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This is a totally independent GardenAction opinion of the
Smith's Nurseries in
Coventry. As the sign over the door proudly proclaims, these
nurseries were first established in 1942. What strikes you as you go
round the garden centre is the unusual balance between the area devoted
to plants sales and the area devoted to non-plant sales. Probably 90% to
plant sales and an unusually low 10% to non-plant sales. This may be
because around 80% of the plants are grown on site, a good point if you
are concerned about your carbon footprint. PLANTS
The layout of the plant area is very attractive,
click on the picture to the left see one of several well laid out
groupings. Another big plus is that most of the area is under
cover, great for a rainy day
It was extremely difficult to find specific plants
at this garden centre because there was an almost complete lack of
signs to indicate where plant groups were. Even when you found a
particular plant group, the individual plants appeared to be
randomly laid out. Plants in alphabetic order, as in many garden
centres, would be a good idea.
There was a good range of bedding plants, shrubs and
trees. Special mention has to go to the good range of small trees,
especially acers (one of the few plant groups to have an overhead
sign).
There was also an unusually large range of conifers, yews and box
trees. PRICES
Rose
�6.49
Common shrub (e.g. potentilla)
�5.99
Clematis
�4.97 to �6.97
Potted fruit tree (various rootstocks)
�19.95
Growmore, branded, 3.5kg
not available in this size
Growmore, branded, 1.5kg
not found in this size
Miracle Gro, soluble plant food, 1kg
�2.79
Evergreen
Lawn Builder 100 sq m
�6.99
Smith's Nurseries, Coventry
The prices of plants at Smith's Nurseries were lower than normal for
nurseries with this range of plants. The non-plant sales area was too
small to stock all our items, but the prices in general appeared to be
about average.