Can we have an up to date recommended companies and ones to avoid list

[G3ran1um]

I’ll go first( could do with some more recommendations after being burned previously):-

Recommend
-Crocus-(pricey but worth it)
-Chiltern Seeds( lovely selection and good service although packets are small)
-Thorncroft Clematis(excellent customer service, quality and selection)
-Ornamental Tree Company

new one for me - Burford Garden Company( ordered hard to get bulbs in the autumn and impressed with the stock, quality and service)

Avoid
Chris Bowers
Sarah Raven

The Rose Press Garden - have had some amazing dahlias and spring bulbs from here

Can't fault Thompson & Morgan for their seeds

What is everyone's opinion on Farmer Gracy? I had around £100 of bare roots last year and only half survived but I'm unsure if that was my fault or theirs?

Peter Nyssen for tulips

Crocus

Chiltern Seeds

Thompson and Morgan

Avon Bulbs for bulbs

David Austin for roses

Beth Chatto (haven't ordered from them for a couple of years but assume they are still reliable, they have a good range of more unusual plants)

When we were starting the garden and needed trees and a lot of bare root hedging I used Chew Valley Trees, everything has survived well.

Avoid Parkers

If you are near:
Kettles Hulme nursery (Macclesfield)
Old Sudbury trees (Bristol)
I haven't tried them online so don't know but both will do big deliveries large distances

I ordered some vegetable seeds from Real seeds....they have all sprouted so far.

The Happy Green Shop is good for seeds although I always buy far too many as they are cheap. Always had good germination. Real Seeds and agree with Chiltern too

I haven't bought a lot of garden plants and trees online especially recently but the one I did use a couple of times and was pleased with was You Garden.

The one I didn't get much success with was Farmer Gracy which was quite disappointing. I ordered dahlias expecting a wonderful display but out of the five I ordered I only really got one going.

I had great success with the dahlias I bought from Lidl.

I'm not 100% sold on them but they have been pretty good at refunding anything that didnt come up for me in the past so make sure you complain!

Bedwen on ebay are excellent. Never had anything but top quality plants.
David Austin for roses, also Peter Beale and Pococks all great.

@Wedontdothatroundhere @Myblueclematis I contacted Farmer Gracy about bulbs that didn't come up and they refunded me.

Hayloft are brilliant. Lots of unusual plants and I have a high rate of success with them despite my crap gardening

I’ve found Parker’s ok.
can recommend Halls of Heddon for dahlias. Their dahlia fields are worth visiting if you can get there.
Real seeds
Kings seeds

I also haven't had good results from Farmer Gracy - many of their bare root plants didn't thrive, particularly their astrantia.

I highly recommend:
Ballyrobert Nursery - great plants including roses and hardy fuchsia
Shire Plants - excellent all round for perennials, particularly hardy chrysanthemum
Trevor White roses - reasonable prices and excellent quality
Farmyard Nurseries - excellent for perennials, particularly asters
South Eastern Horticultural - good for plug plants - great variety and very reliable delivery
Norfolk Herbs and Richards Plants - great for hardy salvias
Hedges Direct - great for bare root hedging, roses and other shrubs - very reasonable prices

For seeds I like
Thompson and Morgan
Kings Seeds
Just Seed
Suttons Seeds
Premier Seeds
Dobies
Pretty Wild
Chiltern Seeds
Happy Green Shop
Marshalls Garden
Growild Nursery - great for unusual flowers - had particular success with salvia nubicola (Himalayan cloud sage) which is hardy in my garden, very subtle but beautiful in a woodland garden setting

Can you tell I'm a gardening nut?!!!!

Norfolk quality plants - got a nice crabapple tree from them in January and it’s showing life so seems to have settled in.

Just made a repeat order for a couple of clematis so will see how they are in a few weeks.

Also Roots I’ve had nice plants from.

Bulbs and dahlias from farmer gracy have been ok for me but I find delivery takes a long time and is always the tail end of their estimation.

I've had the wrong plugs sent from Thompson and Morgan and the reviews seem to show this is common. Frustrating as obviously you do not know until they flower.

I'm a big fan of chiltern seeds and English sweet peas. Newlands Nursery have been great for plugs.

I need to order a few dahlias to replace ones I have lost, where is recommended? How have people found Dahlia Beach?

I've had good seeds from:
Kings seeds
Suttons
Real seeds
Thomspon and Morgan
Just seed
Even the 29p cheapy packets from lidl have produced some lovely veg and flowers when I was starting out with gardening!

I've had plug plants from Suttons which had always done well. They also have bumper spring bulbs in autumn which have also been great. I think £3 per bag of daffs, tulips, iris etc.

Bloms and Taylor’s for bulbs
Hayloft
Claire Austin
Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants
Burncoose
Kelways

Nicky's Nursery for more unusual seeds e.g. stevia, tomatillo varieties, saltwort (aka agretti/okahijiki), feijoa, okra, rarer chilli varieties.

Just Seeds and Premier Seeds Direct for all the normal stuff.

I always get good bulbs from Dutch Bulbs (wholesale arm of J Parkers). Likewise their cannas and dahlias have been good. The plants (eg 9cm pots and plugs) tend to be very small, which is okay if you want to grow on, but not great if you want to plant straight away.

Big Plants Nursery is good for tropical and exotic plants.

I find seeds to be a bit of a lottery - Chiltern seeds has a lovely selection, but sometimes things just don’t grow 🤷🏼‍♀️. Conversely I’ve had good success with lots of their seeds, but also Amazon sellers, Fothergills etc.

I have also been sent the wrong plants many times, these things happen unfortunately. That’s where customer service is important. Dutch Bulbs, Thompson and Morgan will refund you. Gardening Express will not, ever, no matter how diseased their plants are or that they are simply not what you ordered.

Different experience here. I ordered as I believe all 'Telegraph' offers are through Hayloft. Ordered shrubs last year, and they were so disappointing. Eventually got vouchers to redeem (not a refund) after much complaining but now vouchers aren't accepted. Very disappointed.

David G Ross are the nursery in Kettleshulme. They'll email you a stock list and prices if you ask. Anyone who does want to visit, be aware the main road from Macclesfield to Whaley Bridge is closed due to a road collapse. There are diversions in place. I drive past every day I'm in the office.

Agree avoid JParkers - I put a big order in over summer as I was renovating my back garden, was given an estimated delivery time of 14 days, and 5 months later the only thing that had arrived was a small packet of wood anemone tubers (which incidentally haven’t sprouted). I cancelled the order in January and went elsewhere.

I go to my local garden centre if I can, but it’s fairly small so limited choice. Crocus and Farmer Gracy have always been fine. Sarah Raven is steep but the plants have always taken ok. I got a lovely bare root cherry from Ashridge tree nursery in Jan and it is in blossom already.

Thompson and Morgan have been fine for seeds, but then so has Lidl! My best flowers last year were a packet of California poppies I picked up on impulse from a stand by the tills. I’ve also had decent daffodils and crocuses from B&Q. So maybe I’m not the best person for tips 🤣

I've done really well buying plants from supermarkets and also buying seeds. Veg seeds from Lidl have always been pretty good.

Aldi and Lidl have lovely plants but you need to get them within a day or so of them coming in, like all supermarkets, they don't water them so they are looking pretty awful after that time. Morrisons and even Waitrose are the same. Both used to look after their plants but obviously don't bother now judging by the dry and brown dead looking pots left on display. 😡

It wouldn't be so bad if they reduced the price on them, lots of gardeners are willing to take a chance on bringing something back to life if it's half price or less.