Scotland's horticultural growers have warned they face being wiped out as a result of shutdowns aimed at containing coronavirus.

With only weeks left before the key spring trading season comes to a close, the perishability of plants means the sector, which is centuries old and worth as much as £50 million to the economy, could suffer total stock write-off.

Since Mother’s Day weekend, when demand is typically high but people were beginning to self-isolate, sales have slumped.

Business owners north of the Border say they are threatened by complete loss of income and cannot afford to take on the debt of a government loan. It is feared many may not even be eligible.

The wider lockdown also means that there is unlikely to be any sales through to the May bank holiday, the busiest trading period of the year.

The picture across the UK is similar, leading Alan Titchmarsh, the country’s most famous gardener, to warn that the crisis could “bring about the end of British horticulture as we know it”.

McLaren’s Nurseries in Barrhead, a third-generation family business established in 1973, said it was “very close” to closure.

General Manager Andrew McGowan said: “Despite the next three months being our key trading period for the whole year, we are anticipating a minimum 50% drop in annual turnover.

“We have already had to bin half of our bedding plant stock and been forced to pay off 19 members of staff.

“At this point we have just five employees attempting to keep on top of our 50-acre plot. 

“We are very close to having to close the doors and assistance is needed urgently.”

At Reynard Nursery in the Clyde Valley, Andrew Scott, one of only five major growers of bedding in Scotland, fears that the six-acre business he built from scratch will disappear forever if urgent action is not taken.

“I anticipate worst case scenario - £400k for my nursery and probably the same for my sister’s nursery,” he said.

“This could wipe us all out.

“The short-term effect of the virus has been to try every avenue and then find it closed, but it has brought a group of growers and retailers together with a common goal - survival. The long-term effects of the virus will see investment slashed, equipment not replaced and no future for new growers.”

Mr Scott, who grabbed the global spotlight with fellow growers after re-creating van Gogh’s Sunflowers using bedding plants in a field, is desperately seeking support such as rates holiday, layoff supplement and deferred VAT. He does not believe a grant of around £50,000 will save his business.

“Thirty years ago, I was involved with many of the same growers to highlight our industry,” he said.

“Thirty years on and another worldwide story - this time, I see all my years effort and work building up this business rapidly fall around me.”

Mr Titchmarsh said: “This spring could well bring about the end of British horticulture as we know it.

“Hundreds of nursery owners and growers are facing huge losses of plants and revenue simply because the stock they have spent many months nurturing for the spring market - their peak season - will have to be destroyed since garden centres and other outlets are closed for business.

“This means not only a loss of billions of pounds to the UK economy and of thousands of jobs but, more than this, it will decimate an industry that will be unable to recover for the foreseeable future.

“Our gardens and green spaces... will no longer be able to call upon the variety of plants that are currently available - a range that has taken decades to develop. Businesses will disappear overnight in a situation that will take many years to reverse.”

Speaking on behalf of the Horticultural Trades Association, Chairman James Barnes said: “We are calling for the government to work with the HTA... to come up with a financial support scheme to help those businesses which have had to scrap perishable stock and are facing a huge financial crisis.”