[David.]

Wyevale have turned one of my local garden centres into something that is more like a shopping mall.

The garden centre at Bicester, Oxon., where you would get your feet muddy in the car park (with donkey in adjoining field), my daughter would feed carp in pond, see birds in avaries, rabbits, etc. (cheap trip out) has gone.

In it's place is a carpeted gardening superstore with restaurant for 250, food hall, clothing store, loads of stuff that I could'nt think of any use for, but no more seeds, potatoes, etc. than in one of their standard size garden centres.

Is this the way they all are going?


P.S. Thank goodness for the hardware shop I go to at Leighton Buzzard, Beds., where they weigh out seed into brown paper packets with hand written labels, sell poultry food and homebrew equipment.

[Selkie]

David, one of the garden centres where we used to live in England was just like that - you could walk round and not even see plants/seeds at all; aswell as clothes, a restaurant etc they also had a massive 'crafts' section, loads and loads of cards, books (mostly coffee-table books), and ghastly ornaments.

They did keep the pet shop part of it, but it didn't really feel like a garden centre any more at all.

I guess if the supermarkets sell non-food items the garden centres are trying to branch out aswell, but I don't think it's really that much of a good move.

[brucesgirl]

I think they do this to keep their sales up all the year, rather than just spring and summer.
Our local GC is family-run and over the last few years has put in a massive range of ornaments, cards and other non-gardening stuff.
We go there all year round to buy birthday and Christmas presents and cards.
I actually prefer it now than when it was just a plain old garden centre.

[Sally A]

Ooh, what a dilemma.........

The whole nature of a garden centre means they take up a load of ground space, so the council hit them for rates, they are under competition from the homebases and b&q's of this world.  The general gardening public would be very seasonal, with not a lot hapening in (I guess) Jan until the spuds came in, September, October and November.

They need to diversify and in doing so loose their expertise, the majority of the plants are trucked in from holland, the knowledgable old boys are gradually replaced by anyone. I will defend our local Hilliers and say that the guys in the shrubs area do seem quite up on what they sell.

I don't like it cos it's not strictly a garden centre anymore, but I do like it as I can get lots of pressies there at Christmas without venturing into the city centre.

they can't really win, just doing their best I guess.

[puravida]

We have a Dobbies nearby in Cirencester that is similar. It's a huge operation with about 40% of their indoor space dedicated to non-garden related stuff - kid's toys, books, clothes, smellies, greetings cards, butchers, delicatessen - all sorts of concessions really. It also houses a big food court.

In fairness - it still has everything you need from a garden centre but it is more like a trip to a garden related shopping mall sometimes!

[David.]

Seems like similar experiences above, but that massively expanded garden centre now actually appears to sell a reduced range of seeds, from a difficult to find, pokey little corner.

Yes, a fuller range may be available from online seed suppliers, but perhaps only if you know, from experience, what to ask for.
I would be the first to admit that I now have to search and order online to get what I want.

But just what experience are new gardeners going to get where the range of seed offered has been reduced in favour of "ghastly ornaments"?