Delivery Information

Delivery leadtimes update- March/April 2024

We are working at maximum capacity to fulfil all orders as quickly as possible but owing to unprecedented demand some orders will take longer:

– Orders containing only bare root plants – delivery is currently within 5-7 days

– All other orders – delivery is currently within 2-3 weeks

Delivery is free – on orders including small items over £90 being delivered to the UK mainland. For orders under £90 there is a delivery charge of £9, we no longer have a minimum order value.

(Larger and heavier plants have to be delivered on pallets, we can still deliver free but your order needs to be over £420 to cover our extra delivery costs, there is a note in red next to the plants that this applies to).

Delivery is easy, we don’t need a signature so you don’t need to stay in all day. (We just need to know a safe place at your property where your order can be left).

Delivery is fast, we pick and pack all orders fresh from our growing beds and fields every day. Almost all orders are usually delivered within 5 working days or less.(Very wet or frozen weather conditions may occasionally cause delays with delivery of bare root and root balled plants if our lifting machinery is not able to work safely – but we will always go the extra mile to get orders delivered as quickly as possible) Rootball plants are available from October and bare root plants from November, pre season orders are always sent first in rotation as the plants become ready for lifting. This is a very busy time and it can take us a few weeks to get caught up.

Delivery is safe and secure, as a specialist internet sales nursery we are experienced in packing plants for their journey ensuring they reach you in perfect condition.

Need delivery on a specific day? – Our apologies here but demand at present is so high that we are suspending this service for the time being.

 

Area 1. Mainland UK (Light green on map)

Delivery is free on orders over £90 for the vast majority of the UK shown in green on the map. Smaller orders are welcome and we charge just £9.00 towards delivery.

Large or heavy plants need to be delivered to you on a pallet. Delivery is still free provided your order is over £420 in any mix of plants. (There is a note next to the photo of plants that this applies to saying Free delivery on orders over £420) We can still deliver some smaller orders but we need to charge a £72 contribution towards the cost.

Area 2. Scottish Highlands, IOW. (Dark green on map)

Delivery to more outlying areas is no problem, but it is a little more expensive for us and so we charge an extra £24 to addresses in the dark green area on the map. Occasionally we may need to charge a little more for delivery of bulky plants but we will always try and keep this to a minimum. (We will always confirm with you by phone or email that a variation in delivery charge is acceptable before proceeding).

Area 3. Scottish Islands. (Yellow on map)

We do not currently offer a delivery service to these areas.

Area 4. Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Northern and Southern Ireland. (Red on map)

We do not currently offer a delivery service to these areas.

Area 1. Mainland UK (Light green on map)
Area 2. Scottish Highlands, IOW. (Dark green on map)
Area 3. Scottish Islands. (Yellow on map)
Area 4. Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Northern and Southern Ireland. (Red on map)

Complete delivery information

All our prices include free mainland delivery in area 1 on the map above when you spend over £90, we deliver using our tried and tested delivery partners. Occasionally there may be a hiccup or delay, our sales team are very experienced and always on hand to resolve any problems quickly. You do not need to be in to sign for and accept delivery, all we need to know is your instruction of a safe place at the delivery address where your parcels can be left by the courier if you are out. We deliver regularly to the more outlying destinations in area 2 on the map above for a delivery supplement of £24. These deliveries may take 2 days to some addresses and occasionally we may need to charge a little more for deliveries of bulky plants. We are very experienced in keeping these costs to a minimum and we will always phone or email to check with you that this is acceptable before we go ahead. We are not able to delivery to other offshore addresses including Northern and Southern Ireland.

Smaller orders

We can still deliver smaller orders under £90 (excluding delivery charges) but we need to add a contribution of £9 towards the cost of packing and delivery. There is no minimum order value.

Taller and heavier plants

Taller and heavier plants are too large to be delivered with our parcel couriers and need to be delivered to you on a pallet. While the cost of this is much more substantial to us, we can still offer you free delivery but we need a minimum order of £420 to help cover our costs. There is a note next to the product photo on the website when this applies, the £420 can be made up of any combination of plants and sundries from the website. Our sales team will always book in the pallet delivery with you at no extra charge so you know when the plants will arrive.

If you don’t need these many plants we can still deliver a smaller number of tall/heavy plants but we need to charge £72 towards our delivery costs which is added automatically at the checkout.

Pleached Trees

Pleached trees are too tall to send with any of our usual carriers and must be delivered by our own transport. (Currently only to mainland England and Wales). We usually deliver with our own Land Rover and 6metre/20foot long trailer and we will call in advance to arrange a mutually convenient delivery day. Delivery is still free but we do need a minimum order of £1800 to make it pay, this order value can be made up from any combination of products on our website. We can often deliver smaller orders of pleached trees if you are happy to pay a contribution towards the delivery cost so please do call our sales team on 01580 765600 to discuss your enquiry.

Bare root plants

Bare root plants are a seasonal product, we can only deliver them to you when they have gone dormant for the winter between November and April. We take a lot of pre-season orders during the summer months up to October and so it takes us a week or two to catch up with despatching them when the plants become available at the beginning of November. Once we have caught up most orders are despatched out to you very quickly unless of course you ask us to delay delivery so that you can prepare the site. Read more: What are bare root hedges?

Rootball plants

These are also seasonal plants with deliveries being made during the dormant season from October until early May. All rootball plants are delivered on pallets as they are always taller or heavier and so our sales team will call to book the mutually convenient delivery date with you. We are the only major UK hedging supplier to grow rootball plants on our own nursery and we have all the specialised lifting machinery in house. Because of this we can despatch rootballs very quickly, fresh from our own fields.

Pot grown plants

We grow almost all our own pot grown plants here on the nursery so despatch is usually very quick. We pick the plants fresh from our growing beds daily, pack them up and send them out to you the same day. Sometimes there may be a delay while we wait for a new batch of plants to grow fully to the correct size, the expected delivery date is always stated next to the product photo.

Instant hedging

Most of our instant hedging is grown here on the nursery and so despatch is quick. Instant hedging is always delivered to you on a pallet because of its size and so a member of our sales team will call you to arrange a convenient delivery date.

The only exception is hedging elements that need to be delivered from our specialist supplier, this usually takes about a week but small orders may take a little longer so that we can arrange groupage of deliveries to keep our prices low. We will always keep you informed of these delivery lead times and give you the option of proceeding or cancelling at no cost.

Delivery on a specified day

UPDATE – OUR APOLOGIES BUT THIS SERVICE IS SUSPENDED

We are always happy to arrange delivery on a specific day to help with your planning and planting regardless of the size of your order. If your order is a pallet delivery a member of our sales team will always call to book in the delivery day with you, smaller parcel delivery orders can be arranged for specific delivery days too although we try not to send plants out on Fridays for Monday delivery if we can avoid it, we don’t like plants being in the delivery depot all weekend in case they deteriorate.

We will always go the extra mile to make sure your plants are delivered when you need them but all delivery services have occasional hiccups for a wide variety of possible reasons. Should this happen our sales team are very experienced at resolving these issues with our couriers quickly and get the plants to you as quickly as possible. If there is a delay we will reschedule as quickly as possible but for the avoidance of doubt, we do not pay compensation if the delivery is late. We will always do our utmost to resolve a problem but specified day deliveries are arranged and accepted on this understanding.

Our couriers normally deliver between 9 and 5 but it can be as early as 8am and as late as 7pm during very busy times like the run up to Christmas or Easter. If you are arranging help with planting please be sure arrange delivery the day before so the plants are ready when you landscaper or gardener arrives in the morning.

Taking delivery of pallet orders

Our pallet delivery is reliable, quick and easy, we send out literally thousands of pallet orders each year with very few problems. We always book in the delivery date of palletised orders with you so that you know when your plants will arrive. Our pallet delivery company (Pallet Force) are contractually obliged to deliver to the kerbside only. In reality, they are very helpful provided that you can help them – ideally by having good access with a hard surface to unload on, not having electric gates closed with no one at home and so on in which case they will be very happy to bring the pallet(s) onto your property. If there are likely to be issues with the delivery please do try and stay in for the driver and/or let our sales team know. We will always do our very best to convey any extra delivery information you provide to the driver and are very experienced at ensuring things go smoothly.

You do not need to be at home to accept delivery of pallet delivery items, just let us know a safe and reasonable place where the driver can leave the pallet(s). Please do bear in mind that the driver will deliver with a tail lift lorry, pulling the pallet off with a pump truck which will not travel over gravel or soft surfaces or up steep slopes. In these circumstances, please be realistic about what is possible, if in doubt give our sales team a call on 01580 765600 to talk through the best options. Delivery drivers will not unpack your plants and carry them to your back garden.

Pallets are delivered on large 17 tonne lorries (about the size of a large bus or dustbin lorry), these delivery lorries need good access, if access to your property is restricted the lorry will deliver to the nearest possible point. Some of our delivery depots have smaller lorries and we will always request one if possible if access is likely to be difficult but please understand these smaller lorries are lower and may not be suitable if you have ordered taller plants (over 1.5 metres). In some circumstances customers may need to arrange delivery to an alternative and more accessible address or arrange help themselves to unpack the pallet and carry the plants down a narrow drive if the driver can only deliver to the end of it. (The driver will only deliver to the nearest point, he/she will not carry them). We will always go the extra mile to ensure deliveries go smoothly and we are very experienced at this but options are sometimes as limited as the access.

To recap – pallet deliveries are arranged based on suitable access by a pallet courier’s lorry, if this is not possible it is your responsibility to get them onto your property if the driver cannot. To be clear on this point – we do not pay compensation in these circumstances.

Direct delivery

On some larger orders we can arrange free delivery on a dedicated self-unloading lorry with its own forklift. (Sometimes we can arrange this for smaller orders with a small customer contribution). This means only your plants will be on the lorry and it comes straight from the nursery to you, the forklift can (within reason and subject to ground conditions) place the pallets for you in the garden/on site saving a lot of carrying. This is particularly useful for instant hedging products and other larger plants. Please do call our sales team on 01580 765600 for more information or to see if your order qualifies.

Any questions about delivery? Just call our sales team on 01580 765600, they will be pleased to help.