Economy Flashcards
Briefly describe what is meant by ‘garden tourism’, and outline some of the ways in which this may benefit local economies.
Garden tourism refers to tourism carried out for the primary purpose of visiting gardens open to the public, and to some extent specialist plant nurseries. Since many open gardens are in places where there is often a low level of economic activity, there are clear benefits to employment and increasing local income, most of which will not be directly from the gardens
but from local hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, souvenir shops, garages etc.
Garden design is a profession that has a variety of
aspects, and can involve several different areas of skill and knowledge. Name and briefly describe THREE of these.
Landscape forming – working with gradients, moving soil to create new planting areas, making ponds etc.
Planting design – selecting and arranging locations for new plants
Hardscaping – designing, selecting materials and overseeing construction of paved surfaces and other features which use stone and concrete
Name and briefly describe THREE types of business
involved in commercial plant production, and explain how they are linked.
Seed suppliers, may grow or may simply distribute, seed. Specialist wholesale distributors usually have contracts with growers all over the world.
- Wholesale nurseries will obtain starter plants or propagating material from a variety of sources. For seed-grown plants they would usually buy their seed from a wholesale seed distributor. They grow plants in large quantities for sale to businesses that need lots of plants.
- Garden centres sell plants to retail customers. They buy nearly all of their plants from wholesale nurseries. Garden centre chains may be linked to a wholesale nursery company, but they will inevitably buy plants in from various sources.
List THREE of the skill areas involved in garden
maintenance which might be thought of as more
‘advanced’. How might someone learn and gain
experience in these areas, in order to advance
professionally and increase their earning power?
Propagation.
Pruning.
Wild flower meadow making and management.
Subjects like this are frequently included in the programmes of ‘garden schools’ or those colleges that have outreach programmes, or organisations
like the RHS. It is often possible to attend a day workshop, if time can be arranged, and the day is affordable. Courses with some sort of certification to
show that you have completed it, are especially valuable.
Online sources are increasingly useful for self-taught training. Videos on You Tube are especially good for practical and very physical skills like pruning, and
are a much better medium than the traditional book.
Specialist propagation and pruning techniques may not always be covered in online videos, which tend to be quite basic. So books are still useful, particularly reference books, often older ones.
In some cases, and wildflower meadow making/management is a good example, suppliers (seed supplier in this case) will often provide detailed
information in their seed catalogue or website.
How much did ornamental hort contribute to the GDP in 2017
£24.2 billion contribution to national GDP
figures are not just the sales of plants and garden-related products but also the contribution of garden tourism
How many jobs were supported by ornamental hort in 2017
568,700 jobs
landscaping has about half the jobs and retail
about a quarter.
figures are not just the sales of plants and garden-related products but also the contribution of garden tourism
What are the ‘ornamental horticultural industries
Supply of garden goods
Ornamental plant production
Wholesale of garden products and flowers
Retail sales of garden products, plants and cut flowers
Landscape services
Arboriculture
Garden tourism
Define supply of garden goods
industries manufacturing gardening tools and
equipment, garden ornaments and furniture, fertilisers and agrochemicals, garden structures like fences, sheds and greenhouses.
What is ornamental plant production
Growers and sellers of all ornamental plants,
including bulbs and live Christmas trees
Traditionally, this sector has been divided between seed producers, large-scale plant producers and
smaller specialist nurseries, along with specialist producers of other ornamental plant material, such as cut flowers and Christmas trees.
What are Wholesale of garden products and flowers
The suppliers of garden products who buy from producers and then distribute to the retailers who sell
to the public or to other businesses.
What are the Retail sales of garden products, plants and cut flowers
This covers a range of businesses that sell plants and garden-related products, whether through nurseries, garden centres, DIY stores, supermarkets and other general retail
outlets.
what comprises landscape services
The companies that build and maintain landscapes for local and national government, corporate owners and private households, including landscape architects and designers, and those involved in the
implementation and construction of these schemes.
What is aboriculture
Tree-related activities, including forest management, as well as urban trees, tree surgeons etc.
tree maintenance and felling, as well as the planting and management side of forestry.
There were around 20,900 workers engaged in
arboricultural activities during 2017
What is garden tourism
International and domestic visitors to parks and gardens as well as all the economic boosts for small businesses: hotels, restaurants, transportation, gift shops etc.
It is about jobs and every job created creates further jobs in terms of what that person is able to consume, and of course, tax revenue. On all of these levels, horticulture can be a big earner.
Tourism spending, especially in more remote areas, can also benefit small businesses: bed and breakfasts, cafés, craft shops and of course nurseries.
Garden tourism has a great role to play in regional economies.
Ornamental plant production and retail now?
Originally local nurseries close to cities and towns,
produced for their local market.
Now specialist nurseries, which concentrate
on a particular range of plants, often of interest primarily to garden enthusiasts; concentrate
on a particular range of plants, the internet has been a boon to them, enabling them to sell far more widely, reviving what was once an important part of the nursery industry – mail order.
EX: Cuttings in East Africa rooted, and seedlings grown by plug producers, who then sell on trays of young plants to growers who ‘finish’ the plants,
Belgium/Netherlands: notably in bulb and young plant production. The cut flower trade is also dominated by Dutch growers.
HOWEVER: carbon footprint cutting into these trades.
How much does the sale of ornamental plants in the UK support the GDP in 2017?
£1.35 billion were produced and sold
Production supported around 15,700 jobs
Garden centres and other retail outlets, including the cafes and other non-horticultural merchandise retailers they host directly supported 84,800
jobs – 2.9 percent of the UK’s retail workforce that year.
Garden centres’ own employment totalled an estimated 48,700 people.
spending with the UK’s general retailers helped to support a further 36,100 job
What difficulties do garden centers face and how do they deal with it?
75% of business occurs in March/April
developing other ranges of products to sell (even to those that go to the centers, despite not being gardeners)
‘garden’ in garden centres gets diluted, and businesses that in any case have a poor reputation
for knowing about the products they sell, are under pressure to further dilute their core business.
Just under half the income generated by selling garden related products comes through non-specialist shops; meanwhile it shows that garden centres get around 40% of their income from selling non-garden goods – reflecting the trend for garden centres to diversify their sources of income.
What are the advantages of regional flower shows?
Shop windows for customers
direct plant sales at these events are the focus
interact with knowledgeable nursery staff from many different parts of the country in one place
What do people spend the most on in ornamental hort in order?
Cut flowers
Garden plants/trees
Garden furniture
Sheds
Lawnmowers
Compost
Seeds
BBQ’s
Fertilizers
Power tools
Pots and containers
Hand tools
Greenhouses
What does garden maintenance and landscaping include in the category?
individual self-employed and part-time gardeners as well as the employees of large amenity horticulture companies and gardeners at private
estates.
groundsmen and greenkeepers who are retained by other firms and public sector bodies.
It is also hard to quantify because it merges
with what could be described as countryside and environmental management – the care of semi-natural and natural environments.
It was estimated (in 2017) that there were 196,300 workers across the UK in this sector
What are other forms of employment in the landscape sector and are they good?
landscaping professionals within firms that plant and manage green spaces as part of broader service contracts, or those that work within construction companies that design and prepare green space around housing developments, employees of central and local government bodies who carry out landscaping work, as well as workers retained by other businesses to tend to and maintain their grounds.
They are poorly trained “mow and blow” people who use the same plants and trim too often. Impacts on the sustainability of the and biodiversity.
Repetitive and unnecessary mowing of grass and trimming of shrubs are two activities that need a
particularly harsh light shone on them.
Define silviculture
planting, growing and management of trees , whether in natural or planted forests, or in tree nurseries
What is the National Garden Scheme
Started in 1927
aim of “opening gardens of quality, character and interest to the public for charity”;
the scheme has raised over £60 million since it began, and now opens thousands of gardens a year.
Gardens have played an important, and increasing role in heritage tourism
What is heritage tourism?
At the larger end they tend to be part of a wider heritage business – a castle or stately home nearly
always has a garden attached.
Visiting gardens is a major hobby in the UK,
and heritage gardens attract tourists from all over the world.
There are major multiplier effects: hotels, restaurants, gift shops etc. all benefit and provide employment.
What tops the list of places people visit in Britain
Parks and Gardens
Followed by:
Museums/Art galleries
Castles/historic houses
Religious buildings
Countryside/villages
Theatre
Coast
National Park
Festivals
What is the difference between horticulture and agriculture?
There is no clear distinction
Originally small local producers sold. Then went to supermarkets and small producers faded.
Now, organic, local farmers markets are reappearing due to taste and quality.
Climate change and the disruptions it will cause, is only likely to increase the importance of this sector.
How much does Britain produce in the way of food?
Britain currently (2021) produces around 56% of the vegetables we consume and 16% of the fruit.
There is much media discussion about
increasing the proportion of homegrown produce, largely because of a desire to reduce ‘food miles’.
The expanding local food production sector inevitably
benefits. This could well be a very important area for future horticultural employment and expertise.
Integration: How does this help you in hort?
Horticulture and the associated landscape industries play a major, but under-appreciated role in national life. Imagine if there was no-one to cut grass, manage damage trees, or tend parks and roadsides!
What is a ‘fine textured’ economy?
one where there is a lot going on at a local level, with a high degree of differentiation between different businesses, and close integration between suppliers of products and services and consumers.
Much of horticulture is like this, and has the capacity
to be more so. It offers an enormous amount of scope for small business and new initiatives at neighbourhood level.
What other metrics are used to consider the value of horticulture with regard to the economy?
social inclusion
increased biodiversity
reduced crime (less cost to society)
improved health and wellbeing (less cost to NHS) (stress reducing)
Growing own veggies (financial benefit)
jobbing out gardening (supports low income - less burden to society)
What is the scale and the value of these sectors eg the ornamental horticulture and landscape industry according to the RHS?
contributing nearly £42 billion to the UK, supporting 760 000 jobs by 2030.
List some of the UK’s natural capital accounts
The number of outdoor recreation and tourism visits in the UK increased by 46% between 2011 and 2019
the value of crops, fodder and grazing
the harvesting of roundwood (trunk and branch wood) from coniferous (softwood) and broadleaved (hardwood) trees
the value of marine fish taken from mainland UK waters (aquaculture of farmed fish are excluded as farmed fish are viewed as a produced asset and not a natural asset)
What is natural capital?
Natural wealth is reflected in things like the productivity of soils and access to clean water. Any natural resource or process that supports human life, society and the economy forms an important part of our natural capital. We are estimating both the current value and what it could provide for future generations. Natural capital is an important part of a wider move to better understand “inclusive wealth”.
What is the horticultural economy?
Garden tourism
Garden landscape design and building
Garden maintenance
Plant production/retail (nursery business)
Sundries production/retail (nursery business)
In 2019 what was the economic contribution of hort?
28.8 billion to economy
674,200 jobs
8.7 billion tax revenue
Garden tourism from Oxford Economics
2018 study found that garden tourism generates 2.9 billion of UK GDP, employs 32K and int’l tourism spent an estimated 2.2 billion in the UK’s parks and gardens in 2017
The report also estimates that garden tourism generated an additional 1.2 related industries like hotels and restaurants
What is an important part of the garden tourism business ?
Charity due to Nat’l Garden Scheme. (Open your own garden for charity)
Why do people visit gardens?
range of plants
design interest
historical aspects
Additional:
Garden tours
Cafe (Tea’s make the money)!
Book shop
Gift shops
Plant sales
Define hard landscaping?
Design of space and use of all of those non-living (hard)elements
Define soft landscaping
Planting Design
Designing with plants
What does garden design involve when it involves slopes?
Do we put in terracing?
* Do we keep the slope?
* How do we get access at that slope?
* How do we stabilise soil in that slope?
* How we plant it
* Drainage, is also very often an issue.
Explain what is needed for planning a garden?
- Organising spaces for living, access and functionality.
- Relating the garden to the house.
- Planning spaces for planting.
- Inegrating or separating the garden from the surroundings.
What kind of materials to use for hard landscaping and what are the issues
stone, paving, gravel.
Formal to naturalistic
CEMENT has HIGH Carbon footprint.
Stone - quarrying is a destructive activity, BUT if done well can leave a good wildlife habitat behind.
Stone from places outside the UK have high carbon footprint and possibly human rights issues.
What doe sthe planting portion of the design include?
arrangement of plants to allow for their satisfactory growth and coexistence - at least for a number of years before major
maintenance is required, soil preparation and planting itself included.
Clients usually prefer a designer to return a 1 and 2 years afterwards to see how it is developing and what to do to help realize the best aspects of the designs…
What is garden maintenance
Wealthy households can employ full time staff (usually pretty skilled).
“Jobbing gardeners” many clients, can be skilled.
Mow and Blow less skilled: poorly developed landscape.
What are garden maintenance tasks?
Lawnmowing and routine shrub maintenance.
Weed control
Pest and disease control.
Plant management - cutting/pruning
Feeding (we often overfeed - but new gardens need professional to check for signs of nutrient deficients or non establ plants due to mineral deficients or poor soil.
Irrigation
Replacement planting (plants grow to large need replacing) KNOWLEDGE IS IMPORTANT or get help from local nursery
Propagation
Compost heap maintenance
Fruit and Veg growing (Increasingly, a garden prof is expected to be able to oversee the growing and mainte. of veg/fruit for clients self sufficicey.
Tool and Machinery maintenance (clean, sharp, functioning well and corrosion free) Power toosls have higher level of skills.
EDUCATING CLIENTS!
What is key to being a garden professional?
Flexibible
practical
open and excited about learning new skills
“jack of all trades”
What is the garden prof. skill gradient?
lawn mowing/shrub trimming and weeding are fundamental and low skill.
Other end; fruit tree pruning and propagation. SKILLED and much knowledge.
Most other skills are between.
Think about specializing in skilled areas as a way of getting clients who need particular skill set.
List gardening positions as a profession.
- Head gardener
- Landscape management
- Wildlife/ecology management
- Groundsman/grass management
- Arboriculture/tree surgery
- Temporary planting installation and management
- Consultancy
What is landscape managment
Mgmt. of large areas, usually with a fairly low skill set. Usually a lot of grass mowing, but also trees/shrub work.
What is wildlife management?
Mgmt. of ecologically important areas.
As we have more wild gardens and bring biodiversity into the garden those with ecology and hort will increasingly be in demand.
What is grass management
Sport pitches
Public spaces
What is tree specialization?
Tree surgery
arboriculture
what is the difference between arborist and tree surgeons?
Arborists study trees at a biological level and know how to keep them safe and healthy. Good, qualified tree surgeons will still have extensive knowledge of how to treat trees, but tend to focus more on the specific work required.
Explain seasonal planting
Bedding plants summer and winter
Now we are more targeted: window boxes, balconies or small gardens. Sometimes people are willing to pay a prof to come sev times a year to renew. NEED a real awreness of all plants that are available
What is garden consulting
Consultancy involves being brought in to offer specialist advice and services, usually for
larger gardens or institutional gardens.
Self Employed
Advantages:
Pick and choose job
Freedom of schedule
Disadvantages:
Lack of colleagues
Conditions for professional development very limited. (You have to search for them yourself)
Most countries have a socity or ASSC. of Prof Gardenrs to help keep peeps in touch with each other.
Isolating business
Nursery industry
Wholesalers (also to landscape designers who typically want hundreds of plants).
Retailers
Innovation (fairly limited number of nurseries with strong commitment to producing new varieties)
Some very big nurseries will have their own research and deveopment.
Plant breeders sell to whom?
WHolesale
Seed producers
Seed producers sell to whom?
Retail seed industry
Retail nurseries and garden centres
Domestic gardeners
What innovation occurs with plant breeders?
PLANT BREEDERS INTRODUCE NEW GENEPOOLS; new species, old varieties, mutations and new varieties.
What is a specialist plant breeding nurseries?
Dedicated to a particular plant variety, they will produce new varieties.
Now PBR they are able to sell the license to propagate plants to wholesale nurseries and generate income.
Discuss seed producers
Very large scale
Often overseas
Seed is sold to companies who make the seed avail in lg quantities to commercial growers or landscapers or smaller quantities for retail
Specialist small plant producers
produce small plugs in trays from rooted cuttings or seed.
Sometimes with cutting material that’s flown in from countries like Kenya, with perfect year round conditions.
Specialists sell lg numbers of small plants that are grown on by wholesale nurseries or smaller conerns.
What is the importance of these specialist plant producers?
Specialist mode of production itself.
Some import cuttings.
Describe the nursery industry
Small plant producers sell to wholesale plant nurseries who sell to garden centers and retailers.
Then also small and specialist nurseries.
What is micro propagation?
specialized lab based technique which can only be done with considerable investment.
Outputs of those plants can then be bought up and grown on by others.
Size of plants at wholesale nurseries
Often buy small plants and grow on to diff sizes to sell.
May maintain stock beds of mother plants which they take their own cuttings for prop. ESP if specialists in one particular plant group.
Tree Nurseries
Specialized group - skilled business to get shape and size and training of the tree.
Shaping important as is land, soil and access to water to provide right place for growth.
REcently large trees are sold: Constant management; much water and transport is high carbon footprint.
Small scale nurseries
Often adjunct to something else, pension and done for love of plants.
They have fantastic range of plants and keep alive the range of species and cultivars. RARE PLANTS, COLLECTORS PLANTS.
They are usually specialists who love the plant
They come and go so difficult to keep going.
Sell thru plant fairs/events/ flower shows. Meet customers face-face.
Also sell online and very effective.
Food production on small scale
Supermarkets killed the market gardens/local sales.
Now, locally produced, organic revives this.
LIttle money in food production, Lots of labour, low wage, low scale and often involves immigrant labour.
What are the issues with food production?
Exploitation of migrant labour.
What is high tech advancements in food production?
highly skilled personnel in hermetically sealed environments to prevent pests/diseases.
High level of automation.
Hydroponics: continual flow of nutrient rich water.
Urban areas: large warehouses using lights that is calibrated for max growth growin in aseptic hydroponic conditions.
Efficient for fast growing salad and stir fry crops.
What is organic food production?
varies from country to country.
No real firm scientifc basis.
Used to be very small scale - now industrialized as the rest of agric.
SIMPLY USING DIFF FEEDING AND PEST CONTROL METHODS.
What is urban gardening?
Can grow a lot in small space.
Urban derelict areas addressing poverty, deprivation.
It’s about food production, but also very often with an agenda of helping people through food poverty.
EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT. Often heavy use of vols.
Many organic, ideological reasons, but pragmatically also irresponsible when using vols.
growing projects and can do a great deal to help lift the spirits of depressed areas.
HORT ECONOMY
Gardens and plants impact many sectors of the economy.
They do this at many diff scales
Much scope for self-employment and community NFP involvement.
Many synergies: eg garden open as a business - nursery - garden design service.
