Online garden plants/trees
Discussion
A couple of weeks ago I bought three 4m tall Silver Birch trees from https://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/
They were delivered as described and seem to be doing well since I planted them.
They were delivered as described and seem to be doing well since I planted them.
As ever, depends on the supplier. Eg Sarah Raven normally ok but expensive, crocus I have been to their sales day and the stock was half decent
Then you have specialist small nursery’s which is strongly encourage you to support - often one or two man bands, often specialising and national experts etc. eg
https://www.chrysanthemumsdirect.co.uk/
Another trick is look for local plant fairs.
And then learn to propagate your own! Buy one get many that way!
Then you have specialist small nursery’s which is strongly encourage you to support - often one or two man bands, often specialising and national experts etc. eg
https://www.chrysanthemumsdirect.co.uk/
Another trick is look for local plant fairs.
And then learn to propagate your own! Buy one get many that way!
Yes bought loads of shrubs and trees from various online specialists. No issues.
Also, find your local “trade only” plant wholesaler and then ask if they do sales to a cash account. Most do, then you can buy plants at way less than garden centre prices, if you know what you’re looking for. Customer service doesn’t really exist in these places, apart from telling you where to find stuff.
Also, find your local “trade only” plant wholesaler and then ask if they do sales to a cash account. Most do, then you can buy plants at way less than garden centre prices, if you know what you’re looking for. Customer service doesn’t really exist in these places, apart from telling you where to find stuff.
Nowadays I buy more plants online than I do at conventional garden centres, usually because I want very specific varieties to match plants that are already in the garden (and I'm too impatient to propagate!)
In general I get very good plants at cheaper prices, and it's easy to find precisely what I need without hunting around local garden centres (often without success).
There is one notable exception, a company I have vowed never to order from again. Terrible plants (borderline dead in some cases) and slow delivery. I obviously can't name and shame them, but before using the "gardening" company with "express" in their name you should read some of their numerous 1-star reviews on TrustPilot.
In general I get very good plants at cheaper prices, and it's easy to find precisely what I need without hunting around local garden centres (often without success).
There is one notable exception, a company I have vowed never to order from again. Terrible plants (borderline dead in some cases) and slow delivery. I obviously can't name and shame them, but before using the "gardening" company with "express" in their name you should read some of their numerous 1-star reviews on TrustPilot.
Have used https://www.grasslands.co.uk/ twice - both excellent
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Nowadays I buy more plants online than I do at conventional garden centres, usually because I want very specific varieties to match plants that are already in the garden (and I'm too impatient to propagate!)
In general I get very good plants at cheaper prices, and it's easy to find precisely what I need without hunting around local garden centres (often without success).
There is one notable exception, a company I have vowed never to order from again. Terrible plants (borderline dead in some cases) and slow delivery. I obviously can't name and shame them, but before using the "gardening" company with "express" in their name you should read some of their numerous 1-star reviews on TrustPilot.
I was using online, but have now switched to purchasing from places so you can see the quality of the plants.In general I get very good plants at cheaper prices, and it's easy to find precisely what I need without hunting around local garden centres (often without success).
There is one notable exception, a company I have vowed never to order from again. Terrible plants (borderline dead in some cases) and slow delivery. I obviously can't name and shame them, but before using the "gardening" company with "express" in their name you should read some of their numerous 1-star reviews on TrustPilot.
I was using Suttons, as the prices were very good early in the season if you pre-ordered. However the strawberry plants came dead, the raspberry canes haven't grown at all, and quite a few of the plug plants I bought to grow on came with plants missing in the strips of 6. Buy 72, get about 60...
Bulbs I had from them had many rotten or green mouldy ones in the pack, which made me not use any.
I've pointed out it's likely to be an issue with the delivery they use, Evri for me and it's 3 days from shipping until it's delivered, possibly sat in a hot van in this recent weather?
I've mostly had refunds, cancelled all outstanding orders having been quite disappointed. Apparently it's the same company that does Suttons, Thompson and Morgan, Dobbies... To be fair, their customer service has been excellent.
I've visited a number of garden centers, including 'destination' ones, which have some beautiful plants but you do pay for them. A couple of local growers garden centers are very good on prices.
Boston Seeds have been excellent for bulbs, the tulips this year are still beautiful and they are cheap
Depends what you're after.
Crocus were OK but haven't done open days in a while if you were interested in checking the quality of the stock ahead of time.
Hedges Online were OK for hedging bits but they obviously specialise in only some things.
Architectural Plants were good, some decent big stuff along side lots of other stock. Got them to do a couple of garden design & install jobs with full mature planting. Nice nursery site too.
Crocus were OK but haven't done open days in a while if you were interested in checking the quality of the stock ahead of time.
Hedges Online were OK for hedging bits but they obviously specialise in only some things.
Architectural Plants were good, some decent big stuff along side lots of other stock. Got them to do a couple of garden design & install jobs with full mature planting. Nice nursery site too.
Very mixed.
Some stuff is smaller than expected or needs to go on life support before restarting from the base.
We got 4 roses from a recognised specialist rose supplier about 4 year ago. two died off within a year, the third is alive just and the fourth is surviving (but has the biggest thorns I've ever seen.
Two cherry trees about 5 year ago, one never looked like it would survive and didn't the second one is still alive yet hasn't shown signs of blossom yet.
On the plus side, a plum tree boight this year looks really healthy, some smaller shrubs will be OK in a year or two, some gladdy bulbs all coming up.
You pay more at a garden centre, preferably one that grows it's own stuff but I think the quality is better.
Seeds, wish I could remember if the cucumber seeds I bought were from Tesco or elsewhere but 2 germinated out of 14 planted and the two look like they will not come to much. The courgettes on the other hand are great.
Some stuff is smaller than expected or needs to go on life support before restarting from the base.
We got 4 roses from a recognised specialist rose supplier about 4 year ago. two died off within a year, the third is alive just and the fourth is surviving (but has the biggest thorns I've ever seen.
Two cherry trees about 5 year ago, one never looked like it would survive and didn't the second one is still alive yet hasn't shown signs of blossom yet.
On the plus side, a plum tree boight this year looks really healthy, some smaller shrubs will be OK in a year or two, some gladdy bulbs all coming up.
You pay more at a garden centre, preferably one that grows it's own stuff but I think the quality is better.
Seeds, wish I could remember if the cucumber seeds I bought were from Tesco or elsewhere but 2 germinated out of 14 planted and the two look like they will not come to much. The courgettes on the other hand are great.
I have bought some plants online if I cannot find them locally.
When I was looking for a chuckleberry plant the only supplier was The Mother Tree in Devon. I ordered two and they came as bare rooted, ready to plant. I had the space already prepared so they were in the ground within a couple of days. They both produced berries later that year and are covered in flowers now, for a good crop this year.
When I was looking for a chuckleberry plant the only supplier was The Mother Tree in Devon. I ordered two and they came as bare rooted, ready to plant. I had the space already prepared so they were in the ground within a couple of days. They both produced berries later that year and are covered in flowers now, for a good crop this year.
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Nowadays I buy more plants online than I do at conventional garden centres, usually because I want very specific varieties to match plants that are already in the garden (and I'm too impatient to propagate!)
In general I get very good plants at cheaper prices, and it's easy to find precisely what I need without hunting around local garden centres (often without success).
There is one notable exception, a company I have vowed never to order from again. Terrible plants (borderline dead in some cases) and slow delivery. I obviously can't name and shame them, but before using the "gardening" company with "express" in their name you should read some of their numerous 1-star reviews on TrustPilot.
This. If you really want something specific you could be driving for hours round garden centres. I have used quite a few of the online crowd and never had an issue other than Sarah Raven going out of stock of some bulbs Monty Don planted and they sold out but ignored my order it was annoying at the time so I don’t use them now. In general I get very good plants at cheaper prices, and it's easy to find precisely what I need without hunting around local garden centres (often without success).
There is one notable exception, a company I have vowed never to order from again. Terrible plants (borderline dead in some cases) and slow delivery. I obviously can't name and shame them, but before using the "gardening" company with "express" in their name you should read some of their numerous 1-star reviews on TrustPilot.
paralla said:
Yeah I have used them previously without issues, for a Mulberry tree for mum, and a dwarf magnolia for us.I have also used https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk for a range of hedge plants.
However the majority of our trees, and our hedge, came from a local independent nursery who where much more competitive than the online players.
So I would certainly have a look at that as an option. Some only sell to the trade, but even then if its for say 300 hedge plants its worth asking.
Other are RHS/Crocus, Suttons, Sarah Raven, J Parkers, etc
dhutch said:
paralla said:
Yeah I have used them previously without issues, for a Mulberry tree for mum, and a dwarf magnolia for us.I have also used https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk for a range of hedge plants.
However the majority of our trees, and our hedge, came from a local independent nursery who where much more competitive than the online players.
So I would certainly have a look at that as an option. Some only sell to the trade, but even then if its for say 300 hedge plants its worth asking.
Other are RHS/Crocus, Suttons, Sarah Raven, J Parkers, etc
They have a poster about the environmental benefits of houseplants right beside a big display of plastic houseplants. I'm not sure the benefits are the same when the houseplants are plastic.
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