Having to traipse through garden centres pushing trollies of plants

petra I think there is a recent book called 'Exit Through The Gift Shop'

We use nurseries as well, but they don't always have the particular shrub/plant you want, and garden centres have a larger choice.

Typo! Does not dies ( though you may if you eat too many.)

teetime I have been to Gates a few times, it's brilliant and my fave garden centre of all time! The cafe is lovely and spacious and light, and as you say all the different areas are separate, so if you want the clothing bit, or books/games then you can just go there.
I love garden centres and all the things they sell, BUT if they were all laid out like Gates or Trago it would be nicer when pushing a trolley full of plants.
Burford Garden Centre dies the best cakes.

The garden centre I visited on my last UK trip had in my absence of five years changed the entrance and exit route. I had gone there with the intention of buying their 50% off the price of shrubs, to find I had to wield a laden trolley through the lifestyle section. As an inveterate browser I could cope with that and picked up more reduced price bargains on my way to the exit.

Fortunately Mr L. was not with me, as he would have thrown a wobbly. He complains about what he calls the Ikea nightmare where customers are trapped in a long one way system. I am not sure if it is genuine panic or fear that prolonged shopping will expose his wallet to further damage. Probably a bit of both.

Juggernaut do you know I'd completely forgotten there were such things any more I'm going to look for one local to me, I may be some time

We tend not to use garden centres when buying plants, we visit nurseries instead. Almost always cheaper, knowledgable staff, unusual varieties and no crowds of non-gardeners to wriggle past!
However, I do rather like the bacon and brie paninis at one fairly local garden centre, so on occasion, we have a wander around there!

Dissenter here. I love the garden centres where I can browse, smell the smellies, check out the books , kitchenware, even shoes any handbags. Always have coffee and a long chat with the friend who takes me, but then I'm not a gardener.

I want a garden centre to be just that, not a gift shop, furniture shop, cafe/restaurant, clothes, shoes, books store etc etc etc. Wade through hundreds of tourists who've come by Charabanc for a day out. I just want to browse and buy plants.

The garden centre which I most often visit is just as bad, except at very busy times - weekends and bank holidays - when they have a till at an exit from the outdoor plant area which is adjacent to the car park.

Roses. They are arranged as in 'Exit through the gift shop' as are all Museums and stately homes.

Meant to say - even better is Trago Mills at Newton Abbot. Their garden centre is superb, rivaling any specialist garden centre. You have to walk right through the huge store to get to it. BUT, once there, it has its own tills where you can take your trolley, pay for your goods and leave it for collection. Once you're finished in the store you bring your car round to the collection point, a decent sized car park.

There is large one near us - Gates near Oakham and it is laid out in the way you recommend. the gifts and fancy good can be paid for at a till in their part and you can go straight to the plants section and pay as you exit. It also has a huge restaurant and coaches come from miles around - I recommend it.

I think all the National Garden Centre branches are like that. Very irritating. We have a couple of local garden centres that put all the non-garden stuff off to the side in another area, so the main focus is, as it should be, the plants. I much prefer going to these two nowadays.

I must admit all these "garden" centres that have things like stinky candles/artificial flowers/crockery etc and hugely expensive furniture really put me off and I avoid them if at all possible. Some of them seem to put actual garden plants way down the list of priorities.

It would certainly make sense, but where's the sense in any retail tactic to get you to pick up a few extras as you struggle to the till? It's a deliberate ploy...