Catering sales kick-started garden centres' year, according to the latest figures from the Garden Centre Association (GCA).
In January they were 16.5% up on the same month last year, with food hall/farm shop sales close behind at 16.0% up. Clothing was also a good seller, up 16.1%.

GCA Chief executive Iain Wylie explained: "Our member garden centres were full of customers enjoying their food, whether in their food halls and farm shops, as well as restaurants throughout January, which is good to see."

Shoppers also picked up plenty of houseplants, making this the best-performing traditional category during the month, with sales up 11.1%.

"January was a very wet month so it's not surprising to see other more traditional categories not performing as well as hoped," Mr Wylie added. Outdoor plant sales fell by 9.2%, seeds and bulbs by 19.0% and garden sundries by 2.7%. Other losers were pets and aquatics, down 2.9%, and hard landscaping, down 5.5%.

Furniture and barbecue sales rose 8.1% on the previous January. And: "Gifts and Christmas items continued to perform well during the month as people took advantage of the January sales in order to stock up for next year, or to simply just grab something at a bargain price." Gift sales were up 4.6% and Christmas 9.8%.

Overall garden centre performance in January and year-to-date change was 5.8%.

New GCA chairman Julian Winfield commented: "Not that many years ago garden centres were quiet after Christmas, but now, thanks to our restaurants, our customers keep coming in even when the weather is not good. This helps keep our customers interested in what we have to offer.

"All the non-gardening departments have done reasonably well, some discounted old ranges but also in new product such as garden furniture. Those garden centres that quickly cleared up Christmas in early January look ready for spring sales."