[rem858]

whilst driving arond the country i have noticed some wyevale garden centers are setting up allotments on site the come complete with greenhouse and small shed i beleive they are 90sqm per plot check out their website for details no prices i could see but im guessing they wont be cheap but if your on a list somewhere it may be worth looking at

[DD.]

You're correct.

£5 a week, (app £250 a year - no greenhouse).

£10 a week, (app £500 a year - with greenhouse).

You can buy a lot of high quality veg for less than that!

http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/GYOPLOTS/GYOPLOTS,default,pg.html

[lucywil]

brilliant idea but not at that price!! its a third of the size of a standard plot and about 10 times the price.  the info says you have access to the garden centre to use the toilets and restaurant, so they would be happy for you to trudge through on a sunday morning in february in your wellies leaving a nice trail of mud behind you!

[PennyS]

I doubt our local Wyevale will follow suit.  They can make more money by whacking in a new retail unit. What used to be just a garden centre is now a fully fledged "shopping avenue" - basically an out of town retail centre with shops - Lakeland, Cotton Traders, Laura Ashley, etc etc.  How they got that past planning is beyond me...

[boosh]

brilliant idea but not at that price!! its a third of the size of a standard plot and about 10 times the price.  the info says you have access to the garden centre to use the toilets and restaurant, so they would be happy for you to trudge through on a sunday morning in february in your wellies leaving a nice trail of mud behind you!

sounds like they are jumping on the band wagon of the need for growing space and ripping you off at the same time, typical high end garden centre. 

[Jonajo]

crikey, at first I though good on them but then I saw their prices....I would be so tempted to suggest scandalous, with their blatant attempt to get what they can out of customers. But at the end of the day they are a business and want to get as much profit as possible while almost poo-pooing a genuine love of gardening that need NOT be expensive.

Still if people pay that sort of money and take them up on their plots then I am not hugely sympathetic.

[Coach]

Don't go to our local Wyvale G/C. You have to search for the plant and seed area all they seem to be interested in selling is gifts!!!

[flitwickone]

what a rip off makes me boil 

[PennyS]

Don't go to our local Wyvale G/C. You have to search for the plant and seed area all they seem to be interested in selling is gifts!!!

agreed (although mine does actualy have quite a good range of seeds, but it's dwarfed by the gift section) ... and you forgot the coffee shop, restaurant, children's play centre, ...

[spottymint]

Hi

That's what's going on at the Wokingham Wyevale. 

The plots are tiny, so are the sheds & grenhouse (smallest size you can get)

Wyevale have had a tough few years, nearly went bust when the bank recalled the loan. Shoud sell plants at good pices, they would be overun with customers, not the HOW MUCH !! pries they charge.

Last I heard the bank had control & the cheif exec at Country Gardens was in charge

[JayG]

There are 2 garden centres nearly next door to each other in Coal Aston (not far from where I live). The change in their fortunes in the last 5 years has been amazing.

One has trebled in size and concentrates on selling every plant, seed, type of compost, and gardening equipment you can imagine. It has no fancy gift department.

The other one went down the tricksy gifts, designer garden, "make your (low maintenance) garden into en extension of you home" route a couple of years ago.

Guess which one is struggling to survive and has just announced the closure of one of its other garden centres in Abbeydale? 

[Lee1978]

Unfortunatley this is a sign of the times, with the demand for allotment space growing individuals/organisations are cashing in and charging huge amounts of money for land. I would expect to see a lot more of this in the coming years.
Lee

[savbo]

I know providing allotments is a legal requirement for Councils but when you see things like this, it makes me think we should be a little more grateful if we have an allotment. I think it's an enormous privelege to have such a wonderful resource for so little money...

(ducks below parapet in case I start an onslaught of messages!)

MS

[Sharonx]

Wyvales are taking the mick with their GYO plants as well. I noticed when I was in there the other day they are selling a tray of carrots for £3.49, this consisted of 12 plants. Very expensive carrots if they actually got past being transplanted and the carrot fly. Then I saw a Tom plant for £3.99 and a garlic bulb in a 4" pot which had just started to sprout. £3.49!! Sweetcorn looked soggy too. This is aimed at the newbies and really is taking advantage in my opinion!

[peanut]

Sounds very similar to when they jumped on the "Chicken" bandwagon and started selling POL hybrid pullets for about £35 each (available in most places for £10-15)