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Best places to buy seeds and plants online
Find reliable companies that sell great-quality plants, seeds and bulbs online
In this article
Buying plants and seeds online is not only convenient but you’ll often find varieties that aren’t available at garden centres and you can shop from companies that specialise in a particular kind of plant.
With so many more people now shopping by mail order for their plants and seeds, Which? Gardening magazine wanted to find out how the most-used suppliers compare.
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Plug plants
Plug plants are young plants that have been raised by the grower from seed or cuttings. They need to be potted up using a Best Buy compost for raising young plants as soon as they arrive with you and put in a light place to allow them to grow larger before being planted in a border or container.
Try our recommended wildflower suppliers
Best plug plant supplier
Which? members can log in now to see the full results. If you’re not a member, join Which? to get instant access.
| Company | Customer score | Our findings |
|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | 81% | This nursery specialises in bedding plants, mostly sold as plug plants, but it also offers a range of perennials and some shrubs in 9cm pots as well as gardening equipment. You can manage when delivery is made, which several of our members praised. It was in top place for all measures in our survey. |
| 68% | This company is a well-established brand and sells a wide range of plants, seeds and gardening equipment. It’s also a recommended supplier for seeds in this survey. It scored well for value for money and the quality of the plants. Its customer score is high, and members like the range of plants on offer. | |
| 66% | This company sells a huge range of plants, from plugs up to large specimens, plus seeds and gardening equipment. Its value for money was rated slightly lower than our highest-rated supplier, but customers rated it well for its range of plants. | |
| 63% | This brand is well-known for its range of dahlias, but also offers a wide range of plants, from plugs to shrubs. The plugs are grown at the company's own nursery. Our members liked the range of plants on sale and found the website easy to use. |
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Plug plant suppliers on test
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| Company | Sample size | Ease of using website | Range | Delivery | Packaging | Customer service | Plant quality | Value for money | Customer score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookside Nursery | Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | ||||||||
| Crocus / RHS Plants | |||||||||
| D.T. Brown | |||||||||
| Dobies of Devon | |||||||||
| Fothergill's | |||||||||
| Gardening Direct | |||||||||
| Gardening Express | |||||||||
| Hayloft Plants | |||||||||
| J Parkers | |||||||||
| Marshalls Seeds | |||||||||
| Sarah Raven | |||||||||
| Suttons Seeds | |||||||||
| Thompson & Morgan | |||||||||
| yougarden.com | |||||||||
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Companies are ranked by customer score, based on a combination of survey respondents’ overall satisfaction with the supplier and likelihood to recommend. The top suppliers are highlighted in red. Star ratings indicate how satisfied customers are with aspects of the service. We need at least 30 responses to rate each aspect. n/a = not enough responses received.
Seeds
Raising plants from seed brings a real sense of accomplishment and it's exciting to look out for the baby seedlings emerging. Hardy plants can be sown outdoors, but otherwise sow indoors using a Best Buy compost for sowing seeds. Once the seedlings are larger enough, they can moved ('pricked out') into individual pots or module trays, filled with a Best Buy compost for raising young plants.
Best seed suppliers
Which? members can log in now to see the full results. If you’re not a member, join Which? to get instant access.
| Company | Customer score | Our findings |
|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | 84% | With five stars for range available and value for money, this company topped our chart for seed suppliers for a second year and 99% of their customers would recommend them. The website stocks an appealing range of fruit, flowers and vegetables seeds. The alphabetical listing on the website made it easy to use too; 88% of those who bought seeds rated it very easy or extremely easy. |
| 82% | This long-established business not only supplies home gardeners but also professional growers. It has a huge range of herbs and sweet peas as well as many flower and vegetable seeds. Our members particularly appreciated the range and the good customer service. | |
| 80% | This family-run firm sells a wide range of seeds, including flowers, veg, trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses and wildflowers. It also offers a number of unusual species, all with detailed notes on how to grow them. It scored particularly well with our members for the range of seeds on offer, good delivery and superb customer service. | |
| 79% | This is a family-run company that grows and packs its own seeds, concentrating on veg with a few herb and flower seeds. You can also buy seed potatoes, onion sets, flower bulbs and a small range of seed-sowing kits. It scored well across the board on all measures. Some of our members commented on the good value on offer. | |
| 78% | This company is well known for its vegetable seeds, but it also sells a wide range of flower, herb and fruit seeds and plants. In our survey it’s also recommended as a plug plants supplier. It offers discounts to gardening clubs and allotment societies. Our members scored it highly for delivery and for customer service. |
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Seed suppliers on test
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| Company | Sample size | Ease of using website | Range | Delivery | Packaging | Customer service | Seed quality | Value for money | Customer score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiltern Seeds | Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | ||||||||
| Dobies of Devon | |||||||||
| DT Brown | |||||||||
| Fothergill's | |||||||||
| Kings Seeds | |||||||||
| Marshalls Seeds | |||||||||
| Real Seeds | |||||||||
| Sarah Raven | |||||||||
| Simply Seed | |||||||||
| Suttons Seeds | |||||||||
| Thompson & Morgan | |||||||||
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Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations
Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time.
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Companies are ranked by customer score, based on a combination of survey respondents’ overall satisfaction with the supplier and likelihood to recommend. The top suppliers are highlighted in red. Star ratings indicate how satisfied customers are with aspects of the service. We need at least 30 responses to rate each aspect. n/a = not enough responses received.
Plants
Buying from a nursery rather than a garden centre can allow you buy varieties that are harder to find and get advice from a specialist grower. Some nurseries offer a variety of plants and others specialise in one type, such as roses.
Best plant suppliers
| Company | Customer score | Our findings |
|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | 88% | This nursery has been among the best suppliers in our survey for years. More than nine in 10 respondents said the plant quality was good, and around nine in 10 thought they were good value. Some respondents mentioned the excellent planting and maintenance advice sent with the plants. |
| 83% | This nursery sells a variety of plants, including perennials. In our survey, three in 10 bought ornamental trees, but one in five bought perennials. Not enough members answered our questions about customer service to be able to give the nursery a score for this, but more than nine in 10 said plant quality was good. | |
| 81% | This nursery sells a range of plants, including some that were bred at the nursery. Some survey respondents mentioned being able to buy plants that aren’t sold widely, and the nursery gets four stars for its range of plants. Around nine in 10 rated the plant quality as good, and nearly all would use this nursery again. | |
| 74% | This nursery was named as the best supplier for plug plants in our survey but the company also sells a range of annuals, perennials, shrubs and soft-fruit plants in 9cm pots. In our survey, six in 10 who bought there purchased perennial plants, more than eight in 10 rated the plants as good quality and nine in 10 would use the company again. | |
| 70% | We’ve combined the scores for these two suppliers as they’re part of the same company. More than two thirds of members who bought from the nursery chose perennials, while others opted for shrubs, roses and climbers. It was also rated as ‘worth a look’ for plug plants in our February issue. It scored well in all areas, but not quite as highly as our best suppliers. | |
| 69% | This nursery sells a wide range of plants, seeds and gardening equipment. It’s owned by Westland, which is best known for its compost and plant feeds. It scored well across all the categories in our survey, with seven in 10 rating the plants as good quality. Nine in 10 would use this online retailer again. | |
| 69% | This nursery specialises in fruit trees and bushes but also sells a range of vegetable plants, ornamental trees and gardening accessories, including natural pest control and solar-powered irrigation systems. We didn’t get enough responses about customer service to give a score for this, but more than eight in 10 thought plant quality was good. |
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Plant suppliers on test
| Company | Sample size | Customer score | Range | Delivery | Packaging | Customer service | Plant quality | Value for money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashridge Trees | Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | |||||||
| Brookside Nursery | ||||||||
| Burncoose Nurseries | ||||||||
| Crocus | ||||||||
| David Austin | ||||||||
| Dobies of Devon | ||||||||
| DT Brown | ||||||||
| Farmer Gracy | ||||||||
| Fothergill's | ||||||||
| Gardening Direct | ||||||||
| Gardening Express | ||||||||
| Hayloft Plants | ||||||||
| J Parker's | ||||||||
| Marshalls Garden | ||||||||
| Pomona Fruits | ||||||||
| QVC | ||||||||
| RHS Plants | ||||||||
| Sarah Raven | ||||||||
| Suttons Seeds | ||||||||
| Thompson & Morgan | ||||||||
| YouGarden | ||||||||
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Companies are ranked by customer score, based on a combination of survey respondents’ overall satisfaction with the supplier and likelihood to recommend. Star ratings indicate how satisfied customers are with aspects of the service. We need at least 30 responses to rate each aspect. n/a = not enough responses received.
How we test
Which? Gardening magazine asked over 5,000 Which? members about their experiences of ordering plug plants, seeds, plants and bulbs over the previous 12 months. We asked which suppliers they used, along with questions about aspects of the service. We used these answers to create a customer score for each supplier.
We had to receive a minimum of 30 responses for a supplier to give it ratings and a customer score. In some cases, a star rating may be missing from the table because some people selected ‘don’t know or n/a’ for that rating. The brand is still included in the table as it had enough responses for the customer-score questions about satisfaction and recommendation. ad