CHOOSE GARDEN CENTRES BY COUNTY BELOW
This independent review of Sapcote 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.
Sapcote Garden Centre was purchased in 2001 by Andrew Porwol using money he had saved up while working at Marks and Spencer. He is sole director of Sapcote Garden Centre which he has grown into a very profitable business.
The business has continually expanded, most notably with a huge garden furniture sales area and a new cafe.
Read further down this page for an in depth and independent review of Sapcote 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.
It is very clear from visiting this garden centre that it offers lower prices compared to similar large garden centres. However, this does have a flip-side to it. Some areas of the garden centre are not as well maintained as more upmarket ones. This shouldn't bother most people but it is a feature of the garden centre that needs to be pointed out.
Entrance to Sapcote Garden Centre
IS SAPCOTE GARDEN CENTRE DOG FRIENDLY? Yes, Sapcote Garden Centre is dog friendly. They are permitted in the cafe but are restricted to a dog friendly area which under cover.
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SIZE: Large, the main cafe has about fifty tables.
FOOD TYPE: The cafe serves standard type food for a garden centre. Breakfast service ends at 11.45, lunch service begins at 11.45 (main meals at 12.00). Our pictures of the menus below give a better idea of the food on offer.
Menu 1 at Sapcote Garden Centre
Menu 2 at Sapcote Garden Centre
FOOD QUALITY: We sampled some of the food from the cafe and judged it to be of good quality. Presentation was uncomplicated.
Egg Mayonnaise sandwich at Sapcote Garden Centre Cafe
DECOR: The decor both inside and out was pleasant. Nothing special with plastic tables and chairs but the overall impression was good. The cafe was rebuilt only a few years ago. There is a dog friendly area in the main cafe.
We liked the way the cafe was divided into separate seating areas. This avoided it looking like a works canteen.
Cafe opening hours
Our only slight criticism, along with other areas of this garden centre, is that the floors could have been cleaned better and more frequently.
SERVICE: The wait to place your order is minimal and very little wait time for the meal to be delivered to your table.
What would have been appreciated was a laminated sheet available to indicate the table was reserved while you were ordering.
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 very good. Prices were noticeably lower compared to similar cafes.
The cafe at Sapcote Garden Centre was awarded a Food Hygiene Rating of five out of five by Blaby District Council in March 2024. Click here for full details.
SIZE OF PLANTS AREA: The plants area is large, especially in comparison with the rest of the garden centre. Signage to indicate where plant groups can be found are rather lacking.
PLANT SELECTION: An excellent selection of healthy plants.
LAYOUT: The basic layout of the plants is simply rows of plants in troughs. Almost no thought has been given to making the area attractive although it is functional and serves its purpose at minimal cost.
Plants area at Sapcote Garden Centre
The paths are wide enough for easy access, the surfaces are solid and on the level. A large proportion of the plants area is under cover making shopping in rainy conditions a real possibility.
The car park has recently been extended and offers more than enough space. It is near the the main entrance and on solid level ground.
Plants at Sapcote Garden Centre
VALUE FOR MONEY: Roses start at £10, clematis are mostly priced at £13 and they even have younger clematis in 12cm pots at £7 each or two for £12. The price of the plants at Sapcote Garden Centre are extremely good value, some of the cheapest in the area.
Another good point about the prices is that from mid season (mid July onwards) the remaining bedding and tender plant prices are significantly reduced. And it's clear that people are buying the plants at those reduced prices.
Many, most in fact, other garden centres do not reduce the price of bedding and tender plants at this time of year and it is also clear that from mid July onwards the plants simply remain unsold. What happens to those plants I cannot be sure of but I suspect they are destroyed and what a waste that is.
SIZE: Not the largest but can still be described as a large garden centre interior sales area. The inside area is interesting to walk around but it soon becomes clear that the range of items for sale is not the same as many other large garden centres.
At Sapcote Garden Centre the first thing you will notice is the huge area given over to garden furniture. I cannot recall seeing such a large display of garden furniture in any other garden centre.
Huge display of garden furniture
It's interesting to note that in the, presumably self-written article about the owner of this garden centre, Andrew Porwol, it states that his expertise is in "garden furniture, gardening, garden centres, plants, growing, business, entrepreneurship.". Note that "garden furniture" comes first"!
The garden furniture is well displayed, in a new dedicated area. If you are looking for garden furniture I highly recommend visiting this garden centre. The prices are very competitive and delivery is ultra-quick because most items can be supplied direct from the garden centre.
If garden lighting of all sorts is your thing then you will find it at Sapcote Garden Centre. They also sell, cards, a few gifts etc. There is a comprehensive range of garden accessories, tools, fertilisers, pesticides etc..
On the other hand you will find almost a total absence of clothing for sale, there is very little in the way of a Food Hall and they are short on homeware items. Some may find that a blessing because, in exchange, it brings low prices for the garden items they do sell.
LAYOUT: Paths are wide and solid and eminently suitable for wheel chair users.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Excellent value for money.
Disabled access is good at Sapcote Garden Centre. Paths inside and outside and solid and wide enough for wheelchair access.
ADDRESS:
Sapcote Garden Centre
Hinckley Road
Sapworth
Leicester LE9 4LG
OWNER:
Private owner, Andrew Porwol
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
01455 274049
WEBSITE: https://www.sapcotegc.co.uk/
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