The British Garden Centre
Trips to the seaside, the zoo, and parks are still popular. Today, I would like to write about another addition to the list — The Garden Centre!
Living in the UK, you are never far away from a garden centre. There are over 2,300 of them. There are other shops too, including supermarkets that sell a more limited range of products than garden centres, adding another 7000 plus places to buy from. It is calculated that over two thirds of the British population visit a garden centre every year. There is an annual spend of over £8 billion pounds (2023 figures). It truly is a sizeable market.
However, the garden centre is more than a place to visit to buy something that you know you want.
From my own experience it is obvious that many people who visit are not always buying plants or indeed any other of the products sold. They visit to have a look around — It’s a trip out! Some of the larger garden centres have much to see. Beautiful plants, trees, gifts, books, toys, statues and ornaments, outside lighting, garden rooms, hot tubs and more.
I am writing this on Monday, May 4th. It’s a Bank Holiday here in the UK and so many will be looking for things to do. It’s not ideal gardening weather. We have quickly transitioned from an unusually warm, indeed hot, week of weather to a bitingly cold wind. We need some plants and a few other things for the garden so Mrs M and I made an early start to the Trowbridge Garden Centre1. The car park was already filling up and I could see that the popular cafe was getting busy.
Do you visit garden centres?
Since my last visit, work has started to expand the covered areas and increase the size of the cafe providing more seats to cater for the customers. The work seems to be progressing well and shows the growth of the market.
The growing season here in the UK is relatively short. The main season for plants is April - September. This is the reason why garden centres sell so much more than plants. Many have a large area dedicated gifts which can be increased at Christmas time. Books, not just on gardening can often be part of the retail offering.
Cafes and restaurants within garden centres attract people year round. There is no need to own a garden when you visit a garden centre.
Today, we are purchasing some plants towards getting our pots ready for summer. More will be required later. We don’t have a lawn, it’s gravelled and came with the house, so everything is in pots. By the time you read this, they should be well-settled into their new home. A new watering can and a solar light which will hang from a bracket on the garden fence is dropped into the trolley. Plants are not cheap! I must start growing things from seed.
How much per year do you spend on your garden?
One of the biggest areas of growth for garden centres has been the sale of products for hard landscaping. Many brits no longer like mowing grass. They prefer patios and gravelled areas where pots growing plants can be placed, hot tubs, barbecues and outdoor cooking areas. Low-maintenance is a phrase commonly used. Build it once and then do little afterwards. Gardening can often, by many, seen as a chore and not a pleasure.
Having a garden and looking after it can be a good way to stay active, get fresh air and stay mentally stimulated. It shouldn’t be all about having a place to sit and do nothing for hours on end. A gardener earns their reward after a session of work on their plot, large or small.
Are you one of the two thirds of the UK population that visits a garden centre each year? If you are not in the UK let me know what the garden centres, or shops, for gardeners are like where you live.
I am from Canada. We have something similar but not as grand. I am hoping to visit a garden centre when I go to England in two weeks time!
Another unusual British pastime, Roland! They are great places and seem to be getting bigger and better as the years go by.