SGA Sustainable Garden Centre Certification

The first major project SGA developed was the SGA Sustainable Garden Centre environmental certification. In 2002 with the support of Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria and the Lance Reichstien Foundation, we worked with Burnley College, local government and 10 mainstream retail garden centres to develop customer education material to display in garden centres that would assist customers choose plants and products that have minimal negative impact on the environment. This included the development of our Chemical Rating System that rates all horticultural chemicals, fertilisers and mulches into low, medium or high environmental impact. Low environmental impact products are then identified in garden centres by an SGA Low Environmental Impact card to encourage customers to purchase a product that has minimum impact on our environment.

The working group identified that the project should extend beyond just customer education material to include staff training so that staff were giving good environmental advice to customers, and that garden centres should also adopt internal practices that reflected environmental best practice. The latter includes removing environmental weeds from sale, pro-actively promoting indigenous plants and sustainable products, introducing water, energy and waste reducing practices to the garden centre. And so the SGA Sustainable Garden Centre environmental certification evolved.

The project was launched in Victoria in 2004 and in partnership with Garden Centres Australia, and with the support of the Australian Government 'Defeating the Weed Menace programme' SGA introduced the project to Western Australia in 2006 and South Australia & Tasman.

To become SGA certified garden centre staff undergo SGA training, SGA customer education material is displayed in the nursery where customers will be making a purchasing decision, the garden centre adopts environmental best practice policies and practices and is audited annually to obtain and maintain certification.

Click here for a list of certified Sustainable Garden Centres

Benefits of SGA Sustainable Garden Centre Certification

• Reducing the amount of environmentally damaging pesticides and fertilisers used by gardeners.

• Encouraging gardeners to avoid the use of pesticides by keeping their plants healthy- plant choice and positioning, companion planting and soil conditioning

• Encouraging gardeners to fertilise their plants with products that enhance soil structure and encourage healthy soil biota

• Reducing the number of environmental weeds escaping from gardens into natural areas by:

• Educating gardeners about which plants are weeds in their area

• Teaching gardeners how to control plants in their gardens to stop them spreading outside their fences.

• Reducing the amount of water gardeners use

• Encouraging mulching, plant grouping and low water use irrigation systems

• Reducing the off-site environmental damage that can be caused by gardening

• Offering alternative products to old-growth timber, whole bush-harvested plants and pots produced in unsustainable ways

Retail Nurseries are often the first, and only point of contact with home gardeners. We can take advantage of this market niche by making our businesses a destination for customers who want to know how they can garden sustainably; by reducing the environmental damage caused by gardening practices, including pesticide and fertiliser over-use, weed escapees, excessive water use, and deforestation associated with gardening products and plant harvesting. SGA achieves this by presenting alternatives and encouraging gardeners to choose these less damaging products or practices.

If you would like more information on SGA Retail Garden Centre Certification please contact Helen Tuton (Victoria, Tasmania & South Australia) helen@sgaonline.org.au or James Robilliard (Western Australia) james@sgaonline.org.au.