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 visionKaren 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 qualityEvergreen 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 playbookFor challengers: know your audience, be distinctive, and lean into the emotion of gardening, not just the functional.Glee previewOn 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 listenIf 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.