I was horrified this morn, half way through September, to hear an ad on the radio for Christmas…read moreparties... the first Christmas ad of the season... good god, where did that last year go? Anyway as I mulled over all things festive I happened to be on Sandymount avenue and there are the gates to Enable Ireland and their great little garden centre where I have gotten our Christmas tree for the last 4 years. I wander in, and realise that there is more here than trees and plants; they have garden tools and pellets, compost and oddly enough a selection of posters saying things like you 'don't have to be crazy to work here' yada yada yada. They also have a display of Ballydongan pottery (nope, never heard of it either) jolly nice as it happens. The garden centre is part on Enable Ireland so when you shop there you are not only getting some very nice greenery (or dodgy plaques/posters) but your cash is doing some extra good.... which is nice.

...and one day i found myself really getting into the gardening thing…read more.. but alas, i needed supplies. SUPPLIES!!! and my searches all ended up in tiny TINY little places where i had to dig underneath things to find other things and generally didn't find many things i needed at all. so imagine my thrill at finding Avenue Garden Centre. not only is it larger than a cupboard, they have loads of things. they have an entire area dedicated to ginormous bags of compost. another area just for pots. short of flying back to the america and going to home depot, it's the best garden store i've found within throwing distance of city centre. yes, i'm sure there are more magical places out in the burbs, but please people, i don't have a car and i don't fancy hauling 50kg bags of compost around on the LUAS. i'm sure you can understand. i was able to get there on DART, find the things i needed (and then some) and hail a nice lady cabbie (i know, right?) to get it all back to the house for me. luckily, i also had Husband with me to do the heavy lifting. oh i should also mention that the staff was also extremely helpful and friendly. i didn't feel like a complete retard asking them for help. that's a bonus in my book :)

I'm not the biggest gardening guru, so I can't provide the expert's opinion of Gardenworks as a…read moregardening centre. However from the point of view of a mere human, Gardenworks is a rather impressive establishment. For starters, it's massive. Beautiful exterior, airy interior, chock full of garden and household goodies, and large nursery section out the back. I was quite impressed that they have a food and wine section (?!?) with a great variety of snacky, gourmet eats. They also have a fairly sizeable section for dog owners... sweet! Gardenworks is a great place to visit if you're planning a complete garden revamp, or simply if you want to grab some hip and happening utensils for your next barbecue. They also have an impressive (read: expensive) selection of outdoor furniture, some of which really took my fancy. The best thing is on Sundays (every 2nd I think) they have a BBQ - so bring the whole family along. And for those single girls out there - there's a bit of eye candy on offer here, if you like the strong, muscly type...

It's 4pm on a Saturday, I have just started putting up those book shelves that I promised I'd do…read morelast January and I realise I have no plaster board plugs... this is not an entirely fictional emergency!. So, I hammer down to sandymount hardware where the guy behind the counter of this really very small shop manages to find a selection of the above plugs, lifesaver... the shelves through no fault of the plugs, fell down 3 days later. The shop has just about everything you could possibly need from pot plants, fuel for the fire to clothes lines and of course, plasterboard plugs. A great shop to have on the door step and the guys behind the counter are always there with helpful advice.

I can't help myself, whenever I'm in Sandymount I've got to drop in to Murtagh's for a peek at the…read moreshelves. Sometimes it's just to see what they've brought in (compost pots AND toy trains?!), but always for Christmas. Every November Murtagh's converts from mild-mannered hardware store (home of garden chairs, stew pots, rubber washers and Bord Na Mona firelogs) to full-on Christmas (and hardware) bazaar. Really. Besides keys cut and bulbs fit, the cheery lads of Murtagh's are Christmas tree lumberjacks, lifters and occasional lashers of said trees to the roof of your Renault Clio without scratching the paint. Stop in any afternoon to pick the live spruce of your jingle dreams, they'll help with the rest. Most years there's also a good selection of fake trees inside -one year a very sweet little plastic number from straight off the display stand found a home, ornaments and all, in the living room of a very cheered future yelper. It's lovely to know these small businesses can thrive despite larger econo-woes. As long as they're open Murtagh's can be sure of a very loyal patronage, nails, twine and all.

Well worth a visit. Very friendly staff who know their stuff and are willing to help. Large…read more selection of plants which are healthy and the prices are very competitive. I recently purchased some top soil to level off a patchy uneven garden. I called Mike to ask advice on what type of soil I needed,he was very helpful, offering advice on the best type of soil and how to apply.Fantastic quality soil,could not be faulted,there were no foreign bodies, stones or any sign of weeds etc Would definitely consider for future use!

I loved this garden centre, until my visit today. I visit the centre to purchase a pizza oven. It…read morelook me 15 minutes to find someone to help me. I was then asked to wait a further 15 minutes for tge help. I then waited 20 for the item to be told there was none left. I had checked the day before and they were in stock. I was then told that what I wanted was not good and they said they are better ones, which are very very expensive. Very poor costumer service. I think they were in stock and they were trying to get more money from me. Very disappointed.

I lost count how often I drove past this Nursery and just because it's a tiny entrance I never…read moreconsidered going there (well, plus the fact that I live in an apartment without balcony, so it's not often that I need plants). Bad mistake. This time I needed a nice plant as a present so seeing they are basically on my doorstep I drove in - what a surprise. It's actually a quite big nursery with a rather big car park too. Looking to find the best suitable plant for my friend I looked at almost all plants on display. And they all looked great with good prices. Together with pots and other gardening related items it's definitely now a place on my map. The staff was very nice and obviously enjoyed working there.

Came here after hearing great great things from family in the area. We had the shakshuka and…read morecoffee. It was just amazing. And then we had desserts which was just out of this world. Stranfield we will be back

Vegetarian café with great food and ambiance (4.5/5 Green Stars)…read more We stopped here en route to Carlingford on a friend's recommendation and all three of us were very happy we did. The place is lovely - the café is filled with light and plants and the surroundings are beautiful. Mum is a picky eater but she relished the mushroom quiche and finished the entire piece even though it was huge! (Seriously - about three times the size of portions elsewhere.) My brother loved his herbed rice bowl and I liked the organic porridge with fruit and the pistachio plum cake. The only kink was that several items arrived much later than the food - the coffees, bread, and honey for my porridge (I had already finished my porridge by then). The store is filled with great stuff - fresh fruit and veg, and a good selection of some of the most ethical products. Weirdly, the Strandfield website contains no info other than an address, so you have to rely on reviews to get info in advance. The lunch menu is mostly comprised of sourdough pizza, salads (including a quinoa bowl and herbed rice bowl), and sandwiches - see menu photo. There are also lots of bakery items, including freshly baked scones, cakes and wheaten bread (which was really good - I bought one to take home). I'm giving Strandfield café 4.5 out of 5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact, for these reasons: · I didn't actually notice at the time but the menu is 100% vegetarian! · Strandfield uses free range eggs from their own farm. · My porridge was made with organic oats · Flowers and plants in the café come from Stranfield's own nursery · The grocer sources local and organic fruits and vegetables along free range eggs, and organic health foods · The store stocks a really good selection of ethical goods - I could do most of my shopping here if I lived here. · Strandfield would benefit from providing more info (on the website or menu) on ingredient sourcing.

Whilst the Garden Centre is rather small is still offers a nice variety of plants, pots, grills and…read morepet supply. I love browsing here and the staff is very friendly.

From the owner: Welcome to Howth Garden Centre…read more We opened in 2011 with only a few tables and plants but a lot of drive to offer our customers a genuine, friendly service. Each season we have added onto the services we can provide to our customers. We now currently have a Pet Food Store, Weber Barbecues, High Quality Tools, all Fuels, Christmas Trees and a wide range of Irish Grown Plants. Whether you need some advice on barbeques, a colourful plant to gift to a friend or food for your pet, we at Howth Garden Centre are always happy to help. We are open seven days a week so be sure to pop in store and have a look.