Plants by post ?

Hi all, of course every plant I seem to like are the expensive ones ! And the garden centres around here are quite expensive. Where I used to live had a very nice nursery where I used to get my big plant but its too far away now.
Is the general consensus that buying plants by mail is a good idea or not ?
I'm now particularly looking for pines, black, white, red. And as mentioned in another post, the liquidamber tree would suit my garden.
Any thoughts ?

Gazania

 

I buy most of my plants on ebay, as savings are huge (especially when I am doing a landscape job) ....

including palms such as fortunei and chamaerops .... the last large chamaerops palms I bought were being sold at my local garden centre for £135 each ... I bought larger ones off ebay (bought 2 for £80 plus £8 shipping for next day delivery ... so paid £88 for 2 ... a saving of £182)

trick is to find a seller who has several of the plants you want, and ask and pay for next day delivery (as you then pay for 1 shipping cost as he combines the whole lot....

they have always arrived well packed with no damage

some guys remove all the soil and wash the roots, then wrap damp newspaper around the roots and cover the roots with clingwrap ....

the last heucheras and ferns I bought were sent in the original pots, but were very well packed

find a plant seller with 100% positive feedback and you will know that he/she knows how to pack properly

 

Hi Gazania

Like dim said Ebay is realy good I have bought a lot of daylily's from ebay some for £8.00 and the nuseries on line £25.00 so you can find a bargain , tho only thing with trees I like to look for the shape that you like best I had a Cedris (forest Pansy) from my brother for my birthday over £50.00 but it was 6 feet high from the Intranet (crocus) and in a local garden cente for a bush !!! £68.00 .

Most of the time ok , but worst company was Gardening Express the plant that arrived was in a 1 litre pot meant to be 3 and meant to be 24 inhces high and turned out to be 10 I measured , they ignored all messages sent I dont bother with them anymore

I love researching plants so let us know what you are after and see what we come up with , if youre ok with that ???

Spruce

 

Hi
Have a look at Scotplants liquidamber 6 ft £24.49 bargain

http://www.scotplantsdirect.co.uk/all-trees/liquidamber-styraciflua-liquidamber-sweet-gum-tree/prod_365.html?kw=liquidamber%20tree&fl=430233&ci=9245008025&network=s&gclid=CLCxzsStjK0CFZMhtAodWC3Vug
Spruce

 

Hi Dim, well that's good feedback, thanks.

Hi Spruce, at the moment I'm after Japanese pines. Saw one yesterday at the local garden centre. It looked pretty good but for the size but I think £44.50 was a bit steep ! That's a good price for the Liquidamber.

Think I'll take a look at Ebay.

Gazania

 

I've bought heaps of stuff off Ebay and been disappointed but a couple of times, usually through my own fault!

 

I buy a lot of plants through mail order because my husband thinks that spending time at weekends visiting nurseries is only marginally more pleasant than having needles stuck in his eyes. The big mail retailers tend to sell small specimens, because of the cost and difficulty of delivery. This works very well for many plants, particularly herbaceous perennials, but is not great for everything. Very small clematis plants, for example, don't always thrive, although if you're buying one of the tough species such as montana, the chances are that your plant will be fine.

Here are a few of my favourite firms, although I can't help you much with pines, I'm afraid:-

Hayloft Plants Plants by mail order. Bare root plants, young plants, potted plants, bulbs & corms, hundreds to choose from. Hayloft Plants are Passionate about Plants

Thompson and Morgan Buy Plants, Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seed Potatoes | Thompson & Morgan
We tend to have a bit of a moan about T & M on GC from time to time, but on the whole I think they offer a good service.

The Vernon Geranium Nursery Geraniums | Fuchsias | Roses | Garden Plants | Fruit | Vegetables |The Vernon Geranium Nursery
A great family firm which specialises in pelargoniums, but now also stocks a few other summer bedding plants and some perennials. It sends out young plants which need to be grown on. A pleasure to deal with.

 

I seem to be in the minority here.............

I do buy a lot of seeds on-line but as for plants, no. I use Burncoose and Hill House, but that's it.

I wouldn't buy parts for my customers cars on fleabay, and as far as buying plants I did it twice and despite 100% +ve feedback I was hacked off.

My biggest issue with new on-line sources is that it is a leap into the dark. I only used Burncoose after a strong recomendation, and Hill House after having been there.

Maybe I'm lucky as there are a number of independent nurseries within an hours drive (including Cotswold Garden Flowers). Stick to the small independents and you will get more for your money, and generally better plants............

 

I've yet to loose a plant bought off ebay

and I've yet to loose a tender for a gardening landscape job....

buying off ebay, allows me to reduce the costs considerably for the client, thus saving him/her hundreds of pounds for the exact same plants as bought from a garden centre ....

that allows me to get the jobs as I pass these discounts to the client....

and if I had to landscape my own garden, I would buy most of the plants off ebay

I always say: support the small guys who are struggling .... some of the garden centres in my area are very expensive (as they have huge overheads vs the small ebay seller)

 

I buy a lot of plants online, these are private independent nurseries that are often specialist but not always - here are some of my favourites .......

1. Worlds End nursery in Worcester
2. Special Perrenials in Cheshire
3. Chailey Irises in Sussex
4. Viv Marsh Alstromerias in Shropshire
5. Westcountry Nurseries in Devon
6. Pottertons (alpines) in Lincoln
7. Larch Cottage
8. Beth Chatto nursery in Essex

I’ve had bad experiences with Long Acre in Somerset
aswell as GardeningExpress.co.uk