EU Lawmakers Reduce Use of Food-Based Biofuel

The European Parliament voted Wednesday to significantly reduce the amount of biofuels made from food crops by 2020 to counter concerns over the energy source's environmental and ethical sustainability.

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Successfully Weathering this Stormy Trading Environment

Your business is an input / output model. Its commercial output is determined by both the quality and quantity of your range of inputs. While you cannot regulate some of the external inputs such as weather and the macro economy, you do have potential capacity to optimise those input variables over which you have degrees of control. As the owner manager you are the most important input into your business.

Read more: Successfully Weathering this Stormy Trading Environment

The Sodshow – For The Record

As of l9th of September The Sodshow has aired 133 radio shows and podcasts. That is, no less than 3724.20 minutes of complete audio. Which we hope you enjoy very much. Of note, each show requires a minimum of 6.5 hours work which equates to 51,870 minutes of work to date, the end result of which you hear every Friday.

Read more: The Sodshow – For The Record

Contractors Urged to Apply for Snow Clearance Contract

Transport Minister Danny Kennedy is encouraging farmers, agricultural contractors and other owners of suitable equipment to apply for the 2013 snow clearance contract. The Department would like to secure additional support to supplement the existing arrangements for emergency snow clearance. There are currently just over 80 individuals and contractors on the Emergency Snow Clearance contract.

Read more: Contractors Urged to Apply for Snow Clearance Contract

Blog Awards Ireland - Vote for Dee Sewell of Greensideup

Read this older blog post from Dee. She wrote the piece last summer. Could the American Dream be Wrong? It's been nominated in the Irish Blog Awards 2013 Best Blog Post Category but needs people to vote to keep it in there and go forward to the end where judges will be making the decision on whether it makes it to the final list.

Read more: Blog Awards Ireland - Vote for Dee Sewell of Greensideup

2013 InterTradeIreland Business Monitor Reveals All-Island Business Stabilisation

InterTradeIreland’s latest quarterly Business Monitor (April-June 2013) published today indicates that over 64% of businesses have either maintained or increased their sales over the last quarter. These are the most positive quarterly sales performance figures since Q2 2011. The number of firms reporting a decrease in employees is at its lowest (10%) over that same period.

Read more: 2013 InterTradeIreland Business Monitor Reveals All-Island Business Stabilisation

Dublin Gardens - Rathmichael Lodge

Rathmichael Lodge, a charming rambling house, situated between the mountains and the sea, has an enchanting 2.5ha old-world garden. It reflects the characters of Corinne and Richard Hewat and exudes atmosphere, fragrance and colour due, in part, to the over one hundred roses that grow there.

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Dublin Gardens - Mount Usher Gardens

This lovely “Robinsonian” – i.e. informal – garden, laid out along the Vartry River, measures 8ha and dates back to around 1850. The river is spanned by suspension bridges, from which numerous waterfalls and superb views can be enjoyed.

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HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - 27th September

We attended the Autumn Trolley Fair this week and came away with that gem of information in the headline above. It came from Better Manage the Variables in Business You Have Some Control Over - Key Points - Blaise Brosnan. You get an overview from this article, but it is like any information that is out there, it is only useful when you have the time to implement the new information into your business. 

Read more: HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - 27th September

Retailers Face Challenges from Online, and Informed Consumers

The retail industry is in a state of flux. Marks & Spencer have recently closed four Irish shops with the loss of 180 jobs, citing “difficult trading conditions and poor outlook for the retail sector” as the reasons for same. In 2011, we saw major retailer Superquinn was involved in a pre pack receivership sale to Musgrave, the first of its kind in Ireland.

Read more: Retailers Face Challenges from Online, and Informed Consumers

HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - 9th September

The news that Plantagen to Close Doors in Malahide will be both a surprise to some but not for others, as staff seem to have know about the closure for the last year. The GardenWorks brand under Bryan Maher was one of the trend-setters in its day and it will be interesting to see how quickly the store can be turned around as Bryan returns to the centre under the new name of 'The Garden House' with a new cafe in October. We wish him well and invite him to use PlantConnector.ie when stocking up for easy browsing of Looking Good & Availability Lists along with Plant Catalogues from some of Ireland's Leading Nurseries.

Read more: HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - 9th September

HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - 20th August

Garden centres and the industry in general will be cheered by Heat Wave Drives Strong Retail Sales in July As the nightmare that was called spring begins to fade, nurseries are now busy looking to the future and ordering young plants and liners for the 2014 season. Its hard for them to plan production based on the garden centre's sector fears, that the weather could go the same way again.

Read more: HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - 20th August

25% Off All Italian Plants at Tully Nurseries!

Massive Savings on all our Italian Plants!

They are great as:

• focal point in the garden
• instant hedging/screening

Read more: 25% Off All Italian Plants at Tully Nurseries!

Dublin Gardens - Shirley Beatty’s Garden

No 18 is a Regency villa, built in the 1830s, which provides the perfect backdrop for a small rear garden, extending to 30 m. Current planting started in 2009 and the garden now consists of herbaceous borders, leading through, under an archway, to a small vegetable garden and plant area. The borders are filled with a wide selection of rare and unusual plants, which Shirley has collected over her 50 years gardening experience and travels.

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HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - July 31st

The general view of the 2013 show was that it was again a success. Talking to exhibitors and visitors, they were generally grateful for the opportunity to meet each other, check out the latest plants and products and talk to each other about the sector of horticulture in general. It was well run and attended with one exhibitor commenting that "there was a better quality of visitor i.e. less tyre kickers."

Read more: HortiTrends Weekly Comment and News Digest - July 31st