10 great reasons to visit a Wyevale Garden Centre this Christmas

‘Whoever said money can’t buy happiness has clearly never been to a garden centre’.

That’s a meme I saw on social media recently and it’s so true – especially at Christmas time.

I love a good garden centre and always have done: the gifts, the cakes, the café and the neat rows of plants – what’s not to love?

Wyevale Garden Centre in Brighton recently invited us to come and see what they have going on in the run up to Christmas and I won’t lie, I didn’t need asking twice! With the oldest safely at school and the younger two at nursery we spent a child-free afternoon having a browse and finding out what’s on offer.

10 great reasons to visit a Wyevale Garden Centre this Christmas

1. You can send a letter to Santa (or rather, they can). All they need to do is write a letter telling the big man what they’d like for Christmas, pop it in a stamped addressed envelope and Wyevale will send it off by reindeer and make sure each child gets a reply.

2. Santa’s grotto. Santa was ‘out’ when we visited but I have it on good authority he’s there with his helpers until Christmas Eve. Each child gets to meet Santa, receive a present and take home a mini magical Christmas tree. You can also book breakfast or tea with Santa too.

3. You can have festive afternoon tea. With prosecco and everything. We were invited to try out the afternoon tea (£16 for two people, or £22 for two with prosecco) and what a treat it was. Think three tiers of sandwiches (turkey, sage & onion stuffing and brie, cranberry & spinach), cranberry & cinnamon scones, St Clements cake, mini macarons, fruit cake and blackberry pavlova, all with your choice of tea or coffee too.

Look – even Misery Guts is smiling. My top tip is to skip lunch though – you won’t need it!

4. You can stock up on some festive colour. If you’re a gardener like me you won’t be disappointed: there’s all sorts of winter colour for the garden to choose from, from red, purple and pink cyclamen to winter primroses.

5. You can buy your Christmas tree. Whether it’s a potted Nordmann fir or a cut Spruce they’ll even cut your tree to fit your tree stand, net it and carry it to your car – just the job when you’ve got kids in tow. And for every Christmas tree cut down, a new one is planted.

6. The toy department is great for stocking fillers. As well as X for Y deals on books, you’ll find lots of bits and bobs they’ll love, like unicorn slippers and animal-themed hand warmers.

7. They sell lemon curd with gin in it. Enough said.

8. And massive meringues. With strawberry glitter. When I say massive, I mean dinner plate size.

9. There are baubles, baubles and more baubles. No matter what your colour scheme, there are glittery ones, feathered ones, mirrored ones and glass ones.

10. The Christmas lights. A bit like the baubles, there are lots of Christmas lights to choose from. And they look fab. Just the place to entertain little ones on a wet weekend in the run up to Christmas if you’re looking for free things to do with kids.

Are you a fan of garden centres like me? Do you have a Wyevale Garden Centre near you and have you been in the run up to Christmas yet?

We were invited to Wyevale Garden Centre in Brighton for a festive afternoon tea in exchange for this post. As always all opinions are my own, and based on my own honest experience.