Shopping Guide: Fonthill Garden Centre
A Shopper's Guide to This Garden Centre
Why You Should Visit
- Expect a Pleasant Experience: The location offers a well-maintained environment. You'll find well-kept shrubs and plants, creating a pleasurable browsing experience.
- Quality Products: Shoppers can expect to find excellent quality products, with many varieties of plants, trees, composts & garden accessories.
- Exceptional Customer Service: Staff are generally very friendly, helpful, and professional. You may even find assistance with heavy items. One shopper experienced help with a trolley, rearranging items, and loading purchases into their car.
- Wide Variety of Products: The garden center stocks all you need for the garden, including fruits, furniture, vegetables, and flowers. They also have a lovely gift section.
- Convenient Amenities: You'll find good parking, including disabled parking spaces and wheelchair-accessible entrances. There is a cafe on site with food and drink options.
- Enjoy the Cafe: The cafe serves food and is considered a nice place to relax, with generous portions. The outside seating area around the lake provides a lovely atmosphere. Cakes in the cafe are great, and you can enjoy a nice cuppa with cake.
- Positive Plant Selection: Many customers find healthy-looking plants available.
Why You Might Consider Alternatives
- Potential for Dated Merchandise: Be aware that some plants may be past their prime. There have been reports of dead or nearly dead bedding plants.
- Inconsistent Cleanliness: Cleanliness seems to be an issue at times. You might find unclean conditions in the cafe, with grubby seats and dusty areas. The carpet in the center might also be unclean.
- Overpriced Gifts: Some shoppers consider gifts to be overpriced.
- Customer Service Issues in the Cafe: The cafe staff may have bad days. There have been reports of rushed service, incorrect orders, and unhelpful staff who don't offer apologies.
- Accessibility Challenges: Although disabled access is available, maneuvering around the shop might be difficult, especially in the outside garden center due to steep slopes and limited space.
- Dog-Friendly Limitations: If you have a dog, be aware that table service isn't available in the outdoor dog section.
- Inconsistent Plant Care: Some plants, such as David Austen roses, might need extra care or pruning.
- Availability of Assistance: Depending on the day, it is possible that no staff is readily available to assist.
- Music Distraction: Be aware that basey music is played everywhere, even outside, which some find distracting.
