Which online plant suppliers are good/bad?

[Magicpaintbrush]

It's that time of year where many of us will be buying lots of plants - I can't always find what I want at the garden centre so would then be ordering online, but I'd like to know which online plant shops other have found to be reliable with plants that arrive in good condition. I've had mixed results with plants bought from Sarah Raven for example - bought some Salvia sagittata last year, one was broken, and a couple of others had clearly been used to take cuttings from as they had missing stems. On the other hand, bought a rose from David Austin a while back and it's so healthy and thriving, arrived in mint condition with lots of planting advice. Would love to hear recommendations for decent plant suppliers.

I've used You Garden several times. They're good and the plants I've received have always been well packaged and healthy.

https://www.yougarden.com

Ornamental trees - brilliant, all trees and shrubs good quality and thrived.

Farmer Gracy - got a partial refund and the plants were so small! Most died.

Suttons always seem good with healthy plants.
Agree that Sarah Raven mixed and expensive.
Love David Austen roses absolutely top notch healthy thriving plants every time.

Garden on a Roll are excellent. A really good service and excellent, healthy plants.

Crocus are good, too.

Avoid Suttons at all costs!
I purchased tomato plug plants, they were dispatched on 25/03/2025, and arrived 31/03/2025, dead!
it’s not the first time I’ve had rubbish plants from them!

Sarah Raven very mixed. Farmer Gracy bad enough that I’ve said no way not again. I bought raspberry canes from Thomson and Morgan that were awful, my parents (highly experienced competent gardeners) said what did I expect buying from them, they are hopeless
Crocus expensive but excellent

Crocus, hayloft, telegraph garden and j Parker are all reliable

This is really interesting, thank you, I have a much better idea of where I'll be spending my money this year. I might also try RHS Plants, presumably they must be good as it's RHS? I've bought compost and pots from them, and seeds, but no actual plants as yet.

My first hayloft order literally just arrived and the plants look very good. And well packaged.

avoid Farmer Gracey, Primrose and Garden Express

Farmer Gracey underwhelming, Sarah Raven meh, RHS usually good but take a while. Garden Express I use specifically for the Special Deals section which has been good.

Do not under any circumstances buy from Chris Bowers. He’s awful, read the 35% 1 star reviews. If you dig online you’ll see. We ordered a plum tree( well it turned out to be a dead stick) not even a bare root. It wasn’t even bare root season and we’d ordered a tree anyway. It was dead. The battle I had for a refund was insane. He is the customer service and I’ve never revived such rude, aggressive, inappropriate emails ever. It was a massive battle to get a refund and going by the reviews others have experienced the same.

Crocus( expensive but great) , Thorncroft Clematis and Ornamental Trees are also great. Sarah Raven is good but I only buy in sales.

And yes David Austin is superb for roses.

Thomson and Morgan - lovely, had 1 dud in 100 plants
small sellers on eBay
sarah raven in the sale

https://www.yell.com/biz/chris-bowers-and-sons-king-s-lynn-1322292/

Scroll
down

Secret Gardening Club are good. They do £1.99 plant deals and excellent mystery boxes. I've had some beautiful, good quality plants from them.

Oh and Chiltern Seeds are fantastic too. I try to buy things from companies who specialise so:-

Seeds( Chiltern Seeds)
Roses(David Austin)
Trees(Ornamental Trees)
Clematis( Thorncroft)
Plants(Crocus)

Sarah Raven for anything pretty( in the sale)

David Austin always good and their place near Wolverhampton is nice to visit.
Sarah Raven expensive and not great - just feel generally underwhelmed when items arrive.
Farmer Gary usually ok
Big lover of my local garden centre.
You might find this useful
https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/buy-plants-online-best-suppliers/

Has anyone bought from Beth Chatto?

Oh no I have just ordered some bulbs from Farmer Gracy!
I would 100% recommend Roots, I have bought raspberry canes, strawberries, gooseberries, pinkcurrants and a beautiful patio cherry tree. Everything is well packaged and healthy looking, customer service excellent.

Oh and a jostaberry- they have a nice selection of unusual fruits and veg

Slightly left field but I've been buying plugs from South Eastern Horticultural on eBay for the last couple of years and really rate them. They always seem to take happily and grow on speedily. I've found them much better value than the traditional plants by post.

Hardys Cottage Garden Plants, Claire Austin, Beth Chatto’s are my go to suppliers. Crocus / RHS plants / Waitrose pricier but good stock ( all the same company. Stopped using T&M years ago due to poor quality.

@tealandteal i buy bulbs every year from Farmer Gracy and they have all been excellent. This years tulips are nearly out and looking excellent already.

Sarah raven isn't worth the money- lovely website, beautiful photos but actual quality of plants & home products is very poor. One of the two roses I've had from there was dead within a month.

Don't ever go near gardening express - it's a total con, dead or diseased plants and no customer service, by which I mean, no customer service. It doesn't exist & they're well known for ignoring all attempts to contact them for a refund.

To anyone in Ireland, Future Forests is great.