example peat-free production or biosecure sourcing) visible to buyers and consumers
• Keep a watching brief on the policy landscape as you plan long-term ranges, pricing and capital investment

Evenings like this do not set policy, but they do reflect the mood of the sector and the priorities that industry bodies are taking into more formal discussions. The question for brands is whether they are aligning their own story with those priorities, or leaving that work to others.

We are not a lobby group. We are a creative marketing agency that happens to specialise in the commercial reality of gardens and home.

Our contribution sits in three areas.

1. Bringing the industry’s evidence to life
The EHG and HTA have done an exceptional job of quantifying the value of environmental horticulture and domestic gardens. But research only shifts behaviour when it is translated into stories, campaigns and experiences that people can relate to.

That is where we spend most of our time:

• Turning sector-level data into retailer-ready propositions for specific brands, categories and NPD
• Designing trade show stands, POS and launch assets that help buyers see the commercial upside of backing greener products and better ranges
• Creating consumer campaigns that connect policy themes like water resilience or biodiversity with everyday gardening decisions

We see our role as taking the spreadsheets and strategy decks and turning them into something a buyer can say “yes” to and a shopper can act on.

2. Using The Underground Podcast to explore the real issues
Through The Underground Podcast, we’ve been able to give airtime to growers, manufacturers, retailers, designers and charity partners who are wrestling with the same issues highlighted in the reports and on the night: skills, sustainability, housing, water, trade and the future of garden retail.

That matters because the sector’s voice is more credible when it reflects what is happening on the ground, in businesses of all sizes. The podcast is our way of joining those dots and keeping the conversation practical, not theoretical.

3. Championing gardens where the social impact is most visible
Our support for Greenfingers Charity has given us a different lens on the value of gardens: not just as economic infrastructure, but as spaces that transform the experience of life-limited children and their families.

When you see that impact up close, it strengthens the conviction that commercial success and social value are not competing outcomes. They are part of the same story. When the sector grows, so does its capacity to fund charities, support communities and invest in meaningful green spaces.

A reception at the House of Lords will not decide the future of horticulture. What it can do is shine a light on the people, organisations and evidence that are pushing the industry forward, and create space for honest conversation about what comes next.

For WrightObara, being in that room was a small but encouraging sign that the commercial side of gardening is being taken seriously alongside its environmental and social roles.

Our job now is the same as it was before:

• Help brands build strategies that are rooted in the real economics of gardens, not just in seasonal trends
• Craft brand stories that speak to retailers, consumers and stakeholders in a clear, confident way
• Create campaigns and content that show horticulture’s value in pounds, jobs and long-term resilience, as well as in wellbeing and beauty

If you are a brand or retailer in the home and garden space, this feels like a moment to sharpen how you talk about what you do. The sector has stronger data, better coordination and more visibility than it did a few years ago.

Events like the APPGHG reception are one part of that momentum. The rest is built, day by day, in the way we present, position and promote the business of gardening. That is where we are focused, and where we are proud to play our part.