Bents Home & Garden has launched an initiative called The Great Plant Experiment to find out whether plants respond to voices and emotions. 

Thousands of small retailers from more than 120 towns and cities up and down the UK got into the spirit of Independents' Day on July 4. 

The owners of a Norfolk hardware shop have successfully sold it on as a going concern. 

The owner of Highgate Garden Centre in north London has announced that the business will close its doors for the last time this month. 

Online sales in the home and garden categories took a big hit this spring, with the bad weather seeing consumers focus instead on products delivering a personal feel-good factor. 

Garden storage products have proved to be star performers this year within the overall garden structures category - which is itself delivering respectable sales. 

The Garden Industry Manufacturers Association revealed it has seen a 9% uplift in entries to its annual awards this year, with particular increases in plant categories and pet and aquatics. 

DIY and gardening retail saw growth of 12% in May 2013 versus May 2012, according to the latest research by GfK, making the sector the 'key to growth' for retail durables. 

Sales increased by an impressive 19% at Home Hardware, after retailers collectively distributed over one million Spring DIY and housewares brochures and leaflets. 

Revenues dropped 1.5% like-for-like during the 13 weeks to June 29, 2013 at Topps Tiles, following on from a 0.2% fall in the company's first half. 

The increasing unpredictability of the weather has persuaded a Cumbrian garden centre to add a completely different dimension to its business - a function room. 

As the countdown continues to the main event this Thursday, former Dragons' Den star and current Robert Dyas owner Theo Paphitis has voiced his support of the 2013 Independents' Day campaign. 

The Builders Merchant Federation (BMF) is the latest company to sign up to the Rainy Day Trust's partnership scheme and has added a donation of £4,000 following its recent conference in Portugal. 

A Wiltshire ironmonger's has closed its doors for the last time, a victim of rising overheads, the loss of local parking facilities and falling sales. 

Former managing director of Grosvenor Garden Centre Iain Wylie has lost a case against Blue Diamond in which he claimed the group had failed to follow a fair process of dismissal. 

B&Q has struck another deal with Morrisons that will see the DIY retailer shed more selling space. 

Strawberry Garden Centre will be hosting a brand new patchwork, fabric and crafts shop at its Uttoxeter base from Friday, July 5. 

Topps Tiles says its first online competition and web app, launched in February, attracted over 500 entrants and more than 21,000 votes. 

Tesco-owned garden centre giant Dobbies will appeal against a hefty fine imposed for allowing sewage from a Cumbrian garden centre to pollute a local waterway. 

Group revenue for the UK remained level at Carpetright over the 52 weeks ending April 27, 2013, dropping 15.5% across the rest of Europe, bringing the total group revenue to £457.6m.