local gardening supplies, growers and planty people
Many local businesses in Dunoon are stocked with plants, pots, tools and compost, and other essentials, so you can create a beautiful garden or productive food-growing space. Here’s a list of garden centres and growers in and around Dunoon and Cowal for you gardeners. We’ve also included some independent growers and plant nurseries in Scotland that operate a mail-order service.
plant care services
A couple of friends of ours who are also planty people, offering related services.
Annika’s garden and home help services
Based in Toward, covering everywhere from Toward to Kirn
Sustainability-minded and qualified gardener Annika Reed, with her assistant Varrel, offers skilled gardening services. Weeding, pruning, composting, planting, they love to help you take care of your garden. Travelling by e-bikes with trailers, they tend to take on small to medium-sized garden and plant care jobs, rather than big garden clearance work.
Annika is also a home helper who can assist you with your household chores.
Annika’s email: annika.k.reed@gmail.com
Annika’s mobile: 07792 070 791
Greenguard plant care
Based in Dunoon
Debz Wright is a skilled horticulturalist with a love of house plants. Need your houseplants, pots, polytunnel or greenhouse watering while you are on holiday? Do your houseplants need some TLC? Debz offers plant rescue, watering and care services. She also specialises in orchid, bonsai and other rare plant care.
And, if you have cats, Debz also does cat sitting.
Debz mobile: 07470 940 879
Debz email: info@greenguard-crop-assessments.co.uk
A few friends who also offer their plant-related services around Dunoon and Cowal
GARDEN CENTRES
IN DUNOON
Walkers Mica
361 Argyll Street, Dunoon, PA23 7RN
Pots, compost, manure, topsoil, slabs, gravels, seeds, tools and fertilisers, and a small selection of potted plants.
wright’s home hardware
133–137 Argyll Street, Dunoon, PA23 7DD
You’ll find compost, manure, topsoil, pots, plant propagation materials, garden benches and planters, tools, seeds and some bareroot plants (seasonal). They also stock gardening machinery, including lawnmowers and strimmers.
Cowal, argyll and inverclyde
A few garden centres you may pass on your way to and from Dunoon.
BENMORE BOTANIC GARDEN
On the A815 outside Dunoon, PA23 8QU
Small plant sales area outside the visitor centre. Open March to October.
Benmore Botanic Garden website
crossroads pet and garden centre
Tighnabruaich
A small family-run shop selling some gardening supplies including plants and potato tubers.
The Tree Shop Garden Centre
Clachan, Cairndow, next to Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, PA26 8BL
This garden centre is all about plants. You’ll find fruit trees, ornamental trees from ornamental small conifers to large rowans, ornamental and fruit shrubs, gorgeous perennials for your flower border, as well as herbs, alpines and annual plants. You’ll also find a variety of pots, compost and some whisky-barrel planters.
Cardwell Garden Centre
Cloch Road, Gourock, PA19 1BB
Along Cloch Road from the Western Ferries terminal a McInroy’s Point, Gourock.
Large garden centre with a wide range of plants from trees to herbs, as well as lots of pots, planters, composts and seeds.
In and around Dunoon
growers
IN DUNOON
grow food, grow dunoon
Struan Lodge, Dunoon
Keep an eye on their Facebook page in case they restart their sales. This project is supported by the Dunoon Community Development Trust.
Grow Food Grow Dunoon Facebook
papaver gardening
Based in Dunoon, Cowal
We hope to start selling small quantities of plants grown by ourselves here in Dunoon this year. We’ll post details on our website and social media if this happens!
POP shop CIC
28 Hillfoot Street, Dunoon
The Dunoon Goes POP Drinks Garden is filled with flavoursome plants used for making drinks. From time to time, they sell homegrown rhubarb plants. Their garden is also worth a visit, we were involved in the creation of the garden and there are over 5 varieties of plant in this small walled garden.
Who also sell plants in Dunoon
plant nurseries
Fruit trees
scottish heritage fruit trees
John Hancox, based in Glasgow
John grows and sells an extensive range of fruit trees for our Scottish climate, including apple, pear, plum, cherry, medlar and quince. He also grows a range of soft fruit shrubs, like raspberry, tayberry and blueberry, as well as hedging plants like hawthorn and elder. They send their trees out ‘bare root’ during the tree’s dormant season (winter). So it’s best to choose and order your plants by late autumn.
trees, hedging and shrubs
Scot Plants Direct
Plant nursery based in Glenrothes, Fife.
Online supplier of hedging, trees and shrubs, mainly bare root. Due to rising delivery costs, they now only take orders of a minimum of 10.
Taynuilt Trees
Native tree and shrub nursery based in Taynuilt, Argyll.
perennial plants and shrubs
macplants
Macplants Berrybank Nursery, East Lothian
Macplants also offer a mail order service. They stock alpines, ferns, grasses, ornamental perennials and shrubs.
McLarens Nurseries
A retail and trade nursery in Renfrewshire with a huge selection of plants.
Wildflowers
Scotia seeds
Scottish wildflower seed packets and meadow mixes.
Naturescape
Nottingham
British grown wildflower plants, seeds and bulbs.
Organic food growing
Garden Organic’s online catalogue has lots of seeds, plants and equipment for growing your own food and herbs.
Independent plant nurseries in Scotland, mail order to Dunoon. Although, in the current climate, mail order is quite changeable, so check with each supplier.
The lists on this page are for information purposes only, and Papaver Gardening cannot guarantee or endorse the quality of these suppliers and growers.
seed suppliers
Read our blog article on organic or heirloom vegetable, herb and flower seed suppliers here in Scotland and the UK.
second-hand garden items
IN and around DUNOON
R&R Removals
122 George Street, Dunoon, PA23 8BP.
R&R’s warehouse is a treasure trove of second-hand goods. They have a tool section, with all kinds of garden and household equipment. They also get in pots and planters looking for a new home.
second-hand shops
There are many second-hand shops in Dunoon’s town centre. By buying plant pots from these places, you’re not only keeping items out of landfill, you’re also contributing to the shop’s charity. Places we keep a lookout for plant pots:
Barnardos, 2b Ferry Brae
British Red Cross, 60 John Street
Oxfam, 55/57 Hillfoot Street
Radio Charity Shop, 42 Hillfoot Street
Do you have any other suggestions? Let us know, email hello@papavergardening.co.uk.
online marketplaces
Dunoon’s online marketplaces are a great way to source used gardening items, such as slabs, tools, pots, planters, old greenhouses and more.
Freecycle is a non-profit site for people giving away unwanted items, to keep them out of landfill.
Facebook, including Facebook marketplace or one of the Dunoon Weebay groups. There are a couple of local groups where people sell and offer unwanted items for free.
Gumtree allows you to search by item and location.
Be part of the circular economy, give second-hand tools, furniture and pots a chance.
Are you a local grower who sells plants? Are you a supplier of horticultural and gardening goods in Dunoon or around Cowal? Tell us about your business and we may add it to the list.