Allotments 4 All

Is anyone fed up with their local garden centre? I certainly am.

Whilst i accept they need to diversify to bring in more customers in the run up to christmas, but does that mean they have to give up completely on gardening products at this time of year? It seems the attitude of my local one is; well we really want the christmas trade so lets give over nearly half the sales space to christmas, but we are a garden centre so i suppose we had better put a few gardening things out to keep the gardeners happy.

All well and good if it was things gardeners actualy wanted at this time of year! Like things to protect plants from frost, greenhouse insulation and heating, PARAFIN  for fueling greenhouse heaters. But no of course not. Plenty of fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, seeds and so on, so we can feed our plants, kill of weeds and pests (poisoning the environment in the process) and grow a few new plants, but not protect the ones we have. Utterly daft IMO.

BTW, the GC in question is part of a small local group, not one of the big chains. That seems worse somehow.....

So what about you. Does your gardencentre sell what you need at this time of year?

Mine certainly doesn't - not even vegetable plants or garlic or onions etc.
It's really for having a wander round and a cup of tea. It's great if you need lots of Christmas lights and not much else. I've given up expecting garden centres to be about gardening, as that way lies disappointment!

The best garden centre for allotment/vegetable growers near me is Gordon Riggs at Todmorden. It's quite a long journey for me but definitely worth going to.

mmm....actually all the ones i've been to have been pretty good. i know b&q dont have like....anything what so ever as they needed space for the xmas trees....but all the dedicated garden centres have been very good. i went to one in bristol on thursday and it was amazing. i couldn't see the end of the garden centre as it had such a huge outdoor section....and then inside it was like a jungle. so many house plants and so many varieties.....i've never seen anything like it.

I gave up on garden centres about ten years ago when they started off down the road Garden Cadet describes. With what is available from other sources, particularly the internet I havn't missed them at all and have probably saved a fortune on impulse buying :D.

Glad i am not alone. Thing is we are not well served for them in our area. The nearest one (about a mile away) only opened last march. Next nearest is about 8 miles. Both are quite upmarket and commercialised. The best one is 15 miles away. More of a nursery that sells all the sundries as well. Good value too. But as it takes time to get there it's not one you can pop over to just for one or two items. You have to make a special trip.

I know one thing, If I had the money I'd start a Garden Centre for gardeners first and foremost, charging value prices for plants an consumables. recycling as much as possible in the process. Might not make big profits but at least it would be popular with gardeners and lotties!

Vee, you're going to envy me. Gordon Rigg is my 'local' garden centre. Well, about 12 miles, which is local round here. But I've never been there around this time of year because there never seems to be much I need. I do agree though, an extremely well run business.

Geoff.

I lurrvvveeee Gordon Riggs, we live in Cheshire, so its an hour or so's trip for us, but still, ive never come across a garden centre to beat it  :)

Hi all,
          Gordon Riggs gets my vote too. Loads of stuff for real gardeners. One thing I really like is that most of their basic items , such as compost etc are available in a wide variety of sizes and they are all sensibly priced.
I haven't been for a while, looking forward to a little shopping spree in the New Year.  :)
           All The Best-Marky.b.

         

I remember Todmorden well, being from Rawtenstall... my Dad took us out to A garden Centre there in the early 70's.... haven't lived around there since 83... but getting back to Garden Centres at this time of year... or any other for that matter they don't seem to want garden custom at all. I just avoid them except at end of season giveaway time...
::)

I avoid them as much as I can; I get a few basics like compost there, and otherwise get stuff on the internet.

We're some ten miles from the nearest shopping centres, so I will admit that the Wyevale a mile up the road is dead handy if you've forgotten to get a birthday card, or fancy some peanut brittle.  Or, as Keef often says, if one has a sudden need to buy a pottery Alsatian.   ;D

Must garden centres think that having a nice coffee shop is more important . :(

But at least you can have a nice (if expensive) cup of coffee and a pieces of home made style (even more expensive) cake. ::) as you choose that all important chiminea. ;D

But where else would I take the rellies to get them out of the house when they come to stay..........  and be presented with a novelty plant pot for my trouble.

I tour Garden Centres for coffee n cake or a scone.  I bought a bargain yesterday as well, a Christmas tree I looked at last week was mine for £4.98 reduced from £24.99, now that was a bargain for me.   ;D ;D ;D ;D

My favourite local garden centre is the trading hut of one of our nearby lottie sites!
(And if you're prepared to DIY, you can get a good mug of tea for free)  :)

Sounds like my sort of hut..triffid!
;D

It's a good 'un, saddad -- I'd rather lend my support to it than to worry about our site having no facilities/ horticultural society etc.

As well as the usual basic varieties of seed spuds and onion sets they have all sorts of less obvious stuff... dried seaweed, birdseed & feeders, hosepipe connectors...
And most of the time, they know where it all is, too! (Like one of those 'Open-All-Hours'-style old-school hardware shops)  ;D

I have decided to name names. My local garden centre (the one I am fed up with), is called 'Poundbury Gardens' in Dorchester, Dorset. They are part of a small 3 branch group called 'Castle Gardens'. The other branches are in Yeovil and Sherbourne. The Sherbourne branch (the original) is a good place, but its a lot bigger than 'Poundbury' so i guess they have room to diversify more. The Poundbury one is very small (based in converted farm buildings on the prestigious Poundbury development), and i suppose they have decided to be small and exclusive (in other words upmarket and expensive). Sad fool that I al i went up there today fo a mooch around looking at plants and noticed the prices of some of them - way above what you would expect to pay elsewhere I reckon.

I said I'd name names and on that note the name of my favorite garden centre /nursery is Groves Nursery of Bridport. They are good value and have a vide range of plants and sundries. You can even get well priced young veg plants there, something not 'fashionable' enough for most garden centres.

I guess these names wont mean much to those of you living up country, but if any of you are visiting down this way (work or holiday) and you fancy a trip to a garden centre - take note!

Like most of you I try and give garden centres a miss, especially at this time of the year.  I am fortunate enough to have, within 3 miles, (and you can get there by bus) a proper working nursery, Binny Plants.  The man running it even will even advise against selling  you a plant if he thinks the location would be unsuitable. 

That is good Shirley I'm sure the Wyvale type rely on selling you thinks that are inappropriate so you'll go back for another when it dies......
:-X