Ferndale Garden Centre, Sheffield

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	Ferndale Garden Centre offer all the facilities of a big garden centre, plants, gifts, garden goods and cafe. Read our review to find out if they come up to scratch.

This is a totally independent GardenAction review of the Ferndale Garden Centre in the Sheffield area. Click any picture to enlarge it.

OVERVIEW
Ferndale is a garden centre which will appeal to a wide range of gardeners. At the same time, they are focussed on attracting younger and possibly less experienced gardeners. To illustrate their commitment to attracting a younger audience we show three pictures below.

PLANTS

Our visit to Ferndale was in late winter and they had a good range of plants for sale appropriate to the time of year.

Particularly impressive was the range of small hellebores for sale. There were several varieties in a number of sizes.

The plants were all healthy and well-watered.

There was also a good range of fruit trees available which were healthy and well-kept. The price of the trees was on the high side (around �25) but they were all reduced by a huge 50%.

This was particularly impressive because this was exactly the time of year when you should be looking to plant fruit trees.

All hardy plants come with a three year guarantee which is another indicator of their quality. Overall, the range of plants on offer was good for a garden centre of this size.

The outdoor plant area was attractively arranged with wide flat paths in most areas. Access for wheel chairs was good in most areas although some areas were covered in gravel.

Finding specific plants was not easy because there was a distinct lack of signs in the outdoor plant area. There was no help desk in the outdoor plant area but there was a help desk inside the garden centre. This was unmanned at the time of our visit.

PRICES
The prices at Ferndale were, at first sight, slightly above average. However when the special offers were taken into account the prices are slightly lower than average. Have no doubt either, the discounts were on a wide range of commonly used plants and goods.
Examples of prices in 2008 are given below.

Rose, 3 litre pot	�6.99 upwards
Common shrub (e.g. potentilla, hebe)	�6.99
Clematis	�7.99
Runner Bean seeds (4m)	�2.29 (Thomson & Morgan)
Multipurpose 75l	�4.99 (3 for �12) Levington
Fish, Blood and Bone, branded, 4kg	�5.68
Miracle Gro, soluble plant food, 1kg	�4.99
Large cup of coffee in cafe	�1.50

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