Why we only send plants Monday to Thursday
Couriers do not deliver at weekends on standard services. A plant sent on Friday can spend Saturday and Sunday in an unheated depot and arrive on Monday after three days in the dark. By dispatching only Monday to Thursday, with a 1pm cutoff for same-day dispatch, every plant is delivered within its working week. Substrate, pots and dry goods also go out on Fridays.
How a plant is packed
- Watered the day before, not on the day, so the root ball is moist but not dripping.
- Pot sleeved and sealed at the surface with paper so substrate stays in the pot.
- Wood-wool collar packed around the stem base to stop the pot rocking.
- Paper sleeve around the foliage, with stakes or a moss pole secured for climbers.
- Upright box with "this way up" marking and cardboard dividers between plants.
- UK Plant Passport attached to the pot or the dispatch note for each plant.
Winter Thermal Guard (below 5°C)
From roughly November to March, when the forecast along the route falls below 5°C, we add a 72-hour phase-change heat pack taped to the inside of the box, away from the foliage, plus extra wood wool for insulation. It costs £2.99 on standard orders and is included free on specimen orders. In a hard frost we may delay dispatch rather than risk the plants; you will get an email if we do.
Summer heat hold (above 32°C)
Heat kills plants in transit faster than cold. When forecasts on the route exceed 32°C we hold live plants at the nursery, water them and send them as soon as temperatures drop. Your order stays in the queue at the front.
The 7-day live arrival guarantee
If a plant arrives dead, rotting, infested or badly damaged, we replace it or refund it. To claim, email photos of the plant, its roots and the packaging within 7 days of delivery. The single condition is that you do not repot the plant during those 7 days: unpack it, stand it in bright indirect light away from radiators and draughts, water only if the substrate is dry, and let it recover from the journey. Tissue-culture plantlets are covered until they are deflasked, if deflasked within 7 days of arrival.
Unpacking checklist
- Open the box the day it arrives, top first, and lift plants out by the pot, not the stem.
- Check the substrate with a finger: water only if the top third is dry.
- Keep out of direct sun for three days and away from radiators.
- Expect one older leaf to yellow in the first fortnight; it is redirecting energy to roots.
- Keep the passport label with the plant.