Where to buy plants online?

Alfie1085

I apologise if this has been covered already - I did a quick trawl through but couldn't find what I was after.

Background is that I used to have a great local garden centre, but it has sadly gone downhill a lot recently, with quality of the plants not what it was and the choice not as big as it used to be. As much as I'd like to support local business I don't have many other local options for plants.

I'm not a very confident gardener but want to be brave and make a real difference to the garden next year with some more unusual, striking plants etc - in both pots and borders. The garden is quite shady but I'm looking forward to the challenge of filling it up!

The online plant centres / nurseries / retailers seem to offer exciting plant options but I have no experience using any of them before. My question is, can you recommend any from personal experience that do great plants and could also offer advice to a relative garden novice like myself if needed? There are a lot of them and so personal experiences from people on here would help guide my online looking a lot! Thanks!

ukmaggie45

I've had some very nice plants from Crocus. They aren't particularly cheap, but the quality is good. Only had one failure so far, which was my own fault! It was a peony that ended up being in too shady a position when other plants grew and shaded it. Also I suspect it got too dry last summer, I didn't realise how much water they need if you get a prolonged dry patch.

The Crocus website has a lot of useful info on where plants will grow, what conditions and so on. They also do a (free) phone app, you point your smart phone at where you want to plant, and it connects with the geological survey, works out soil, works out the orientation of the position and then suggests a list of plants! :T Have barely used it since downloading it, just had a rather busy few months, but intend to have a play with it in the early spring.

Alfie1085

Thanks - I will put a tick next to them then! - And look at in more depth. The app sounds amazing - technology can do anything and everything these days can't it! :T

Would be interested to hear of any others people have used successfully to compare and contrast etc too... Thanks again

LittleMax

We used www.giftaplant.com for a Hebe Sapphire for Mum and Dad's anniversary last year. It was a good specimen and arrived in really good condition. They are actually Spring Reach Nursery My only complaint was that I asked for a specific delivery day, but they couriered it as soon as they received the order - their response was that they use a 24 our service to ensure freshness. But if just ordering for yourself this would be a positive. I also don't think they are the cheapest, but we chose them based on offering a gift wrapping service.

I_have_spoken

some more unusual, striking plants

Crûg Farm - http://www.crug-farm.co.uk/

walkers-crisps_are_evil

https://www.jparkers.co.uk/

Have been using them for years and are very good. A few times plants have arrived with problems (delivery issues) they have always sent out replacements. Pretty good prices and a good range with freebies thrown in on orders...

JMFD

Thompson and Morgan aren't cheap, but good, and often have 20% off or better offers in their newsletters (and you can buy £15 vouchers with £5 tesco points)

http://www.thompson-morgan.com

Only had one bad experience with plug plants that didn't grow on (out of quite a lot!), and got a quick reply and refund.

Alfie1085

Thanks everyone for your help, I will look into all these options! Always a bit scared of plug plants (perhaps mistakenly?) I've always gone for a plant that's more mature, ready to plant out immediately, requiring little 'special' care or protection etc. Guess that's because this is what you normally find at a garden centre. However, also not sure I have the skills required yet, to take a plant from infancy (plug) through to maturity...

poorly_scammo

In addition to the companies mentioned above who've all delivered healthy plants to me, I'd add http://www.wychcross.co.uk/ for container grown roses and RV Roger http://www.rvroger.co.uk/?linksource=frontpage for a whole host of plants. Taylor's Clematis http://www.taylorsclematis.co.uk/ All their plants are two years old.

These people are good for chilli plug plants http://www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk/shop/chilli-products/chilli-plants-by-post.html

I think that the thing to watch for when buying plants online is how big the plant is. Crocus plants are usually mature which obviously doesn't guarantee anything in itself but can help with robustness. I have been caught out buying plug plants before today. Some plugs are established and grow very well, nothing wrong with them at all - good root systems etc but some are so young and have very little roots that they either need a lot of cosseting to bring them on which you might not want to do and/or they take ages to grow so you might as well buy some seed and grow the plants yourself. Look for words such as 'super plug' or 'jumbo'.

Hope this helps.

wiogs

As has already been mentioned make sure you get plants that will survive in your soil and weather.


I have known people to go into new build properties spend a small fortune on their garden and then wonder why the plants have died within a year.


A small amount of research will be well worth it.

poorly_scammo

walkers-crisps_are_evil wrote: »

www.jparkers.co.uk/

Have been using them for years and are very good. A few times plants have arrived with problems (delivery issues) they have always sent out replacements. Pretty good prices and a good range with freebies thrown in on orders...

Their bulbs are good too.