Barton Grange Garden Centre, Preston

...and his wife’s delight – Barton Grange Garden Centre in Preston.

It’s hard to describe the delight of finding a place like this. (For experienced Ciaoers - I suppose it is like Moose going to Cadbury World or Trampus being given an Ann Summers shop.)

Garden Grange actually run 3 garden centres – Preston, Bolton and Stockport. We plan to visit the Stockport one soon, as it is the largest one ...
...It is attached to the Barton Grange Hotel.

~ GETTING THERE ~
It is in Barton, which is just far enough North of Preston to make it not too busy on the roads, but near enough to make it easy to find. We go there on the A59 and turn off onto the A6. You can also get to it by coming off the M6 at junction 32 (the Blackpool turn-off).

~ OPENING HOURS ~
They are exactly the same as every other largish garden ... more

Once upon a time in a galaxy not far from here a young couple fell in love and agreed to be manacled together for the rest of eternity. He had been a speed freak, and agreed to abandon his love of trying to kill himself in mobile metal coffins. She had been horse-mad and agreed to stop watching ‘Horse of the Year Show’, etc., and shouting at the riders for not treating their horses properly; she further agreed to never again pull the handbrake on to stop the car he was driving so she could jump out and bawl at a man who was whipping a horse.

They both decided they needed a new hobby together. Once the novelty of that wore off they picked another one. And the gardening bug was born.

He discovered the joy of turning a patch of barren earth into a fountain of colour and life; the pleasure of the feel of the rich, black loam in his fingers; the delight of discovering a rare plant on offer; the orgasmic glee of picking the first fruit from his first tree.

She found out that garden centres don’t just sell boring old plants and she could get away with sitting sunning herself in the garden while he worked if she pretended to be interested in what he was doing.

That was a long time ago. Since then we have had two children and my husband, Ray, takes less pleasure in the garden. For the first few years of parenting he decreed that no child, visiting or resident, was to so much as touch his plants, let alone kick a ball near them. When we heard about a child drowning in a shallow pond, though, we decided to give away our koi, fill in the pond, dismantle the water feature, move the elegant, trailing Japanese Maples and hang a swing from the pergola. And the garden was given over to the children. Sob.

About 4 years ago we moved from grimy St. Helens, where Ray and my son had suffered from asthma because of the pollution, to a market town in West Lancashire, not far from Preston. They have not suffered with asthma since, funnily enough. Here we inherited a large, well-stocked garden which had enough space for the swing, slide, goal, kids, dog and our two birds of prey (but that’s another op). We gave up our weekend hobby of garden centre spotting and took out membership of Chester Zoo.

OK, I’m getting to the point now. At Chester Zoo they have the most fabulous gardens and it has tickled Ray’s interest in gardening again. He reasons that the kids are older now (9 and 7) and not as likely to break the plants (yeah, right) so he can safely start messing about with the design of the garden. We visited a few local garden centres – him to brave the cold outside to examine every leaf of every plant out there; me to sniff all the different candles and squeeze all the teddies in the gift shop. Then we discovered a gardener and his wife’s delight – Barton Grange Garden Centre in Preston.

It’s hard to describe the delight of finding a place like this. (For experienced Ciaoers - I suppose it is like Moose going to Cadbury World or Trampus being given an Ann Summers shop.)

Garden Grange actually run 3 garden centres – Preston, Bolton and Stockport. We plan to visit the Stockport one soon, as it is the largest one (13 acres!). The Preston one is the oldest, it was opened in May 1963. It is attached to the Barton Grange Hotel.

~ GETTING THERE ~
It is in Barton, which is just far enough North of Preston to make it not too busy on the roads, but near enough to make it easy to find. We go there on the A59 and turn off onto the A6. You can also get to it by coming off the M6 at junction 32 (the Blackpool turn-off).

~ OPENING HOURS ~
They are exactly the same as every other largish garden centre : Monday-Saturday 9-5.30 with late-night opening until 8-ish on Thursdays from early Summer to December. Sundays are the usual 10.30-4.30.

~ INSIDE ~
My favourite bit. The range is vast – BUT not very different from other good garden centres. At this time of year it is everything Christmassy. They do Christmas rather well here actually, with a wonderful atmosphere and something different around every corner. They have a good range of decorations/lights and lots of gift ideas. At the moment they are offering special services such as bow-making and advice on making garlands and Christmas floral displays. They are even running special Christmas Workshops on these things. Apparently they get very busy though so it is best to book a place. There is a grotto but we haven’t tried it yet. We normally like to go there without the kids as they get bored in these places.

The houseplant section is good. At the moment it is bursting with poinsettias, of course. The staff here are helpful and friendly. We are good at killing houseplants, and they are always willing to offer advice and sympathy. Ray keeps bonsai trees (outdoor ones, the indoor ones don’t survive in our house) and he gets some of his supplies at Barton Grange. I like wandering through the tropical plants and palms.

~ PET DEPARTMENT ~
They sell the usual fish and small animals/birds, plus accessories and food. They give a six-month guarantee on their fish/animals, which seems quite a good idea. We like their range of water features, which is quite extensive. They also do a good selection of stoneware and terracotta things. These are horrendously expensive, of course, but nice to look at.

~ OUTSIDE ~
Apparently (I don’t go out there, it is too cold), this is a great place. It is bulging with all sorts of plants and trees. They grow some of them themselves at their own nurseries. Ray tells me they are good quality but not cheap. He often chooses to buy big plants there though, because they come with a 5-year hardy plant guarantee. This is the best we have found, most places only offer a maximum of a 1-year guarantee. And they do honour this, we have known people who have taken dead plants back and emerged with new, live ones.

(BTW Ray’s not in at the moment. I’ll ask him to expand on this section for me when he gets chance.)

~ CAFÉ ~
The Walled Garden Café Bar & Restaurant, they call it, and it is WONDERFUL. Well worth going in just for a look, but you will probably be seduced by the food on offer. It is a recreation of a walled garden that was there 100 years ago. They have re-created it inside. There is a terrace, a herb garden and a summer house. You have to see it to believe it.

~ OVERALL IMPRESSION ~
This is somewhere you take your Mum or a visiting aunt and hope they treat you to lunch in the café. It is somewhere to spend a pleasant couple of hours. The staff are plentiful and friendly. Their customer service is good and they readily give free advice. Their prices are not cheap, but are in line with most other good garden centres.

Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Barton Grange Garden Centre
Barton
Preston PR3 5AA
Tel: 01772-866135
 

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