CHOOSE GARDEN CENTRES BY COUNTY BELOW
This independent review of Nailsworth Garden Centre was written by David Marks and was last updated in June 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.
Nailsworth Garden Centre started out in life as Waterside Garden Centre in 1995. One of the key designers of Waterside Garden Centre was Alan Roper who is now managing director of Blue Diamond garden centres. As the saying goes, 'what goes around comes around' and in the case of Alan Roper, it's true in a very positive sense.
Blue Diamond bought the leasehold for Nailsworth Garden Centre from Wyevale Garden Centre in August 2018 for £500,000, this was the 30th garden centre acquisition for Blue Diamond. Alan Roper had never forgotten his first big move in the garden centre business and he wanted Nailsworth Garden Centre back.
It was an unlikely purchase for Blue Diamond because it was a relatively small garden centre and as Alan Roper said "I wouldn't have bought it, it's on the small side for us. It's difficult to make money out of small centres."
The review by this website, JustGardenCentres.com, when Wyevale owned Nailsworth Garden Centre writes "Nailsworth is a small village a couple of miles from Stroud and it's set in a valley. We find it unusual that Wyevale Garden Centres have a medium-sized garden centre there because, beautiful views aside, this is a totally unremarkable and sleepy town." Alan Roper would soon turn around the fortunes of this garden centre.
Read further down this page for an in depth and independent review of Nailsworth Garden Centre. In summary though this garden centre has expanded significantly in the last few of years and has everything you would expect of a large garden centre. It is well worth a visit.
Entrance to Nailsworth Garden Centre
IS NAILSWORTH GARDEN CENTRE DOG FRIENDLY? Yes, Nailsworth 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.
Dog Friendly Notice at Nailsworth Garden Centre
There is an additional notice concerning dogs in this garden centre. It highlights that there are two resident cats present, the notice is shown below.
Warning to dog owners
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SIZE: Large, the main cafe has about forty tables inside and 30 tables outside.
FOOD TYPE: The cafe serves standard type food for a garden centre. Breakfast service ends at 11.00, lunch service begins at 11.00 / 11.30 / 12.00 depending on the meal type and the children's menu begins service at 11.30. Slightly over complicated timings. Our pictures of the menus below give a better idea of the food on offer.
Breakfast menu at Nailsworth Garden Centre
Children's menu at Nailsworth Garden Centre
Drink's menu at Nailsworth Garden Centre
Lunch menu 1 at Nailsworth Garden Centre
Lunch menu 2 at Nailsworth Garden Centre
FOOD QUALITY: We sampled the light breakfast at £9.95. The sausage and bacon were tasty, the meal well presented and hot, including the plate. Slightly pricier than normal.
Breakfast at Nailsworth Garden Centre
DECOR: The decor both inside and out was pleasant. Nothing special with plastic tables and chairs but the overall impression was good. The windows are large, giving the cafe a light and airy appearance.
Nailsworth Garden Centre cafe view
OUTDOOR SEATING: The cafe has an attractive outdoor seating area of about 30 tables. It wasn't covered but many tables had large umbrellas for those who want sun protection.
SERVICE: The wait to place your order is minimal. You are then given an order number plaque so that you can choose whichever table you want and the plaque indicates to the waiters where to deliver your food. That system works very well. The wait for our food to be delivered to the table was about 10 minutes.
Overall very speedy and pleasant service.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Taking into account the food, service and decor, value for money in the cafe is good.
The cafe at Nailsworth Garden Centre was awarded a Food Hygiene Rating of five out of five by Stroud District Council in February 2025. 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.
At one end of the car park the is a wine merchant (called Vinotopia) and a Food Hall (called the Local Larder). We didn't see a single person enter the wine merchant so we have our doubts about how many customers would use this facility.
Vinotopia at Nailsworth Garden Centre
The Local Larder Food Hall seemed to be stocked with less local produce than we would expect, it is full of rather expensive deli type items from all around the country.
Food Hall
PLANT SELECTION: A good selection of healthy plants.
LAYOUT: The basic layout of the plants is simply rows of plants in troughs. However they have broken up this basic design with statues, wrought iron gates and tall plants giving an overall impression of an interesting area. The paths are solid and wide.
Plants area at Nailsworth Garden Centre
It is worth noting that the plants area is surrounded by trees which further help to make this space pleasant for wandering around.
The car park is on a slope which may cause some problems for wheelchair users. With this in mind we suggest that if slopes cause you a problem you may want to park in one of the disabled parking bays which are right outside the main entrance.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Roses start at £20, clematis are mostly priced at £20. Value for money is about average for a garden centre of this type.
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.
Interior sales area
Nailsworth garden centre interior sales area is long and narrow and by necessity they have divided the various areas into compartments. It works well, avoiding the boxy feeling of many garden centres. You will find everything you would expect of a large garden centre in the interior sales area.
Houseplants at Nailsworth Garden Centre
VALUE FOR MONEY: Average for a large garden centre.
Disabled access is good at Nailsworth Garden Centre. Paths inside and outside and solid and wide enough for wheelchair access
ADDRESS:
Nailsworth Garden Centre
Avening Road
Nailsworth
Gloucestershire
GL6 0BS
OWNER:
Blue Diamond
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
01453 572989
WEBSITE:
https://www.bluediamond.gg/our-locations/nailsworth-garden-centre
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