Garden Centres - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

A garden centre in the UK sells plants, compost, fertilizers, tools and landscaping products such as statues, furniture and garden ornaments. Some also sell pet related products and small pets such as guinea pigs, rabbits, fish and mice. Most garden centres have branched out and sell home and interior products as well, for example items such as small furniture and Christmas related products.

In 2010 the value of the garden retail market in the UK stood at £4.6bn per annum. The sector comprises a mix of independent small businesses, Such as Reigate Garden Centre (Surrey), of which there are approximately 2,500 garden centres, plus a number of national or regional chains. The major garden centre chains in the UK include,

• The Garden Centre Group (previously known as Wyevale) (129 sites)
• Dobbies (32 sites)
• Klondyke (26 sites)
• Scats Country Stores (19 sites)
• Notcutts (19 sites)
• Hillier Nurseries (14 sites)
• Squires (14 sites)
• Blue Diamond (12 sites)

The DIY chains B&Q and Homebase also have their own garden departments, incorporated within or alongside their traditional DIY warehouses or stores.

In recent years, garden centres have evolved to become a leisure destination with play centres for children, restaurants and other activities designed to improve the shopping experience and increase the time spent at the centre. These changes have partly come about because the main competitors to the traditional garden centres, such as the DIY chains, have brought down prices. Competition has also increased from online garden centres such as Crocus, Greenfingers and Gardening Express, although companies such as Capital Gardens, Dobbies, Riverside Garden Centre and The Garden Centre Group have now responded by developing and marketing their own online operations. Some open air attractions (e.g., National Trust properties, the RHS Garden, Wisley, Westonbirt Arboretum) also run small garden centres as additional sources of revenue or to discourage the unofficial taking of plant cuttings.

The peak business seasons in the UK are spring (March to June) and autumn (September and October).

A garden centre offers more products and services than the traditional nursery which mainly retails plants. Garden centres offer not only garden supplies but also leisure buildings, garden furniture, products for pets and fish keeping, and giftware and home products. Many larger centres also have florist departments, wild bird care and their own restaurants. They have also diversified into the Christmas market heavily supplying such goods as traditional Christmas Trees, decorations and novelty and seasonal foods.

Garden centres include concessions that are either operated as manned, unmanned or short term promotional businesses. They trade under a lease and licence contract which govern the business relationship. garden centre concessions use their own branding, employ their own personnel and transact their sales thorough their own tills. The concessions are granted a degree of exclusivity to retail their product ranges which are complementary to the garden centre.

The oldest garden centre in the UK is 'Plant and Harvest' in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. A walled garden, built as the kitchen gardens for the Dashwood Estate, it has been selling plants since 1775.

In 2007, the retailer, Tesco, began the move into the garden centre market through acquisition., resulting in 2008 in the purchase of the Dobbies chain.