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The Underground

The Underground Pod

Exploring the future of garden care.

The underground podcast is a place where the disparate worlds of horticulture and marketing collide. Kate Turner, the Gardener Guru and Phil Wright, co-founder of creative agency WrightObara, team up to discover the trailblazers and innovators shaping the future of garden care in the UK.

With content that’s as relevant to start-ups as it would be to established players, we look to cover the hottest topics and trends you need to know. From plants to products, environmental concerns to legislation, we’ll dig deep to bring you the inside story.

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  • 24 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 47 min
  • English

Episodes 24

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  • S5 · E1
    Sep 24, 2025 · 59 min

    Glee 2025 Live: GCA’s Peter Burks & Boyd Douglas-Davies on merchandising that sells, skills that stick, and the power of community

    Recorded on the show floor at Glee 2025, Phil & Kate sit down with Peter Burks, Chief Executive of the Garden Centre Association (GCA), and Boyd Douglas-Davies (The Boyd Partnership; Chair of Greenfingers) for a rapid pulse-check on garden retail: what’s working now, what’s changing, and where the next wins are. Expect practical takeaways on merchandising, training, social media, and turning your centre into a community hub—plus a Greenfingers update straight from Floral Thursday. What we cover Merchandising that moves product. What retailers can learn from the best Glee stands; why simple, instructional POS matters (especially in Ferts & Chems); and how “show it like you’ll sell it” translates back in-store. Trading picture 2025. A rocket-fuelled spring, a heat-hit summer, and how non-gardening categories - catering, gifts, food halls - propped up performance. Plus the squeeze from labour and NI costs hitting service levels. Skills & education. GCA’s Grow e-learning (now 98 courses) and the push for better product knowledge on the shopfloor, from peat-free watering/feeding to translating supplier science into customer-friendly advice. Brands + retailers = two-pronged training. On the Glee floor. Plants return to the Green Heart; quality over volume at the show fringes; packaging clarity for first-time gardeners; useful gift lines (hello, watering-can envy); and smart merchandising solutions that could merit future awards. Greenfingers now. From “pretty” to therapeutic hospice gardens, public-facing shows driving awareness, next-level maintenance via garden advisors, a £400k project at Hope House (Shropshire), and why Floral Thursday matters. Why listen If you’re a buyer, marketer or operator in garden retail, this episode is a compact field guide to 2025 priorities: sharpen the sell-through, upskill slimmer teams, make digital count, and turn footfall into belonging. Plus Floral Thursday vibes, a shout to YPHA’s student of the year, and a nudge to support Greenfingers’ next chapter. Subscribe, share with your team, and join our mailing list at theunderground.fm for new episodes and sector insight. GCA: http://www.gca.org.uk The Boyd Partnership: http://theboydpartnership.co.uk Greenfingers Charity: http://greenfingerscharity.org.uk/ Discover more about our hosts: Kate Turner: www.gardenerguru.co.uk Phil Wright: www.wrightobara.com

  • S4 · E10
    Sep 8, 2025 · 42 min

    Karen Wilkinson on the 5 Growth Drivers in Garden Care, why Education Matters, and Building Brands that Win

    Evergreen Garden Care’s UK & Ireland Marketing Director, Karen Wilkinson, joins Phil and Kate to unpack Evergreen’s new five-year category vision, how better education can unlock growth, and what it really takes to build a brand that earns shopper trust. Expect practical takeaways for suppliers and retailers ahead of Glee. Inside Evergreen’s category vision Karen explains how the team stepped back after a tough season to map long-term category growth, identifying over £152m of incremental upside if the industry attracts new shoppers and helps existing gardeners do more, spend smarter, and trade up where value is clear. The 5 category drivers at a glance: Your Journey Begins: win new gardeners at key life stages, for example moving home, getting a pet, having children or retiring. Even a 1–2% increase in gardeners could add £40m+ over five years. Next Project Inspiration: nudge current gardeners to try something new each year, from veg trugs to greenhouse growing, with smart brand partnerships and complete solutions. £30m+ potential. Love Your Lawn: guide people through the season, from spring treatments to summer feed and seed, encouraging one more trip and one more product. £20m over five years. Worth Paying More For: make trade-up simple by clearly explaining performance differences and reasons to believe across good, better, best. Urban Oasis: serve renters and small-space gardeners with right-sized packs, accessible advice and small-space projects, building tomorrow’s gardeners today. £15m potential. Be consumer-first: listen for real needs and where audiences actually spend time. Build trust: especially if you play at a premium. Proof beats promises. Make it easy: simplify choices, claims and navigation at shelf and online. Education that actually helps “Meet people where they are.” Karen outlines a sector-wide need for clear, confidence-building education across POS, packs, online and social, from YouTube and TikTok to house-and-home media. The aim is accessible, encouraging guidance that reduces overwhelm and grows category participation. Trust and quality Evergreen is now fully peat-free and has invested heavily in operations and large-scale market trials with garden centres to prove real-world performance. For 2025, Miracle-Gro is putting a front-of-pack quality guarantee and a team of horticulture-trained “garden gurus” behind its plant foods and growing media to reassure shoppers and strengthen the category. Brand-building playbook For challengers: know your audience, be distinctive, and lean into the emotion of gardening, not just the functional. Glee preview On stand: a warm welcome, strong coffee, new Miracle-Gro campaigns and redesigned packs with clearer claims and back-of-pack guidance, plus a hands-on “potting shed” to showcase peat-free quality. Why listen If you’re a supplier, brand or garden centre team, this episode gives you a practical lens for growth, a blueprint for education that converts, and brand-building principles you can apply immediately, whether you’re Miracle-Gro or a new challenger.

  • S4 · E9
    Sep 1, 2025 · 42 min

    Alan Roper on Blue Diamond’s Growth, Barton Grange & the Future of Garden Centres

    Alan Roper, Managing Director of Blue Diamond Garden Centres, returns to The Underground Podcast for another unmissable conversation ahead of Glee 2025. As the UK’s most profitable garden centre group, Blue Diamond has become the sector’s benchmark for growth, ambition, and resilience. In this candid discussion with Phil Wright and Kate Turner, Alan shares his no-nonsense perspective on: The acquisition of Barton Grange and why legacy, culture, and profitability matter in today’s market How Blue Diamond balances group scale with the local identity of iconic garden centres Why sustainable growth and customer focus must trump the “numbers game” of acquisitions The challenges of moving to peat-free compost and the role suppliers must play Opportunities to engage younger generations through houseplants and social media What loyalty data is teaching Blue Diamond about its customers — and how that will shape strategy to 2026 His advice to other garden centre owners: focus, benchmark, and know your customer Alan also speaks openly about the wider pressures facing retail, from wage inflation to government policy, and why keeping gardening at the heart of the business is non-negotiable. And the conversation doesn’t stop here. Alan will be live at Glee 2025 in The Hive for an exclusive Q&A session hosted by Phil from The Underground Podcast. This is your chance to put the big questions directly to one of the sector’s most progressive leaders. Submit your questions by Sunday 8th September: https://forms.office.com/e/ASZBwwS9wK Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from Alan on the podcast, then continue the conversation at Glee.

  • S4 · E8
    Aug 26, 2025 · 41 min

    Beyond Peat: Melcourt’s Bark-Based Growing Media Story

    In this episode of The Underground Podcast, Phil and Kate sit down with Nikki Burton, Managing Director, and Dr Victoria Wright, Technical Manager at Melcourt, the UK’s leading peat-free growing media company. Melcourt has been at the forefront of sustainable horticulture for over 40 years, building its reputation on bark-based innovation, technical excellence, and consistent quality, epitomised by their RHS endorsement. Nikki and Victoria share the company’s journey from forestry roots to Royal Warrant holders, with insights into how they pioneered their peat-free products long before it became a national priority. Listeners will discover: Why Melcourt has always been peat free and how its SylvaGrow range has become a benchmark for both professionals and home gardeners. The challenges of consumer education in a market where “peat free” often tells you what a product isn’t, rather than what it is. How consistency, raw ingredient knowledge, and supply chain expertise are critical to building trust in growing media. The importance of industry collaboration, from DEFRA to the Responsible Sourcing Scheme. Future opportunities and the role legislation, standards, and education will play in accelerating the industry-wide transition. Packed with practical insights for garden centre teams, retail buyers, and brand marketers, this episode sheds light on one of the most debated issues in horticulture and highlights how Melcourt is helping shape the future of sustainable growing. http://melcourt.co.uk/ Your hosts: Phil Wright: ⁠⁠http://wrightobara.com⁠⁠ Kate Turner: ⁠⁠http://www.gardenerguru.co.uk

Showing 21–24 of 24 episodes