Bosworth's Garden Centre is located a mile or so south of junction 10 of the A14 in the lovely village of Burton Latimer. The business started life in 1959 as a small holding and has grown in size to become a medium to large sized garden centre. It's not in the top 100 UK garden centres but even so it's reasonably substantial. Currently (2012) the area occupied by the garden centre has been the subject of a planning application for a new housing development and the result of that application is still pending. If it is approved the garden centre will be relocated in a place yet to be decided.

The garden centre is a large part of the a business which has two other sides it - the plants nursery business and the landscaping operations. Many of the plants sold in the garden centre are grown in their own plants nursery. In fact they grow over a million plants every year. It is possible to visit the plants nursery when at the garden centre although an appointment by phone would be the best way to guarantee this. They cater for group tours and this would be a good excursion for any allotment group or horticultural society.

The plants area is attractively laid out with a covered area immediately outside the main building. The plants are in excellent condition and the choice is more than enough to keep the average gardener happy. The grow a full range of plants, herbs, vegetables, ornamental and fruit trees. One omission is a hardy plant guarantee which is found at many sizeable garden centres nowadays.

One thriving part of the garden centre is the Muddy Boots club for kids which is primarily a fun orientated activity that also teaches them more about plants, vegetables and fruit. It's well supported so clearly the kids enjoy it.

One interesting feature on their website is the Plant Doctor. The idea is to send in a question about a problem you have with plants and they will reply with a solution. I have today sent in my question and will let you know how speedily and fully they answer the question.
UPDATE: The garden centre responded within 24 hours to my question. They identified the problem correctly and provided a good solution. Top marks to Bosworth's Garden Centre!

Inside the sell gifts, cards, bird care feeds, gardening accessories, houseplants and lots of other non-gardening goodies. The furniture department stocks a large choice of indoor and outdoor items which are well displayed. One department which caught our eye was the

Bosworth's have their own Reward Card discount scheme. For more details and a comparison with schemes offered by other garden centres click here.

POPPIES CAFE AT BOSWORTHS GARDEN CENTRE

The cafe has been open from 2007 and is popular with the locals. They serve breakfasts in the morning (up to 11.00), everything from a couple of slices of toast to a full English at £8.50. For lunchtime they concentrate on light and snack meals such as salads, paninis, baguettes, baked potatoes and similar costing around £6 to £7. Kids are well catered for with their own menu. They try and use local produce wherever possible and seem be doing well with that.

The restricted space of the cafe (it already seats 80) means that the catering area is very small but plans for a new site will improve that situation.

The cafe was awarded a four star rating for food hygiene in May 2013 by Kettering Borough Council. Click here for the full report.