The outdoor plants area is medium sized and arranged in a rather boring grid of paths. The paths themselves though are wide enough for disabled access and are clear of debris.

All plants come with the traditional Dobbies five year hardy plants guarantee. The quality of the plants is excellent. Although this garden centre specialises in no particular area, most gardeners will be be satisfied with the range on offer.

Although all Dobbies garden centres do share some common elements, the signing of the outdoor plants area varies to a large degree. At Dobbies Garden centre, Birtley, the overhead signs are large but they only indicate growing conditions (e.g. full sun). No signs indicate where plants groups are to be found. On top of this omission, the plants are organised randomly rather than in any alphabetic order.

The information centre is in the middle of the outdoor plants area and stocks a wide variety of reading material. It was not manned at the time of our visit though.

The normal range of garden compost, stones, fencing and other garden hardware is there. Some of the outdoor area is covered but most of the area containing the plants is open to the elements.