Garden Centre Research Team
Grenville Nurseries
🕐 Opening Hours
| Monday | 8:30 – 17:00 |
| Tuesday | 8:30 – 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 8:30 – 17:00 |
| Thursday | 8:30 – 17:00 |
| Friday | 8:30 – 19:00 |
| Saturday | 9:00 – 17:00 |
| Sunday | 10:00 – 17:00 |
Friday opening runs later, to 19:00. Hours may vary on bank holidays and seasonally.
Hours may vary on bank holidays — always verify before visiting.
🌿 What’s Here
A rose selection reviewers describe as the best in the county, including varieties they could not source anywhere else in Essex, at sensible prices.
Wide perennial range with unusual varieties, plus dahlias, begonias, tubers, bulbs, herbs, soft fruit and vegetable plants.
Stock is grown in pots standing on the ground rather than on benches. It fits more plants in and makes them easier to see — a genuinely distinctive layout.
A strong mail-order operation. Reviewers report overnight courier despatch, excellent packaging and fast replies to queries, even over bank holidays.
A big glasshouse extends the range and the season.
Cut foliage and bulk material supplied at short notice for classes and events.
⭐ What Visitors Commonly Mention
Themes from recent public Google reviews sampled September 2026 — editorial summaries, not verbatim quotes. Bars show relative prominence within the sample, not counts of all 151 reviews.
Sentiment summary: A proper working nursery, and reviewers are emphatic about the difference. The recurring note is that this is not a corporate garden centre — no gift aisles, no tat, just a deep and unusual plant range at sensible money. Roses draw the most specific praise, with customers driving in from outside the county for varieties nobody else stocks. The mail-order side is unusually well regarded for a nursery this size, with staff named personally for quick, careful service.
Source: Google Maps public review data, sampled September 2026. This page is not a review platform and does not collect first-party reviews.
📍 Getting Here
Chelmsford is the nearest station, on the Great Eastern main line, roughly 3 miles east. A taxi or bus is needed for the final leg.
Writtle is well served from Chelmsford, with stops in the village. Cow Watering Lane sits on the edge of the village.
On Cow Watering Lane at Writtle, just west of Chelmsford off the A414. Parking on site.
An easy, mostly flat ride out from Chelmsford through Writtle village.
Coordinates: 51.7390213, 0.4122286 · Open in Google Maps ↗
🗺 Nearby Garden Centres
Other garden centres from our Essex listings. Distances are straight-line estimates; drive times will be longer.
| Garden Centre | Area | Distance | Rating | Reviews | Notable For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanging Gardens | Writtle | ~2 km S | 4.4 ★ | 530 | Ongar Rd West, Writtle |
| Abercorn Plant & Garden Centre | Great Baddow | ~6 km SE | 4.5 ★ | 559 | Beehive Lane site |
| Longacres Chelmsford | Springfield | ~7 km E | 4.4 ★ | 616 | Large destination centre |
| White Elm | Bicknacre | ~13 km E | 4.5 ★ | 1,456 | Petting farm and play barn |
All centres listed on allgardencentres.co.uk. Ratings from Google Maps public data, September 2026.
📊 How It Compares Locally
Benchmarked against 65 Essex garden centres tracked on this site (September 2026 data).
A traditional working nursery at Writtle growing on the ground rather than on benches, with a rose and perennial range Essex gardeners drive across the county for, plus serious mail order. rates above the Essex average (4.7 vs 4.45 ★ county mean).
65 Essex garden centres tracked on allgardencentres.co.uk. All Google public rating data, September 2026.
☑️ Before You Go
- Wear sturdy shoes. Plants are grown on the ground rather than on benches, so you are walking on nursery surfaces rather than paving.
- If you are after a specific rose or an unusual perennial, ring or email first — they will tell you honestly whether they have it.
- Mail order is a real part of the business, not an afterthought. Packaging and despatch are consistently praised.
- Friday is the late day, open until 19:00.
- This is a nursery, not a day out. There is no café and no gift shop, which regulars consider the point.
🔍 Data & Source Confidence
Rating data: Sourced from Google Maps public listing, September 2026. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Review themes are editorial summaries drawn from a sample of recent public reviews — not verbatim quotes from any reviewer.
Opening hours: Sourced from Google Business Profile at time of collection. Hours can change — always verify before visiting, especially on bank holidays.
Distances: Straight-line (as-the-crow-flies) estimates using GPS coordinates. Actual driving distance will be greater.
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