Online garden centre

[elepants]

Evening! Does anyone have recommendations for good online garden centres and/or plant suppliers? I'm determined to get better to grips with our neglected garden but it's such a palaver trying to wrangle young kids round the garden centre. Had a bit of a Google but I've no idea if the sites I'm looking at are reliable or decent quality. Does anyone have a favourite virtual garden centre they'd suggest? Ideally I'm after somewhere to buy bits of garden 'hardware' like planters and lawn edging as well as lots of lovely plants. Thanks!

I like Crocus, and J R Parkers. If l know type of plant l want l tend to Google it and see whose selling it and for how much. Amazon and Ebay do some good planters.

Thank you! I somehow completely forgot Amazon exists, will have a look at the garden stuff on there for sure. Would you rate B&Q at all? Their website seems to have everything under the sun but most of it doesn't look like it's supplied directly by them, which makes me a bit wary about quality.

The advantage of on-lines you can go straight to the people actually growing plants, like the two mentioned, or Claire Austin, David Austin for roses, Burncoose. So why would you go to an on-line house and diy place instead?

I’ve been looking at the RHS website has anybody used it?

Thompson and Morgan is an old, old gardening firm, I just looked them up they've been going since 1855! I've used them since long before the internet and in the last few years too, they've totally taken well to online selling and personally I can't think of a better place to start. You know those carousels of seed packets you see in garden centres and some supermarkets? Most of them will be from T&M. And lots of garden centre plants probably originate there too.

Buy Plants, Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seed Potatoes | Thompson & Morgan (thompson-morgan.com)

My DD loves our local garden centres as they all have a cafe and invariably we have a coffee/cake in the middle of looking at plants!
Planters and lawn edging I'd want to see IRL to check the size, quality, colour and postage for ceramic pots is going to be £££.
Places like B&M will have cheap plastic planters and there are tulip and daff bulbs for sale everywhere so that'll give you some spring colour. When they go over, plant out some dahlia tubers.
I'd get a local gardener in to give it a good tidy up (saves you that job) and to give you more of a blank canvas. Just cutting the lawn and hedges will make a big difference.
I've recently bought some plants (verbena, rudbeckia and some in the sale that have gone over for this year that I'll overwinter for next) from Gardening Express and I've been impressed with the size, quality.
If you are willing to share the area you are in, somebody might be able to recommend a local nursery.
Pansies and violas will give you some colour now but invest in some snips for deadheading.

I've often ordered form the RHS website with good success!

I've used RHS - the plants also come with a guarantee (not needed to use it). They are supplied by all the big names and they do a quality check before sending it out - I've had plants missing because they weren't happy with them.

I do prefer my local independent garden centre as I can talk to people who know a lot about the plants but as my children are grown up I don't have to worry about taking them with me!

Sarah Raven, crocus etc, most online retailers are fine, but buying bedding plants seems a bit hit and miss.

I really like Norfolk Quality Plants, they sell on Amazon and also have their own website. Their plants are a good size and healthy.

My go-to for online plants is Gardening Express - I have bought loads from their special offers and rarely have a problem with growing on house plants or outside plants.
The only drawback is the delivery cost which tends to persuade you to buy more to make it worthwhile - but they always arrive very well packed and in good condition so I can live with that.

Ebay can be good for plants

I LOVE the Secret gardening Club.

I think they sell overstocks, and thus what they have in is very very variable, but I rather like that.

The plants are good value, good quality and well packed.

I totally get this — trying to browse a garden centre with kids is nearly impossible . I’ve had good luck ordering from a few online spots instead. Some of the bigger UK sites have solid selections of both plants and garden hardware, and their packaging has really improved over the last couple of years. I’ve ordered planters, edging, and compost online a few times now, and everything arrived in great condition. My tip: always check recent reviews about plant quality and delivery — it saves a lot of frustration later!

I ordered some stuff from the RHS and thought it was very similar to Crocus - I even wondered if they use the same supplier. I have also ordered from Hayloft - lovely plants but they send too many emails & Claire Austin. Claire Austin is my favourite but as it's just perennials, obviously the choice is narrower than Crocus or the RHS.

I've had some good quality 'garden ready' winter bedding plants from Mr Fothergills this year. On the pricey side, but the plants were a decent size and coming into bud. Just bought a bulk load of bulbs from Yougarden, so will have to wait a few months to see how they do. I bought some spring/summer flowering ones from them last spring and got lots of foliage but not many flowers. I think that's probably because the varieties take a couple of years to get established and I was a bit late planting them, so hoping for a good display this year.

If you have a Lidl nearby, it's worth scoping out the middle aisle products in advance on their website. Normally their bedding plants look really good value and you could just nip in and out without getting too distracted, as the selection tends to be small.

I’ve for a lot from JParkers which I think is pretty good for bulbs, perennials and smaller plants. I’ve had some iffy ones but when you’re looking at cheap plugs I assume some might not survive. For slightly bigger plants and evergreens I’ve discovered Cowell’s garden centre. It’s not one people tend to name but I’ve had some beautiful plants that were all very well packaged and I’d definitely recommend.