We’re Bryan & Mandy, the husband-wife founders of The Garden House. We’ve been working in the garden centre industry for pretty much the last 15 years of our lives. We initially got into the business with our two garden centres; Gardenworks, which we sold in 2008 to a Scandinavian garden centre chain called Plantasjen. Working alongside them helped us realise that garden centres operate best when they are run on an individual and personal basis and not as part of a larger group.

We’re back now (after a small break) with The Garden House, based out in Malahide, just opposite Malahide Castle. We are passionate about food, gardening and the intersection between them; growing for cooking and wanted to infuse these passions into a garden centre. We live these passions every day at home with poly-tunnels full of organic vegetables, a berry & apple orchard for home-made jams and stewed apples as well as keeping pigs, chickens & cows for organic eggs & meat for the family roast on Sundays.

So how have we made these a part of The Garden House? Well first & foremost the name itself comes from the family home, which is built inside the walls of an old Victorian walled garden. Our plant selection at home is full of the weird & wonderful as well as the classic & contemporary. These are plants that inspire us and are a reflection of what we offer in store.

We’ve learned over the years to stock plants in varying stages of growth to accommodate different gardeners’ needs. So for the more expert gardeners out there our plant plugs are perfect for bringing on, while for the novice gardeners (but no less enthused) our mature plants will add instant colour, shape and life to your borders, pots & home. We also stock lifestyle products like Weber barbeques and kettler outdoor furniture so believe us when we say, there really is something for every garden.

Second, we have 30 chickens on site which lay eggs every day that are used in our café’s kitchen for delicious scrambled egg breakfasts as well as in all our in house baked cakes and breads. A poly-tunnel on site also grows herbs, salads & vegetables for use in all our dishes. In case we haven’t mentioned it, we run a café on site as well where we produce all of the food from scratch each day. It is casual sit down service so you can relax and enjoy your time without having to queue. See some of the reviews we have received on TripAdvisor here http://bit.ly/SELQow

To reserve a table click here: http://www.thegardenhouse.ie/pages/make-a-reservation

So we are doing some different at The Garden House. Unlike most garden centres we really do live the ethos that runs through our company. Our story of gardening, growing and good food speaks to us. It might speak to you too.