Hillside has grown plants on the Doagh Road at Newtownabbey since 1921, when Robert Hugh Kirkpatrick set up a small retail nursery. Four generations on, it remains an independent, family-run garden centre on the same site. A major redevelopment in 2005 added a new shop, a covered sales area and a coffee shop, but the core is still horticulture: bedding plants, trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, conifers, climbers, roses and alpines are grown and sold through the seasons. Alongside the plants are garden furniture, barbecues, water features, solar lighting, garden décor and pet care, with an online shop for some lines. The on-site coffee shop makes it a regular stop for local gardeners, and its Christmas displays have become a long-standing seasonal fixture, marking more than a century of continuous family trading on the road.
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