Great selection of plants (and trees which I was looking for). Friendly staff. Cheers.read more

I'm not much of a Gardener but when I come here I can't help but look at all the new stock they…read morehave in home decor and cooking/baking utensils. I usually come here with my gran (a regular visitor). Their cafe offers fantastic home made lunches and cakes. It's very simple but great quality. Especially the cakes! A nice place for lunch or for a cup of tea. The service can't be beaten, very friendly local staff.

I came here for the first time two days ago and had a delightful two hours! I had expected a basic…read moregarden centre full of pots and plants and little else, but this place is full of high-quality beautiful gifts: china, glass, ornaments, homewares, books, jewellery and so much more! There is a gorgeous cafe as well my husband and I had lunch there and everything was so fresh and delicious (especially the most glorious cream cakes imaginable!!!). We bought some treats to bring home as well from the chilled cabinet, including Findlater's vegetable pate (something you can't find easily elsewhere). Of course, there are plenty of gardening tools, accessories and beautiful plants for sale, both for indoors and the garden. The staff are very helpful too. We asked for a couple of plants we couldn't find and the assistant insisted on phoning someone to see if they could track them down for us. It's found on the Ayr road going a few miles out of Kilmarnock, and there's a large car park at the front. (I'm sure it won't be long until we go over there again!)

We visited Hillside on Saturday past, to have some lunch and take our little boy to see Santa. We…read moredecided to come because it's great to visit and spend a few hours. This is so much more than just a boring garden centre, because I really would not be excited about visiting a garden centre! Hillside really have gone the distance to make this an interesting place to visit, regardless of whether you are into gardening, or not. Aside from the massive range of plants, shrubs and gardening accessories, Hillside also have a large section selling fish from Maidenhead Aquatics, which is lovely to have a look around. They also have a massive indoor shop, selling everything from standard gardening items, to barbecues, water features, and even homeware. They had the place all done up for Christmas and it really got us all in the festive spirit, it looked absolutely magical. The Santa's grotto was in aid of Clic Sargent, so as well as getting a great festive experience, we were also helping to support a great cause. There was a bit of a wait when we arrived, however we simply took our ticket and went off to get some lunch at the on-site tearoom. I had been to Hillside a few times before, however this was my first time visiting the tearoom, and this exceeded our expectations by far. I was expecting tea/coffee, tray-bakes, and potentially some pre-packed sandwiches, however I couldn't believe the fantastic full menu they had on offer, hot foods such as gourmet hotdogs, burgers, pies, quiches, and any type of sub or sandwich you wanted. We had a sandwich and a toastie and the quality of the food was excellent. We had so much fun at Hillside and will look forward to coming back again soon!

My parents are both big green fingers and loving daughter thatI am *ahem* when they need a hand…read moregarden wise I'm often called upon to trek up to Hillside with them to help out with carting all the goods to and fro. (Thankfully aided by those huge trolleys they have!) Hillside is a great garden centre which stocks a massive range of anything and everything you could ever need for your garden. Hillside Nursery is now the biggest garden centre in Northern Ireland. It's located on the Doagh Road, Newtownabbey. It recently underwent a major renovation which saw the premises extending with a new car parking space, a lovely though expensive coffee shop and an indoor covered plant area. They really needed this new parking space as it used to be on a sunny Saturday the whole place would be totally packed out and often put people off visiting but thankfully there's room for everyone now. Happy gardening everyone!

Now I'm not an outdoorsy or garden kind of person, but every time I visit this garden centre, I…read moreresolve to go home and transform our boring patio and lawn into a overflowing cottage garden. Then I get distracted by the interior goodies. And the café. There's always next year to create that garden. Donaghadee Garden Centre is the ultimate treasure trove of lovely things for your home. Scented candles, oven gloves, cushions, little pieces of furniture. If you're a minimalist freak, it's not for you, but if you love a little bit of controlled clutter, then you'll be in heaven. There's Cath Kidston galore and lots of shaker style pieces like wooden signs and table cloths. But none of it is twee which is my worst nightmare. Oh and the café. I often go in swearing that I'll just have a scone, and then just cannot resist the unbelievably good chicken and broccoli bake. It is just so tasty and full of proper pieces of chicken and real ingredients, and comes with beautiful home made coleslaw and salad. Delish. So, for those of you who must buy stuff for the garden when you're in a garden centre, there are all kinds of plants and shrubs and compost and other dirty things that you need for digging about in the flower bed. Happily for me, there are also some very knowledgeable members of staff to help the clueless.

Christmas tree selection was good, Santa not on site today. Had coffee and some freshly baked goods…read more Got 2 bird houses and bird feed. Staff helpful in selecting the bird feed

It's a garden centre. It's bank holiday Monday. I was expecting it to be mentally busy. It wasn't…read more Woodlawn is 5 mins from my house and it's the go to place for decent bedding plants and shrubs. I'm not much of a gardener as I have a regular rather expensive manicure so I usually direct operations and himself or the big son does the donkey work. I've bought plants before from Homebase but they're usually forced on and unless the weather is fairly mild they either die on me or don't thrive. I don't mind paying a bit extra for quality plus the guys in Woodlawn are really knowledgeable about horticultural stuff and are happy to give you all sorts of hints and tips about what or not to buy. The shop bit is pretty excellent and not at all necessarily garden related. They have stylish Pilgrim jewellery, scarves, Crabtree & Evelyn products, lovely gift ideas and a great range of Regatta outdoor clothing and wellies plus some locally sourced food products. They have a great range of garden furniture and barbecues if our weather ever allowed you to sit out and in a few weeks they'll have hanging baskets and ready planted tubs. They have a great restaurant too with comfy sofas and a nice view of all the plants and things. So I guess I have to give it a 5* rating as they really have thought of everything. Worth a visit if you're in to your garden and even if you're not the coffee is good

Used to be great for lunch but now can't help but feel they are trying to cut costs with things and…read morenothing special anymore. Salad with Panini is pathetic.