This is a totally independent GardenAction opinion of Dobbies Garden Centre in Ayr, Scotland.
The outdoor plant area is half covered and half in the open. The paths
are very wide but little thought has gone into making it an attractive area for
customers.
The plants come with Dobbies excellent 5 year hardy plant guarantee. They certainly all looked in good condition and well-watered.
Aside from three small specialist plant groupings, there were no overhead signs to direct you to specific groups of plants.
The signs do proclaim that the shrubs are in alphabetic order but this is misleading.
Some of the shrubs (e.g. hebes) are in different parts of the outdoor area. This is a
pity because you could easily miss some plants entirely.
The range of plants is good but for the overall size of the garden
centre, we would have expected more.
If they specialised in anything it was probably conifers (left) and rhododendrons
(right).
The price of our shopping basket below indicates that prices are about average for this area of the UK.
Rose, 3 litre pot �6.99 upwards
Common shrub (e.g. hebe) �5.99
Clematis named variety �6.99 upwards
Economy spade �13.99
Stainless steel fork �21.99
Runner Bean seeds �2.79
Multi-purpose compost 60l �6.99 (westland) or 3 for �10 (Dobbies)
Fish, blood and bone 2.5kg �5.99
Tomorite 1 litre n/a
Miracle Gro 1 kg �4.99
Large cup of coffee �1.60
NOTE: Price comparisons are based on the prices we find at the time of our visit. We compare to them average prices in the same year as the date of the review.