Is there real scope for raising plant prices: The HTA says people will pay more for plants, but some growers are not convinced

摘要

Price hikes are a perennial bugbear for growers and retailers. A leader in the field reckons plant prices haven't gone up for 14 years, ever since he started supplying Horticulture Week with detailed data on five trees and 18 container-grown shrubs in1993. But now prices can go up, the HTA has decreed.Trials, based on the HTA-com-missioned Consumer Perceptions of the Value of Garden Plants report, conducted by Illuma Research at Garden & Leisure Group and Notcutts have shown customers don't know howmuch plants are worth — meaning retailers can charge what they like. Or can they? Hard-pressed growers have less faith in HTA director general David Gwyther's belief that "there is real upward price momentum". But Gwyther argues: "Any grower who says that's untrue is talking through his hat."