CHOOSE GARDEN CENTRES BY COUNTY BELOW
This independent review of Shinfield 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.
Shinfield Garden Centre has a history which dates back several decades. We can trace it back to at least 2001 when it was known as Grovelands Garden Centre near Reading. It operated as a garden centre at that time but also as a cut flower service.
In 2006 Dobbies bought the garden centre, and the online cut flower business, for £5.05 million, a huge sum at the time. One major factor in the purchase was that Dobbies were expanding their cut flower business and the acquisition of Grovelands enabled them to expand this side of their business even further.
As part of their renaming strategy of their garden centres, Dobbies renamed Grovelands Garden Centre as Reading Garden Centre.
Reading / Shinfield Garden Centre when owned by Dobbies
In January 2025 British Garden Centres purchased Reading Garden Centre and renamed it as Shinfield Garden Centre. One reason for the name change was that British Garden Centres already had two other garden centres in the Reading area.
Shinfield Garden Centre entrance
Read further down this page for an in depth and independent review of Shinfield Garden Centre. In summary though, we feel that for a medium to large garden centre most people will not be disappointed.
IS SHINFIELD GARDEN CENTRE DOG FRIENDLY? Yes, Shinfield 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. The notice in the cafe (see the picture below) does ask you to sit with your dog in the dog seating area which is under cover.
Dog Friendly Notice at Shinfield Garden Centre
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SIZE: Medium to large, the main cafe has about 25 or more tables inside and about 20 tables outside.
FOOD TYPE: The cafe serves a very full menu of food for all tastes at this garden centre. Breakfast service ends at 11.00, lunch service begins at 11.30. Our pictures of the menus below give a better idea of the food on offer.
Breakfast menu page 1 at Shinfield Garden Centre
Breakfast menu page 2 at Shinfield Garden Centre
Children's menu at Shinfield Garden Centre
Mains menu at Shinfield Garden Centre
Burgers menu at Shinfield Garden Centre
Jackets and Wraps menu at Shinfield Garden Centre
Light bites menu at Shinfield Garden Centre
Sandwich menu at Shinfield Garden Centre
FOOD QUALITY: We called in for breakfast and sampled the sausage bap and were very disappointed with it. Judge for yourself the appearance by the picture below. As an aside, the picture tells no lies, the sausages really did look like that.
Sausage bap at Shinfield Garden Centre
We have eaten at several British Garden Centre cafes over the last few years and always found their food offering to be good so far. However the sausage bap at Shinfield missed the mark on a couple of counts.
First and most obviously, as the picture shows, the sausages were significantly burnt, not just slightly burnt but very burnt. The taste of the sausages was also well below average, lacking seasoning and being dry and too chewy.
The sausages on the menu were described as sliced and they were not sliced, just two whole sausages which covered half the base of the bap. I should have sliced them myself but it did not occur to me at the time. Overall I was not impressed with my sausage bap!
DECOR: The decor both inside and out was pleasant. Nothing particularly special, with plastic tables and chairs, but the overall impression was good. The whole area was very clean.
Shinfield Garden Centre cafe view
OUTDOOR SEATING: The outdoor seating area at Shinfield Garden Centre was separated from the main cafe and in pleasant surroundings.
Cafe outdoor seating
SERVICE: Service (to your table for most items) was prompt, speedy and pleasant at Shinfield Garden Centre. You choose a table, remember its number and then go to the counter to order. There is no way to reserve the table when you are waiting to place your order so it is possible to find it taken by the time you get back to your table.
A simple idea to avoid this is to have "Gone To Order Food .... labels with the menus on each table but this cafe does not provide this.
Our choice of food was delivered about five minutes after sitting at our chosen table. Overall, very speedy and pleasant service.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Taking into account the food, service and decor, value for money in the cafe is below average because of the qualty of the food.
The cafe at Shinfield Garden Centre was awarded a Food Hygiene Rating of five out of five by Wokingham Borough Council in March 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.
PLANT SELECTION: A good selection of healthy plants.
LAYOUT: The basic layout of the plants is mainly rows of plants in troughs. Almost no design thought has gone into making this area attractive. It is simply functional and clean. The paths are solid and wide. A small area of the plants is covered, about 15% so this is not a plants area for rainy days.
Plants area at Shinfield 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.
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. They sell everything you would expect from a largish centre including gifts, homeware, clothes etc.
Houseplants sales area
VALUE FOR MONEY: Average for a garden centre of this type.
Disabled access is good at Shinfield Garden Centre. Paths inside and outside are solid and wide enough for wheelchair access
ADDRESS:
Shinfield Garden Centre
166 Hyde End Road
Shinfield
Reading
Berkshire RG2 9ER
What 3 Words Address: ///juices.jacket.moved (click here to go there)
OWNER:
British Garden Centres (privately owned)
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
01189 884822
WEBSITE: https://www.britishgardencentres.com/
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