Bosses at Cardwell Garden Centre have covered a large wall of their Patio Café in green lichen as part of a six-figure makeover.

Interior designers created the Mosswall in a bid to bring nature indoors, as part of a transformation of the popular eatery, near Gourock.

The unusual move to use thousands of pieces of hand-harvested living lichen, imported from Italy as part of the décor, has environmental benefits of improving air quality, reducing airborne dust and is even said to clean virus particles from the atmosphere.

Patio Café manager, Bernadette Sime said: “We’re really proud of our new-look Patio Café that brings nature straight to your coffee table.

“We’ve embraced the natural world and brought it indoors with a re-design using lots of natural wood, plants and foliage and our showstopper Mosswall, which should get everyone talking.

“While we’ve retained our traditional tables and chairs for a sit-down meal, we’ve also brought a more relaxing, warm and calm ambience to the popular eatery.

“We’ve also installed new atmospheric rattan and festoon lighting throughout The Patio, as well as leather sofas, luxurious padded banquet seating and coffee tables.”

The Patio Café now has a Little Deer Den play area for small children to enjoy with comfortable seating nearby where the grown-ups can keep an eye on the youngsters while enjoying a relaxing cuppa.

Bernadette continued: “We wanted to create different kinds of spaces for everyone to enjoy and The Patio is certainly the ideal place for meeting up with friends and family for tea, coffee and a chat in a cosy atmosphere. And of course, one of the famous Patio Café luxury cakes that are most certainly still on the menu!

“We’ve had a fabulous makeover, but one thing hasn’t changed – and that’s the fabulous range of food and refreshments we serve our valued customers.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone, so come along and see the new look for themselves.”

Cardwell managing director, Drew Gallagher added: “We’ve had a great reaction from visitors to the new-look Patio Café.

“We always look at ways of supporting local businesses and 75 per cent of the spend on the project went to companies from Inverclyde.”

The Patio Café refurbishment was designed and project managed by Mariessa Devlin, from Inverclyde-based Devlin Interior Design with rendering and engineers’ drawings by Rebecchi Architectural, in Gourock.

Mariessa said: “My focus has been on the use of biophilic design, bringing the natural environment of the outdoors and the creation of space that promotes wellness for Cardwell’s customers.”

Cardwell Garden Centre