Own-Brand Gift Cards for Garden Centres
A garden centre can sell its own gift card as well as the National Garden Gift Card. The national card, run by the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), can be spent at any garden centre in its scheme. Your own card carries your name, can only be spent with you, and covers whatever your terms say, from plants to the café and events. We supply them as plastic gift cards, printed in England, from 25 cards.
This page is for garden centres and nurseries with a shop, a café and events. For gift cards in any business, see our gift card printing guide.
The short versionKeep the National Garden Gift Card if you’re in the scheme, and add your own card that can only be spent with you. One card can cover the plants, shop and café if every counter can check the same register or till balances. Print a write-on panel for the value and a number on every card, order well before Christmas and Mother’s Day, and hang the cards on a spinner in euro slot carriers.
Can a garden centre have its own gift card as well as the National Garden Gift Card?
Yes. The HTA, which runs the National Garden Gift Card, tells garden centres to promote it alongside their own gift vouchers if they have them, and says this helps sales of both.
The two cards do different jobs. The HTA has run the national scheme since 1962, and announced in July 2024 that its name was changing from National Garden Gift Vouchers to the National Garden Gift Card. A card bought at one garden centre can be spent at any other in the scheme, and the HTA says the programme creates around two million visits a year to garden centres and retail nurseries. Your own card works only with you, on terms you set.
| National Garden Gift Card | Your own gift card | |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), a not-for-profit trade body | You |
| Who can sell it | HTA members that are retailers, once each site has joined the scheme | Any business |
| Where it’s spent | Any garden centre in the scheme, wherever it was bought: over 1,000, the HTA says | Only with you, on whatever your terms allow |
| Value | £5 to £500, loaded when it’s sold. It can’t be topped up | Your choice: printed, written on at the till, or held on your till |
| How long it lasts | 30 months from activation | Your choice, with a clear date and fair terms |
| The card | Compressed cardboard, supplied by the HTA with wallets and point of sale | Your own design, printed in full colour on plastic or board |
| At the till | An HTA-approved terminal or EPOS connection | A register, or your till’s own gift card feature |
| How it’s paid for | A commission to the HTA on the cards you sell | You buy the printed cards |
The national card’s details come from the HTA’s own websites, read in November 2026. The HTA explains how to join the National Garden Gift Card scheme.
We supply your own cards, not the national ones. The HTA supplies the scheme’s cards, wallets and point of sale, and members may only use scheme materials that the HTA supplies or authorises. Your own card sits beside the national card at the till.
The HTA stopped supplying paper vouchers on 1 January 2024, and the last ones it supplied, in 2023, expire on 31 December 2026. If your own vouchers are still paper, see paper gift vouchers vs plastic gift cards.
Should one gift card cover the plants, shop, café and events?
Yes, if every counter that takes it can check the same record of what each card is worth.
| How the value is held | What every counter that takes the card needs |
|---|---|
| Written on the card when it’s sold, with a printed number | The same register, such as a spreadsheet every till can open, so staff can check a card before taking it. |
| Held on your till against the card’s number | Tills that share the same gift card balances. Ask your till supplier whether the shop, café and events tills do. |
| A named treat printed on the card | Only the counter that serves it, which takes the card and marks it used. |
Our gift card printing guide sets out each of these set-ups in full. If the balance is held on your till, each card needs a number the till can read: a barcode, a magnetic strip or a number staff type in. See gift cards with barcodes. We supply the printed cards, and the balances live in your own till or gift card system. We can’t test cards on your till, so add a postal proof to try real cards first.
If other businesses run counters inside your centre, decide whether your card works there too. Gates Garden Centre’s own card, for example, can be spent in its farm shop, restaurant and coffee shop, but not in the concessions inside the centre (its terms, read in November 2026).
Whether VAT is due when you sell a card or when it’s spent depends on what it can be spent on: see gift card VAT and expiry rules.
When should a garden centre have gift cards ready?
Before each gift season: Christmas, Mother’s Day in the spring and Father’s Day in June, with birthdays all year round.
Plan for Christmas first. The Gift Card & Voucher Association says sales of physical gift cards always rise around Christmas (its report on the second half of 2023, compiled by KPMG), and the Garden Centre Association’s chief executive wrote in June 2025 that the main gift season in garden centres is the two months before Christmas.
Birthdays are the most common reason of all: in the Gift Card & Voucher Association’s State of the Nation 2025 report, 66% of UK gift card buyers had bought one for a birthday in the last 12 months, and 45% for Christmas. So keep one all-year card on sale, and dress it for each season with a seasonal carrier.
Order well before each season. Production takes 7 working days from proof approval and payment. Express takes 3 to 4 working days: ask us for cost and availability. For Christmas, ask us for this year’s last order dates at sales@cpcards.co.uk, and see Christmas gift cards for your business.
How do garden centres display gift cards on a spinner?
In euro slot carriers, with one all-year card in a carrier printed for each season. Each carrier is an A6 printed board that hangs from a standard retail hook or spinner by a die cut slot at the top, and die cut slits hold the card.
- The euro slot, die cut through the top, hangs on a standard retail hook or spinner.
- Die cut slits hold the card in place. Carriers come unattached, so you slot the cards in.
- A greeting for the season, and where the card can be spent. Swap the carrier for Christmas or Mother’s Day, and the same card sells all year.
- The card in its all-year design, the same in every carrier.
Our euro slot carriers are 148 x 105mm, printed in full colour on both sides on 350gsm silk board. They’re produced alongside your cards and quoted with them as one job, from £79.00 +vat for 25 carriers. We supply the carriers, not the spinner.
Use the back of the carrier for what won’t fit on the card, such as how to use it or your terms. The same colours print slightly warmer on board than on the card, so the two will look a little different.
Hang cards that are worth nothing until they’re sold: the value goes on at the till, written on the card and recorded in your register, or loaded on your till system. For cards sold over the counter, a landscape wallet holds the card with room for a handwritten message, and folds to fit a standard envelope.
See our card carriers for every format and its prices, how to design a gift card carrier for the artwork, and gift card display ideas for other ways to hang them.
What should go on a garden centre gift card?
Your name and a picture of what you sell on the front, and the working parts on the back: a write-on panel for the value, the valid-until date, a printed number and two or three lines of terms.
- Your name and logo, the first thing a buyer reads.
- A picture of what you sell, such as plants in flower. Change it for the seasons, or keep one picture all year.
- Where it can be spent, so buyers know it works in the café and at events too.
- The value, written on a write-on panel at the till, so one design covers every amount.
- The valid-until date and the seller’s initials, written in when the card is sold.
- A number, different on every card, for your register.
- Two or three lines of terms, with the full terms on your website.
Sorrelby Garden Centre is made up for this page, and so is its web address.
A write-on panel can be any size, typically 75 x 8mm. It sits on white, at least 4mm from the edge, with nothing printed on it, and takes an ordinary ballpoint pen: see signature strips and write-on panels. A written value can be altered, so give every card its own number and record it when it’s sold. Our gift card register template is a spreadsheet for that.
Print the item or the amount, never both, and leave off a printed year and offers that end. If your cards expire, the date must be clear and the terms fair. This is general information, not legal advice: see gift card VAT and expiry rules, and gift card terms and conditions for wording to copy.
Seasonal pictures and the café
A seasonal picture, such as daffodils in spring, flowers for Mother’s Day or a tree at Christmas, ties the card to the season’s displays. Put the café on the card too, or sell a separate café card for a named treat, such as afternoon tea for two. Leave the price off: if your prices go up, you still honour the card.
Each new picture is a separate design, quoted on its own, with at least 25 cards. Our in-house design service is £29 +vat, with no limit on reasonable amends. It can start from one of our gift card examples, and can set up your card and carrier together. Designing it yourself? See how to make a gift card in Canva.
Can a garden centre gift card be made from recycled material?
Yes. Our recycled PVC cards are the same as standard PVC cards, made from 98% recycled PVC, and EcoTough cards are PVC-free with 20% recycled content.
The national card is compressed cardboard. For a card with no plastic at all, our Plastic-Free Board cards are board instead of PVC, though for a gift card that has to last, PVC or EcoTough may suit better. EcoTough and board take a pen anywhere on the card, so they need no write-on panel, but neither can take a magnetic strip, a scratch-off panel or a gloss or matt finish. Recycled PVC and biodegradable cards have the same sealed print as standard cards, so it can’t scratch or wear off.
Our page on eco plastic cards compares all four materials. Our carriers are silk board, which is paper based.
What should a garden centre order, and what does it cost?
Start with one all-year design: most small businesses order 100 to 250 cards at first. A typical first order for a garden centre:
- Gift cards in one all-year design, with a write-on panel for the value and a different number on every card
- Euro slot carriers for the spinner, or landscape wallets for cards sold over the counter: see our card carriers
- Premium Matt (£20 +vat per order) or High Gloss (included)
- Optional: a barcode or magnetic strip if your till holds the balances, and a Christmas design
Email sales@cpcards.co.uk or use our gift card quote form, and tell us what the card should cover, how many you need and which carriers you’d like. We often reply within minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Send your artwork at 92 x 60mm with 3mm of bleed, or your logo and wording for our £29 +vat design service.
Our gift cards are 86 x 54mm and 760 microns thick, printed in full colour on both sides, then bonded between clear PVC sheets and cut, so the print can’t scratch or wear off. Every order gets a free email proof, so you can check the layout and wording before anything is printed. The colours on the proof are a guide only, because every screen shows colour differently. If a colour has to be right, add a postal proof: it’s optional, £65 +vat, for full colour cards only, and takes around 5 working days.
Production takes 7 working days from proof approval and payment. Express takes 3 to 4 working days: ask us for cost and availability. To see and feel the cards first, order our £3.50 sample pack.
How much do they cost?
Gift cards start at £75.00 +vat for 25, and the price per card falls as the quantity goes up, because much of the work in an order is the same whatever the quantity.
| Quantity | Price from |
|---|---|
| 25 | £75.00 +vat £3.00 each |
| 50 | £79.00 +vat £1.58 each |
| 100 | £85.00 +vat 85p each |
| 200 | £99.00 +vat 49.5p each |
| 250 | £109.00 +vat 43.6p each |
| 500 | £175.00 +vat 35p each |
| 1,000 | £245.00 +vat 24.5p each |
Prices are for one design from your print-ready artwork. Delivery is free within Great Britain, and our delivery prices list the charges for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands. They exclude VAT and extras such as numbering and write-on panels, which are priced on your quote.
Questions & Answers
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Can a garden centre sell its own gift card and the National Garden Gift Card?
Yes. The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), which runs the National Garden Gift Card, tells garden centres to promote it alongside their own gift vouchers if they have them, and says this helps sales of both. The national card can be spent at any garden centre in the scheme. Your own card can only be spent with you, on whatever your terms allow.
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Can you print National Garden Gift Cards or their wallets?
No. The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) supplies the National Garden Gift Card scheme’s cards, wallets and point of sale, and members may only use scheme materials that the HTA supplies or authorises. We supply your centre’s own gift cards, in your own design and printed in England, to sell beside the national card.
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Can one gift card be used in the garden centre, café and shop?
Yes, as long as every counter that takes it can check the same record. If staff write the value on the card, they all need the same register. If the balance is held on your till, every till must share the gift card balances. Print where the card can be spent, such as plants, shop and café.
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Should a garden centre gift card have the value printed on it?
Usually not. A write-on panel lets staff write the amount at the till, so one design covers every value, and the panel takes an ordinary ballpoint pen. Because a written value can be altered, print a different number on every card and record each one in a register when it’s sold.
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When should a garden centre order gift cards for Christmas?
Well before the main gift season: in June 2025 the Garden Centre Association’s chief executive said that in garden centres it is the two months before Christmas. Production takes 7 working days from proof approval and payment, and express takes 3 to 4 working days: ask us for cost and availability. For this year’s last order dates, email sales@cpcards.co.uk.
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Can garden centre gift cards be made from recycled material?
Yes. Our recycled PVC cards are the same as standard PVC cards but made from 98% recycled PVC, and EcoTough cards are PVC-free with 20% recycled content. Plastic-Free Board cards have no plastic at all, though for a gift card that has to last, PVC or EcoTough may suit better.
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How many gift cards should a garden centre order first?
Most small businesses start with 100 to 250 cards. For a garden centre, that could be one all-year design with a write-on panel and a number on every card. Our minimum is 25 cards per design, so a Christmas design can be a small run of its own. The price per card falls as the quantity goes up.
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Where can I get garden centre gift cards printed in the UK?
CP Cards supplies them, printed in England. Our minimum order is 25 cards, from £75.00 +vat. Delivery is free within Great Britain, and our delivery prices list the charges for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands. Every order gets a free email proof, so you can check the layout and wording before anything is printed. For a quote, email sales@cpcards.co.uk or use our quote form.
Ready to order your centre’s gift cards?
Tell us what the card should cover, how many you need and whether you’d like carriers for a spinner. We’ll quote by email, often within minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.