Buying garden plants online
Hosta collection from
Jersey Plants Direct
Buying plants online might not be as scary as you think and in fact can have some advantages over buying plants from traditional garden centres.
In this guide we'll discuss common questions that arise when buying plants online, review the sites where you can buy, and give advice on how you can help ensure you get good service and quality.
Variety
Even the best garden centres cannot stock the number of varieties that a good online nursery can. For example Crocus stock over 4000 varieties which is probably 10 times the number of varieties a garden centre would. They can do this because they are not restricted by the physical shopping space in a garden centre.
Information
Websites have a lot more space to play with than just the small label found on plants. The good websites provide some fantastic information about their plants. Jersey plants direct is a fantastic example where their website provides information on how the plants were grown and what to do with them when they arrive. They even have an aerial view of their nurseries showing where the plants were grown!
Price
Online retailers don't have the costly overheads of a physical store so often have very attractive prices. We often list discount codes under each retailer to give you further money off or you could use our garden product price comparison search top right of this page to compare prices across several online shops.
Quality
Plants should be delivered
with healthy roots
Without seeing a plant how do I know how good it is? Well that is a very valid question and one you can reassure yourself with by reading reviews like the ones you find by our members on this website (click on the star ratings).
Jersey Plants Direct excels once more in this area by running a trials club that anyone can join called "Club des Fleurs" which send you £20 of plants for £10 in exchange for you reporting back on how the plants performed before they put them on their main catalogue.
Delivery and packaging
Greenfingers' plastic cells keep plugs protected and moist
The online retailers are getting cleverer and cleverer with their packaging to ensure your plants arrive in top condition. Delivery charges can be quite reasonable too but are worth checking. Also make sure you check that the delivery timescale/date is within when you want your plants by before you place your order. Some websites will take up to 14 days for standard delivery or will only ship plants at certain times of the year.
How do I choose what plant to buy?
Why not have a look through the fantastic photos Grows on You members have uploaded of their own gardens for some inspiration. Or have a try of the garden colour tool. Crocus' tool to pick plants is really very good.
Where to buy plants online
Websites selling plants online
| Merchant |
What we think |
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Crocus have a huge selection of plants to choose from. They have a reputation for quality, which comes at a price. Their delivery charge is £5.95 on all orders. Make sure they deliver to your area using their map and postcode selector to check your address. |
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Greenfingers charge £4.95 for orders under £45 and nothing for orders above. |
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Jersey Plants Direct are the original Jersey based retailer and include delivery in all prices on their website |
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Top products
These products have been popular with our community. If you are the thorough type, browse and compare all
Plants
from loads of different merchants.
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