Castle Gardens is situated in the grounds of the kitchen gardens of Sherborne Castle. Mike and Louise Burks set up a garden centre on the site in 1987. When they arrived it was badly overgrown and derelict. The business soon developed on the basis of high quality plants and horticultural expertise backed up by excellent customer service. 

Our Staff
We have a fantastic team of staff with a broad and deep knowledge of gardening. The combined experience of the team is well over 300 years! We enjoy giving advice to our customers so that the plants or products chosen are the right ones for you.

We support and encourage our staff by offering continuous training and development and this means that they are up-to-date with the latest gardening techniques and ideas. Typically our staff attend courses such as; The Horticultural Trades Association Retail Plant and Shop Care Awards, RHS Diploma/Certificates and the Garden Care Certificate of Competence and many others run by suppliers and manufacturers.

This positive attitude runs throughout our team - they are forward-looking, keen to learn and ready to share their knowledge.

Awards
Since opening for business in 1987 The Gardens Group has collected many awards for everything from service to design. Click on the links opposite to view a selection of the awards.

We are members of the Garden Centre Association, which is a group of independent centres from around the country that pride themselves on excellence. Every year the centres are audited to ensure a consistent level of standards. The Gardens Group regularly achieves scores well into the 80%'s for staff and service.

As part of this association there is an annual Christmas Competition for the best displays. Since 2004 we have been winners for the Wales and West region with 2005 being runners up on the National stage. You can see some examples of the displays on our Christmas page.

Our staff are continually training and receiving awards through the RHS Retail Award Scheme and NVQ Retail awards as well as our own in-house training. This keeps us up to date with the latest developments and our plant knowledge.

The Walled Garden - Restaurant
Our restaurant serves superb food made fresh each day from local, seasonal produce. Our chefs are proud to be supporting local growers, farmers and producers and serving a delicious taste of the West Country every day of the week.

Drink in the atmosphere of the old fruit store in the Walled Garden Restaurant or eat outside in the courtyard, surrounded by specimen trees, topiary, water features and garden sculptures...

Gift Vouchers
The perfect gift for the gardener who you think has everything! We offer gift vouchers that are valid at our 3 garden centres, which come in £5, £10 and £20 denominations. Each one comes with a gift card and has no time limit on its usage. It gives the recipient the opportunity to explore our centres, immerse themselves in our plant areas and find just what they were looking for.

Gift vouchers can be ordered and paid for over the phone or by email so we can post them direct for you. We also sell and accept the HTA National Garden Gift Vouchers.