How can you tell a good garden centre from a duffer? When comsumer watchdog Which? Gardening asked members to rate their garden centre experiences, the chains and the DIY sheds came out worst and the independents best. But certain scenarios have me running from a garden centre – before I get embroiled in the carpeted one-way system, policed by automatic doors.
First, if it has strayed too far from its original remit. Garden centres must all have started off selling plants, then pots, compost, gardening books, tools and perhaps the odd gnome. All fair enough (apart from the gnome). It is when I spot fishing tackle that I start to back nervously towards the door. Or crystalware. Or potpourri. Or dwarf Russian hamsters. Focus has been lost. Something has gone awry.
Then there are the centres where there are no staff in the outside plant area. If all the staff are in the meeting room getting excited about the new range of ladies' wear, or next Christmas's bauble theme, they are not looking after the plants. So often, plant areas resemble a scene in a western – deserted and silent, the odd empty plastic pot tumbling past – but without the dramatic tension. You should be able to walk up to a member of staff (preferably while they are weeding or watering) and ask about a plant without getting a blank stare and being told that Carol probably knows, but she's off on lunch. A well-staffed outside area shows the management understands the importance of plants, and has employed people with the confidence to send plants back to the supplier if they are not rooted enough, or are wrongly labelled or covered in weeds. Lots of staff equals good plants.
But the clincher is if the cafe doesn't sell homemade cakes. We must maintain some standards.
