The Garden Restaurant at Swarkestone Nursery in South Derbyshire

Visited Swarkestone nursery for the first time yesterday specifically for Santa’s grotto. On arrival, a few minutes late, the staff were very helpful pointing us in the right direction and we entered the grotto. The staff in the grotto were amazing, the elves, Mrs Claus and Santa were lovely with the children and very in character. There were games to play in the first room, then we went to Mrs Claus’ room to decorate a lovely wooden snowflake to keep, then to see Santa and use your golden ticket to chose a present. My daughter loved the craft activity (usually it’s decorating a biscuit which she can’t join in with due to food intolerances) The rooms were all decorated nicely with decorations and murals. As a parent, this was the nicest, most wholesome Santa grotto we’ve been to. Definitely recommend! The nursery itself is full of lovely gifts and reasonably priced Christmas decorations. All in all, we loved it and will return

I never need an excuse to visit Swarkestone nursery, as it's a lot more than just a garden centre. Today's visit was a second visit to the Craft Fayre, after being unable to decide on family members presents without my partner being present with me (his family members in particular had me stumped) so we did a number of rounds before picking the particular pieces to pick up. On Fridays visit we went at lunchtime with the intention of having lunch in the cafe, which is always a joy and at about £10-£15 per head isn't terribly expensive. I have hog roll and chips which I shared with my friend, my friend ordered a sandwich with side salad, that turned out to be a good sized meal, our third friend had the soup of the day, which turned out to be broccoli and stilton which also had a large side salad too. They even had skimmed milk but weren't able to make a lactose free hot chocolate due to the cocoa powder had dried skimmed milk in it. That aside, just having skimmed milk to drink impressed me. The whole place is airy and wheelchair friendly, there's nowhere apart from the back car park that poses a problem for manual/powerchair's etc. A brilliant place to go for lunch in beautiful countryside.

First time visit very busy with market ,what a lovely place to visit ,will be there again soon

Pleasant experience but prices at cafe bring down the rating significantly. (£7.99 for a pannini)

Pulling into the car park there were 3 people who pulled in front of us as we were trying to park but we eventually found a spot. By the time we got into the centre we were running late for the pumpkin picking event. However the staff were lovely, understanding and helpful. I did expect to be picking pumpkins off the vines themselves tbh but I've never attended a pumpkin picking event before. The kids did enjoy they activities and sitting on the tractor and wagon too. A few of the little gourds were broken so they couldn't play the gourd and spoon race but they enjoyed the rest of the activities and had fun. Lots of different sized pumpkins for everyone. The scary tunnel was fun and the displays were awesome. We liked the scarecrows made by local school children and voting for them too. Only thing I might add for next year is maybe a petting zoo for the kids as my children were excited to see a sheep over the fence. It would definitely be the icing on the cake but overall we enjoyed the whole event. Definitely reasonably priced too.

Lovely afternoon tea.reccomend .delicious.

Friendly staff. Excellent coffee and bacon cob

Fun experience for children an adults for a Halloween event 🎃👻

Had a wonderful breakfast in lovely environment

We like going here , good choice of plants

Took 3of our grandchildren to the pumpkin festival here today.. we were very impressed. £4 admission.. which includes all the outdoor activities and an indoor spooky trail ( pumpkins extra to purchase) all the boys (12..9..8..) thought it was great fun.. then went for food in the café afterwards.

Excellent all round, that's why we keep going back.

It’s a shame how they no longer allow dogs here (apart from service dogs). Not advertised anywhere until you reach the door. If you’re a dog owner there’s really not much point in driving all that way to here for a day out. We’d always take our dogs to the fairs, but they’ve changed their rules now

Got what I needed for my garden an very helpful staff as usual

Had a lovely walk around with my parents. I have never been before but we enjoyed a nice cup of tea and scone. Beautiful place and worth a visit. Obviously prices are a little more expensive in the garden center but you pay for quality and finding things you wouldn't necessarily find anywhere else. Some beautiful garden ornaments and unique gift ideas.

Swarkestone Nurseries is awesome! I love coming here, whether for a browse or for something specific. With knowledgeable and friendly staff, and a wide selection of indoor and outdoor plants and accessories, why not finish your visit with a lovely cream tea? Yum!

Nice to look around and healthy plants . Good car park and cafe. Good display of gifts and decorations near Christmas

Large garden centre. Excellent cafe on site. Large parking area. No dogs from October 2023.

Would have been 5 stars but no longer dog friendly, big sign at the entrance saying service dogs only. Bit disappointing as we'd travelled there to meet family and introduce our new pup. Food lovely, but garden centre prices obvs! Great range of plants at reasonable prices. Pity no longer dog friendly so won't be visiting as often as used to 😔

Lovely place to visit. Craft fair was great today. Healthy plants and a lovely lunch. Staff very friendly. Well done to everyone.

Lovely garden centre well stocked in all aspects. Found some lovely dragon ornaments for our pond the plants and trees are all healthy unlike some nurseries. Nice friendly staff toi

Lovely local nursery with really helpful, friendly staff. We absolutely love the restaurant and go there probably twice a week! Can be expensive but you definitely get what you pay for.

Reasonable selection of plants.

A lovely garden centre with a range of plants and garden related items .The gifts section not bad, though prices high as garden centres are prone to. Cafe pleasant with a range of quality foods , fresh. Good wholesome meals available and different dailey as well as ongoing standards. Not the cheapest but lovely. I do think the breakfast a bit miserly though: beans, tomatoes and mushrooms ought to be a standard and not within the choices. Bread is fresh. Lovely they have cream available for coffee. Tea room can be rather hot greenhouse-like on warm days. Carpark and toilets. All round a place worth visiting.

The Garden Nursery has had a refurbishment. It looks lovely. The food was first class. We had the carvery ..pork for my hubby and I had the beef. ..absolutely delicious, especially the cauliflower cheese. The staff were very friendly and helpful. We will definitely visit again.

Lovely independent family run garden centre. Great quality stock all round.

Love this nursery. Great variety of plants 🪴 of all ages, shapes and sizes...so you can start by potting up small seedlings 🌱or pots and/or buy more mature, established plants, shrubs and trees 🌳 Garden furniture, tools and an enormous range of accessories including composts, bark, plant pots and containers, bird 🐦 food/tables......not forgetting the delicious range of refreshments in their cafe. Always a winner 🏆 with me....staff are welcoming, knowledgeable and hugely helpful. 🤩

Been visiting the nursery for a long time. When it wasn't as big as now. We have allways taken our dogs. Spent a lot of money on plants/tools & food. Turned up on Sunday to find out dogs are no longer allowed only service dogs. Nothing about it on web site very disappointed.

Horrible Experience at Swarkestone Nursery Garden Center - Buyer Beware! I wish I could give this place zero stars. Our experience at Swarkestone Nursery Garden Center was nothing short of a nightmare. We purchased 16 rose plants in good faith, expecting to add some beauty to our garden. However, our excitement quickly turned to disappointment as 9 out of the 16 roses died shortly after planting. Determined to resolve the issue, we returned to the nursery to discuss our concerns. To our astonishment, an employee outright refused to speak with us about the problem. Not only was she dismissive, but she also became aggressive, making the entire situation even more unpleasant, and even then ordered us off the premises. However seeking some form of resolution, we asked to speak to the manager, hoping for a more professional response. Unfortunately, the manager was just as unhelpful. He sided with the aggressive employee and claimed that the responsibility for the dying plants lay with us. He repeatedly stated that he couldn't do anything to help us, despite our clear evidence that the plants were dehydrated. We were explicitly told that the roses were watered daily, but upon closer inspection, it was evident that this was not the case. The plants were dry and clearly lacked the necessary care and attention they should have received. It was incredibly frustrating to be treated so poorly and to receive no assistance or accountability from the staff. We bought these flowers in good faith, trusting that Swarkestone Nursery Garden Center would provide us with healthy plants and support if any issues arose. Unfortunately, their customer service is abysmal, and their plants are clearly not cared for properly. Save yourself the trouble and shop elsewhere – this place is not worth your time or money.

Nice and friendly helpful staff. Coffee n cake Nice

We have been coming here for years we come over from Cambridgeshire about 6 times a year came to the craft fair today to find out no dogs disgusted with out come even Dobbies have dog area so we won't be coming back unless thinks change so missed craft fair Thanks a lot

Quite nice, plenty of plants, nice garden ornaments and some really nice garden furniture. Also a pleasant café with good food and drinks. Friendly and helpful staff, worth the visit. Packed on Sunday, but plenty of parking on the car park behind it, just turn right when you go through the gates.

Environment, cafe and staff are absolutely lovely!

The standard of GF offerings has dipped. Although the excellent staff member I spoke with was very obliging and polite, the only item on the menu to tempt was the GF apple pie. This proved to be a mistake because I didn’t expect there to be a hard, pointed foreign body in the pie filling which scratched the inside of my mouth. I asked the waitress to speak to a manager, the cashier came over, inspected and removed the plate, then offered a refund for that item. At no point was I asked if I wanted to record the ‘ incident’, nor for my details in case of any further problems. The cashier told us it was the responsibility of the ‘supplier’ (for want of a better description) to check their ingredients, etc. I accepted the single item refund, but do feel that more interest could perhaps have been shown in what was a very uncomfortable experience for me. Very disappointed.

Visited the cafe today with two friends. We chose two cheese scones and one fruit scone. One friend said her fruit scone was nice but the other friend and myself had the cheese scones which proved tasteless. We both felt there was no cheese flavour whatsoever and the cheese on the top of the scones was rubbery and again tasteless. Along with three coffees the bill was over £20. As we are all in our late 70’s it’s money down the drain as my friend and I left our cheese scones and left the cafe. It will be a long time before we return.

Lovely Sunday morning breakfast with the family.

Good range of plants and gardeners equipment.

Tidy and clean, and well set out. They did not have everything I wanted, but found what I hope will grow to be an adequate substitute. Long queue at the checkout which soon reduced. Coffee and cake from the cafe/restaurant went down a treat - their afternoon teas looked lovely, and truly enjoyed seeing the display of birds of prey (back later in the year).

Fantastic falconry demo, up close and personal. Breakfast was very nice, good quality sausages and bacon. Great service.

Really nice food, with great service, can get very busy, however it isn't a big deal as there's plenty of table's in the cafe. The garden centre is well stocked with staff that are happy to help. Worth a visit

Dropped in on route home on Bank Holiday Sunday just in time for breakfast. My wife is lactose intolerant and needs gluton free food. These requirements when visiting cafes prove very difficult with little to choose and serving folk either ignorant or who just could not care less. What a difference this servery provided. A wide choice across breakfast and even cakes. Add to this an exceptionally caring and knowlegable lass taking our order the visit was a real pleasure. Highly recommended.

Really lovely cafe/restaurant and great selection of garden furniture and ornaments and plants indoor and outdoor plants . Small gift shop area too

Awful customer service. Will not be returning

Was having a pleasant enough walk around when a poor lady and her very small dog was being very aggressively harassed out of the centre as they’d changed their dog policy a year ago. The staff member went so very far over the top. Me and my family will now avoid this centre due to the arrogance and lack of understanding of the staff. The temperature outside was horrific. I wouldn’t leave my pet in a car either. Some staff training in customer care and etiquette are very much required here.

Great breakfast, yummy scones and coffee and great value for money plants. There is a huge variety of garden sundries and outdoor seating

Bought Water Mill Fountain,I did have an issue.However I didn't expect a home visit.Problem solved.Excellent service..Would like to give Ryan a special thanks

I came to buy 5 Trachelospermum Jasminoides, an EXTREMELY helpful lady helped me and offered excellent advice! I mentioned that I was going to be building quite a large raised border and wanted to create a cottage garden! She was immensely helpful advising on plants and even chose plants for me! Unfortunately, I couldn’t take them today as the landscaper can’t start for 6 weeks and I really don’t like the idea of them just being in pots for that time! I will be back …… it’s very refreshing to get a service these days! I always use you when planting & for garden furniture! First rate! Thank you !!

We had a carvery lunch on Sunday 21st April 2024. Very disappointed at the presentation of the food on the plate piled up. More concerning was the quality of the gravy it was thick and lumpy,which spoiled the whole meal. What a way to spoil what otherwise was an excellent meal. Please have word Laura.

It always takes a little while to negotiate the tills unfortunately. The displays are well thought out but there's way too much plastic of everything for my liking.

Good range of plants etc at reasonable prices. Very good restaurant. The peanut butter slice was scrumptious. Their own bakes are very generous portions and they do a takeaway option too. Don't forget to get your card stamped towards your free drink.

We took Mum here for a Mother's Day lunch. Never been before, but it's a nice little garden centre to walk around and buy a few treats. There is plenty of parking, albeit uneven and muddy in places. Inside is well set out and tidy and the restaurant is probably the best garden centre restaurant we have been to. It is a large restaurant, clearly very popular, but we managed to find a table for 4. We had drinks whilst we waited for the carvery to be set up. There is a wide ranging drinks menu, some slightly pricey. They serve breakfast every morning and a lunchtime carvery on Thursdays and Sundays. Other lunchtime offerings include sandwiches, paninis and jacket potatoes and there are always plenty of cakes, scones and traybakes to tempt you. We all had the carvery, which is fairly priced at £12.99. The choices were pork, beef or chicken breast. The portion sizes were very generous, with thick slices of meat and plenty of potato and veg options. The gravy and sauces were all really nice and we all enjoyed the meal. As it was Mother's Day, all the Mum's got a free primrose too. All in all a good choice for a day out and the restaurant is highly recommended.

Very good garden centre. Especially easy to navigate during lockdown of 2020. Just a shame now that they don't accept dogs 😔

Good Garden Centre with very good choice of plants, garden equipment and items for the home and garden. Excellent restaurant serving good selection of food , drinks and snacks. Often call here for a break when travelling cross country using the A50 when travelling from M6 to M1.

Beautiful Garden centre. Laid out well and didn't feel cramped like some garden centres can. Restaurant was brilliant. Pricing for both parts I thought was fair. Staff all very friendly 👍

Unfriendly - have stopped letting allowing dogs. Staff rude. Overpriced.

We had a very nice lunch and coffee before we browsed the fresh selection of pants.

Lovely place for plants etc Restaurant very good No change

Went today with my son and partner. Nice garden center. The reason for one star is they questioned if my son was disabled after my partner used the garden center wheelchair pushing him around. My partner showed the member of staff the blue badge to prove he is disabled. You shouldn' t have to prove you have a disability. What made it worse is two other female members of staff did the same thing 5 minutes later. They were questioning if he had a disablity or not. Plus they were staring at my partner and son which is so wrong and discriminative. You shouldn't be treated like this in any establishment. Always give positive feed back on google but i couldnt leave this as its so wrong.

Not many plants in yet,a bit early yet,but got what I needed,3 new garden stakes,good value,good quality.👍

Clean light good food reasonably priced garden centre well stocked. Ultimate praise brilliant toilets clean and fresh

Food was okay on our last visit. We used to go with our Dogs but they have now banned dogs so now like the other dog owners do not visit at all. We now travel further to the Nursey at Findern where they have no problem with our very well behaved dogs in the restaurant.

Visited your Santa's grotto and elfs work shops with my 2 grandchildren today and I have to say what an amazing experience worth every penny such a brilliant and professional setup my grandchildren are 6 and 7 years old and they believed he was the real Santa thank you all so much Merry Christmas

My husband and I called for coffee yesterday 19th December, which we enjoyed. The Garden Restaurant has a welcoming atmosphere and we find it a lovely place to visit. We noticed the Festive lunch was on the menu from 12.00 so we decided to return for our lunch. The lunch was disappointing. The roast parsnips had run out and I was dished out what looked like scraps. I asked the server if there were any more and the young man mumbled “Yes” but no more appeared. I didn’t make a fuss as there was a long queue behind me. Being vegetarian we love our vegetables - we thought the portion of vegetables minuscule, in fact my husband counted the total amount of 3 tiny sprouts. To their credit vegetarian gravy was offered in a separate gravy boat and was delicious. It has put us off from calling in for lunch in the future but will certainly return for coffee.

Lovely garden centre with original items not found elsewhere. Amazing hand-crafted on-the-premises wreaths, gorgeous tubs of flowering plants and even better, dogs are not allowed in the garden centre so our little and elderly ones are safe to potter around without being frightened or pushed around. This makes a very peaceful place to go to and also to enjoy the on-the-premises home cooking which is delicious and made in a very clean and friendly kitchen. Keep it up Swarkestone.

23/4/23 excellant carvery. good choice of meals prepared on site. Very busy in the restaurant today.28/11/23 busy this day good quality food to hand.

Now sadly not dog friendly and due to some excuse do not allow dogs into the store. They will now be seeing us again or my friends. We now go down the road to Doobies who are dog friendly who allow responsible owners with there dogs.

Lovely experience at the pumpkin/Halloween trail. Especially nice when with younger kids as you don't have to traipse around a field with a pushchair getting all muddy. Pumpkins were all in a nice, enclosed, large area with a tractor and games dotted around. Staff were lovely. Recommend getting a gingerbread skeleton biscuit too :)

Not dog friendly any more very disappointing as we love this garden Centre 😢😢😢😢

NO DOGS NOW ALLOWED. Swarkestone garden centre was my favourite garden centre, never seem to leave without buying something. Also using the restaurant with being able to sit outside with our dogs.But today arrived to find we can no longer take our dogs inside this was very disappointing, as I knew exactly what plant I wanted it was a case of going in pick up the plant and leaving. We would usually wander around so will not be visiting again. Will be tell my friends who also enjoy visiting with their dog. Sorry I had to write this review

Really lovely Nursery with a cute little pumpkin patch! We really enjoyed our afternoon however think the staff in the cafe need to learn some customer service, extremely rude and abrupt with the customers, I understand it is busy and a bit stressful but there’s no need for rudeness.

Excellent locally owned nursery.

Not dog friendly. Unfortunately banned dogs entering the garden centre on October 1st.

We went to visit the pumpkin patch with our daughter who is in a large wheel chair and we had no problem getting around the whole trail she throughly enjoyed the whole trail and the indoor experience thank you .

We came for a carvery on Sunday 1st October, there was a lady behind the counter doing the quiches etc called Tracey who was EXTREMELY helpful and kind. I asked if we could have a carvery plated up for my mum..(who is end of life and housebound)..we had brought a plate in case we could do this and Tracey arranged for us to do this, thinking of and providing tin foil for the plate and a take out cup so we could take some gravy. My mum loved the meal and ours was the nicest we have had out. Thank you Tracey your help and thoughtfulness is rare and was very much appreciated xx

Great nursery and garden centre good food good meeting place friendly & knowledgeable staff

Good selection of plants and easy to get to. Great restaurant, very good breakfasts and lunches.Edit, sadly no longer allow dogs so we will be unable to visit again.

Very busy today but still able to keep social distancing. Cafe always good.

First visit very impressed. One of the best restaurants I’ve been to. Definitely going again.

A beautiful nursery and garden centre with a large, open and airy cafe.

Lovely nursery all plants well kept and look healthy

Lovely nursery, lots to look at. Good resturant with plenty of choice. Seats to rest in where your dog's can come too. Staff are friendly & polite.

Lovely place to go, dog friendly for the seating that’s outside the restaurant which is still really pleasant. Staff are lovely and the food is great, not trying to be something it isn’t and offer great quality classic foods.

Met up with family for lunch. Very busy but got our food quite quickly. Cakes looked really nice but too full to eat one after having a huge salad.

Every time I’ve been to this lovely place the staff have been so attentive. I often buy my plants at superstores because it’s convenient, but if you’re after something specific it’s not ideal. I went to Swalkestone nursery and found the staff so knowledgeable and have a genuine love of horticulture. I never eaten there but if the food is as nice as the staff I would go every day!

Lovely large garden centre with an awesome range of plants and gifts garden supplies and a cafe .

Seriously disappointed at the lack of house plants , garden centers are turning into supermarkets , instead of concentrating on the core items PLANTS . The breakfast in the restaurant however was perfect

There is an abundance of plants to choose from. Tea and cake also good.

Very good service couldn't do enough for us not the cheapest but not bad.

I was a little sceptic to go to this restaurant, but how wrong I was I. The staff were absolutely brilliant, we explained that it was our first time and all was explained. The food was excellent, hot and tasteful, and great portions. I would definitely recommend that you try this out and you can get all your gardening needs, too. 😉 Just got back from taking the wife to have a cream tea, it was delicious, and the lady who looked after us was Sue, She was friendly and made you feel right at ease. We are going to go again very soon.

Very good service, for plants, and tea and cake

Shame it seems to be more of a garden centre and less a plant nursery. Quite expensive. Restaurant is good value for money

Don’t live in the area but called to have a look around, was extremely impressed with all the areas. Asked an employee regarding info on a tree I was thinking about and she was extremely knowledgable, helpful and friendly. (Rachel) I believe. Consequently I bought the tree and the feed to go with it, again suggested by Rachel. Will definitely be back and recommend to friends and family. Thank you.

Really good plants and very helpful staff. Excellent!

My friend and I came for a meal today but were very dissatisfied with the beef borginuon pie as it was very bland plus roast potatoes were quite hard although portion size was very good, for the price it was quite dissapointing plus the tea was very weak.😞

You don't even need to be buying plants or garden items. The restaurant/café is brill.

Excellent nursery with a great stock. Super staff offer good advice. Cafe is brilliant. Great cooked breakfast.

Really good selection of products and healthy looking plants. Cafe looked good but didnt have time to try this time

A wander around the plants followed by a cheese scone and a nice cuppa.

Excellent food everyone very friendly

Swarkstone garden centre summer fair was excellent with loads of different and interesting stalls aswell as this well stocked garden centre. Updated 20/11/22 Just been to the November gift fair and so many beautiful things to buy, l have spent £70 on a array of beautiful wooden hand crafted items and wonderful toy dog/adoption certificate and book in a paper bag about the adventures of the dog 🐕 😀 my neice will absolutely love this! Met all the crafts men and ladies who made each item and it was really interesting to talk to them. Excellent few hours well spent 👍😍 Had a carvery, bit pricey but very nice and a full plate.