Articles, commentary, and analysis on the practical challenges facing small horticulture businesses in the UK and beyond.
19 June 2026
In 2011, the UK government and the horticultural industry agreed a voluntary target to phase out peat from growing media by 2020. In 2020, the target was missed. In August 2022, the government announced a retail ban for 2024. In March 2023, Defra set out a phased approach for the professional sector: reductions from 2026,…
Read article19 June 2026
According to the Environmental Horticulture Group, the UK’s horticultural sector supported 722,000 jobs and contributed £38 billion to the UK economy in 2023. Those are not modest numbers. They are the kind of numbers that ought to attract serious attention to what happens when the workforce behind them starts to thin out. What happens, in…
Read article19 June 2026
In 2024, APHA carried out a review of the top 100 online plant sellers by Google search. More than 20% were not authorised to issue UK plant passports. These are not businesses operating below the radar. They were visible enough to rank in the top 100 results for plant sales in the UK. They were…
Read article"I am using my platform, horticultural experience, and practical systems work to help smaller horticulture businesses understand and manage the rising burden of compliance, traceability, biosecurity, and operational risk."Tony O'Neill MCIHort FRSA
The rising burden of professional expectations on small nurseries, garden centres, and local growers. Plant passports, spray records, audit trails, and what smaller operators actually need.
Biosecurity cannot sit only with large importers. Every plant business needs practical traceability. Articles examining what this looks like at small-business scale.
The transition is happening without the law. The real question is whether it is being managed well. Commentary on grower reality, labelling, and what the industry still gets wrong.
Water will become one of the biggest operational risks in horticulture. Articles on storage, irrigation records, and why this needs to move up the agenda for small growers.
Words like sustainable, peat-free, and eco-friendly need evidence behind them. Strong businesses should welcome proof standards. Analysis of what good data looks like in practice.
Why paper and spreadsheets fail for compliance. What small horticulture businesses need from digital record keeping systems, and what the industry has not yet built for them.