About Dubai: There’s a garden out there

About Dubai: There’s a garden out there Staff Reporter / 29 June 2013 It’s a 10,000-square-foot oasis, right on Shaikh Zayed Road, close to the First Gulf Bank metro station. Not new to lovers of greenery — or bird houses or ornamental fountains or even barbecue grills — Dubai Garden Center is a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to renovate or adorn their balconies and gardens. In fact, it offers even more. Under a green canopy that blocks out some of the sun’s rays, there is everything from a potting shed, a carpentry workshop, a tree area, furniture for the home and outdoors and even a second-hand bookshop. Ideal to spend a Saturday morning browsing, the place offers a lot in terms of broadening horizons and increasing knowledge and awareness of plant names, gardening tools and even, unexpectedly, fishing equipment. As you walk into the garden area, the first thing you spot is a range of wood fire ovens, branded under Jamie Oliver. An entire section inside stocks his brand of ingredients, products and recipe books. The wood fire oven though – Valoriani Ovens from Italy – cost a small fortune: Dh65,000.  Much more affordable are the other garden bric-a-brac. Figurines of laughing Buddhas in different poses — sleeping, curled up, reclining and, of course, laughing. The baby sleeping Buddha is Dh239, while a primitive statue of a cross-legged figure baring its teeth and wearing a skull and bones necklace is Dh495. Many of the wares carry a tag that reads “Take me to your home”. Wood masks surrounded by creepers of Jasmine are for Dh195. A dog house comes for Dh1,695. Terracota Lions cost Dh250 each and wheelbarrows double that price, Dh500. If you have money to spend, every corner at Garden Center is a little piece of paradise with the bougainvillea in full bloom and the purple scraggly creepers, a species of spiderwort called Tradescantia pallida for an easy Dh12. Little containers of Crassula come for Dh12. Even amateur gardeners, looking to start from somewhere, should come here to see their options and learn more about the delights and wonders of the soil. Near the potting shed, there are endless varieties of garden accessories available, lots of material to decorate flower pots with, from mulched wood chips to shiny pebbles. There is an enclosed air-conditioned space that stocks further supplies. There are books and DVDs on how to grow roses and flowers of the British Isles, also in the gardens of South Africa. Aficionados can spend hours browsing these aisles. A section on fishing has niche products like neon-coloured bait and fishing reels with “corrosion-resistant ball bearings”. There is a cafe that offers wi-fi and carrot cake and, provided you stay away from the arugula and feta pasta salad and the spinach and mushroom quiche, their deserts are quite nice. Roseleaf Cafe at this Dubai Garden Centre may just be the only place in Dubai that has fans. Ceiling fans, made mostly redundant in the rest of Dubai, are a delight to see — though air-conditioned, the presence of these fans is a throwback to a simpler time. For more, email them at garden-centre@desertgroup.ae. The centre is open from 8am to 10pm everyday.   nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Taylor Scott International