Where to get cheap good quality plants?

ethansmum

^^What a shame Dave I would have been interested in buying rooted cuttings

Poppycat

Aldi sell cheap plants granted not a huge variety mainly some trees, bedding plants, shrubs, roses, hanging basket plants (this Thursday)

Also greengrocers often sell cheap bedding plants

~Chameleon~

Also, if you live in a rural area take a drive around and check people's garden gates for plant sales as many will sell off their surplus stock this way, both flowers and veggies. You can often pick them up for just a few pence each.

louise_1981

I am sorry but I have to disagree with the ebay route, especially if you do a local search with you postcode, you can pick up some lovely plants that either the person no longer wants/needs or things that have been dug out as it is taking over.

Have a look here for some recomendations for online shopping

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=879585

olly300

louise_1981 wrote: »

I am sorry but I have to disagree with the ebay route,

Are you suggesting the ebay route?

louise_1981

sorry yes I am, someone suggested e-bay was rubbish for plants and they come smaller, and below standard, but...

I have bought from private sellers and nurseries and the plants are fab, bought from a nursery and even after being delayed by RM for 10 days the plants were still in a good condition, if a little parched.

they must have been sent in a fantastic condition as there were flower petals on the plants, which had unfortunatly died off due to RM

grey_lady

Gardening Direct have a website, they are the catalogue people - think they advertise in papers etc, a relative of mine has used them for a few years for bedding plants.

novelli

ive jst bought a load from ebay and they are lovely!!

bought wholesale and will be growing them on a bit and selling some at car boots.

500 bizzie lizzies and 150 trailing lobilia for £30

Davesnave

louise_1981 wrote: »

sorry yes I am, someone suggested e-bay was rubbish for plants and they come smaller, and below standard, but...

I have bought from private sellers and nurseries and the plants are fab, bought from a nursery and even after being delayed by RM for 10 days the plants were still in a good condition, if a little parched.

Nobody said mail order plants were 'rubbish,' Louise, though your own post highlights the reason why a lot of nursery owners wouldn't touch mail order with someone else's barge pole!

Of course you can get really good plants mail-order, though as some others have pointed out, there are some risks. Many plants that go out, do so in 9cm or 1 litre pots to save on postage, and that's fine, as long as you're paying for relatively small plants. If you want perennials in decent sized pots of 2 litres or more, then you will have to pay more just to cover the seller's postage costs. Probably the best nursery to find, if you want to go down this route, is one in a very rural location without heavy staff costs and other overheads.

Things like seedling bizzie lizzies are light and more easily posted, especially as there is packaging specially designed to facilitate this. Also, you should be able to get good deals the later it gets, as wholesalers have to clear stock or dump it.

In the trade, small plug sized perennials are traded at 'bargain' prices, typically as low as 25p/30p. No doubt lots of you would like to get your hands on these, but wholesalers deal in batches of 40 or 80, not in threes and fours, and they don't post them; people collect.

Round my way, there are two ladies who probably buy in some stuff and propagate the rest themselves. They hit the spring plant fairs with cell-pot sized plants at about 30 - 50p and make an absolute killing. What's more they're all finished by July, sitting back with their G&Ts while the rest of us are watering like crazy. It's a business model worth copying.

But the best way to get good, cheap plants is to cultivate gardening friends and do swaps. As a friend of mine says, 'The best way to keep a plant is to give it away.'

alanobrien

Wilko's sell cheap but often neglected plants that may require nursing back to health.
I had many a bargain from them in the past. Also check to see if you have a local council run nursery, if you do they are generally much cheaper than local garden centres.