Perrywood Garden Centre in Colchester

Nice place to visit, have a drink and something to eat. Plus a stroll around the plants

We had a delicious lunch here. They serve really good homemade cakes too!

Had a lovely few hours out looking at some wonderful flowers and enjoyed a cup of tea and cake

Afternoon tea was amazing. Lovely food and friendly helpful staff.

I used to really rate this garden centre as one of the best. But now it has lost its magic, came on Friday last week to have lunch and pick some summer bedding. I had a katsu chicken burger and my wife had Steak and Stilton pie with mash. The chicken burger was processed meat and fairly tasteless, it was served with a small portion of frozen chips and half hearted attempt at a salad. Then had the ‘pleasure’ of paying £16 for it. I’ve had a better meal in a premier inn! At half the price too. Food here is way overpriced and portions are very poor. I loaded up a trolley of plants taking note of all the deals on the bedding (ie 2 for £12 etc) only to be told at the till that you get that deal if you are a bloom member. I was only told that because the wife asked if we got the deal. No offer of membership was given by the girl on the till. Sorry Perrywood you’re cashing in on loyal customers. I will not be returning.

Very good garden centre has just about everything. Loads of parking and very good cafe

A lovely place the staff are lovely and so helpful

Great selection of plants. Not the cheapest but nice products.

Excellent 1st but not last visit

Probably the best garden centre

Vast selection of items, good parking, friendly staff

Gardening area and plants are totally amazing lots of choice. The plants are in very good condition and lots of varieties. Eating wonderful - fresh food cooked for you. Lots of choice and also the drinks. Very busy but make time for you and your trip there. Definitely go back again.

April 2025, layout of shop area changed since Christmas ended and some areas are a little cramped especially gardening products making trolley manoeuvring difficult. Still the best garden centre in Essex with a large busy cafe attached. Worth a visit.

Wonderful afternoon tea to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Amazing!

Lovely big nice space to walk around large restaurant great breakfast great choice friendly staff very helpful lovely Sunday day out 😁

Lots to look at in the shop. Restaurant always has very good food and service.

Love the cafe here and the choice and range of plants in the garden centre is extensive. Staff are always very helpful. Love a little trip to Perrywood Tiptree.

Great selection of plants,good cafe but busy as day goes on. Nice selection of over items to buy as gits. Friendly staff.

It's a lovely shop and nursery with a fantastic selection of plants. My only criticism is that some of the staff in the Cafe came across as a bit exasperated and impatient, especially with some older people, and lost sight of the customer service. Food was OK though and I would go again.

Really bad wanted quiche it was near to freezing and would not warm though looked at me as if it was my fault wouldn't rec

Garden center and shops are nice, all the plants look healthy and we spent an hour or more wandering around.

They have beautiful displays and the coffee shop has gluten free dairy free carrot cake which is amazing

Beautifully kept garden centre and the cafe meals and cakes are delicious with a wonderful selection to choose from - definitely worth a visit!!

Great selection of plants, pots and helpful staff. Lots of parking space too.

As always great place to visit excellent place good food amazing products staff helpful and very pleased to help.

Enjoyable day got a few plants had lunch the price of which was a bit higher than expected

Always well stocked, healthy plants with large variety of choices for all budgets. Toilets always clean and staff are always around for advice.

The place was very nice but I found it expensive compared to other garden centres. The food was also expensive.

Very healthy plants But bit pricey for me .Cafe was not very good no choice of bread when asked for bacon sandwich and bacon was very salty cheapest bacon

Love perrywoods. So many plants. They do lovely meal in there cafe. We'll worth a visit.

Has to be the nicest garden centre I have ever been to. Staff are lovely all helpful keen and passionate about what they do. The plants are well cared for and look healthy and nicely displayed.

Great food and drinks as usual 😀

Nice food, bit slow, bit expensive, but good experience

Popped in here to get some lunch (Sandwiches, crisps, drinks) before doing a bit of shopping for some Thyme and Heather plants. Staff were excellent as usual and we had an enjoyable hour or two.

Very well stocked and friendly staff 👏

A fair garden centre. Cafe is as little too busy with not the best service or ambience.

Was informed at the tills that unless I had a loyalty card I would be charged full price for the plants I wanted to purchase, but no one seemed to grasp the fact that when I left my home, several miles away, I didn't know that so it was either pay full price, which by the way was extortionate, or waste more of my time signing up for a loyalty card which I'll probably never use again because of the poor way in which this matter was handled. So, before you go there make sure you've given them all your personal information so they can bombard you with promotional info.

Great place. Lots of different sections - home /garden /gifts/food. The cafe is excellent!

Decided to see what it was like after the recent takeover. I don’t know if they’re going for spacious look inside but it just looks and feels empty. It used to have lots of unique gifts and stuff but now there’s hardly anything. Then we went to the restaurant, the food is ridiculously overpriced and there were no sandwich/baguette/jacket potato options which is what we went there for, as the food used to be lovely there. What’s the problem in having the pricey restaurant food in addition to sandwiches? The no dog rule further adds to the empty, clinical feeling of the place. It’s such a shame as it used to be a lovely place to go for a mooch round and light lunch on a rainy Sunday but it feels like perrywoods have ruined it. Not only will I not go back here but I won’t be going to any of their other garden centres either.

The garden Centre works so hard to make Perrywoods such a lovely place to visit, and as a regular visitor it is a place I love to take friends and family for a treat, today however, has not been that experience and I was actually embarrassed to bring a family member who has never visited before by a rude member of the staff in the cafe I will not visit the cafe again. The member of staff took our orders and literally barked at me when I tried to explain the allergens to go with the food order because it wasn't in the order that she needed it in! Then when I asked the difference between a 'main' and a 'light' meal just said what do you mean blankly, no smile, or general customer service. I was really disappointed after spending £80 on a lunch for my daughter's 21st birthday treat with her Nan (the food was lovely which is why it got 2 stars) for everyone in our group to comment how rude she was to us , it meant it wasn't just me who thought this lady spoke to us like it. I will never take anyone there again for a treat I will now in future take my business to either the Jam factory tea rooms or Millrace nursery for a treat where they are always friendly and polite.

Somebody in your organisation needs to get a grip of your latest garden centre acquisition, buckhatch garden centre at rettendon , customers leaving in droves due to drastic changes to menu , thank god for Google to translate the menu

It's a great place, so much choice and lovely staff

Friendly helpful staff and lovely food

Saw that the cafe has reopened so was planning to take a group of friends for a look round, and a nice lunch. Then saw it was 'card only' so will find somewhere else. What a shame some businesses won't accept our own currency.

Very well stocked and presented garden centre. The plants that we gave bought have lasted well and there is a good selection overall. The food in the restaurant is very good. Sunday roast particularly

The 3rd best garden centre in the UK. A lot to live up to. And it does. We usually only visit at Christmas time to see their vast lavish display. This year it's a little different, maybe subdued, but it's still very impressive and well worth a visit. Big queues at the weekend but worth the wait. Late night opening on Thursdays. We now try to go once a month for lunch. Pricey but worth it. Quiche is incredible.

Had Soup and a Roll...not bad...Scone was Tasty and Huge!! Didn't really look around shop much....

We went here today for a look around the shop and lunch. We left without lunch because the prices were, in our opinion, way too high and certainly out of our price range. We also found this to be the case in the shop too.

Great place to explore plants and have a good meal

£4.50 for a sausage roll! Daylight robbery.

Fantastic displays and plants for indoor and outdoor green enthusiasts... helpful friendly staff, large parking ...only 1 slight drawback , reasonably expensive throughout...

What a great garden centre, it's huge. The plant variety and quality it's exceptional. The prices are responsible too. It also have a lovely café / restaurant with good cakes and hot food. Staff are chirpy and helpful which is a massive bonus. I would definitely recommend a visit!

Great choice of merchandise. Not cheap. Best to visit during sales

They might have won awards for their garden / plants but the toilets were disgusting such a let down

Pretty ok for a garden centre , good size car park. It could do with better signage around the store to indicate where things are as it is quite a large place . There is a large pet section for domestic pets and birds. The Christmas section was quite limited but this was because we visited after Xmas and the sales were on with huge discounts against ornaments and trees. It has a cafe attached to the garden centre however we did not visit. The staff were pretty friendly but were a little timid/shy so maybe we ended up speaking to somebody quite new on the till

Met some friends for lunch today. Food was lovely but service was awful! Ordered separately in pairs as we had 3 young children who couldn’t be left unattended at the table. We were ushered up and told if we wanted to all eat at the same time we had to order quickly. Order came out , one incorrect item (correct item but wrong filling). Member of staff stood awkwardly at the table, rolled her eyes and said “can I see your receipt” and then proceeded to read the tickets back at me again to which I had to then reply again, this is not what I ordered. Short time later the correct dish was brought to the table and put down and she walked off. No sorry or apology that there had been an error, just a very bad attitude. Shame really, as it’s lovely, but when you don’t employ staff that care about their customers it puts a dampener on things!

One particular member of staff was VERY rude!

Had a lovely breakfast. Highly recommend!

We visited recently to see the Christmas display. 2024 definitely wasn't as good as the previous year

Great place to shop all your Christmas decorations needs they have everything

Huge car park, spaces for wide vehicles and extra long vehicles. Cafe .. superb food and cleanliness, menu given while queuing to save time ordering.. toilets .. really clean Shop.. fantastic range of gifts and plants.. Faultless!!

There's a reason this place often features in 'best garden centre' awards. The most lovely place! Well worth a visit. The hard work of the staff is evident, especially at Christmas! The displays are something else!

I loved it this place. it was such a wonderful creation of gardening.

Such a beautiful place to visit at Christmas! Things can get a little pricey - especially when there are so many things you want to buy! If you want to eat here, prepare for a very long queue.

The Christmas tree they sold is constantly dropping needles and has extremely weak flimsy branches you can hardly hang anything on. Very frustrating.

Very unhappy with service at cafe today! But one particular lady who served me I brought my Grandson in for a festive hot chocolate with his friend. My Grandson has a mild milk intolerance so obviously avoid dairy I was then informed the hot chocolate powder had milk in, we decided that he could have one but requested this be made weaker to minimise the amount of dairy he would be consuming. The response and attitude was one of her being inconvenienced! After purchasing three other non dairy cakes and a regular cake to take home out costing a total of £28 I would have expected a better service. Her attitude and whispering to other staff members witnessed as I was waiting for my drinks to arrive. Has left me feeling aggrieved which will be followed up with speaking with the manager Obviously we will not be returning

It's a very nice place to visit especially during the festive season 🌲

Very well stocked but expensive

This place is amazing, especially for their xmas. Displays.

Loads of quality keenly priced stock with particularly desirable Christmas lovelies. 100% GO AEE

Lovely Xmas themes, loads too see, only disappointment was the queue for the restaurant, but that's a good sign.

Great Garden centre, A1 cake and good wheelchair access. To the customer though! Tidy your detritus away..

I love this garden centre, especially at Christmas time. The staff that put the displays together are very talented! The attention to detail is outstanding. There is a huge selection of homeware gifts, festive food gifts, toys, oh...and plants! Lots of indoor and outdoor plants! The main restaurant caters for gluten free diets (the breakfast is lovely), and the outside cafe is ideal for a hot chocolate to warm you up as you peruse the plant areas. The garden centre is wonderful any time of the year, but magical at Christmas time!

It's a lovely place with great facilities and the restaurant is fab. However, I think it's a bit pricey.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 Stars I recently visited Perrywood Garden Centre in Essex with my family to pick up a 🎄 Christmas tree, but we ended up decorating our entire house with the Christmas spirit! ✨ The botanical selection is absolutely amazing. As a fruit lover, I was thrilled to find a great variety of fruit plants and trees. 🍓🍎🍇 Can't wait to come back in early spring! The kids had a blast playing the piano 🎹, adding a lovely musical touch to our visit. The staff were incredibly helpful and joyful 😊, making our experience even more enjoyable. My family owns a garden centre back in Croatia, and we found so much inspiration here. Definitely lots of things to learn and take back home from this beautiful natural heaven. 🌿🌺 Highly recommend Perrywood Garden Centre for anyone looking to immerse themselves in nature and embrace the festive spirit. We'll definitely be returning! 🌟

Great offering, very nicely done. Pity about the cafe.

Range of winter plants in now they also have a large selection of Xmas decorations trees etc one of the largest in Essex I think.

I visited Perry woods restaurant for a special occasion on November 13th 2024 for lunch. I ordered fish and chips along with a cafe latte. It is the worst meal I have ever had in my life. The cafe latte was warm milk with no coffee in it. I returned to the checkout and the lady put a shot of coffee in it which turned it from drinkable hot milk into sour hot milk that was undrinkable and the food was just as awful. The chips were hard and the battered fish was one of those "pretend" battered fish efforts where it isn't a fish fillet but instead, some fish pieces formed into a block and fillet shaped batter is then placed over the fish block. To cut a long story short it was awful and I didn't eat that either. Do yourselves a favour and avoid at all costs! You could have a superior meal at the marks & Spencer cafe for 2/3 of the price. Response to owner below: point 1. "We do follow professional training when serving our hot drinks, but we are always happy to amend to personal preferences." My reply: The person doing the coffee didnt put any coffee in it! The reason the coffee was sour is because it is under extracted. Point 2. Our fish is fresh whole fillets of haddock, sourced daily and locally from Mersea, this is battered in our beer batter, once again fresh and battered to order. My reply: Every person who was unfortunate enough to have your fish and chips had a piece of battered fish that was identical in size and shape to mine and each other. In regards to the batter it was, for want of a better word, putrid.

Well worth a visit. Their Christmas displays are superb.

Thank you, Perrywoods, for our Amazing Christmas Wreath ❤️ Absolutely Beautiful

First visit to Perrywood, the Christmas displays are amazing and bring out the child in you

loved it staff happy and helpful

Superb garden centre lots of different items on offer a lovely Christmas display fabulous cafe and plenty of friendly staff and the carpark is huge I Highly recommend it 😀

3 items priced incorrectly. 6-99 but the actual price was 29-99 . The manger was rude and said I don’t need to honour anything even though we just spent 200 quid . This manager needs training on customer etiquette.

Only went to look at the Christmas things and the displays are better than ever. There could have been more model village choices but that would be the only criticism.

Just had breakfast very disappointing Everything was over cooked

Great family run garden centre, really helpful and lovely staff, and the Christmas Shop is absolutely brilliant

We had a lovely lunch here and look around, amazing Christmas displays and range

Christmas displays are magical, this garden centre is a day out and a good one

Thankyou so much, your beautiful Christmas displays brought so much pleasure to my elderly Mum today

Lovely garden centre. Really inviting, loads of items and fairly good prices

It is a beautiful place to go especially yhis time of the year with all the Christmas displays etc - it really puts you in the Christmas mood! One downfall though I hasten to add everything in general seems very expensive compared to the prices I have seen for the same things elsewhere. It is a shame really as they do themselves no favours, surely it would be better to have reasonable prices and get rid of stock tban having a lot left on their hands?

Brilliant garden centre and shop. Very well laid out, plenty of stock, healthy plants.

Lovely environment and great food

Lovely breakfast for 2.... Plenty of choice.....and lovely Christmas displays

Has everything you can possibly need for your garden

Excellent nursery for value and quality

A beautiful garden centre and the Christmas display is second to none x the coffee shop was good and the food selection including cakes was amazing x would definately go again x

Staff are always friendly and happy to help!

They have a good selection of plants, Christmas decorations, clothes and much more. The staff are friendly and helpful.