So much more than just plants! (Wyevale Garden Centres)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	Wyevale Garden Centres
Date:	17/09/08 (231 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: wide stock reasonably priced

Disadvantages: none!

Wyevale is said to be Britain's largest chain of garden centres and I find that very easy to believe as between where I live and work I am in easy distance of at least four! The two which I frequent the most are at Twyford in Berkshire along the A4 and in Windsor so it is my experiences from these that I am basing my review on.

The first thing to point out is that although you will find all the usual things that you would expect in a graden centre, there is also so much more and it's a great place for looking for unusual gifts for friends and family. The centres I go to have a wide array of pottery and glassware, cards, discounted books, toys and games and so on. You can buy teapots, eggcups, coffee cups, jewellery, socks, hot water bottles, gardening clothes, note cards, garden toys, dried flowers, candles, delicious cakes and biscuits and so much more and more! This list could go on and on and everything is very reasonably priced so it's definitely worth looking there if you are having trouble choosing gifts.

Wyevale also offers a wide range of indoor and outdoor furniture. They sell some really amazing patio sets to fit every size of garden and pocket! At the moment there is an end of season sale where you can get some very good discounts on quality goods. A couple of examples are a Kingsford Nevada 3 flatbed gas barbecue reduced from £229 to £139 and also a Wyevale Provence Gateleg 4 seater set reduced from £449.50 to £349.50 - saving £100! All of this garden furniture is always beautifully displayed, as is everything in the stores, making it all look very enticing!

Wyevale is of course excellent for all sorts of plants for the garden. These are all outside in little trays or pots for you to take away and plant up in your own garden. We have bought numerous plants and shrubs from Wyevale over the years. All have been very healthy when we bought them and have pretty much all flourished in our garden (and that's with us not being very green fingered!) There's also plenty of other things for the garden including big terracotta pots and planters, fencing, bark, gravel and of course a whole range of water features. The Twyford centre also offers a huge range of sheds and playhouses but I think this is a franchise.

Of course you can buy all the equipment you need for the garden from huge mowers and strimmers down to garden hoes. It's great because they really do seem to have everything that you could possibly need.

If you have a pet you might as well go to Wyevale as you will probably find what you need there too. We don't have any pets but we do like to encourage birds to our garden and we can buy all the bird seed and fat balls we need as well as bird baths, tables, feeders etc. The bird food and feeders are quite reasonably priced but they don't tend to sell in bulk so you are likely to pay a bit more than you would from a mail order company. However, it's not too bad to pay £4.99 for 2 kg of high energy bird feed. At the Twyford centre there is also an aquatic centre with thousand of fish available. My daughters just like to spend time wondering about looking at all the fish and no one seems to mind that we aren't buying!

Wyevale comes into it's own at Christmas and I don't think it will be too long before the centres are transforming themselves into winter wonderlands! They sell so many trees and decorations each year and they all look beautiful. Each year, I get my two daughters to choose a new decoration for our tree and we always go to Wyevale. Added to that, probably around mid November, Santa will also take up residency in his own delightful little grotto. I took my girls to see him last year and they loved it and came away with a lovely fairy sey of wings and wand each! It dis cost about £5 each but I think that compared quite well to some other places to visit Santa!

I have to mention the cafes at Wyevale as they are usually my favourite part of my visit. Most have some form of refreshments although the one in Wokingham does not. They all seem to have similar types of menus with a wide choice of tea and coffee and other drinks and a very tempting selection of cakes and biscuits. A coffee and an eccles cake set me back £2.49 today (don't tell anyone about the eccles cake!) which I thought was about what I would expect. There are also a selection of hot meals on offer at lunchtime although I have never tried these. All of the Wyevales I have eaten in have had comfortable seating, friendly staff and have been very clean.

All Wyevales have their own ample parking and loads of trolley so if you are buying large items there is no problem getting things out to your car. However you can also get things delivered either by ordering in the store or going on line at

www.wyevale.co.uk

There are also a couple of ways of saving money while you spend at Wyevale. One is by joining the gardening club which, for a yearly payment of only £10 you get 10% off all your plants. Secondly, if you are of a certain age, you can get your over 60s card. This is free but can only be used on Tuesdays to get 10% off! Don't know what it is about Tuesdays!

Overall I love Wyevale. It's good for virtually everything and the likelihood, with so many about, there will be one near you!

Summary: Nearly all your home and garden needs under one roof!