The best places to buy plants online, according to top gardeners and landscape designers

Shrub affair? Online nurseries provide a wide range of plants, bulbs and seeds, making it easier to find the best fit for your home or garden. Photograph: Dmitrii Marchenko/Getty Images

As winter turns to spring and the days warm and lengthen, we’re so keen to get out in the garden, do some work, and also go shopping for lovely new plants.

It’s great to get acquainted with your local garden centre to see what’s on offer, but nurseries with an online presence can be a horticultural lifeline if you don’t have a good one nearby, or you’re (or want to be) car-free. Online stores often provide a wider range of inspiring plants because they have more growing space or specialise in particular types of plant, such as shade lovers or hellebores, enabling you to track down the perfect plant for your space.

But where to go for beautiful, healthy and reliable plants? I’ve been writing about gardens for decades, and have shopped from many of the best online nurseries for my own garden. I’ve also plundered my contacts book of garden designers and horticulturalists to ask for their favourites, as well as doing some research of my own.

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The best places to buy plants online

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Best all-rounder nurseries

Some nurseries specialise in certain types of plants, from roses to fruit trees, but there are plenty of online garden centres that offer a huge selection across the board. Crocus is among the best known, with a helpful website and wide range of plants that are grown with a careful eye on water use, waste management and emissions, and arrive in lovely, healthy condition. Plants are at the pricier end of the spectrum, but the customer service is good; I once received a disappointing batch of peachy-coloured foxgloves, and it was quick to replace them with healthier plants.

I’ve bought from Cornwall-based Burncoose Nurseries before and have always been happy with the plants and service. It has a great selection of stock – many of them homegrown, such as camellias, magnolias and woodland plants, as well as an invaluable planting ideas section on the website to demystify the process of creating a garden.

Garden designer Lulu Roper-Caldbeck recommends Langthorns Plantery, a family-run business started in Essex in 1977 and known for its top-quality and unusual plants. The Oxfordshire-based Burford Garden Co also offers a very stylish edit of plants, including perennials, trees, shrubs, fruit bushes and more, but again, it’s on the expensive side.

Shop Crocus Shop Burncoose Nurseries

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Best for budget

Some nurseries may not be as tapped into gardening trends or sustainable growing methods as others, but do provide a more affordable, low-frills experience, and great plants. The more highly regarded sites include Dobies, great for organic fruit and veg plants and with a helpful advice section; Thompson & Morgan for its prodigious range and value; Gardening Express, which has a useful knowledge hub and a five-year guarantee on many plants; You Garden, which provides lots of useful, entry-level information about its plants; and Gardeners Dream, with a wide selection that includes lots of evergreen plants.

These stores are often the best place for annuals or bedding plants, too – the kind of colourful plants you can slot in to fill a bald patch in a border, just for a season. Most designers are sniffy about them, and I must admit I am too, but I will make an exception for a tray of airy white cosmos.

Shop Dobies Shop Thompson & Morgan

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Best for perennials

For many gardeners, myself included, perennials are the stars of the garden, bringing colourful flowers and interesting foliage to pots and borders. They come back year after year and, while some are evergreen or semi-evergreen, herbaceous perennials die back to the ground each winter. Depending on your garden conditions, Geranium Rozanne, Verbena bonariensis and Catmint (Nepeta) are some lovely, beginner-friendly perennials to try.

Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants is highly respected in horticultural circles and stocks a vast variety of plants, including own-bred Gaura lindheimeri Rosy Shimmers and Anemone Frilly Knickers, while the online shop features founder Rosy Hardy’s free, printable planting plans for all sorts of gardening conditions, to take the stress out of putting together a successful border.

Shop Hardy’s

Many of the experts I spoke to recommended the Beth Chatto nursery, named after the venerated plantswoman known for her “right plant, right place” ethos. Award-winning garden designer Tom Massey loves the selection of rare and interesting plants, all of which are grown on site at its Essex garden. The nursery has a beginner-friendly website that features carefully chosen collections of plants to make it easy to create a stunning display for a particular category, whether for a small space or wildlife garden. “I’d recommend Beth Chatto for continuing the legacy of its namesake in offering the right plant for the right place and making this sustainable practice accessible for all,” says Errol Reuben Fernandes, head of horticulture at the acclaimed Horniman Museum and Gardens.

Shop Beth Chatto

Created by another legend of gardening, Christopher Lloyd, Great Dixter is famous for horticultural experimentation, and the offerings at its online shop reflect this. “All the plants are grown on site, many coming from the garden, and they’re constantly trialling and adding new and exciting varieties that would seduce any plantaholic,” says garden consultant Emma Burrill. Reuben Fernandes also recommends the nursery for its wonderful ever-changing selection of plants and the fact plants are often sent out plastic-free and “beautifully wrapped in old newspaper”.

Shop Great Dixter

Other great online nurseries for perennials include Crûg Farm in north Wales, run by avid plant-hunters and highly recommended by Tom Massey for its rare and interesting plants; Cheshire’s Bluebell Cottage, noted for its hardy perennials, all grown in peat-free compost; Cotswold Garden Flowers, which has peat-free, sustainable practices and thoughtfully grouped collections of plants, all described in helpful detail; and Claire Austin, who grows all her plants on site and is known for her range of hardy perennials, peonies and stunning collection of irises.

Shop Cotswold Garden Flowers

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Best for bulbs

When you plant bulbs in the autumn, you walk away with nothing whatsoever to show for your efforts, but it’s somewhat magical when those green spears and cheerful flowers poke through the soil months later. Plant spring bulbs such as daffodils and alliums in early autumn, but delay planting tulips until late October or November to prevent “tulip fire”, a fungal disease.

Many bulbs, such as snowdrops and bluebells, are more successful when planted “in the green” straight after they flower in spring. Plant autumn flowering bulbs such as nerines and colchicums by late summer to encourage them to flower in their first year. Note that many nurseries don’t list varieties that are currently unavailable to buy, eg spring flowering bulbs in the spring.

“It’s worth spending a bit more to get good-quality ones that have better disease resistance, and because they’re stronger, they’re more likely to come back year on year,” says garden designer Fiona Lydon. “I tend to go to Avon Bulbs or Peter Nyssen, both specialist bulb growers.” J Parker’s, Broadleigh, Farmer Gracy, and Sarah Raven are all highly respected for their bulb collections too, while Shipton Bulbs specialises in British natives, most likely to be successful in the UK climate and suitable for naturalising.

Landscape designer Miria Harris insists on organic bulbs. “I don’t think it’s fair to tease our pollinators with early nectar sources that are full of poison – better to plant less and know you’re doing more than just making a nice display. Organic Bulbs in Somerset is my go-to; it grows bulbs locally and often has really special, unusual varieties.”

Bluebell bulbs, 15

£9.99 at J Parker’s

Snowdrop bulbs, 50

£17 at Peter Nyssen

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Best for seeds

Almost all plants can be grown from seed, but many gardeners focus on annuals and biennials, which complete their life cycles in one or two years respectively. Among the most popular garden annuals are poppies, sweet peas, sunflowers, nigella and nasturtiums, while biennials include foxgloves, honesty, hollyhocks and verbascum.

The “all-rounder” nurseries mentioned above are great for seeds, along with those in the vegetable section below. Plants of Distinction is a family-run business based in Suffolk, which is a nice independent alternative to the bigger brands, while Plant World Seeds offers more than 3,500 types of seed, including rare and unusual varieties, spanning grasses, trees and shrubs. Lulu Roper-Caldbeck recommends Planet Good Earth, which produces beautifully packaged seeds to encourage children to become gardeners and begin to engage with the wider environment.

Sweet pea seeds

£2.75 at Plants of Distinction

Seasonal seed box

£20 at Planet Good Earth

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Best for trees

The right tree can do wonders for even the smallest garden, lifting the eye away from its boundaries. Container-grown trees are best planted in autumn or early spring when the soil is moist and warm, while bare-root trees should be planted between November and March.

Barcham Trees in Cambridgeshire offers more than 450 tree varieties – all peat-free – and specialises in semi-mature trees, such as birches, cherries and maples, that bring instant impact to a garden. Similarly, Majestic Trees in Hertfordshire is also known for its premium quality mature and semi-mature trees. Paramount Plants in Enfield, north London, sells a wide selection of plants but is best known for its broad range of camellias, magnolias, topiary and Japanese cloud trees. Bluebell Arboretum and Nursery in Derbyshire is a specialist in trees, shrubs and climbers, with many rare and unusual varieties, while Cotswold Garden Flowers, mentioned above, is also brilliant for trees. For multi-stem trees and shrubs, Roper-Caldbeck recommends New Wood Trees in Devon, which takes an artisanal approach, hand-pruning to create beautifully sculpted trees and working in a sustainable, peat-free way.

Northern Japanese magnolia

From £123.50 at Paramount Plants

Yoshino cherry tree

From £261 at Barcham

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Best for roses

A cornerstone of the English garden, roses can be a challenge to grow, with disease often an issue, so it’s best to buy from a specialist.

In Shropshire, David Austin Roses has a world-class reputation offering more than 700 fragrant varieties, including shrub, climber and rambler forms; my favourites include shrub roses the King’s Rose and Eustacia Vye, along with the rambler, the Lady of the Lake. Peter Beales Roses in Norfolk specialises in well-priced, sustainably grown, old-fashioned and classic varieties, while in Kent, Eastcroft Rose Nursery prioritises fragrance, health and repeat flowering for its robust, field-grown, bare-root plants.

The Lady of the Lake bare-root rose

£24 at David Austin

Peachy bare-root roses

£16.80 at Peter Beales

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Best for fruit, vegetables and herbs

Vegetables are commonly grown from seed or, slightly easier, plug – or young – plant and can be sown throughout the year, depending on the variety. Fruit growers, meanwhile, generally buy the appropriate tree, bush or plant to get started. When bare-root fruit trees (trees dug up from the ground in the dormant period of November to March, wrapped and shipped without a pot or compost) are available, they can be a good bet as they’re cheaper, generally grow better and are more sustainable than their potted counterparts because they require fewer resources to grow and transport.

Thompson & Morgan has a vast range of fruit and vegetables, while Rocket Gardens offers a tempting selection that includes herbs and even edible flowers, along with instant “veg patch” collections for different-sized plots. Blackmoor Nurseries, Pomona Fruits and Keepers are all excellent fruit specialists, while Roper-Caldbeck recommends Brogdale Collections in Kent, which holds a national collection of heritage fruit trees. The list of great seed suppliers goes on, but She Grows Veg sells a quirky collection of heirloom fruit and veg seeds, while Suttons, Marshalls, Unwins and Chiltern Seeds all have comprehensive seed ranges. For herb lovers, Jekka’s is a must-visit for plants and seeds, while Norfolk Herbs is another trusted go-to.

Sweet lemon dream yellow pepper seeds

£2.69 at Marshalls

Wild herbs seed collection

£12.50 at Jekka’s

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Best for houseplants

There are plenty of online nurseries dedicated to the houseplant. Even though many have a dormant season, you can buy houseplants at any time of year; most will benefit from going into a larger pot once home, especially if the roots look crowded when you take a peek.

Root Houseplants has a lush collection of 200-plus varieties and an emphasis on sustainability, using recycled and compostable packing materials. The Little Botanical’s stylish site has a great search facility that makes it easy to pinpoint your next favourite pot plant. Similarly, Happy Houseplants has some great filters, including the reassuring “almost unkillable” for beginners. Patch Plants has been great at demystifying the plant kingdom for nervous novices, not least with their tactic of giving their plants names like Chaz and Big Ken. Meanwhile, Prickle Plants lured me in with the collection of L’il Pricks, charmingly tiny and affordable mini-plants. Last but not least, Leaf Envy has a reputation for healthy plants and impressively sturdy, eco-friendly packaging.

Lil’ Chinese evergreen

£6 at Prickle Plants

Chaz cheese plant

£14 at Patch Plants

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What you need to know

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Take your time

When choosing plants online, read the descriptions carefully to see whether their needs align with your plans. Don’t be guided by a single photo, especially a closeup of the flower: look for pictures of the whole plant, its form and foliage, so that you’re clear on what you’ll be growing. And colours can be skewed or exaggerated, so if you’re after a specific shade, do double-check by looking at other images. Pay attention to the size of plants on sale. You can save money by buying smaller plants in 9cm pots, but they’ll take time to reach the size of the pricier ones in a 2l pot.

Think about seasons

Plants grow according to the seasons, so your selection might not be ready for dispatch when you order them and can take weeks, or sometimes months, to be ready to send. However, all good nurseries will make sure they get to you before their flowering season, so trust the process.

Show the plants some love when they arrive

When plants are delivered, it’s important to open them up as soon as possible. However carefully packaged, no plant will have enjoyed its journey. If you notice any droopiness, take some photos, just in case it fails to bounce back and you need to get a refund or replacement. Then place the plants outside, in the shade, and give them a drink of water so they can recover before you plant them. Plants in a weakened condition are more vulnerable to attack, so put them somewhere slugs and snails are less likely to get to them overnight – on a bench, for example, rather than on the ground.

Consider autumn planting

Planting in spring or early autumn has long been the advice for many plants, as it’s during the growing season but without the additional strain of summer heat. But with increasingly early heatwaves, I’m finding it harder to keep spring-planted plants alive through the summer, so I try to plant in autumn where possible.

Almost everything spring-planted will need good watering every few days over the summer and can’t be left unattended if you skip off on a fortnight’s holiday. Many people continue to add plants to their garden over the summer, but avoid doing so in hot weather and be aware that your plant will need regular checking and watering until late autumn, to give it the best chance of survival. It’s worth noting that watering new plants is often permitted during a hosepipe ban, but do check your local water company’s rules.

Meanwhile, most bare-root plants, such as roses, trees and shrubs, should be planted during their dormant period in winter (typically November to March). They can look scarily vulnerable without a pot or soil, but they tend to grow better in the long run than potted plants because they adapt quickly and develop a stronger root system directly in the new soil.

For more:
• The best secateurs to save you time and effort when pruning your garden
• The best pressure washers, tested
• How to create a more eco-friendly lawn

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Kate Jacobs is a writer specialising in design, interiors and gardens. Having gardened from childhood up, she likes to borrow the big ideas of the horticultural experts she interviews and scale them down in her small, shady but lush garden in south-east London, where she likes to propagate her own plants as part of her “waste not, want not” approach to gardening