IF you were watching Dragons Den this week – you may have noticed a pitch not normally associated with corporate boardroom shenanigans.
Clever Henry Bartlam and co-founder Alex Hollingsworth managed to secure a whopping £75k investment from entrepreneur Sara Davies for new company Dig Club – one of only a few horticultural endeavours to win big on the BBC series.
The Dad-of-four told Sun Gardening: “Dig was a lockdown idea and was all about making gardening easier and more accessible for everyone.
“From my experience, gardening is great, it’s really rewarding, but it’s tricky. You buy plants, you put them in the ground, you hope for the best.
“But it’s hard to get that finished garden design look without spending an enormous amount of money on a garden designer.
“So I started Dig as a way to kind of get that garden design look at garden centre prices.
“Much like recipe kits, where you can sort of create delicious meals but have the hard work done for you in terms of recipe planning – that’s essentially what Dig does for gardening.
“You choose from our themes, you tell us whether you have flower or raised beds, sun or shade, and then we deliver what we call instant flower beds that are pre-designed.
“Everything’s colour coded, it’s paint by numbers – and you get lovely established plants, so you get that kind of instant impact almost from day one.
“It’s really about making gardening easy, but the great thing is that you still get to plant it all yourself.
“And that’s when the kind of love of gardening really comes from – when something grows and flourishes.”
Sara said: “When Alex and Henry began their pitch, I immediately saw how Dig’s offering would resonate with a lifestyle and DIY-focused consumer base who love the idea of gardening but don’t know where to start.
“They are passionate about sharing their joy and knowledge for gardening, and I believe there’s a whole generation of consumers out there eager to enjoy the benefits of Dig’s Instant Beds and other products.
“I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and dig in with the team to make gardening easy and accessible for everyone.”
Also in Veronica’s Column this week
News, Top Tips and Competition to win £200 worth of Air-Pots
NEWS! Tuesday saw the annual Garden Press Event, where incredible innovators and entrepreneurs presented what’s new in the gardening world this year. Here’s my top five one’s to watch….
- Copper & Greens copper rings that go round the top of pots to deter slugs. They look beautiful, handmade, and are flexible to fit nearly any pot.
- Walberton’s Euphorbia Little Treasure is a lovely looking red-tipped plant now, but wait until it bursts into flame yellow – and when it gets colder it apparently turns a copper colour. Sounds lush. Available from August
- A whole Jurassic Garden – filled with plants from when the dinosaurs roamed – available to order soon from HSK Exotic
- Westland’s raised bed and veg soil – filled with ‘anti-slump’ properties to avoid almost inevitable soil sinkage in a bed.
- A self-watering hanging basket from Eazy Gardening to be launched on QVC this summer. Hanging baskets dry out so much quicker – so this is a perfect solution.
NEWS! TO celebrate Flymo turning 60, it wants to find the oldest working Flymo. Darren Feasey, Flymo Product Director, said: “This competition is a wonderful way to celebrate our heritage, honour our loyal customers, and showcase the Flymos that have been part of family gardens for so many years.”
To enter the chance to win a birthday bag worth up to £100, participants must share the details and photos of their oldest working Flymo via direct message or by tagging @flymo_lawnmowers on Instagram or @FlymoOfficial on Facebook. Alternatively, gardeners can email flymo@democracypr.com
NEWS! THE Eden Project in Cornwall has added to its collection of plants with five new cultivars of Kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos) – believed to be the first of their kind to be on public display in the UK.
WIN! Air-Pot are offering one lucky reader a bumper prize – including a value pack, containing more than ten pots, and a 300l compost pot with lid – worth nearly £200. To enter visit www.thesun.co.uk/airpot or write to Sun Air Pot Competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Ends 23.59GMT 08.3.25 T&Cs apply.
SAVE! This £44.99 Capability Digging spade from Kent and Stowe will take on the toughest of tasks. Or Wilko.com has a heavy duty version for £12.99
JOB OF THE WEEK Cut back over growing ivy before birds choose it as a nesting spot. But don’t compost it – take it to council waste.
TOP TIP Cucumbers hate being transplanted – so plant indoors now in toilet rolls – then you can plant the whole roll in the soil instead of trying to get them out the pot.
FOLLOW ME! @biros_and_bloom
