A SUMMER of torrential rain has left the district’s independent garden centres and nurseries struggling to stay afloat, owners say.

The wettest April and June on record have deterred shoppers from stocking up on plants and outdoor accessories - meaning businesses have lost out on their most profitable period of the year.

Art Nursery in Vicarage Lane, North Weald, has been serving garden lovers for more than four decades.

But owner Nigel Reynolds said he is ‘not sure’ whether the centre will survive to see another season.

“It’s been open since 1969 and it’s the worst season in anybody’s living memory,” said the 58-year-old.

“Have you sat in the garden this year? Have you had a barbecue? Have you enjoyed the sunshine and the long evenings with a bottle of wine? The answer is no.

“We take 70 per cent of our money in 12 weeks between April and June. We lose money for four months of the year.

“But the rain started in April, so we lost Easter, we lost the Jubilee weekend money.”

Mr Reynolds said the closure of many of the district’s garden centres, nurseries and wholesalers was inevitable.

“It’s the life blood of the area, but it won’t be for very many more years,” he said.

Amy Pritchard, 34, opened The London Gardening Club, in Ongar Road, Abridge, earlier this year.

She said: “I have been affected quite dramatically in terms of numbers of customers coming out. I’m a new business, so it’s difficult to tell, but most garden centres are about 50 per cent down.

“The weather has gone from one extreme to another – and obviously we don’t want extremes.”

Richard Spearman, who runs Happy Grow Nursery and Garden Centre in the High Road, Thornwood, said the season was the worst his business had seen in 25 years.

He said: “It’s just the weather - people haven’t had chance to go out. And it’s too late now. The season only runs from April to June.”

Wholesalers had also been hard hit by the downturn, Mr Spearman said.

“They put their first batches in the skip, because their greenhouses were still full of plants they hadn’t been able to sell,” he said.

“Luckily we own our site. If we rented it I don’t know whether we would survive.”