Frances Millar

To be frank...

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GARDEN centres are facing an existential threat as the nation turns from green to grey.

A new poll suggests that more than one in five households plan to pave or deck over their patch in the next five years. It seems for many, the privilege of a garden no longer comes with the willingness to maintain it. They don't want a garden at all but an "outdoor living space". Artificial grass, festoon lighting, a patio heater, and the odd evergreen shrub. Somewhere along the line, the quaint English country garden has been traded for the smoking area at a Wetherspoon's.

Not me though.