CHOOSE GARDEN CENTRES BY COUNTY BELOW
This independent review of Studley 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.
We have tracked the history of Studley Garden Centre (as it now named) back to 2009 when it was owned by Hillier Nurseries and Garden Centres. At that time Studley Garden Centre was called Hillier Garden Centre Redditch.
On 16 September 2011 the garden centre was sold to Hillview Garden Centres (CEO Boyd Douglas-Davies) and renamed to Studley Garden Centre. Note that Studley Garden Centre is in no way associated with Studley Grange Garden Centre in Wroughton, Swindon.
During its ownership by Hillview Garden Centres, Studley Garden Centre never really thrived. Indeed when we visited it in 2013 it was virtually deserted in May, a time of the year when most garden centres are at their busiest.
Hillview offered eight of their garden centres for sale in February 2019 and that included Studley Garden Centre. The price advertised for Studley Garden Centre (freehold) was £2,500,000.
In December 2019 British Garden Centres bought all eight of the Hillview Garden Centres for an undisclosed sum.
Read further down this page for an in depth and independent review of Studley 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.
Suffice to say that Studley Garden Centre is in our own personal list of garden centres which we have enjoyed - we rated it as eight out 10. It is well worth a visit.
Entrance to Studley Garden Centre
IS STUDLEY GARDEN CENTRE DOG FRIENDLY? Yes, Studley Garden Centre is dog friendly. Dogs are allowed in all areas of the garden centre including the cafe. One small area of the cafe is designated as dog and child free.
Mappleborough Green Garden Centre, Studley, Warwickshire
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Botany Bay Garden Centre, Redditch
Webbs of Wychbold, Droitwich
St Peters Garden Centre - Worcester - about 28 miles away
SIZE: The Gardener's Retreat Cafe at Studley Garden Centre is large with indoor and outdoor seating areas.
FOOD TYPE: The cafe serves standard type food for a garden centre. Breakfast service ends at 11.00, lunch service begins at 11.30. Our pictures of the menus (including prices) below give a better idea of the food on offer. Service finishes half an hour before the garden centre closes.
Our pictures of the menus below give a better idea of the food and prices on offer.
Breakfast menu page 1 at Studley Garden Centre
Breakfast menu page 2 at Studley Garden Centre
Children's menu at Studley Garden Centre
Mains menu at Studley Garden Centre
Burgers menu at Studley Garden Centre
Jackets and Wraps menu at Studley Garden Centre
Light bites menu at Studley Garden Centre
Sandwich menu at Studley Garden Centre
Hot Drinks Menu at Studley Garden Centre
FOOD QUALITY: We sampled the Loaded Brunch Omelette at £10.99. It was well presented and the meal was hot and tasty. The chips (well cooked and hot) and salad (crisp and fresh) which accompanied the omelette were above expectations.
The menu offers a wide-ranging choice of food.
Loaded Brunch Omelette at Studley Garden Centre
DECOR: The decor was very pleasant with solid, rustic tables and chairs. The whole area was well maintained and clean including the cutlery. The Gardener's Retreat cafe was in its own self contained area. Well behaved dogs are welcome at this cafe (inside and outside) with just one small area where dogs and children are requested not to enter.
View of cafe at Studley Garden Centres
OUTDOOR SEATING: The outside seating area is set pleasantly into a non-crowded area of the garden centre. It has some umbrellas for very hot days.
Studley Garden Centre outside seating area
SERVICE: There was minimal waiting time to place your order and service is to your table. From ordering our food to it arriving at our table took ten minutes or so, a reasonable wait for a hot main meal.
Service was prompt and polite. It's clear this cafe has many regulars with some table even being pre-booked. Staff are chatty and engaging with their customers whilst still providing good service.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Given the quality of the food, the service and the decor, we reckon this cafe offers good value for money. Slightly surprising to us was that the prices of some of the food differed between that on offer at other British Garden Centres cafes.
For example, at the Gloucester Garden Centre (a British Garden Centres cafe), the cost of a Big Breakfast is £12.49 but at Studley Garden Centre the cost is £11.99 - seems better value at Studley doesn't it? But when you compare the prices between different British Garden Centre cafes, some prices for specific meals are higher and some are lower. It just makes us wonder why.
It's also interesting to note that if you search the internet on any particular British Garden Centres cafe, you will only find the menu (which is basically the same for them all, Sunday Carvery aside), but no prices. The only way to find out the price at a British Garden Centres cafe is by going along to the cafe and seeing the menu they provide you with at that particular location.
This is the reason why we have provided pictures of the menus above which show the prices as well as what's on offer.
The cafe at Studley Garden Centre was awarded a Food Hygiene Rating of five out of five by Stratford-on-Avon District Council in October 2023. Click here for full details.
SIZE OF PLANTS AREA: The size of the plants area was medium to large.
View of plants area at Studley Garden Centre
PLANT SELECTION: A good selection of well maintained plants. British Garden Centres offer a one year guarantee on their hardy plants which is shorter than many of the larger garden centres. Having said that I would be hard-pushed to find any plant receipt in my house further back than a month, if that!
Healthy plants
LAYOUT: The layout of the area is simple but pleasant. As you enter the plants area from the main garden centre there is a covered area for tender plants. The majority of the plants area however is open to the elements so this is not an area for a rainy day. The area is clean and tidy.
There are very few signs to indicate where plant groups are placed so you need to wander around to find specific plants. Paths are wide, on solid surfaces with no significant slopes. The area is easy to navigate for wheelchair users.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Roses start at £17, clematis start from £18. What surprised us was that some of the clematis (smaller than the others) were "end of season" reduced from £22 to £10. At £10 that's reasonable but for such small plants the original £22 was well overpriced. That aside, value for money is good for a garden centre of this type.
SIZE: The size of the interior sales area is medium to large. The sales area has, for our liking, over-loud background music and this is accompanied by several advertising stations giving out their sales pitches.
LAYOUT: You will find all the normal goods for sale you would expect from a largish garden centre. Garden accessories, clothes, garden furniture, barbecues, cards, gifts, homeware and more. They have a particularly large and interesting houseplants section.
Houseplants at Studley Garden Centre
VALUE FOR MONEY: Average for a large garden centre.
Excellent inside and out. The car park is immediately outside the entrance and on level, hard ground.
ADDRESS:
Studley Garden Centre
8 Henley Road
Studley
Warwickshire
B80 7DR
OWNER:
British Garden Centres
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
01527 390590
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