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We’ve been digging!
Your guide to a greener garden
Product guides to: Spring
Spec
Garden centres ial
Peat-free compost
Seeds
Plus:
Sourcing
ethical
paving
stone
Garden
Specialcentres
supporters subscription offer
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2
Contents
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
4 garden centres
6 score table & Best Buys
5 stocking bee-killing pesticides & peat
7 timber policies
8 independent garden centres & nurseries
12 seeds
14 score table & Best Buys
10 16 company profiles
18 seed saving & F1 hybrids
your garden 22 GM and Monsanto
24 EU seed laws
The Bee Cause – Friends of the Earth
explain how bees can help you create a
wildlife haven in your garden.
25 peat-free compost
26 score table & Best Buys
27 home composting
28 peatlands, biodiversity & carbon
30 peat-free local councils
32 spotlight on coir
34 fairfield compost
36 feature - Indian sandstone
Children of the stone quarries
3
Garden centres
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
How green is your
garden centre?
© Marizilda Cruppe / Greenpeace
UK timber may have
come from illegal
logging in Brazil.
We look at garden
centres and their
timber-sourcing
policies.
Are ethical issues blooming or not quite so rosy?
Jane Turner and Heather Webb find out.
B&Q and Homebase were still the most See page 8 for a profile of an
Who’s in this guide popular places to buy garden products last independent garden centre, local to our
This guide covers the 11 major garden year, followed by small and large garden office in Manchester, and a list of organic
centre chains, from ones who focus on centres, and then supermarkets.1 nurseries. Plus how to find your nearest
plants and gardening like Wyevale and city farm or community garden.
Dobbies (the latter perhaps surprisingly Shop local The Garden Centre Guide (www.
owned by Tesco) through to the gardening gardencentreguide.co.uk) claims to list
There are thousands of independent
departments of the big chain DIY stores all the garden centres and nurseries in
garden centres in the UK, far too many
like B&Q, Wickes and Homebase. Wyevale Britain, whether they be independents or
to rate in this report. This does not mean
has more stores than all of the other ‘pure’ chains. It usually gives contact details and
that they are not a better buy than the
garden centres put together and four times opening hours. You can search by city and
companies recommended here. In fact,
more than its closest rival Dobbies. It owns county to find the nearest one to you.
independent ownership avoids many of
a myriad of brands largely because it’s
the criticisms on the table which result
been buying up individual garden centres
and chains.
from complex parent company groups. What we’ve covered
Supporting an independent business also We rated the 11 major chain garden
Having said that, none of the garden
keeps money in the local economy and centres in the usual corporate
centres are ‘pure’ garden centres anymore.
you are more likely to find locally-sourced responsibility areas but we explore the
Most of them are department store-like
products.
environments selling everything from following key issues in more detail:
Remember to look out for FSC wood,
clothes to gifts to pets. Cafes are the • policy on neonicotinoid pesticides
peat-free compost. If none are stocked
must-have attraction to make your garden • stocking of peat compost
then encourage them to do so. And the
centre “a pleasant leisure destination”.1 • stone sourcing policy
pesticides issue is a growing concern as
The supermarkets have been expanding • timber sourcing policy
we also highlight below - you could even
their ranges but we have not covered them • sale of pets
give them a copy of this report to raise
in this guide because we did a special • sale of patio heaters.
awareness of the issues.
report on them last issue.
4
Garden centres
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
and Soil Association) who have been • When visiting your garden centre,
Bee-killing pesticides working to bring attention to the plight ask if they can guarantee that their
Neonicotinoids (neonics) are systemic of bees and pollinators and, specifically, plants have not been grown from
pesticides based on nicotine mainly to engage policymakers, industry and neonicotinoid-dressed seeds, grown
used to control aphids. Unlike contact the public about their respective roles in from infused cuttings or treated
pesticides, which remain on the surface ensuring their protection. with neonics.
of the treated foliage, systemics are taken So, you can’t buy the three banned
up by all of the plant. Products containing neonicotinoids in garden centres but For peat’s sake
neonics can be applied at the root (as seed there are four others that are not banned.
Of these, the two that are available to Peat bogs store about five times as
coating or soil drench) or sprayed onto
the amateur gardener are thiacloprid (in much carbon per unit area as a tropical
crop foliage. The insecticide toxin remains
Bayer’s Provado Ultimate Bug Killer range, rainforest. They are also a valuable
active in the plant for many weeks.10
Multirose Bug Killer and Baby Bio House ecosystem.6
Neonicotinoid-based pesticides have
Plant Insecticide) and acetamiprid (in 69% of the peat used in the UK is used
been implicated in the alarming deaths
Scott’s Bug Clear and Rose Clear).3 by amateur gardeners as growing media –
of bees and other pollinators that are so
None of the 11 garden centres mainly compost – so garden centres can
crucial to pollination and biodiversity. We
had a policy not to stock these other help by making it easy for customers to
wrote more about that in our Guide to
neonicotinoids which is disappointing. choose peat-free products.
Honey in Issue 151 (Nov/Dec 2014).
We found them on sale on the websites Whilst most of the garden centres sold
From 1st December 2013, the three
of B&Q, Homebase, Wyevale, Wilko, peat-free compost, none of them professed
neonicotinoid pesticides which posed the
Notcutts and Squires. We could not to be 100% peat free and they sold bags of
highest risk to honey bees – imidacloprid,
confirm whether Klondyke, Hilliers, Blue reduced peat or 100% peat compost too.
thiamethoxam and clothianidin –
Diamond, Dobbies and Wickes did or They therefore all received a mark in the
were restricted for use in Europe. The
didn’t sell them. Habitats & Resources and Climate Change
restrictions are not blanket. They include
columns on the score table. But they’ll all
all amateur uses and all uses on crops
deemed attractive to bees and summer-
Neonicotinoid treatment of have to be peat free by 2020 because that
plants is the date that the UK government and
sown cereals. There are exceptions:
the horticultural industry have agreed
amenity uses, use on crops in greenhouses Most of the research on neonicotinoids to remove peat from compost sold to
and use on winter-sown cereals. The has looked at how they affect bees visiting consumers.
restrictions expire on 1st December 2015. farmland and gardens, and the bees’ The Horticultural Trades Association
Despite overwhelming evidence of risk importance in the pollination of growing started its own peat-reduction project for
and harm from use of neonicotinoids, the crops. But what about the plants that you bags of compost – the Growing Media
manufacturers Syngenta and Bayer, and buy for your garden? The seeds/bulbs/ Initiative – in 2007. This promotes peat
organisations such as the National Farmers plants could have been treated with them. reduction through a variety of methods,
Union (NFU), the Crop Protection Greenpeace International undertook including allowing members – companies
Association (CPA) and the Government’s their own study last year and published that have achieved at least 55% “peat free
Advisory Committee on Pesticides
‘A Toxic Eden: Poisons in your Garden’.4 status” – to use its logo.
(ACP), continue to argue that insufficient
They found that an incredible 79% of Member companies, after passing an
evidence of harm and potential reductions
ornamental plants, sourced from across independent annual audit, are awarded
in yield mean the restrictions should be
European garden centres, supermarkets a grade of GMI membership based on
overturned.11
and DIY stores, were contaminated the average peat content of the UK retail
The three are only restricted for use
with bee-harming pesticides. The three bagged growing media they manufacture
with “crops attractive to bees”, so it does
neonicotinoid pesticides which have or sell to the end consumer:
not take into account the impacts of
been restricted Europe-wide were found • Gold GMI membership is awarded to
neonicotinoids on other insects, aquatic
in almost half of the samples: 43% of those businesses which have achieved
invertebrate species or birds, which are
the samples contained Imidacloprid, 8% 90% + peat free status: no garden
also major areas of concern.
Thiamethoxam, and Clothianidin was centres.
For example, in 2013, a study for
found in 7% of the total, partly in high • Full GMI membership is awarded
the American Bird Conservancy found
concentrations. to those businesses which have
that “A single corn kernel coated with a
The use of certain neonics as seed
neonicotinoid can kill a songbird”. “Even a
treatments could kill small birds or affect
tiny grain of wheat or canola treated with
their breeding if a few seeds were eaten. % of bags peat free GMI rating
imidacloprid can fatally poison a bird.”2
Neonics were also found to be toxic to
The Bee Coalition is calling for the Wyevale 69 -
many birds and most fish.5
current ban to be extended and for
Homebase 63 full
a blanket ban on all neonicotinoid What can you do?
pesticides. The Bee Coalition was formed 61 (100% peat free
B&Q full
in 2012 and consists of a core group • Seek out trusted organic sources for or reduced peat)
of eight organisations (Buglife, Client your seeds and plants. See our guide to Notcutts 55 + full
Earth, Environmental Justice Foundation, Seeds.
Dobbies 20 + provisional
Friends of the Earth, Natural Beekeeping • Grow your own from your saved
Trust, Pesticide Action Network, RSPB organic seeds or organic cuttings. No figures for Squires, Wickes, Hilliers, Blue
Diamond, Klondyke, Wilko.
5
Garden centres
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
achieved 55% + peat free status: B&Q, Own pet
That campaign is no longer ongoing.
Homebase, Notcutts. shops
Concessions We did our own survey and found that
• Provisional GMI membership is some garden centres were selling pets
Notcutts
awarded to those businesses which are themselves at some of their stores whilst
committed to achieving 90% + peat free Dobbies others, like Wyevale, had moved to having
status and are currently operating at a Blue Diamond pet shops as concessions on some of their
minimum of 20% replacement in retail sites. Whilst most sell pets like rabbits,
Squires
products: Dobbies. hamsters, reptiles and fish, Klondyke just
For further information, contact the HTA Klondyke/Strikes sells tropical and cold water fish whilst
on 0118 930 3132 or visit www.the-hta. Hilliers claiming that it did not sell live animals!
org.uk.
Whilst that takes care of bags of Wyevale
Hot air
compost what about the compost in potted Wilko, Wickes, Homebase and B&Q do not
plants? sell any pets, fish or otherwise! In 2007, gas patio heaters shared the
The UK government and the industry environmental hall of shame with 4X4s.
have agreed to remove peat from growing column for selling animals. Wyevale led the way by banning the sale
media used in commercial horticulture Between 2002 and 2008, campaign of gas patio heaters and they were quickly
(peat in potted plants) but not until 2030. group Animal Aid had a relatively followed by B&Q and other garden
Ahead of the 2030 deadline for successful campaign and stopped Focus centres.
commercial horticulture, in April 2014, and Wyevale garden centres from We took a look to see whether they
B&Q replaced all polystyrene packaging selling pets. had snuck back onto the shelves but it
across 90% of its range of bedding plants According to Animal Aid, selling seems they are still a pariah product. Many
with a coir growing media that is 100% pets in a garden-centre environment consumers think they have been banned!
recyclable and from 95% to 99% peat-free. encourages impulse purchases. Animals None of the garden centres directly sold
See our Peat-Free Compost guide on bought on a whim are often neglected gas patio heaters although Wyevale,
page 25 for more about peat issues and or abandoned at already hard-pressed Notcutts, Squires, Homebase, Wickes and
which brands to buy. resource centres once the novelty has Wilko all sold electric ones, still a totally
worn off. Rather than contributing to unnecessary product.
the cycle of animals being bred, bought But looking at in-store concessions, gas
Plants not pets and abandoned, garden centres should heater pioneer Wyevale has backtracked
Many of the companies we looked at encourage people to adopt a companion and rents out space to a company called
received a mark in the Animal Rights animal from a local rescue centre. Hire Station which hires gas patio heaters.
Environment Animals People Politics +ve
USING THE TABLES USING THE TABLES
Supply Chain Management
Ethiscore: the higher the Positive ratings (+ve):
Environmental Reporting
score, the better the company
Irresponsible Marketing
Arms & Military Supply
• Company Ethos:
Product Sustainability
across the criticism categories.
Habitats & Resources
Ethiscore (out of 20)
Genetic Engineering
= full mark,
Anti-Social Finance
= bottom rating,
Pollution & Toxics
= middle rating, = half mark.
Political Activity
Climate Change
Factory Farming
Workers’ Rights
Company Ethos
Nuclear Power
Animal Testing
empty = top rating • Product Sustainability:
Human Rights
Animal Rights
Boycott Call
(no criticisms). Maximum of five positive
marks.
BRAND COMPANY GROUP
Notcutts 7.5 Notcutts Group
Hillier Nurseries 7 Hillier Nurseries
Wickes 6 Travis Perkins plc
Klondyke 6 Klondyke Group
Squires 6 D J Squire & Co
Strikes 6 Klondyke Group
Blue Diamond 6 Blue Diamond Ltd
B&Q 4.5 Kingfisher plc
Wilko 4.5 Wilko Retail Ltd
Wyevale* 4 London 58 Ltd
Homebase 3.5 Home Retail Group
Dobbies 2.5 Tesco plc
See all the research behind these ratings together on www.ethicalconsumer.org. Free to subscribers.
* also owns Blooms, Bridgemere, Country Gardens, Heighley Gate, Jack’s Patch, Old Barn, Percy Throwers, Sanders, Woodlands, Garden & Leisure
6
Garden centres
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
While most of the garden centres
s u m er .
did mention timber sourcing, on A local independent
only Dobbies and B&Q replied
or
h i c al c
garden centre may well be
g
to our detailed questionnaire
about it. Disappointingly, Blue your best option.
Notcutts, Hillier and
et
Diamond, which was rated
BE S T B U
Y
‘Best’ when we last assessed it Wickes come out best
in 2011 with 100% of its timber when we look at the score
FSC certified, this time provided no table and also take into account
information, and none could be found on how they rate on issues such as timber
its website so we had to rate it as ‘Worst’. policy and selling of peat.
Wilko and Hilliers did not mention timber 7.5
sourcing at all whilst the rest that did
mention it, only gave details about how
much FSC-certified timber they sell.
FSC certification is meant to ensure
that timber products are from legal and
well-managed sources; although it’s not 7
without its critics, notably one campaign
Stone sourcing policies group set up to monitor it, FSC Watch,
and also the Rainforest Foundation and
When we last looked at garden centres in
Friends of the Earth who said in 2008:
2008, dangerous working conditions at
“We are concerned at reports that some
Chinese natural stone companies was a 6
FSC certificates are failing to guarantee
serious problem but none of the garden
rigorous environmental and social
centres had any policies on the matter.
standards. As a result the mark’s credibility
Whilst that is still an issue, the use
is being undermined.”9
of child labour in Indian sandstone has Wickes is one of only two
By way of example, in 2012, B&Q and
recently come under the spotlight. companies to get our best rating for
Wickes were found to be selling plywood
Notcutts, B&Q, Homebase and Wickes environmental reporting and is the
made from illegally harvested wood
were all listed as selling stone and paving only company to sell Fairstone paving.
from Borneo which was, nonetheless,
on their websites. Only Wickes gave Notcutts gets best for timber sourcing
FSC certified. The FSC subsequently de-
any information about its source. It sold and peat.
certified the wood.8
Fairstone paving from Marshalls, and B&Q follows these three and is
To try and resolve the issue,
Indian sandstone that is “Ethically audited the other company to score best for
Greenpeace International have recently
and [with] full assurances that no child environmental reporting, and does
developed a 4 point action plan to
labour has been used in the manufacture well for timber and peat.
strengthen and restore FSC’s credibility.
of this product”. There are 12 Hillier Garden Centres
A more detailed critique of FSC
See our Feature for more about this in Hampshire, NE Somerset, East
certification by the Rainforest Foindation
issue and Fairstone paving. Sussex, West Sussex, Oxfordshire,
was published in the Toilet Paper Guide in
Issue 150 and on our website. Berkshire and Hertfordshire.
Timber sourcing However, in the absence of any detailed Notcutts operates 18 garden centres
across England: 12 in the South East
policies information about the companies’ timber
sourcing policies we have used FSC and 6 in the North West.
Forests around the world are being certification as a benchmark. Wickes has 200 stores throughout
destroyed or damaged by the timber the UK and focuses on garden
industry to satisfy our demand for timber % FSC hardware like sheds and furniture
Policy
products, including garden furniture. This certified
rating
rather than plants. B&Q is similar but
destruction has been caused by highly timber also sells plants, seeds and bulbs. It has
unsustainable logging practices, a problem B&Q 100 best 350 stores in the UK and 8 stores in
closely linked to high levels of corruption Ireland.
Notcutts 100 best
and illegal logging.
For example, Europe is a key market Wyevale 100 best
for tropical timber exports from the Wickes 93 middle
Brazilian Amazon, with one-third of all
Squires 80 middle
timber exported from the region going to The table opposite shows how much of
EU countries.7 In 2013, almost half of the 100 of garden the timber, like decking, garden furniture
Dobbies middle
furniture only
Amazon timber imported to the EU came or fencing, sold to customers is certified.
from the state of Pará. Nearly 80% of the Homebase 49 middle It does not cover all wood products like
area logged in Pará between August 2011 Blue Diamond n/a worst paper, sandpaper, or wallpaper. Nor does
and July 2012 was harvested illegally.7 it cover wood products for their own
Companies within the EU are bound by Hilliers n/a worst
use like brochures, and timber for shop
the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which Klondyke n/a worst construction.
prohibits the placing of illegally harvested Wilko n/a worst
timber on the market.7
7
Garden centres
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
Independent garden centres
and nurseries
Organic nurseries exclusively organic but also sell tools
and containers.
The following nurseries all sell organic • Valerie’s Veggies & Plants, Stocking
plants grown to Soil Association Pelham, Herts
standards. Mail order – www.valeriesveggies.
North co.uk, 01279777178
• Brunswick Organic Nursery, • Hawkwood Plant Nursery, Chingford
Bishopthorpe, York 020 8524 4994, www.organiclea.org.uk
A charity that grows plants in organic, A workers’ co-operative.
peat-free compost and provides work South West
for people with learning disabilities. • Growers Organics, Yealmpton, Devon
01904 701869 Organic plants for sale at the nursery
or online – www.growersorganics.com.
01752 881180
• Bee Happy plants & seeds, South
Chard, Somerset
Mail order – www.beehappyplants.
co.uk, 01460 221929
• Tamar Organics, Launceston, Cornwall
Online catalogue of plants and seeds
Hulme Community
plus tools, Fairtrade gardening gloves Garden Centre
and biodegradable pots. Featured in
our Seeds guide on page 18. www.
tamarorganics.co.uk, 01579 371 098 Tim Knight explains the ethos behind a
East local, independent garden centre right
• Defland Nurseries, March, next to the Ethical Consumer office in
Cambridgeshire Manchester city centre.
Organic plants grown in peat-free
compost, by mail order – www. Fifteen years ago, a community garden
organicplants.co.uk, 01354 740553 centre was opened to the public in Hulme,
a densely populated, urban sprawl a stone’s
• Stakeford Nurseries, Choppington, throw from the centre of Manchester.
Northumberland Four friends living in Hulme during the
Run by a charity supporting people 1990s regeneration of the area held an
with mental health issues. Not open meeting where the locals were asked
exclusively organic. 01670 355421
City farms and community what they felt would be of most benefit to
Midlands gardens the neighbourhood, and from it Hulme
• Caves Folly Nursery, Colwall, These are urban-based, community- Community Garden Centre was born.
Worcestershire managed projects working with people, Although we are always changing to
01684 540631 animals and plants. They range from reflect the community’s current needs,
• Walcot Organic Nursery, Pershore, tiny wildlife gardens to fruit and our original concept has always been the
Worcestershire vegetable plots on housing estates, from same. We provide a maintained, public
Organic fruit trees by mail order – community polytunnels to large city green space accessible to all, a garden
http://walcotnursery.co.uk, 01905 farms. Some sell plants to the public. centre open seven days a week, health and
841587 For example, Heeley City Farm education opportunities, and a thriving
South East is a community-based and led, volunteer hub which is used by many
• Louvain Organic Nurseries, educational, youth training and as therapy, rehabilitation, or just for
Peacehaven, E.Sussex employment project, which reaches out social interaction in a safe and nurturing
01273 584156 to disadvantaged and socially excluded environment.
• The Organic Gardening Catalogue, people in inner city Sheffield. One of its Underpinning every decision we
Hersham, Surrey facilities is a peat free garden centre. have made since our conception has
www.organiccatalogue.com, 01932 Search for your nearest one on been a commitment to creating minimal
253666 the Federation of City Farms and environmental impact, and to follow
Online sales run as a joint venture Community Gardens website – sustainable practices in all we do:
with Chase Organics seed company www.farmgarden.org.uk. • We only buy locally and from ethical
(see Seeds guide on page 12). Not suppliers.
8
Garden centres
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
Company profiles environmental reporting and supply chain
management.
B&Q is part of Kingfisher plc, Europe’s In 2014 The Garden Centre Group
leading home improvement retail group announced it would rebrand itself as
and the third largest in the world. Wyevale Garden Centres. It is a full
In 2013 the company started to report member of the Growing Media Initiative
its corporate responsibility through a which means that the company is at least
report called Net Positive. Through Net 55% peat free.
Positive, Kingfisher and its brands aim The company was acquired by private
to have a positive impact on people equity group Terra Firma in 2012, whose
and communities, be restorative to the portfolio consists of controlling stakes
environment, become carbon positive, in about 10 companies including cinema
waste nothing, and create wealth. It chain Odeon, Australian beef producer
received our best rating for environmental CPC, and AWAS, one of the largest
reporting. aircraft leasing firms in the world.
However it received a worst rating Dobbies is one of the UK’s largest garden
for supply chain management due to centres. In 2007 Tesco took a majority
its supply chain policy not restricting stake in the business before buying the
working hours or having a commitment remaining shares in 2008. It operates 34
to pay a living wage. stores in England, Scotland and Northern
People gather at Hulme Community Garden
Kingfisher plc is a member of the World Ireland.
Centre for its annual summer party to enjoy
home-made food, bands, locally-brewed cider Economic Forum, an international forum Klondyke Garden Centres are a family
and beer and local crafts. for business leaders which campaigns owned independent group of centres
Above, members of their Friday Club. for greater economic liberalisation and founded in 1980. The company operates
deregulation and presses for policies 24 centres across Scotland and England.
• We carry organic stock wherever for competitiveness and growth. The
possible. The Scottish centres are branded
company is also a full member of the Klondyke whilst the sites in England and
• Our buildings are made from recycled Growing Media Initiative which means Wales are known as Strikes following a
materials. that it has achieved a 55%+ peat free merger with the William Strike Garden
• We have always been peat free. status. Centre Group in 1996.
• All our fertilizers are vegan.
Homebase is owned by the Home
• Chemicals and growth regulators have Notcutts was founded by Roger
Retail Group which also owns Argos Crompton Notcutt in 1869 and continues
never appeared on our shelves or been
and Habitat. The company is also a full to be a family-owned and independent
part of our growing programme. member of the Growing Media Initiative garden centre. It currently operates 18
which means that it has achieved 55%+ centres in England.
We cannot compete with the big guys on peat free status. In 2013 Homebase was
price for many of our items, and our small accused of using unpaid jobseekers Hillier was founded in 1864 by
size means we cannot stock the range you as a way of cutting payroll costs.12 The Victorian entrepreneur Edwin Hillier
may find in your local Notcutts. We don’t company received a middle rating for when he purchased a two acre nursery
have a café serving nostalgic cream teas, environmental reporting. and a florist’s shop in Winchester. He
or have a shop filled with household items subsequently went on to buy a 130 acre
In 2005, Wickes was acquired by Travis site north of Winchester, which became
you had no idea you couldn’t live without.
Perkins, a FTSE100 company with 18 known as No.1 Nursery and was the
But when our customers see our site industry-leading brands, 1,900 outlets
develop and grow, or when they hear location of the first Hillier Garden Centre.
and more than 24,000 employees in the
about the constantly improving services UK and Ireland. In 2011 Wickes opened Blue Diamond was founded in Guernsey
we offer, particularly to those people who its 200th store. It was the only other in 1904 as the Fruit Export Company.
may find everyday life harder than most, company to receive a best rating for its Today the company operates 15 garden
they know that they have helped. Every environmental reporting. However it centres across England, Guernsey and
penny that is spent here goes directly back received a worst rating for supply chain Jersey. In 2009 its new centre, Le Friquet,
into the project; its primary concern, of management. was opened as a retail destination for
helping our community rather than our home and garden improvements.
In 2014, Wilkinson changed its name to
own economic growth, has not changed Squire’s Garden Centres opened its first
the name consumers used affectionately,
since its germination in 1999. Wilko. The company, which has been centre in 1964 and today operates 15
We do still have to rely on grants and supplying own branded household garden centres based in London and
funding to get us through the lean times essentials since 1930, now operates over the South East of England. The group
but as a not-for-profit organisation our 370 stores around the UK. While the is controlled by the Squire family with
focus has always been on people not company prides itself on being a family founder D.J Squire’s son Colin Squire now
pounds. People and plants. company it receives a worst rating for acting as chairman.
References: 1 Mintel Garden Products Retailing July 2014 2 Birds, Bees, and Aquatic Life Threatened by Gross Underestimate of Toxicity of World’s Most Widely
Used Pesticide, American Bird Conservancy, March 2013 3 RHS Pesticides for Home Gardeners February 2014 4 A Toxic Eden: Poisons in your Garden, Greenpeace
International, April 2014 5 ‘A review of the direct and indirect effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on vertebrate wildlife’, Environmental Science and Pollution
Research, June 2014 6 B&Q One Planet review 2013/14 7 The Amazon’s Silent Crisis, Greenpeace, September 2014 8 DIY giants Wickes and B&Q ‘selling wood
felled illegally from Borneo rainforest’, Daily Mail, 29th Jan 2012 9 Can timber companies prove that they source good wood? Friends of the Earth, 22 January 2008 10
Pesticide Action Network Bees Site – http://bees.pan-uk.org/neonicotinoids (viewed Feb 2015) 11 Syngenta seeks ‘emergency’ exemption to use banned insecticide on
UK crops, The Guardian 25 June 2014 12 Homebase criticised over work experience claims, The Guardian, April 2013
9
Your garden
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
© Daniel Draghici | Dreamstime.com
For green fingers
let bees be your guide
B
ees can guide us to garden as small spaces can be great gardens. A little
Paul de Zylva from responsibly and naturally as knowledge may be a dangerous thing but
possibly, from growing the right gardening is about trying things out. With
Friends of the Earth plants to avoiding chemicals. bees as your guide you are likely to make
With bees in trouble, our gardens are rapid steps in the right direction. Best of
on how bees can help vital fast-food take-aways for bees and all, you can get a lot done in fragments of
other beneficial bugs. As well as serving up time, and you can start at any time. There’s
you create a wildlife a varied menu of plants they provide the no need to wait for the perfect sunny
shelter and nesting places that bees also Sunday.
haven in your garden, need.
no matter how big or
It’s a sad commentary on the declining Help bees to help you
state of nature that our gardens are
proving to be better habitat for bees than With that in mind, start with something
small it is. our countryside. It should be the other simple to suit your space, your time and
way round but that’s one reason why your interests. Pots on a patio, herbs in a
Britain’s bees are in trouble. window box or even a hanging basket can
Our green and pleasant land has get you going and help bees – if you grow
lost much of its natural variety as it the right plants.
has become a large industrial unit with Also, think trees, shrubs and larger
huge fields of single crops replacing the plants to provide height in your borders. A
hedgerows and the variety of plants bees cherry or birch tree can form a backdrop
need. No wonder over 20 of the UK’s bee to ‘layers’ of plants of different height and
species are now extinct, or that a quarter size closer to the front of the border.
of the 267 remaining bee species are Low growing heathers and crocus in
endangered. the front will provide colour and help feed
However with the simple tips below bees in the barren months.
you can make your garden a bee paradise
and help other wildlife to survive in your Season Cycle
garden and beyond. Like you, bees need to eat and shelter
all year round. Think seasonally. Which
Don’t panic! plants will flower and provide the nectar
First of all, relax. You don’t have to be (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) bees
an expert or have sprawling grounds – need? Remember that late winter is the
time to sow seeds for spring and summer
plants. Autumn planted bulbs will burst
forth in spring. When the soil warms in
the spring try growing sunflowers that’ll
rise through the year to stand proud as
they feed bees and birds alike. (TIP: when
10Your garden
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
they die back cut them off but leave the cutting less often and less closely will help Read more about the wildlife that our peat
stump and roots in the ground to return give pollinators places to feed and shelter bogs support on page 29.
nutrients to the soil.) among the grass. (TIP: raise the notches
on the mower to lift the cutting blade a Sowing the seeds
Be nosey few centimetres.)
Growing from seed is growing in
Don’t push it, pile it. Another cheap
Peek over the garden fence or at your way to help is with a small wood pile in popularity, especially vegetables. It is a
neighbours’ front gardens to see which a corner where bugs can nest and feed. cheap way to get the full experience of
plants are doing well and which are being This micro-habitat will decay over time tending through to maturity and is the
visited by bees. If you like the plants they and give a natural look. Use logs or sawn ideal method for creating pollinator-
are visiting, ask your neighbour what they off tree branches but avoid treated wood. friendly habitats such as wildflower
are or take a picture and ask your garden Even a small heap of pruned branches and meadows. Look for heritage and naturally
centre. While at the garden centre, have a twigs will give shelter and can be placed ‘open-pollinated’ seeds which help keep
look to see which plants bees are visiting out of sight at the back of a border. the diverse genetic make-up of what is
there. Being a bit messy is part of being a being grown – contributing to greater
good gardener for nature. Mess can attract biodiversity. For more information on
Mix it up bugs, birds and larger creatures such as seed types and where you can buy open-
hedgehogs. (TIP: cut a hedgehog-shaped pollinated seed from see page 13.
Bees need different plants for food – from
hole in the bottom of a fence panel to let
trees, hedges and shrubs, to bulbs, herbs
and –grasses – throughout the seasons.
them move through.) Allies not enemies
Your compost heap may get occupied
Small trees like hazel, holly and pussy Beneficial insects like hoverflies, beetles
by harmless queen bumblebees and grass
(or goat) willow help bees at different and ladybirds hunt aphids and other pests
snakes seeking a place to nurture their
times of the year. Ivy is a top food in so treat them as allies not enemies. We
young. Don’t worry, they will move on but
autumn – try not to cut it cut it back until can have great gardens and help bees and
you will be helping them heaps if you let
after flowering. other nature at the same time.
them be.
Do you prefer to grow flowers or To survive and thrive, bees need us to
vegetables? Bees will love both. You can be the generation that saves our British
even mix them up – there is no need to Put it away bees. Letting bees be your guide and ally
keep things formal and separate unless One thing to put away is the ‘bug gun’. will help transform your patch, control
you want to. Bee-harming pesticides and herbicides real pests naturally and get your plants
If you fancy growing your own, the are implicated in bee decline. It’s tempting and crops pollinated for free. That’s more
bees will help pollinate both your veg to put a can of spray in your basket on a than a fair trade.
(try French, runner and broad beans; trip to the garden centre but it is a lot of
aubergines, onions and peppers) and money, when dealing with real pests like
fruit, from apples, pears and plums to aphids is as easy as stripping them off with
blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. gloved hands.
The greater variety of plant life, the
greater the variety of bugs and birds they For peat’s sake
will support.
Help keep our threatened peat bogs intact
Gimme shelter by using the many good alternatives
that now exist. Public concern about the
Give your mower – and back – a rest by loss of these unique natural habitats has Paul de Zylva leads Friends of the Earth’s
letting some of your lawn (if you have persuaded the Government to phase out Bee Cause campaign to end the plight of
one) grow longer. When you do mow, the sale of peat in garden centres by 2020. Britain’s bees. www.foe.co.uk/bees
11Seeds
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
Celebrating the humble seed
Corporate monopoly and reduced agricultural market alone, and consequently returns to
diversity appear to go hand in hand in the the Ethical spotlight on page 23.
An emphasis on uniformity, high
yielding varieties and patentable traits, has
commercial seed industry. But how are suppliers resulted in F1 hybrids being favoured over
open-pollinated varieties. (See opposite for
of seed for your garden or allotment faring? further information on seed types). This
has led the UN’s Food and Agricultural
Anna Clayton explores. Organisation to estimate that 75% of
T
agricultural diversity has been lost since
he persistent selecting and saving of the 1900s.2 Genetically modified seed, an
seeds by growers since the dawn of update on which is presented on page 22,
agriculture, and pollination brought threatens to continue this disheartening
about by the wind and insects have led to trend.
an abundance and diversity of food crops
and plants flourishing on the earth today.
When exposed to the right conditions,
Suppliers of garden
seeds germinate and grow into plants that seeds
we eat, such as apples, wheat and lettuce.
Plants, such as grasses and corn, feed cows Information on the companies that
and other animals that provide us with supply seed to gardeners and allotment
milk and meat. Without the humble seed, holders is hard to track down. This report
humans would struggle to survive. has therefore endeavoured to cover
2014 was a year for celebrating the the most widely available seed brands
seed and its often forgotten role in our (those that can be bought from garden
lives. The UK’s Great Seed Festival raised centres and high-street shops or online).
awareness of the seed’s silent work by It has also included a number of organic
coordinating a number of seed swaps, seed companies recommended by the
talks, and seed saving workshops around Ecologist, including Real Seeds, The
the UK. In Europe, an International Organic Gardening Catalogue, Tamar
Solidarity Caravan for Seeds travelled Organics, Laura’s Organics, Jekka’s Herb
through Greece, Italy and France. The Farm, Seeds of Change, Edwin Tucker and
caravan celebrated the ‘Pan-Hellenic Duchy Originals.3 The key ethical issues
Exchange of Local Seed Varieties’ and associated with the hobby seed industry
spread the mantra of an agriculture are highlighted in the ethiscore table on
based on diversity, free from genetically page 14 and discussed further on page 15.
modified organisms (GMOs).
A lobby success?
Seed diversity under Thanks to the tireless work of campaign
organisations and farmers dedicated
threat to seed diversity, in March 2014 MEPs
2014’s plethora of seed celebrations were rejected proposed changes to EU
not without cause. They were reacting legislation on seeds and seed marketing
to a growing trend of industrialisation that would have required all commercial
and corporate monopoly within the seed to be registered on a single EU
seed industry, the history of which is list. Due to the financial cost incurred
summarised on page 18. through registering a seed, small UK
67% of the branded seed market is now seed companies would have struggled
controlled by ten companies, all of which financially and been out-competed by
have interests in biotechnology. These large agribusinesses, resulting in seed
companies are, in order of dominance: production being controlled by a powerful
Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Groupe few. This process has occurred in the US
Limagrain, Land O’ Lakes, KWS AG, where, for example, Monsanto bought 200
Bayer Crop Science, Sakata, DLF- independent seed companies over a 10
Trifolium and Takii. Monsanto accounts year period.1
for more than 27% of the branded seed Although the EU’s proposed Plant
12Seeds
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
Reproductive Material Law was rejected, number of new seed saving initiatives. A top ten guide on what you can do
there are still potential threats ahead. These include The South West Seed Savers’ to protect seed diversity is provided on
Ben Raskin, the head of horticulture at Cooperative (discussed on page 19), the page 21.
the Soil Association, explains current international Seed Freedom movement,
and proposed EU seed legislation and and the numerous seed-saving and open-
its implication on seed diversity in more pollination initiatives highlighted on
detail on page 24. the map on page 20. The Seed Freedom
movement is driven by a network of
Protecting seed individuals and organisations committed
to maintaining seed and plant biodiversity,
freedom and the cultural skills associated with seed
Potential threats to seed diversity in saving and swapping.
the UK have sparked the creation of a
Open-pollinated seeds F1 hybrid seed Genetically modified seed
Seeds created by the natural process of Seed is selected and saved from plants Seed collected from a plant which
pollination: pollen is transferred from with desired characteristics over has had a ‘foreign gene’ (a gene from
the male to female parts of the same or many years, often under controlled another species) inserted into its
a different flower, with the assistance environments, until two distinctly DNA, in order to introduce a desired
of the wind, pollinating insects, different plants are produced. characteristic. For example, a gene
birds or other natural mechanisms. ‘Desirable’ characteristics often equate has been inserted from the bacteria
This hopefully leads to successful to vigour, high yield, uniformity or pest Bacillus thuringiensis into sweetcorn
fertilisation and the formation of seeds. resistance. so that it produces a poison which kills
Open-pollinated seed can be collected Pollen from these two distinctly harmful insects.
and saved from healthy plants by different ‘parent plants’ is then
amateur growers or farmers, and transferred to produce offspring that
can be sown to grow plants closely is vigorous or high yielding or pest
resembling the parent plant – the plant resistant – the F1 hybrid! If seed is
from which the seed was taken. Open- saved and sown from this F1 hybrid,
pollinated seed can be grown, selected the seeds will not grow true to type,
and saved to create varieties adapted i.e. offspring will have an array of
to local environmental conditions, different characteristics and may not
leading to increased biodiversity. resemble the parent. To maintain the
F1’s characteristics, the two original
parent plants must be crossed again
and again. This creates a natural
mechanism by which a grower
repeatedly buys new F1 seed in order
to grow a reliably ‘desired’ plant,
and can cause a reduction in genetic
diversity over time. As we will see on
page 24 there is a growing movement
criticising the cultivation and sale References (viewed Jan 2015): 1 ISIS Report,
of F1 hybrids. Ethical Consumer has 22/10/2014, Beware the corporate takeover
therefore marked companies down of seed under many guises 2 FAO, What is
under the Habitats and Resources Agrobiodiversity? 2004, ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/
subcategory if they sell F1 hybrids. fao/007/y5609e00.pdf 3 www.theecologist.org/
green_green_living/gardening/1310048/top_10_
organic_seed_suppliers.html
13Seeds
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
Environment Animals People Politics +ve
USING THE TABLES USING THE TABLES
Supply Chain Management
Ethiscore: the higher the Positive ratings (+ve):
Environmental Reporting
score, the better the company
Irresponsible Marketing
Arms & Military Supply
• Company Ethos:
across the criticism categories.
Product Sustainability
Habitats & Resources
Ethiscore (out of 20)
= full mark,
Genetic Engineering
Anti-Social Finance
= bottom rating,
Pollution & Toxics
= middle rating, = half mark.
Political Activity
Climate Change
Factory Farming
Workers’ Rights
Company Ethos
Nuclear Power
empty = top rating
Animal Testing
• Product Sustainability:
Human Rights
Animal Rights
(no criticisms).
Boycott Call
Maximum of five positive
marks.
BRAND COMPANY GROUP
Stormy Hall [O] 16 1 Camphill Village Trust
Laura’s Organics [O] 15 1 Laura’s Organics Ltd
Real Seeds 15 The Real Seed Collection Ltd
Tamar Organic [O] 15 1 Tamar Organics
Landlife wildflower seed 14.5 Landlife
Jekka’s Herbs 14 Jekka’s Herb Farm
Franchi [O] 13.5 1 Franchi Seeds 1783
Franchi 12.5 Franchi Seeds 1783
Dobies of Devon [O] 12 1 Suttons Seeds (Holdings) Ltd
Kings Seed [O] 12 1 EW King & Co Ltd
Suffolk Herbs [O] 12 1 EW King & Co Ltd
Suttons [O] 12 1 Suttons Seeds (Holdings) Ltd
Chiltern Seeds 11.5 Chiltern Seeds Ltd
Mammoth 11.5 W Robinson & Sons Ltd
Nicky’s Nursery 11.5 Nicky’s Nursery Ltd
Plants of Distinction 11.5 Plants of Distinction
Simpson’s 11.5 Simpson’s Seeds Ltd
Dobies of Devon 11 Suttons Seeds (Holdings) Ltd
James Wong 11 Suttons Seeds (Holdings) Ltd
Kings Seed 11 EW King & Co Ltd
Suffolk Herbs 11 EW King & Co Ltd
Suttons 11 Suttons Seeds (Holdings) Ltd
Chase Organics [O] 10.5 1 Ian Allan Group
DT Brown [O 10.5 1 Mr Fothergill’s Seeds Ltd
Johnsons [O] 10.5 1 Mr Fothergill’s Seeds Ltd
Mr Fothergills [O] 10.5 1 Mr Fothergill’s Seeds Ltd
Organic Gardening Cat. [O] 10.5 1 Ian Allan / Garden Organic
Thompson & Morgan 10.5 Thompson & Morgan Group
Duchy Originals [O] 10 1 T&M/Duchy/John Lewis
Chase Organics 9.5 Ian Allan Group
DT Brown 9.5 Mr Fothergill’s Seeds Ltd
Johnsons 9.5 Mr Fothergill’s Seeds Ltd
Mr Fothergills 9.5 Mr Fothergill’s Seeds Ltd
Organic Gardening Catalogue 9.5 Ian Allan / Garden Organic
Marshalls 9 Westland Horticulture
Tuckers [O] 9 1 Edwin Tucker & Sons
Unwins 9 Westland Horticulture
Tuckers 8 Edwin Tucker & Sons
Seeds of Change [O] 4.5 1 Mars Inc
See all the research behind these ratings together on www.ethicalconsumer.org. Free to subscribers. [O] = certified organic
14Seeds
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
s u m er .
on
Seeds for your
The Best Buys are
or
h i c al c
g
organic seed from
companies committed to
garden or allotment
maintaining a wide range
et
BE S T B U
Y
of open-pollinated plant
varieties. The companies
grow their own seed and favour
regional varieties, or at least know
their seed sources.
The following companies are best and
As can be seen from a quick glance and availability. These varieties have been only sell certified organic
at the ethiscore table opposite, UK maintained and multiplied on organically- seed:
consumer seed companies provide very managed land over many years and thus • Stormy Hall Seeds 16
little information on are well adapted to sh-organic-seeds.
how they operate. Few organic growing co.uk, 01287 661
companies score well conditions”. 368
for their environmental In addition to these • Laura’s Organics 15
reporting or supply chain two companies, Laura’s www.laurasorganics.
management. This is Organics’, Jekka’s co.uk, 01942 707765
due to little information Herbs’ and Landlife’s • Tamar Organics
15
being publicly available seed collections www.tamarorganics.
and companies not did not contain co.uk, 01579 371
demonstrating explicitly any F1 hybrids. 098
environmental or socially Although Franchi These companies sell certified
progressive practices, seeds’ collection organic seed or seeds raised without
for example, offering contained F1 hybrids, the use of agricultural chemicals,
organic products only. the company stated with the exception of
This is also the case that 99.8% of its Landlife Wildflowers:
for wood-sourcing and cotton-sourcing seed were open-pollinated traditional, • Real Seeds 15
policies, where companies have uncertified heirloom or regional varieties, and www.realseeds.co.uk,
products on sale. Little information is also that it merely supplied F1 hybrids to 01239 821107
provided on the chemicals and methods meet a small customer demand. This • Landlife Wildflowers 14.5
used for treating seeds. argument was similarly used by Chase www.wildflower.org.
Organics who stated “it is clear that uk, 0151 737 1819
Policies on many people growing organically are not • Jekka’s Herbs 14
anti-hybrids and use them as a reliable www.jekkasherbfarm.
‘industrialised’ seed way of producing food. If they require, com, 01454 418878
Although no company covered in for instance, specific disease or weather • Franchi Seeds 13.5
the ethiscore table was linked to the resistance, or a plant that will grow quickly www.seedsofitaly.
production of genetically modified (GM) to avoid pest attacks, then an F1 hybrid com, 0208 427 5020
seed, few companies provided statements variety may be the best way to achieve this,
outlining their position on GM technology and for this reason we offer an informed
If you can’t find these Best Buys in
or how they ensure their supply chains choice”.
stores, you can order them online
remained GM free. Only The Real Seed (using the links above). Alternatively
Collection, Stormy Hall, Duchy Originals, Sourcing seed you could contact companies via
Franchi Seeds, Garden Organic, Chase phone and ask for a catalogue to be
Where UK seed companies source
Organics and Thompson and Morgan mailed to you.
their seed from is a seemingly seedy
provided positive GMO policies.
matter. Out of the 27 brands covered
The Real Seed Collection and Stormy
in this report, only seven provided any in the UK there were more than 40 hobby
Hall Seeds were the only companies that
provided statements opposing F1 hybrids, meaningful information on their seed seed companies that produced their own
supplying open-pollinated seeds only. sources: Real Seeds, Franchi Seeds, Kings seeds for their own packets, now there are
Stormy Hall stated that it “rejects the use Seeds, Landlife, Jekka’s Herbs, Stormy none left with the exception of Kings that
of hybrids because we are convinced that Hall Seeds and Seeds of Change. Those produce roughly 15% of their own seeds
they are not suitable for [sustainable] plant that did provide information about seed and some very small cottage companies
growing. It is also impossible for gardeners sources appeared to be some of the few like Real Seeds and Garlic Farm Ltd. We
and farmers to save their own seeds from companies supplying seed for gardens and are the only hobby seed company selling
F1 hybrid varieties. We therefore retain allotments that actually grow some of their through garden centres that produces
and care for well-tried varieties in order own seed! According to Paolo Arrigo of its own seeds for its own packets, almost
to ensure their continued development Franchi Seeds: “Before World War Two, 80%”.
15Seeds
MARCH/APRIL 2015 www.ethicalconsumer.org
Company profiles All of Jekka’s Herb seeds come from an
award-winning herbetum in Alveston,
contains a number of non-organic
and F1 seeds despite being endorsed
UK. Although the products are not by Garden Organic – an organisation
certified organic, the herbetum is promoting organic agriculture and seed
Kings Seeds grows 16-20% of their seed managed using organic principles. saving. When questioned about this,
and maintains its own mother seed Chase Organic stated “Some cultivars
stock, which is sent abroad for bulking Stormy Hall Seeds is a not-for profit
and varieties are simply not available as
up, helping to keep costs down.1 Suffolk organic company, producing Demeter
organic seed and our aim is to supply
Herbs, King Seeds’ sister company, offers and organic-certified seed, which is
a complete range for our customers to
a wide range of organic seed, as does the sourced from Botton Village in North
choose from. [Our non-organic seeds] are
Duchy Originals organic seed collection, Yorkshire, and a network of Biodynamic
not treated with any chemical processes
of which Thompson & Morgan is the sole farms across the UK and Europe. Stormy
or dressings after harvest”.
retailer. Hall Seeds has recently started co-
developing a new initiative, The Seed The Ian Allan Group has operations in
Thompson and Morgan sell a number Co-operative, with the Biodynamic the aviation and automobile industries,
of peat products, as do Edwin Tucker & Association and the Open Pollinated both of which are considered to have a
Sons. For more information on the issues Seed Initiative. The Seed Co-operative high climate impact factor.
associated with peat see page 31.
Edwin Tucker & Sons and Mr Fothergill’s
sell a number of pesticides, including
Provado Ultimate Bug Killer, which
contains the neonicotinoid, thiacloprid.
The Soil Association advises consumers
to avoid this product due to its impact on
bee populations. Both companies also
sell a number of animal products such as
Blood, Fish and Bone, filled white bones
and bone meal.
The Real Seed Collection is a not-
for-profit company dedicated to the
production of open-pollinated seed
varieties and education about home seed-
saving. The company sends out free seed
saving instructions with every packet of
seed so that, in theory, customers should
have to purchase seed only once. The
Real Seed Catalogue has sent 101,800
sets of seed-saving instructions to its
customers to date. The company actively
campaigns against F1 seeds and was
the only company in this report to have
signed the Safe Seed Pledge, a pledge
opposing the use of GM seed.2 Franchi Seeds 1783 is the oldest family
hopes to breed new varieties of open-
run seed company in the world. It claims
Sutton Seeds has recently undergone a pollinated plants suitable for sustainable
to be the only hobby seed company
management buyout from Cooperative farming practice and UK conditions,
selling through garden centres that
Limagrain, the fourth largest seed in addition to providing education to
produces its own seeds (almost 80%). It is
company in the world, and is now an professional growers, home gardeners
also the only Vegetarian Society approved
independent company in its own right. and the general public.
UK seed company. Franchi is passionate
Suttons Consumer Products own the Stormy Hall Seeds is owned by the about seed provenance and made history
Suttons and Dobies of Devon seed Camphill Village Trust – a charity which this year as the first seed company in the
brands, and also retails the James Wong runs the volunteer-based community history of Slow Food to be invited to take
seed range. village of Botton in North Yorkshire. There a stand at their show ‘Salone del Gusto’.
Seeds of Change is owned by the has been some controversy surrounding According to Franchi, not many British
chocolate giant Mars Inc. The company the reconstruction of the Trust. seed companies would qualify to take a
stated that it did “not source any seed stand at Salone due to the show requiring
Landlife is an environmental charity
from Monsanto”. Although Seeds of companies to produce their own seed
based at the National Wildflower Centre
Change provide a GMO-free statement or produce and exhibit regional seed
in Merseyside, North West England, and
on its website, Mars Inc.’s GMO policy varieties only.
offers a number of wild flower mixes of
is more ambiguous and contains no British origin through its trading arm,
commitment to excluding GMOs from Landlife Wildflowers.
its supply chain. It merely states that
it complies with relevant laws and The Organic Gardening Catalogue is References (viewed January 2015: 1 www.telegraph.
a joint project of Garden Organic and co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/9945466/Where-to-
consumer preferences to determine which
buy-the-best-value-vegetable-seeds.html 2 www.
ingredients it uses. Chase Organics (a subsidiary of the Ian
councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/ViewPage.
Allan Group). Surprisingly, the catalogue aspx?pageId=261
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