Coton Orchard in South Cambridgeshire

Excellent garden centre, including a superb aqatics unit.

Actually, a post about Maidenhead Aquatics, which is inside Coton Orchard Garden centre. The staff are amazing! They are so knowledgeable, helpful and caring of the fish. I never go to any other Aquatics place now. Thanks! 😊

Lots of variety of plants and various bits of the garden and home stafffor helpful when asked nice and clean free car parking will visit again

This garden centre has plenty to offer. From plants, equipment, clothing and lots of Christmas selections Their cafe is always well frequented and has a good selection of food and drink. Just relax and enjoy a good cup of coffee with a cake. The staff are all helpful and very professional One we will be visiting more frequently.

Great garden centre selling kitchen ware, gifts, toys, food stuffs, drinks, clothing, oh and plants too! Big car park, well maintained facilities and good cafe. Friendly staff.

Absolute gem of a garden centre. Granted it is not the biggest, but everything is of such high quality! The centre has even more than just "garden centre-y" stuff, it has an onsite butcher, clothes post office, restaurant, food market/greengrocer and alcohol! One of my favourite places, the only let down is their loyalty card doesn't give that many good discounts.

Very busy lunchtime, long wait to get to the till but the staff there were very pleasant and helpful. Didn’t wait too long considering, for the hot drinks to be brought to the table. Unfortunately you then had the option of drinking them whilst hot or letting them go cold, whilst waiting for food, approx 20mins. Not an option to queue again for drinks once food arrived as that would be another 15mins. The pie and mash were good and hot, (peas were cold), if a little expensive for what you get. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the Chicken, Bacon & Cheese Ciabatta. It was cold, dry and tasteless. Very little filling, bacon conspicuous by its absence, only two tiny, diced pieces of bacon and very little chicken or cheese. So dry that after the first couple of bites, I had to scrape off the rest of the filling and eat just that, a whole three forkfuls. However, the worst thing of all was when a passing member of staff (foh?) asked if everything was ok? When I replied “no it’s cold” he replied “Is it?” and walked off. So £30 down, over an hour in total, cold tea/coffee and staff who couldn’t care less. One Bubble for clean table/cutlery, one Bubble for the nice lady on the till. Please don’t waste your money here.

This is a nice garden center but fairly pricey on food and garden thing I bought a item from the garden centre not to far from here for £11.99 at Coton orchard garden centre it cost £15.99 so need to shop around

Garden centre really nice café really disappointing, table for four right opposite automatic doors which staff kept walking closely too and making doors open and close general public kept away from them to prevent cold blowing in. Meals came out one by one quite await between each one, sweetener in tea didn't dissolve wasn't sure if sweetener or milk ? My friend asked waitress if she had any Idea what the lumps floating on the tea was she went away came back and said we had put the milk in before sweetener and they would not replace pot of tea as it looked as though we had drank first cup, we had tea for two and I poured two cups from one of two pots of tea for my husband and I. Not really in the mood today to complain just felt an apology and top up would have been a nice gesture, approximately 5 to 10 minutes later the waitress returned and said would you like another cup of tea ? By this time we're ready to leave so I did decline, not sure why the manager had change of heart however to little to late, definitely won't be returning 🥴

The food was ok when it eventually came out one meal at a time with long waits in between. So I got mine first waited so long for the other four to arrive I had to start my meal before it got cold. My friend put a sweetener in her tea and it went lumpy, when we complained we were told it’s because she put the sweetener in after pouring the tea. So wouldn’t change it. Never ever had that problem before anywhere?? Then 10 minutes later the girl came back and said her supervisor said she would change. Told them not to bother. How petty not to change a cup of tea when first asked. We won’t be returning

Very nice shop,definitely a place to go on my day off Recommend to everyone

Very large, quality garden centre with cafe, food hall, clothes section, as well as -of course- plants garden tools and ornaments etc. Prices can be a little on the higher side, so not for the budget minded but the quality of items is high. There to meet friends in the cafe & have a quick wander round- very pleasant!Christmas time- highly recommend a visit then- a feast for the eyes & some lovely things to purchase- if you have the wherewithal!

Cafe was great and god value. Interesting variety of plants.

Pre-ordered fish and they ran out! Substitute pie was cold in the middle. Had diarrhoea that evening.

Good fish store with knowledgeable staff

We came yesterday had breakfast it was warm and Tomatoes were cold.I didn't want sausages and asked for a substitute was told that couldn't be done .I felt that was a bit unfair as I still paid full price for breakfast.

Lovely garden centre and the cafe serves good food. Go there with friends for coffee and shopping

My first visit and certainly won't be my last, it is just full of lovely quality goods. The butchers and the green grocery are amazing well set out and very tempting, I brought both meat and groceries and the quality was wonderful.

Sadly for the restaurant we were seated with a full view of the kitchen door .Poor food hygiene to say the least ,hands in hair then for picking food up to plate it up ,dropped handful of chips onto plates ones fallen onto the work surface picked up and placed back into a bigger bowl ready to serve the next plate , food?breaded chicken taken from the oven in view by hand waved in the air then put on plate hand and oven and hands then wiped with blue paper towels. Coronation chicken so spicy it stung our mouths. God help them they need it !!!.

Amazing service in the shop and the restaurant. Where the food is very basic and a bit over priced.

For somewhere that is so busy and food is great, the queuing system is dire and the wait even more painful. Sadly not as good as it used to be

Lots to look at! Great garden centre

No easy to find your way round. Good range of products. Nice cafe. Will return soon.

Visited again on 20/01/2025 for breakfast eggs on toast £6.49, whilst tasty, I felt this was overpriced and compared to other breakfast establishments, on the high side.Used to be a regular visit to Polhill in the past but no more. Although the centre is in pleasant surroundings, there’s only clothes and shoes for women and the prices in the food hall, well, they were eye watering but clear that they are now geared up to serving a particular type of customer, ones with deep pockets. The restaurant has seen better days, all in all value for money……..no, not in my opinion especially in these times when some or most think twice about what to spend their money on.

Excellent garden centre and also a very good butcher and deli

Lovely selection of things to look at and purchase. Great tea room

Had hot drinks on Saturday morning, served quickly with a smile. Good hot drinks.

Nice place for gardening and farm products. Also varieties of goods to explore. Food is nice but a bit late and hot breakfast is served rather cold.

Well worth a visit and the food hall is amazing

Excellent service and a wide range of products. The singing reindeer are back. A must for the after school run and obviously a drink and a cake. 👍

This is a great garden centre with a wide variety of plants and products. Having bought plants here for several years, I can confidently say the quality is excellent. My only minor criticism is that the indoor plant selection is a bit limited, though this seems to be a common issue across the UK. There's also a decent café with reasonably priced food. It does get busy around lunchtime, so it’s worth arriving early if you’re planning to eat there. Overall, highly recommended!

First visit and the Christmas section was magical

Sells loads of stuff. Quote good plants. Sells pots , garden accessories, clothes, indoor plants and food. Cafe quite pleasant.

We went here for breakfast. Just a warning to others don't bother, I had a so called full English that arrived half cooked, Lukewarm, limp bacon and under cooked sausages. When I complained they took the 2 sausages and bacon back and brought them back not much better. Absolutely disgusting.

This is a dreadful place. I wish I had read the reviews before I went. I would have given it a wide berth. The food was poorly cooked and if there is a real 'chef' in the kitchen, his / her cv was written by the same person who wrote Rachels from account's. I have read all the excuses on previous comments and obviously nothing has changed. They really don't care. Overpriced, grubby and to be avoided at all costs.

Good variety of things to look at. Not too busy and plenty of parking.

Stopped here for Christmas Eve breakfast to find cake and coffee only being offered. Everything grubby and tatty. Cutlery and glasses in horrible state. We have traditionally made this our refreshment stop but won't be visiting again

Fantastic Shop And A Walter Smith Butchers 👏 Bonus

One of the best garden centres with everything you need for a great shopping experience.

Great for Christmas gift ideas.

The rating I've given is for the cafe. Waited in a long queue for at least 10mins before I even got the hot drinks i ordered the Mint Hot chocolate with cream and aero pieces thought I'd treat myself it was nearly £5 so I a good Hot Chocolate, well it was in a normal sized cup 3 quarters full with some cream and areo springed on top it was luke warm. The staff weren't overly friendly either. I won't be rushing back anytime soon

Not as wow!! As I thought it was going to be

Horrible place. Have to wander too and fro to get through the place. No signs to show where the restaurant is or how to exit. Crowded, noisy, smelly with the overbearing stench of artificial Xmas smells. Not a good experience and won't bother visiting again

Would like to say a big thank you to all that helped my mum and us when she took a funny turn in the xmas section today ,she is ok now, just very tired after an eventful 48hrs.THANK YOU.

Half an hour wait for food but plenty of tables free later on after the busy lunch time period, just not acceptable. Also tell your customers about the wait before you take their money! Won’t be back.

Ok but busy but very good and lots of Xmas decks

The garden center itself was lovely - beautiful plants, well-organised, and a great selection for every type of gardener. Good price for garden furniture too. However, the cafe was a bit of a disappointment. The fryer was out of order, which limited the menu quite a bit, and the kids’ meals were unfortunately not up to par. The Sunday roast was also underwhelming, with potatoes that were overcooked and burned. It’s a shame, as the setting has so much potential. Hopefully, they’ll make improvements in the hot meals soon to match the quality of the garden center itself! Coffee and homemade cakes were delicious though.

Have been coming to the Orchard once a week on average since moving into the area. Great little cafe, selection of plants and of course your general garden centre bits 'n' bobs. Christmas here is also pretty impressive/special.

Nice place to visit, great assortment of curiosities and a nice food hall and cafe, enjoyed our visit and will visit again

We absolutely love this garden centre! Always have a lovely visit. The house plant section is my favourite. A beautiful range of houseplants. Coton Orchard has a selection of Christmas decorations displayed & a small selection of Halloween decorations. An absolute must see are the beautiful flowers & plants in the outside area, as well as the lovely Aquarium Shop. We always love watching the Stingrays in the entrance. A lovely variety of colourful fish. Another firm favourite part of Coton Orchard is the farm shop, fresh produce & the butcher section. Lovely produce, outstanding meat & butcher knowledge. I love the sausage roll counter. Overall, a lovely garden centre & farmshop.

An ideal space to relax and shop for decorations for your home.

Lovely cafe - good food and amazing cakes!

Beautiful garden centre, lovely items I would definitely recommend a visit if you aren't too far away. They always have some kind of offer to be had. Great Christmas decorations!

Lots to see. Toys for kids in cafe. Good selection of plants and gifts

Met family for lunch here. The food was ok, although I found the pesto in the roll a little too oily. Just my preference. The others had also had rolls, which they enjoyed. The swapping of crisps to thick cut chips was an extra £2.50 which I thought was a little expensive. As was the price of a slice of cake £5! But then we didn't have to go for a slice.... The restaurant was a long way from the entrance, sited near the exit, you had to go via the rest of the indoor part of the garden centre, especially if you only wanted to visit the cafè and nothing else. If there is another route, it wasn't very well signposted. The toilets were clean and tidy. Decor good. Overall, it was a nice place the plates of food coming out of the kitchen looked good...perhaps I should have chosen differently.

Loved walking around the Christmas decorations and having a coffee I the cafe

Would love to have been able to stay much longer.

A really lovely place with plants, christmas decorations, and grocery(a lot of things seemed local would definitely come back for the local honey that even had a batch number on it). There is even a small cozy cafe. Loved the place.

This place is absolutely huge! We didn't even manage to get all the way round it. Lots of different sections for clothing, cosmetics, pet supplies and gardening. Plus a yummy food bit which we ran through because we were out of cash and it's all so tempting! Friendly staff and clean customer toilets. Little bit on the higher price point for some things but well worth the visit

Has change hands from when I last went there. It seems to sell a lot more than it did before. I was impressed with the choice in the store. You can now buy clothes as well as plants. It still has a very nice restaurant. They also sell Jacuzzis. It is also dog friendly for behaved dogs. Access for the disabled is available as with bays just outside the entrance for parking. Bike rakes too. Their Christmas selection is just being installed.

All the usual things you expect from a garden centre plus tropical fish are worth a visit.

Great place, lot's to look at. Cafe is lovely too with good selection.

A bit chaotic, there’s a sign saying ‘wait to be seated’ but nobody seats you. You have to just go and order at the till like a cafeteria. With the breakfast you can’t swap anything out. You can take things off but not add anything in its place. Which is a bit stingy. Apart from that it’s all very average. Hence 3 stars.

Nice place I'm a coach driver were you park very messy and people bringing it on the coach

Nice garden centre worth a visit, I bought some beaut houseplants . Would recommend this place

Very nice garden center but staff are not very friendly, when I asked could have couples of boxes she's, was very disrespectful to me as I spent a lot of money in the garden center she told me,l could have one box were there was so many boxes by the checkout? I find very strange? I hope they should change their attitude towards customers very bad for business and disappointing for customers ☹️

This garden centre has almost everything you could ask for. Allowing dogs in would be excellent. - I revisited Coton and discovered a small sign to say that Dogs are allowed, apologies to COGC for the misunderstanding. A great place to visit. Update Sept 24. A revamp to the cafe area has been good.

Up market garden centre. With up market prices. Restaurant with limited menu. Again top end priced.

Lots to see and do. Good variety of plants. A little expensive for my taste. Well equipped shop with a wide variety of goods and services. Good parking.

Everything was just perfect. My friend came from Scotland and she is already planning her return

I can't thank/praise all of the staff who helped me today. Everyone was keen to help - and did so, with the minimum of fuss. I just wished all retail outlets were as good.

Very busy cafe, but they are very efficient. Staff are friendly and helpful

Excellent range of plants and the cafe food very good.

Nicely made, well equipped. Both for the garden and for the house. A plus for pets and fish.

Best garden nursery that I've been to in a very long time! Excellent on product throughout & such lovely helpful, polite staff. Will definitely visit again!

Nice garden centre. Shame that due to lack of staff we couldn't have breakfast this morning.

Loved the garden centre as a whole and could have spent all day browsing. However, lunch lacking flavour and certainly not worth the money I spent. Very disappointing.

Cafe disorganised, with food bland and dry. Deluded to call the lukewarm chips "gourmet". Terrible value for money, a real let down compared with the rest of the garden centre.

Lovely friendly Garden Centre

Lovely garden centre, a lot of reasonably priced items. Aquatics centre is absolutely amazing. Lovely staff, very helpful and knowledgeable.

2nd time we've had a disappointing lunch here in 2 months. Last time 2 of our first choice meal options weren't available. This time we ordered 3 club sandwiches on BROWN bread. The person taking our order repeated it back to me, all was fine. Club sandwiches arrived on WHITE bread. I queried this with our server, she went back to check, came back and apologised that they'd read our order incorrectly. Basic customer service is surely to read orders properly! I asked how long would it take to re-make our order correctly, server said about 20 minutes in a tone of voice that implied it wasn't possible (although we didn't have time to wait another 20 minutes anyway) so we ate the meal, all of us leaving the disgusting thick white slabs of bread. These club sandwiches are hugely over priced anyway at almost £13, which would've been just about acceptable if we'd received the food we actually ordered. We won't be coming here again anytime soon. All options far too expensive now, coupled with poor service it's not an enjoyable lunchtime option anymore.

It’s truly the best garden centre I’ve ever visited. It’s a must visit for plant enthusiasts. Theres lots to choose from, good quality and very reasonable compared to other retailers. Apart from the garden centre, handmade ceramics, wax melts, soaps etc are sold here. Easily takes a couple hours to explore all the sections. Will definitely be back.

Love this garden centre! I last visited COGC back in the early part of summer, and my wife and I were extremely impressed with the quality of plants, food, and other garden accessories available. The staff were great too! They were very knowledgeable, helpful, and went the extra mile in order to make sure they provided complete customer satisfaction. As such, we we're both looking forward to bringing my wife's parents on our next trip to COGC. When we finally managed this, oh boy, what a change! As usual, the garden team delivered the same level of service expected. This however cannot be said for the catering team. And whilst the person in charge in the restaurant was most apologetic for the events that thoroughly spoilt our visit, this resulted in my in us all leaving with a very dim view of the on-site catering. Firstly, the burgers were not available, something that was not advertised when entering the seating area. Secondly, and having ordered fish & chips all-round, we were advised, after waiting circa 20 minutes, that "the fryer had broken down", and as such, they couldn't serve this either. Thirdly, having ordered 3 sausage and mash and one omelette, the food finally arrived. What a disaster! The sausages were so overcooked they were extremely difficult to cut, not to mention tasteless, and the colour of the omelette resembled that of Royal Navy grey. It too was tasteles. Needless to say it wasn't eaten. To be completely frank, we couldn't be bothered to complain because 1, the time we had spent in the restaurant, 2, the vacant response by a member of staff to a question put to them by my mother-in -law's about her meal, and 3, we needed to get on with showing them how good COGC is! Oh, I nearly forgot, we were offered a free drink for the inconvenience. However, and whilst this was a kind gesture, it didn't change my in-laws' impression of the restaurant. They did, however, like the garden centre, but added it was unlikely that they would return given they usually have something to eat when visiting such places. As such I have now downgraded my 5 star review to a 3 star. Come on COGC, you can do better than this!

Lunch - edible but very dry chicken

This was a very nice garden centre. So much stuff, wonderful plants, and a great little butchers and deli. Fantastic. Fruit and veg, artisan breads and lots of local produce. Definitely worth the hours drive

Went to Coton specifically for breakfast and found the menu just a little pricey. However we went for the full l, and light breakfasts and certainly cannot complain about the quantity of breakfast. However, it was a rather greasy plateful and the scrambled egg was extremely odd. Much more like a scrambled omelette . Doubt we will be back in a hurry for breakfast but we certainly like the garden centre as a whole.

Great place to go shop browse eat and shop.. Can meander around for hours.. Very Enjoyable and can find Everything and then more..

first time visiting. great place. lots to see. great cafe. dogs allowed. 10/10

Good Garden Centre. Several "departments" inside, too. Clothes, crafts, kitchenware, and groceries, to name a few. A little overpriced as with any Garden centre. Restaurant is excellent and well worth a visit.

Good selection of plants. They sell all kinds of different merchandise including clothing, hot tubs, and a lot more.

My comments relate mostly to the fashion section. I would prefer availability of more XXL sizes and washing instructions on every item. I love the centre....we'll laid out and pleasant staff.....car park surface a bit iffy in rain.

Great to spend a couple of hours shopping

Nice to have a garden centre with a good selection of produce just down the road

Arrived at 1145 for lunch to find it wasn’t being served until 12. At 12 tried to order and they said they weren’t serving until 1215. At 1215 was the first in the queue and asked for 4 jacket potatoes to be told they only had 3. Unbelievable.

If you haven't visited for a while you won't recognise it. The garden centre has had a major revamp and now includes a range of shopping opportunities. The garden centre is still very good with helpful staff. We picked up some real bargains in the reduced section.

Great place to shop, dine and enjoy! Extensive variety of plants beautifully tended to and displayed, clothes, gifts, homewares, and an enticing food hall. Excellent visit 😀

Convience of a post office. Variety of stuff available.

Love their cheese scones and cakes. Coffee is also very good. Its also a great place to pick up garden supplies, and has a lovely selection of ladies clothes.

I love this garden center 👌beautiful gifts and it’s never to crowded, lovely cafe and beautiful food produce .

Well-kept plants. We had a cake and tea in the cafe which was lovely. Farm shop has some really nice items. When we have more time, we will have a longer browse around everything.