EMAIL: info@dobbies.com

Dobbies in Liverpool first opened in September 2011 on an 8.78 acre site near Liverpool John Lennon airport. Lots of effort has been put into making the building environmentally friendly including substantial rainwater collection, sustainably-sourced wood and energy-efficient lighting. The garden centre provides 120 jobs for locals.

The plants area is large and stocks a fair choice of plants. It does seem that Dobbies purchase their plants based on a formula so there is no individuality in the selections and neither is there any particular speciality. The plants looked in very good condition and hardy shrubs are covered by a full five year guarantee.

The general layout of the plants area is also vey similar in design to other Dobbies branches. Excellent wide paths with solid and even surfaces make walking easy and wheelchair users will find the going easy in all areas.

In the plants area there are various concessions including a large and well displayed Garden Buildings Centre sales area. The buildings on display include greenhouses, summerhouses, playhouses, garages and sheds. For landscaping, Dobbies have chosen Moss Landscapes as their partner in Liverpool. With a top quality reputation going back many years we have no doubt they come up with very professional results.

As far as rain protection is concerned there are large covered areas immediately outside the interior shopping space. In total these take up about a quarter of the whole outdoor sales area.

The design of the interior sales space (essentially a very large shed) is well executed in line with many of the other branches. The area is well broken up by temporary walls which give it the impression of being smaller than it actually is. The aquatics section is run entirely by Dobbies and stocks lots of live fish, pumps, tanks, feeds and general aquatic accessories. Dobbies Liverpool display of garden furniture is particularly impressive but so are the high prices. Browse the displays, decide what you want to buy and later on see if you can buy it cheaper elsewhere is our advice.

The Food Hall initially looks impressive, it's certainly big. But after browsing round the food and drinks for sale are not particularly exciting, they seem to have expensive wrappers but the just normal stuff inside. The butchers though does stock some excellent meat and we can say that from experience. The delicatessen, expensive though it is, does sell an excellent range of cheeses.

Dobbies at Liverpool have their own club card scheme (the Dobbies Group 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.

THE CAFE AT DOBBIES LIVERPOOL

The layout of the cafe is appropriately modern and definitely on the large side. The food and drinks for sale are everything you would expect from a large cafe and includes a fresh pizzeria with the pizzas mage on the spot. Quality of the food is relatively good but prices are slightly higher than is really justified.

The seating area is functional rather than attractive although there are a couple of different seating areas to give the the large cafe a more intimate feel. Service is the main problem with the cafe, it's chaotic and simply takes too long for a cafe of this nature. The problem is lack of staff which is strange really because all the other areas of the store appear to be over-staffed.

The cafe at Dobbies Liverpool was awarded the top five star rating for food hygiene by the Food Standards Agency on 31st October 2011.