Garden centre customers have started preparing for Christmas early, with sales of festive products in September showing double-digit growth on last year.
According to the Garden Centre Association's (GCA) Barometer of Trade, the month's Christmas product sales rose 12.26% over September 2012's. And seed and bulb sales were also up by 9.75%.

"We've noticed that a lot of people have started their Christmas preparations earlier, resulting in strong sales of festive products at our member garden centres," said GCA chairman Peter Burks. "We believe this could be a result of the current economic climate, with more people choosing to spread the cost of Christmas out over a few months.

"Many of our members have also been supporting the Horticultural Trades Association's Plan it, Plant it this Autumn campaign to encourage gardeners to start planting for spring, and this could be a factor in the increase in sales of seeds and bulbs."

Other good sellers in September were gifts, 7.96% up, food hall/farm shop and clothing, 7.57% up, and catering, 6.29% up.

The overall-year to-date figure is currently up 3.23%.

The Millbrook Garden Company is one GCA member to have enjoyed a festive uplift. Said managing director Tammy Woodhouse: "Our Christmas product sales were particularly strong last month. I believe this is partly as a result of us launching the ranges earlier on in the season than we have done in previous years.

"This year, we also decided to expand our Christmas product range to give customers more choice and it seems as though this is already starting to pay off. We're hoping to see the strong sales carry on during the next few months too."