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.
The UK has a mix of small businesses and national or regional chains. Garden centre chains in the UK include Capital Gardens, Dobbies, Hillier, Notcutts, Squires and Wyevale. The DIY chains B&Q and Homebase also have their own garden centres, alongside their traditional DIY warehouse or store. 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 against traditional garden centres, the DIY chains, start to bring down prices and the increasing threat from online Garden centres such as Crocus, Garden Oasis, Greenfingers, Floraselect Gardening Express and Gardening Extras although companies such as Capital Gardens, Dobbies, Riverside and Wyevale have responded by developing and marketing their own online operations. Some open air attractions (eg, 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 centres usually obtain their plant supplies from nurseries or from specialist wholesalers. 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.
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, has attempted to move into the garden centre market through acquisition. There has been a marked trend in recent years towards online garden centres which offer the full ordering and delivery service. An example of one of these websites would be Internetgardener which has been around since 2006.
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