The £65m Drought Package Explained: What Does It Mean for Gardeners and Garden Centres?
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The Government has put £65m towards helping English farmers through the drought. It is a farming announcement, so it would be easy for anyone in garden retail to scroll past it. That would be a mistake. Water is the one input that every plant in every garden centre depends on, and the way it gets shared out over the next few summers will shape what gardeners can grow, what garden suppliers can produce, and what buyers can realistically get hold of.
The Government's package includes an additional £50m for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI26), up to £15m for on-farm reservoirs, greater flexibility within environmental agreements and measures designed to improve access to water during drought conditions.
So, what does the £65m drought package actually mean for gardeners and garden centres?
What is in the £65m drought package?
The Government's package has five main elements:
- £50m extra for SFI26 Window 2, taking the total SFI26 budget to £290m. The funding supports farmers adopting sustainable practices, including measures that can improve soil health and water retention.
- Up to £15m for on-farm reservoirs, helping farmers store water for use during dry periods. The Water Management Grant is expected to reopen in autumn.
- More flexibility in environmental land management agreements, allowing farmers affected by drought to take practical steps such as cutting or grazing land without losing their payments.
- Changes to reservoir planning, with the Government promising to reduce unnecessary barriers and update planning guidance.
- Faster access to water during drought, including prioritising requests for short-term variations to abstraction licence conditions.
The package applies to England, as farming policy is devolved across the UK.
Why has the Government stepped in now?
Because this summer has been genuinely exceptional. It follows the driest July on record in England and Wales, with around three-quarters of England now in drought and more than 1,500 restrictions on water abstraction recorded in a single week in August.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham framed it as a national issue rather than a farming one. "The ability to grow our own food is national security," he said on a visit to a farm in the South West.
Not everyone thinks it goes far enough. NFU President Tom Bradshaw called the measures a welcome start, but added: "It doesn't affect the crisis today."
Does the £65m drought package help gardeners directly?
Directly, very little. This money is for farms, not gardens. Indirectly, quite a lot.
The clearest impact is on watering. Temporary Use Bans, better known as hosepipe bans, have been in force across large parts of the country this summer, and the underlying pressure on water supplies is not going away. Investment in reservoirs and water storage is a long game, which means gardeners should expect restrictions to be a recurring feature of British summers rather than a one-off inconvenience.
The practical response is the one plenty of gardeners are already making: watering deeply but less often, mulching to lock moisture into the soil, and choosing plants that can cope when the tap goes off. We looked at that shift in more detail in our piece on how the 2026 heatwave is changing the way we garden.
The other thing worth knowing is that a hosepipe ban does not mean garden centres are closed, or plants are off-limits. That confusion costs the industry real money every dry summer.
What does it mean for garden centres?
This is where it gets more interesting, because the plants on a garden centre bench have to be watered every day from seed to sale.
The HTA estimates that garden retailers and ornamental growers use around 20 million cubic metres of water a year, roughly 0.2% of total UK consumption. That very small slice of the nation's water underpins about £1.5bn a year in consumer spending on plants. The trade body has long argued that commercial growers and garden centres need clarity on whether watering bans apply to them, since ambiguity leaves nurseries unsure if they can legally keep stock alive.
Support is available through a grant for water storage, but the HTA has asked for the minimum investment level to be lowered, pointing out that smaller growers who want a modest reservoir cannot afford one at the scale currently required.
Is the drought actually hurting sales?
Less than you might expect, but it is moving spend around. HTA figures show July garden centre sales rose 11% on the same month last year, with garden furniture and outdoor living performing strongly as people spent more time outside. Outdoor plants were the category that struggled.
HTA Chief Executive Fran Barnes warned that the conditions "may negatively impact garden centre sales in August and risks plant losses".
What should garden centres do about drought and water shortages?
1. Make water resilience part of your buying strategy
Talk to growers and suppliers about how they are managing water.
Questions worth asking include:
- Where is the stock produced?
- Does the grower use rainwater harvesting?
- Do they have reservoir capacity?
- How efficient is their irrigation system?
- What happens to orders if restrictions continue into the next growing season?
- Water resilience is increasingly becoming a sourcing consideration alongside price, availability and lead times.
2. Build a drought-resilient product range
Drought can create opportunities as well as challenges.
Consider products such as:
- Water butts and rainwater harvesting systems
- Drip irrigation
- Irrigation timers
- Mulches and soil conditioners
- Pots and planters designed to retain moisture
- Decorative gravel and stone
- Drought-tolerant plants
- Products that help customers reduce water use
The opportunity is to make water-saving gardening easier and more attractive, rather than presenting drought only as a problem.
3. Help customers understand what they can still do
Gardeners may become more cautious during drought conditions, but that doesn't mean they stop gardening.
Retailers can help customers adapt by showing them:
- Which plants are more drought tolerant
- How to water effectively
- When to water
- How to improve soil moisture retention
- How to collect rainwater
- How to create lower-water planting schemes
We explored this shift in more detail in our article on how the 2026 heatwave is changing the way we garden.
Glee runs from 8 to 10 September 2026 at the NEC Birmingham, co-locating with Autumn Fair on 8 and 9 September, and is a practical place to put those questions to growers and suppliers directly ahead of the new season.