There's a trend in the UK for garden centres to be the perfect spot for a day trip. Gifts, items…read morefor the house, a restaurant, and of course some plants. Okell's does this really well. The restaurant is excellent quality and beats most good National Trust eateries. The selection of plants is great but not overwhelming. There are thoughtful elements like parking in front of the compost which is stored in the car park and the ability to pay inside without having to carry 200 litres of soil around the shop. The staff are all great and super helpful. I felt the price was competitive and lower than some other big brand garden centres. Definitely worth a couple of hours.

It was a couple of years back I went. They had 100's of types of clematis for around £7 a plant…read more It's always good to buy from a specialist if you can.

Great bargains to be had here - from cushions, to ornaments, to jewellery, to sofas! They have…read moreloads. This one is a particularly large Au Naturelle and has recently been refurbished. Staff helpful and prices cheap - excellent for a bargain

This shop has a great range of items and since being re done has a much better lay out not so…read morecramped. It has everything from candles and craft items to furniture although it's not a very large range of furnishings the prices are very reasonable especially for things like cushions and soft furnishings.

Gateacre Garden Centre isn't huge but what it lacks in size it makes up for in so many other ways…read more Selling a plethora of garden essentials, home ware, footwear, and food, there really is something for everyone. The plants are and good value for money, I should know my garden is full of them and they look great. In the home department they sell a range of lovely furniture, accessories and have a huge selection of yankee candles which give the shop a pleasing aroma. However, the real magic here happens at Christmas. The shop transforms into a winter wonderland selling all things festive and serving warm mince pies and mulled wine. The displays are fantastic, so much so that you don't want to touch anything! This place is guaranteed to bring out the child in you, there are lights everywhere you turn and immaculately decorated trees lend inspiration by the sleigh load. I highly recommend a trip to Gateacre Garden Centre at any time of year but especially at Christmas.

Today I visited the Gateacre Garden Centre and was greeted by a very impressive "Santa" who stood…read moreat the entrance wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, at his feet lay an open sack containing sweets if you wished to take one - I'm 44 and Santa looked so good he made me stop in my tracks, something I haven't done in many long years - I found myself without warning thrust back to my childhood as I stared at Santa in wonder ! a nice, magical but surreal feeling. The staff have certainly put huge effort into turning a part of their Garden Centre into a mini-grotto displaying different themes of Christmas decorations, all very tastefully done ... once again I found myself return to my childhood as I took time to admire my surroundings - I could easily have spent a small fortune, but as we're so close to Christmas I've already done that so I window shopped instead ! The festive music and wonderful aromas made shopping albeit window a very pleasant experience here. My only negative remark is I find this Garden Centre is a little on the pricey side, so I tend to visit only to gather some nice ideas which I purchase elsewhere for less. However if you don't mind paying a little over then I'd highly recommend this Garden Centre for its huge selection of quality plants and its interesting gift & card shop with a range of lovely gift items to choose from. Well Done to the Gateacre Garden Centre for really capturing the magic of Christmas which they've presented so well to their customers and Thank You for making me feel young again if only for a few moments ;o) x

A good all purpose garden centre, although sometimes a little pricey. However, the redeeming…read morefeature is the garden club of which you can become a member. Pay £10 per year and get vouchers for 24 cups of tea or coffee from the cafe throughout the year. This makes your money back. But on top of this they will also send you regular promotions and vouchers for other products. Very well worth doing in my opinion.

Our nearest garden centre prices seem the same as most garden centres we have been to. There is a…read morecoffee shop if you fancy a coffee or a snack. There is a small section at the back that has a good selection of fish. They also have some toys and books but these tend to be quite expensive.The garden centre is not huge but is okay.They have a good selection of plants and shrubs.

ideally located near all the main shops i find this is a good shop to have…read more Cheap toys and gift ideas and a good range pf products from cleaning to DIY

You gotta love Wilko's. They stock just about everything and the prices are VERY reasonable.read more

The best florist in the north west in my opinion, the staff are really friendly and helpful and…read morehave great ideas and suggestions. The flowers are of the highest standards and really beautiful and contemporary flowers are a specialty. It is just about the flowers it's about the presentation and this shop has it 100% right.

Homebase is one of those shops you only go in when you've got your own home, up until a couple of…read moreyears ago I wasn't interested. Now we're there every week! It does the general diy stuff you'd expect with some gardening stuff, furniture, and a good selection of homeware such as crockery, bedding, and they do plenty of nice things to decorate the house. The best thing is if you sign up for a free spend and save card so every time you buy something, you get points and these add up to vouchers to use in store. Another bonus is that they have 10% off days quite frequently where everything, even reduced stuff has 10% off. We've dropped on some great savings here and often wait for these weekends to save money. Customer service is great here and if you need to return something you can do it without much trouble at all. All its missing is a coffee shop!

Big store so you are likely to find what you're looking for.read more