Gardening Express for plants?

[gardeningnovice5]

I’m looking to buy an Osmanthus for a shady spot in my garden, and Gardening Express have one heavily discounted ATM.

Has anyone used them before? I’m just a little nervous about buying online, spending money and plants arriving crushed or in poor condition.

Thompson & Morgan also have an Osmanthus for the same price, but theirs is a 3L pot and Gardening Express is 7L!

I've used them and they were fine

Avoid! Out of my delivery of approx 10 indoor plants, at least 7 were in dreadful condition.
Broken pots; most with rotting roots due to over watering; no leaves one one!
No response to my email with photos of the plants in question.

Don't go by pot size though - suppliers have a habit of putting smallish plants in a pot twice the size and charging twice as much for it, even though the plant itself is no bigger.

Dire. Service was appalling. Twice. Can't say I didn't give them a fair go.

Absolutely the worst online shopping experience I've ever had. Me and many others if you google them. I would strongly recommend not using them. Happy customers are only happy by accident with this lot

Google reviews.

I wouldn't use again.

Customer service doesn't exist - literally. No one responds no matter how you try to reach out.

Avoid like the plague

Used once, never again. Absolutely awful company who send out dead/infected plants

Oh no! What companies would people recommend?

My experience has been good actually so far, I was a bit worried but everything has been fine. I have bought a Magnolia, a very cheap Witch Hazel, and a bargain bundle of half a dozen roses. I did think the Witch Hazel was mostly dead but no, it just took a very long time to come into leaf. The roses were amazing value, £20 for the six of them (pot luck what varieties) and they are all bar one varieties that I would have chosen (and that one is still a pretty rose ) they are growing well. Maybe I have been lucky, but all these were at a hefty discount so I took a chance.

The problem is that they look good and the prices are not just competitive but literally half of everyone else.

So I totally get why people want to give them a go. But the issue is you literally have no idea when the stuff will turn up or what condition it will be in.

Sutton, dobies, dt browns seeds, Chiltern seeds, Crocus, j parkers, even Thompson & Morgan (who can have mixed reviews)

Dutchbulbs if you're buying a lot - they're the bulk arm of j Parker's

Hayloft, crocus, RHS

All decent customer service.
Or ask around your local nurseries etc. They might be able to buy in at a better price for you and let you know when they can (I work for a relatively small nursery/farm shop- we can't stock everything but if someone asks, we can get stuff at wholesale/trade price)

My experience has been fine so far.The plants were smaller than expected , as I think the measurement is from the bottom of the pot , not just the bit of plant on the top. Saying that, a few days down the line the hydrangeas that I ordered , the skimmia, heuchera all look much better now and have new growth . They came packaged well too. I also ordered a chinese jasmine which I haven’t had a chance to plant out yet and some allium bulbs, some of which were a bit mouldy.I think this is not really the time to be planting alliums but ……

I've ordered 6/7 times - for the simple reason as they are much cheaper than everywhere else and the plants have all done well. I've had 1 instance where I thought a plant was dead - no phone number but the online chat refunded me instantly. I just had to take a photo. In the end the plant did grow and I felt bad.
I'm very aware of the reputation/ reviews and yes, the delivery times have been unpredictable. Sounds like I've been very lucky but I've been pleased.

They are so weird. Some people get great products and others report stuff being basically dead or broken on arrival. Like two different companies

I wouldn’t by any from Gardening Express, ever.
I like Hayloft, RHS, Crocus or Van Meuwen. Farmer Gracy are also very good.

Good and bad, when the plants are good they are really good, well grown and in big pots. I bought an Osmanthus a while ago and it's a really good big plant, a few flowers currently. I have had bad things and customer service is/was non-existent, don't buy hibernating plants, they say wait to see if they grow then it's too late to complain! Bought a load of very cheap spring bulbs early in the year (should have been autumn planted), which were all really good sized bulbs and are putting on a fantastic show at the minute. Overall worth it, mainly good value for money plants and I haven't had any problems for a good while.

Plants ordered easily, they took roughly 2 weeks to arrive (as indicated). Unfortunately, the packaging was an oversized, ripped cardboard box with 2 plants inside. The box ripped in transit (we assume), and was clearly battered. The plants inside were on top of each other with broken stalks, and we do not believe that - even with proper care- they will survive.
We contacted customer service for a resolution (we simply wanted the plants replaced by healthy plants). Levi responded and was pleasant and apologetic (except for insisting that the plants ought to survive with proper care, which was a little insulting to gardeners with more than half a century of experience), but entirely without any decision making ability beyond a £10 partial refund. This means that we are left with plants which are unlikely to bloom in future, and have paid handsomely for the privilege of nursing them to a fairly certain future (the rubbish bin).
Several issues:
-1. Packaging was not suitable. The box was far too big, and poorly constructed. We have regularly ordered from other sites (eg. Farmer Gracy) and have come to expect reasonably robust packaging.
-2. The courier service (Yodel) clearly didn't take the necessary care of the package, and allowed the plants to be tossed around in the back of a van, possibly upside down, resulting in a completely torn box and broken plants.
-3. The customer service agent needs to be empowered to replace plants like-for-like in events like this. We didn't want a refund. We wanted healthy plants. We would have accepted a full refund, but this was not forthcoming either. As it is, we have paid for shoddy products and service. Very, very poor.

Garden snail they need to be called.

I’ve used them a few times and been really pleased. The customer service is non existent, but I’ve had great fruit trees (bought the mature and already fruiting ones) at a really good price that are miles better than ones I bought online elsewhere. Good lavender also. They have big discounts for sale items, and that’s when I tend to buy them. Delivery was average - about a week to ten days. But the trees have been larger, taller, bigger trunk circumference than the others. Paramount plants were great quality also, for trees and trained fruit trees.

I haven't ordered anything for the last couple of years but I found You Garden pretty good for plants and small trees.

I bought two Acers and they have done really well. Arrived safely and protective packaging was very good.