This is a totally independent GardenAction opinion of Dobbies Garden Centre in Southport. Click any picture to enlarge it.
The outdoor plants area is split into two parts. There is a covered area
which contains mainly tender plants and the uncovered area which contains hardier
plants.
The space lacks any design inspiration being a series of mainly straight, but wide paths. There was a strong wind blowing when we visited but most plants remained upright and well-secured.
The plants area is large and there is a good range of shrubs, herbaceous plants and trees on offer. They were all in good condition. All hardy plants are covered by the Dobbies 5 year guarantee which is excellent.
Finding your way round for specific plants is not particularly easy. There are no overhead signs to indicate where specific plant groups (e.g. climbers or roses) can be found. Bit when you do find a plants group, they are clearly marked in alphabetic order.
There was an very good selection of other gardening goods outdoors. Pots, composts
paving and fencing are all very well featured.
There was an exceptionally large range of conservatories, probably the largest we have encountered at a garden centre. A good range of greenhouses (rather expensive though) on offer and all are well displayed.
The prices were slightly above average according to our shopping basket at the time we visited. What surprised us was that the cheapest spade on offer was �19.99, twice the price of economy spades at some other garden centres we have visited recently. Admittedly, quality may play a part, but we feel that Dobbies could offer a cheaper alternative.We were also surprised that there was no 1 litre Tomorite (the larger size was available) and no standard Miracle Go or Phosphogren.
Rose bush (named variety) �6.99 upwards
Common shrub (e.g. hebe) �7.99
Clematis �7.99 upwards
Runner Bean seeds �2.79
Multipurpose Compost 56l �3.99 or 3 for �12
Miracle Gro 1kg Not found
Stainless steel fork �21.99 (Dobbies)
Economy spade �19.99 (Dobbies)
Tomorite 1 litre Not found
Blood Fish and Bone - 3.5kg �5.99
Medium cup of coffee in cafe �1.60