Huntingdon Garden Centre (previously known as Tacchi's Garden Scene) is part of the Garden and Leisure Group which currently owns seven garden centres in total. It is well within the top 20 UK garden centres by turnover so this one is large by any standards. It also follows the same design principles that the other six G & L outlets aim for - they are all designed to appeal to the more well off section of the population.
The garden centre was opened by Garden and Leisure in 2002, inside and outside the overall design is very modern. The plants area is designed for maximum interest with lots of centre pieces and offset short plant bays. It certainly looks good although signs are a bit lacking. The whole plants area is kept very clean and free from obstruction. Wheelchair users will have no difficulty getting around.
The plants are all healthy specimens with no weeds in the pots and well watered. The choice of plants is good although there are no particular areas that this garden centre specialises in. None of the plants are grown by Garden and Leisure themselves, they are all bought in from other suppliers. What is very noticeable is the lack of any claim about the plants (or a percentage of them) being UK grown. So many other garden centres are doing their very best to source plants locally.
Plant prices are higher than average for a garden centre of this size. There is no particular reason for the high prices, the quality of the plants is matched elsewhere at lower prices.
The interior sales are is swish and modern, more like an up market department store. They do stock all the garden goods you will ever need (again at higher than average prices) but the emphasis is on home-ware, indoor and outdoor furniture, clothing, gifts etc.
The pet department is massive and they stock lots of small
animals as well as reptiles and spiders! The aquatics department
is equally large with all types of fish, feeds and general
aquatics equipment. Indoor and outdoor aquatics equipment are
both featured. If your wallet is fully loaded then the Food Hall
will not disappoint. As well as the normal chutneys, jams, cakes
and other deli items, there are cheese, meat and fish counters.
The cafe is something of a disappointment. They do have a good menu with breakfasts, main meals, snack meals, cakes and drinks but all priced slightly higher than average. The cakes were given exotic sounding names but proved to be just normal quality cakes - some were priced at over £3 for a slice which is well over the odds.
We saw no mention of the food being cooked on the premises and in our opinion it tasted mass-produced and bought in from a catering company. Not bad, but at these prices the food was slightly disappointing. The cafe was awarded five stars out of five for food hygiene by Huntingdon District Council. The last inspection was on 18 August 2011.
OPENING HOURS: HUNTINGDON GARDEN CENTRE |
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Open | Close | |
Monday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
Tuesday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
Wednesday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
Thursday | 9.00am | 8.00pm |
Friday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
Saturday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
Sunday | 10.30am | 4.30pm |
EASTER OPENING TIMESGood Friday - 9.00am to 6.00pm Easter Saturday - 9.00am to 6.00pm Easter Sunday - CLOSED Easter Monday - 9.00am to 6.00pm CHRISTMAS OPENING TIMESChristmas Eve - 9.00am to 4.00pm Christmas Day - CLOSED Boxing Day - 11.00am to 5.00pm New Year's Eve - 9.00am to 4.00pm New Year's Day - 11.00am to 5.00pm
BANK HOLIDAY OPENING TIMES
Includes May and August Bank Holiday:Open 9.00am, closes 6.00pm |
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