Blooms Garden Centre Solihull - JustGardenCentres review

AGAINST
Layout of inside and outside store is confusing if you are looking for specific items.
Unusually small selection of plants in January and February.

REVIEW RESULTS - BLOOMS GARDEN CENTRE, SOLIHULL

Our review of Blooms Solihull Garden Centre was conducted after a visit in early April. We previously visited them in late January and found that the range of plants at that time was very poor with many of the benches empty. The indoor sales area was similarly affected in many areas, indeed, the Christmas sale was still in progress. We decided to abandon the initial review and return in April. This is not a garden centre to visit in January!

THE OUTSIDE AREA
The unusual feature of this garden centre is the high proportion of the plants area which has rain protection. It is a very high percentage of the whole area, one of the highest we have ever encountered. So, if it's raining the Blooms Solihull garden centre is an excellent choice.

As you go through the entrance you are immediately in the plants area which at that point is covered. The plants are well displayed with well organised benches of plants. This is a largish garden centre and the main paths of the plants area are paved.

The overall design of the garden centre affects the inside and outside areas. The paths through the garden centre lead you around various plant displays in a rather long fashion. We heard one person complain that after selecting a couple of bags of compost she had to take her trolley through the abnormally long and winding path through to the checkout.

W had a similar problem in locating plants, it simply took too long to find them. This was in part due to the scattered nature of the layout but also because the signs were too low down to see them from any distance. More about the general layout of the garden centre in the section on "inside Blooms" below.

To one side of the main plants area is a very large choice of garden buildings including small sheds. The paving and garden landscape area is also well stocked.

THE PLANTS
The plants at Blooms Solihull garden centre will not disappoint, there is a good selection of them and they are in good condition. They have the excellent Wyevale Garden Centres's five year hardy plant guarantee.

Price were average to slightly higher than average. Clematis started at Ł7.99, roses Ł8.99, potentillas Ł6.99. Tomorite 1 litre was Ł4.29, Miracle Gro Ł4.99, Yeoman economy spade or fork was Ł12.99 with stainless steel Bentley premium ones selling for Ł24.99. 60 litre multipurpose compost was Ł4.99 or three for Ł12.50.

INSIDE BLOOMS GARDEN CENTRE, SOLIHULL
The impression we were left with of the interior sales area was one of it being fragmented and difficult to navigate to find specific items. There was a large home ware store selling bedding, curtains and fabrics but it was in a building of its own and not incorporated into the main sales area. The same can be said of the large Edinburgh Woollen Mills store selling clothing.

There is a Pet Shop in store selling lots of pet related goods but no live pets. There is also a good display of healthy houseplants attractively laid out. Cards, gifts, books, garden furniture and other items are also for sale. These are laid out over different parts of the garden centre and there really is no central interior sales area. This a bit disconcerting if you are shopping for specific items although it's fine if you just want to wander around and see what takes your fancy.

One way to illustrate this was our search for some Baby Bio general houseplant feed. First we searched in the garden plant feeds area but we found no Baby Bio. Then we went to the houseplants section where we found every imaginable specialist plant feed but no general purpose one. It was only when we queued up at the payment aisles that we saw them tucked away on the aisle stands. Maybe it was just us but maybe the store could do with a reorganisation.

Blooms of Solihull have their own club card scheme (Wyevale Garden Centres scheme) with various benefits for their members. Details of the club and a comparison with the clubs of other garden centres can be found by clicking here. If you are thinking of visiting this garden centre to make a purchase it may well be worth taking a look at their discounts and rewards.

DISABLED ACCESS
With the exception of the loose gravel in the outside area, wheelchair access was generally good.

OTHER STUFF
Car park - Flat and large enough to cope with traffic volumes
Pet Centre - Yes but no live pets
Aquatics - Not noted
Water Features - A small selection
Sheds and Greenhouses - A large selection especially of smaller sized sheds
Toilets - Clean and functional.

COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS

AVERAGE USER RATING

2 REVIEWS LEFT SO FAR

	7 April 2013	Comment From: Wren
Wonderful service especially in restaurant tasty food pleasant helpful staff relaxed and peaceful atmosphere throughout the store.

	18 July 2012	Comment From: Debbie
Visited last week and found the store to be really good, don't know much about plants but the staff were really helpful and the food was great.

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We hope you have enjoyed and benefited from this independent review of Blooms Garden Centre, Solihull. Remember that it is our opinion and may be the result of one visit only. If you are the owner of Blooms Garden Centre, Solihull and want to discuss this review with us then please contact us by going to our "contact us" page which can be found here.

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