CHOOSE GARDEN CENTRES BY COUNTY BELOW
This independent review of Henry Street Garden Centre was written by David Marks and was last updated in July 2025.
This is an in depth review by a real human as a result of visiting this garden centre, no Artificial Intelligence is involved!
We reviewed the inside and plant sales areas, took pictures (see lower down this article) and checked out the cafe. The cafe check involved ordering and tasting the food and reporting our findings for you to judge.
Henry Street started out in the horticultural business in 1902 as a rose nursery in Woking. In 1985 the family moved the business to its current site in Arborfield.
It's strange that some horticultural names are not well known by the public and this is the case with Henry Street. They grow more roses than anyone else in the south of England - annually they grow over 100,000 roses in 350 varieties and have won five Hampton Court Gold medals.
Entrance to Henry Street Garden Centre
Henry Street is an impressive garden centre, inside, outside and in the cafe. It has recently celebrated its 40th anniversary in its current location. A family run business for well over a hundred years, I can heartily recommend you visit it for a couple of hours, you will not be disappointed.
IS HENRY STREET GARDEN CENTRE DOG FRIENDLY? Yes, Henry Street Garden Centre is dog friendly, so feel free to bring your dog along. They are permitted all around the garden centre and even the cafe. In the cafe interior area they ask that you use the dog friendly seating area. In the outside cafe area (which is covered) you are free to sit where you want.
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SIZE: Large, the main cafe has about seventy or more tables inside and 30 tables outside. Clearly, this is an important business area for this garden centre.
Seating area of Henry Street cafe
FOOD TYPE: The cafe serves a very full menu of food for all tastes at this garden centre. Breakfast service starts at 9am (10am on Sundays) and ends at 11.15. The breakfast menu has vegetarian and vegan options as well as a children's breakfast. Click here to see the breakfast menu.
The main menu service starts at 11.30am and ends at 4.45pm (4pm on Sundays). We have had many meals at this cafe and would say that if you order a main meal after 3.30pm you may find that the odd item is no longer available. From the main meals we can heartily recommend the slow roasted ham, egg and chips.
Other meals include sandwiches, salads, toasties and jacket potatoes, and if you've arrived too late for breakfast service but still need a breakfast the main menu includes an all day breakfast. Click here for the main menu. They also serve a full range of cakes, coffees teas and other drinks all day.
FOOD QUALITY: We have eaten several times at this cafe over the last two years and we rate the food quality highly.
DECOR: The decor was pleasant. Nothing particularly special, with plastic tables and chairs, but the overall impression was good. The whole area was very clean. The cafe is arranged into four separate but connected areas, this gives you the impression that you are sitting in a small cafe, very pleasant. The cafe is air conditioned.
Seating area of Henry Street Garden Centre cafe
OUTDOOR SEATING: The outdoor seating area at Henry Street Garden Centre is superb. It is under cover with one side open to the garden centre. It was set higher up than the main garden centre giving pleasant views. However the whole area was an attractive area to be seated.
It also has the significant advantage for customers because it can be used as an 'outdoor' seating area even in rain conditions. Overall we were impressed.
Whenever we visit this cafe the outdoor seating are is packed, the main attraction, early on in the day, being the excellent coffees and teas.
SERVICE: Service (to your table for main meals) was prompt, speedy and pleasant at Henry Street Garden Centre.
Our choice of food was delivered about ten minutes after sitting at our chosen table. Overall, very speedy and pleasant service.
The Henry Street cafe serves a two meat roast every Sunday. We didn't get a chance to sample the roast but we will report back in the near future.
Where food is delivered to your table the waiters(esses) use trolleys. This is a delivery method I have only seen in garden centre cafes recently and I did criticise it when I reviewed Derby Garden Centre recently. At Henry Street Garden Centre, the layout of the cafe suits this method of delivery very well and the wheels of the trolleys are virtually silent.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Taking into account the food, service and decor, value for money in the cafe is very good.
The cafe at Henry Street Garden Centre was awarded a Food Hygiene Rating of five out of five by Wokingham Borough Council in December 2024. Click here for full details.
SIZE OF PLANTS AREA: The plants area is reasonably large. Signage to indicate where plant groups can be found are clear and the shrubs are arranged in alphabetic order.
PLANT SELECTION: A good selection of healthy plants. A specialty of Henry Street Garden Centre is roses. Every year they grow in excess of 100,000 roses so they know what they are doing! They have been growing roses for over 100 years and have won several industry awards. See the link here for more details.
LAYOUT: The basic layout of the plants is mainly rows of plants in troughs. However they have broken up this basic design just enough to make this a reasonably attractive area. It's clear that lots of thought has gone into the layout ot the outside area and this makes it a pleasant area to wander around. The paths are solid and wide.
Covered plants area at Henry Street Garden Centre
There is a large covered area (around 30% of the outside area) and the main paths are also covered. Signs to plant groupings are very clear from a distance and the shrubs are arranged in alphabetic order.
Plants area at Henry Street Garden Centre
VALUE FOR MONEY: Roses start at £15, clematis start from £18. Value for money is good for a garden centre of this type.
Outside in the car park when we visited, was a fishmonger selling lovely looking fresh fresh fish and there was also stall from a local family bakery selling an excellent range of breads and a few pastries.
Also in the car park was The Flowerstalk florists. Not just beautiful, fresh cut flowers but flowers for all occasions (weddings, funerals, events etc.). They are local to the area, at Henry Street Garden Centre and Shinfield Garden Centre..
The
Flowerstalk flowers
SIZE: Not the largest but can still be described as a large garden centre interior sales area.
LAYOUT: Paths are wide and solid and eminently suitable for wheel chair users. The area is very clean and free from obstructions.
You will find everything here that you would expect from a large garden centre and it is designed to be a pleasant area to walk around.
The "Country Butchers" and the deli area particularly impressed us.
Butchers and deli at Henry Street Garden Centre
VALUE FOR MONEY: Average for a large garden centre.
Disabled access is good at Henry Street Garden Centre. Paths inside and outside are solid and wide enough for wheelchair access
ADDRESS:
Henry Street Garden Centre
Swallowfield Road
Reading
Arborfield
Reading
Berkshire RG2 9JY
What 3 Words Address: not yet known
OWNER:
Family owned
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
0118 976 1223
WEBSITE: https://www.henrystreet.co.uk/
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