Carpenters Nursery & Farm Shop in St Albans

We should all make more of an effort to eat local and this place really sells that. They had a fabulous range of locally grown/made produce which was great to see. It was lovely to look around, and they had a fantastic refill section. It’s on the upper end of pricing, but I guess you have to pay for the privilege of not having single use plastics, which, if you care about the environment, you are happy to do. We got coffee and cake from the restaurant which were exquisite - a brilliant range of alternative milks, and you can tell the cakes really are homemade (it would of been great to know which local produce was used!) and the brunches around us looked lovely. The staff were incredible - really friendly and upbeat. Sadly, a range of the items in the gift shop look cute, but unfortunately are made in China.

Liked this nursery and farm shop, but feels like something is missing here... can't put my finger on it, but when I do - will update this review!

All excellent apart from the cafe, we were about to go for lunch but as we waited to enter two groups of people excited with dogs. Therefore on the grounds of hygiene risk and potential nuisance we left and went elsewhere. Why people must take their dogs with them everywhere is very strange.

Small nursery business with very helpful staff.

my first time visiting the place .would recommend it .Great plants and lovely place

Ok but restaurant is very small

Very disappointed in the eating area, I am 83 and do not eat as much as I used to,but it seems it is against policy to do smaller meals unless you are under 10, so ended up just having a scone, will definitely not be visiting again.

My absolute favourite garden centre.

This is a small-ish garden centre compared with some of the national chains but it's got some nice stuff. We bought a huge terracotta pot (which we had been unable to find elsewhere) and celebrated with lunch in their cafe (the Potting Shed), which is a very nice place with very good food.

Not so dog-friendly!!!! Updated: Following the company response below, I would add that any signage regarding the non dog areas obviously isn’t clear enough as I would have avoided the food area. As I pointed out your attitude was understanding and I merely wanted to point out to others that despite the web and google message dogs are not allowed in the FARM shop. Secondly I did apologise for my dogs pee but merely added some light hearted humour! Based on your response I’ll consider him banned. ****************************** Visited here last week on a mission for chutney!! Checked Google and saw the farm shop and cafe are dog friendly. I arrived and saw the same message repeated on a sign at the entrance. What they actually mean is the garden centre shop not the farm shop!! My definition of a ‘farm shop’ is food etc from farms. I wanted to buy from the farm shop. As I sauntered around with my relatively well behaved pooch I was approached by a hasty chap who urged me to leave the food area because I had a dog. I pointed out the website info and signage, to which he said that should probably be made clearer. The experience was pleasant enough and I was allowed to pick up my chutney but I wanted to point out the misleading message. PS I guess my pooch was making his feelings known on the matter when he peed on the plants on his way out 😂 sorry about that. I had no idea he was going to do that but I must admit it made me chuckle!!

I love this shop, plants are wonderful gift shop/ grocer great and the Potting shed does the best eggs benedict.

little bit expensive but nice garden center

it's changed a lot since I last went. The item I bought was more expensive from there. Cafe looked nice but I didn't go in.

The best run garden center and eating house in St Albans

Great plant nursery with large selection and helpful staff. The farm shop is nice avd the cafe has great food and coffee.

I love going to this garden centre. They have so much to offer there and also have a lovely shop selling gifts. Their cafe is lovely too.

Well worth a visit and we will certainly return The potting shed is great for a drink and something to eat

Lovely garden centre, nice food too. We came for breakfast and they were fine with bringing the dog in the restaurant too.

Guys can you supply a large Strelitzia for indoors with suitable pot? Sure it will take a week to source. Great, and here it is. Delivered to the studio as promised and with good cheer, we are thrilled to add this awesome specimen, and to have shopped locally for it. Thank you guys, a pleasure to have you join us on the search for what is a very impressive plant.

Came with family to celebrate birthdays, staff as always very friendly and helpful. I'm a Coeliac and they always go through the menu with me and the kitchen are very careful with my order. Very good menu choices. They brought out a cake with candles on as a surprise, very nice touch. Have been many times and always a pleasure to go back.

Following a recent bereavement, I went to Carpenters to find a thank you gift for the care home where my Mum had been living. I was looking for a large planter containing a rose. I asked for help and Darren appeared. They did not have anything resembling what I was looking for. Darren immediately took me to find a pot and suggested plants to accompany a rose I liked. He told me he would pot everything up when he finished at the end of the day and it would be ready for me to collect the next morning. I am amazed by Darren's kindness and compassion and was delighted by the beautiful planter. Thank you so very much - 'going the extra mile' seems an inadequate description of Darren's response. Also, if you haven't been before - treat yourself at The Potting Shed. The mushrooms on toast are delicious!

Exceptionally well stocked garden centre with friendly, expert staff on hand for guidance and advice. The farm shop is first class too.

We came here after hearing rave reviews and to be honest we were underwhelmed, the bacon in the eggs Benedict was not crispy is was rock hard and I struggled to eat it, the halloumi was not cooked for long enough and the chips that came with the children’s meal, were not chips they were scraps at best and cold a real shame as the setting is great and the staff attentive

Not the largo Garden Centres but they know what they are talking about and everything is well cared for. The cafe is super too.

Good selection of plants and all the usual stuff you would expect to find, very helpful and friendly staff, well worth a visit

A top-class garden centre with a very popular restaurant. The staff are very knowledgeable and pleasant. Prices are similar to all local competitors. Parking places cope on the busiest days. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, it is closed in the evenings.

Lovely garden centre with fab plants and lovely restaurant on site

Peculiar flavours and expensive

Lovely place. Beautifully kept plants. Nice gift section. Great outlet in-store called the refillshop. Take your own containers and buy, cereals, pasta, rice, dried fruits, nuts, sweets. Even buy shampoo and shower gel Great place. Lovely restaurant and great farm shop. Well worth a visit.

Great food in the cafe with great garden/ fields

Great little garden centre with a good variety of plants and associated items. It's worth a visit.

A lovely place for buying fruit and veggies and beautiful plants…but on hot days, it’s really a very bad idea to buy their quiche as you’ll end up with food poisoning a few hours after consuming. Carpenters, I love your shop but please please make sure your refrigeration system works. 🤢🤮 Edited: in response to James Carpenter....what's "out of line" is that you should be a caring individual and reflecting on your customers health and well being, rather than declaring my very serious review as "slanderous". At least take what I've shared with you and consider reviewing your refrigeration system and perhaps even your quiche so that other customers who may be more delicate than me, don't die from such an extremely painful episode of food poisoning. The only thing I ate was that quiche. Within an hour of eating it, I was in pain with vomiting and diarrhoea for several hours. Be kind to your customers....listen to this review and do something about it instead of taking offense....after this reaction from Carpenters, I absolutely will not return to purchase from your company and I most definitely will let everyone I know about my experience. My hope is that my "unhelpful" review here will make another potential customer who may be more vulnerable, consider your food options vs their health. Edit again: Let me state it plainly for you....On Friday 16th of June shortly before you closed for the day, I purchased a "Potting Shed Quiche" for £3.50.....I went home and heated it up and ate it for my dinner. I'm intermittent fasting so I'd not had anything else to eat before consuming your quiche and I didn't eat anything after eating it. Within a few hours of eating your quiche, I was projectile vomiting the quiche into my toilet bowl. I literally thought I was going to die from vomiting. I shared my review to help warn other customers from the same experience which is what Google Review is set up for. I care about other people you see and don't want to hear about someone else getting sick or potentially dying. I've kept the packaging and receipt from my visit to your shop and I've also reported my experience with the council. I will never visit your shop again and am so disappointed by your terrible reaction to my very concerning experience. I thought your company cared but I have been drastically wrong.

A friend of mine and I visited this cafe for the first time this Sunday morning and were very impressed. Lovely decor, decent food, but most of all amazing staff. We were taken care of by Layla who was a breath of fresh air, great energy and super friendly. It’s a midway point between us so I think this will be our regular meeting place from now on! Dan

Great place. Very good selection of greetings cards and lovely fresh food department. Going to try one of their individual quiches for supper. AND there's a branch of The Refill Pantry.

Mid size garden centre with farm shop and cafe.

Very nice place food in the cafe was lovely staff very nice & helpful one thing it was so noisy ladies behind us

Been coming here for years on and off. Since the massive revamp several years ago now the place is amazing. Very high quality plants, a great ,good value butchers fridge ( what we tend to use it for most these days) cafe which seems extremely busy with young families especially Saturday and Sunday mornings and a refill centre. I'm not much of a big spender when I go there but I wish them every success. It's a lovely place just to potter around.

Lovely plant nusery with a good choice

A great garden centre, wide range of plants, lots of choice in the gift shop and farm shop with many tempting foods! Didn't visit the tea room this time but it looked lovely, so we will be back!

Veg great plants and refill dried goods a little bit on the pricey side but all veg sound and delicious

Great little nursery and farmshop with a little restaurant. Also has gift shop and some houseplants. We'll worth a visit.

Fantastic local beer selection!

Great fresh local produce. Sadly, this comes at a high price. E.g Steak at £50 /kg.

Wonderful prices and very good products..

Amazing, a real gem in St Albans.

Recommended by a friend for lunch. Very busy but good service & quality food

Was treated to lovely lunch by friends but found the plants very expensive

Well organised, great range, staff are friendly and helpful. Prices can be a little steep

Great selection of plants and gifts, a florist and café and friendly helpful staff and large car park 👍👍🎁

Great variety of plants pots and gifts

Beautiful set out nursery.lots of fresh vegetables and organic food.diabled parking and accessible. The restaurant looked nice,but was so busy we could not get a table.advise booking in advance.

Really lovely garden centre with a large variety of produce as well as plants which are all well looked after. Also the food is of excellent quality and cooked to order. Highly recommended.

Always plenty of variety of plants, friendly staff and I can highly recommend the cafe too.

Family run. Knowledgable friendly staff. A lot of refurb has taken place over the last few years. I returned a pack of three sets of garden lights. Not only did they replace with no fuss but gave me back the other two lights that were working as well!

Lovely food at a reasonable price

Loved it good stellectoin of flowers

Some attractive and healthy plants for sale, interesting things in the shop and a welcome cup of tea at the cafe (even if they were a bit sparing with the butter for the accompanying tea cake).

This is the best vegetarian English breakfast i ever had The food is fresh and organic You can also buy from their shop The staff are friendly But make sure to come early to the restaurant so you can get a place Its always busy on weekends

Excellent cafe, easy parking, great reception by skilled staff, lovely environment and ambience, very reasonably priced, surrounded by an extensive plants and gardening needs area and a very nice farm shop.

Bit disappointed called said had a fern tree but when got there no tree .But when I did ask about the fern yhe staff was very helpful

Super nursery and farm shop. Plenty of choice, fresh produce daily fresh bread and meat in the shop. Nice cafe.

Good selection, but top Dollar 🤑

A very nice family run garden centre and farm shop. The shop has expanded since I last visited and has a vast choice of quality - and a lot of local- produce. Worth a visit. They now (2022) have a 'refill pantry' to reduce plastic waste and fill your own containers with pasta, flour, toiletries etc.

Nice Nursery, helpful staff, Plants in good condition

Very knowledgeable & friendly staff, plus best selection of indoor plants and pots I've seen in a long time. Recommended.

Great local farm shop and dog friendly cafe.

Nice place but a little over priced.

Busy but OK, the entrance to the car park needs widening

Great local Garden Centre which we used for the first time. Love the Cafe for lunch, served by friendly smiley staff.

First visit, excellent variety of produce and food and service in restaurant couldn't be bettered

Very good nice place very friendly. Lovely plants.

This garden centre is great they have a wide array of plants for the garden aswell as have an excellent selection of house plants too. Aswell as the garden centre there's a farmers market selling fresh fruit, veg and local produce just as honey, jams and cakes! There's also the ability to use the refill pantry were you can refill your own containers for a more sustainable way of living which I love! There's a verity of pasta, rice, nuts, sweets and chocolate. Not forgotten the potting shed cafe...the cakes are scrumptious especially with a nice pot of tea! Worth a trip out if you like a garden centre with a cafe.

Great selection of stuff for the garden. Got just what we needed.

Pancake day it's loverly after I have pancake I'm happy

Very tidy well run local nursery and tea room extraordinaire.

Great place for keen gardener's. I cannot wait to buy my flora and fauna from here for my garden

Refill Pantry here open on Sundays is an absolute saviour when I can’t get to St A on a Saturday. Free parking too!

Well stocked for the time of year, with tempting spring flower arrangements. Staff knowledgeable and professional. The right size for a garden centre, not too big, not too small.

This nursery, is not as big as others but the customer service is extraordinary. I came for a christmas tree which was perfect , very helpful chap. I asked about replanting some flowers and what should go where and the young man called Darren, was so helpful. It would seem there was not much he didnt know about soils and plants. Very helpful chap. Thank you Darren I shall be back to bother you some more.

I find the price and selection of small options items disappointing and in the cafe serves terrible watery coffees

Loved the variety got more than I went in for

Absolutely lovely place ,great plants, wonderful choice of delicious foods, cafe was delightful, nice food well presented, well worth a visit

Lovely restaurant. Food great and freshly cooked. Will definitely be going again.

Lunch at The Potting Shed was a very pleasant experience. A bustling atmosphere, excellent food and staff. Will visit again.

The fresh vegetables alone make a visit worthwhile.

Great farm shop for quality produce as well as the plants nursery. We visit the Potting Shed cafe regularly and enjoy that too.

Beautiful setting, really lovely and very attentive staff, excellent service, delicious food The staff went above and beyond, an extra plate for my children's shared food, and offered to take my food to keep it warm while I fed my children - not the kind of service I've ever experienced, it was an absolute breath of fresh air Exceptional, friendly staff - Hats off to Julie especially <3

The best outdoor restaurant in the summer for brunch/lunch

انبهرت بالمكان، والمكان عبارة عن مشتل للنباتات وسوق سوق بقالة يحوي الكثير من الخضار المتنوعة والمعلبات واللحوم وأنواع الشاي والقهوة والبهارات والمكسرات، وتأتي المفاجأة عندما تعبر البقالة تجد مطعم رائع وجميل وراق، والخدمة ممتازة جداً وسريعة وسأكرر زيارته😍👌 I was fascinated by the place, and the place is a nursery for plants and a grocery market market that contains a lot of various vegetables, canned goods, meat, tea, coffee, spices and nuts, and the surprise comes when you cross the grocery store, you find a wonderful, beautiful and elegant restaurant, and the service is very excellent and fast and I will repeat his visit 😍👌

Nice small garden centre/nursery. Good selection of quality plants. Also small shop selling interesting quality food. Have a cafe too but didn't like their coffee. That aside an all round good place. My first choice destination for all things gardening.

Had a lovely lunch here. Staff very attentive and a really pleasant atmosphere. Will be returning again soon. Would highly recommend. The shop is well stocked with plants and also fresh produce.

I love this place. Is dog friendly. Great quality and price of flowers and plants. Great atmosphere and views at the café with great food too. I'm a happy customer!

What a delightful place. The staff were very friendly and helpful in the cafe and the food was delicious.

Very good nursery; lovely selection of plants/ pots/ etc.. Has great farm shop and restaurant/ cafe on site. Visited a few times now and will be going back.

Sitting out side for lunch great breakfast menu best for me . Great shop can get carried away!!

Sell the best sausages in the would.

Small centre, but good quality plants

Bit expensive, not a massive selection, cafe kitchen shuts at 3pm Staff very friendly though.

A great garden centre with a love coffee shop

If you're looking for a shop with friendly face and assistance, this is the shop for you. I visited many garden centre's but this one is my favourite. I bought many flowers, soils and fertilisers from this place and never got disappointed. Prices are always resonable and the staff are really polite and friendly.