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Quality of J Parkers plants

philblaylockphilblaylock Posts: 2
in Plants
Based on a discount offer in the magazine, I spent £150 on plants and shrubs from J Parkers.    I'm disappointed that GW Mag sees it fit to promote companies which ship such poor products.  What a nightmare they have been.  Some were utterly dead on receipt, others barely alive and after 5 weeks, several still haven't arrived.  I've emailed (see below) but it's been bounced back.  Any suggestions? 

Here's my letter, "  

Hello,

 

I informed you upon receipt that some plants had arrived dead.  I was advised to plant them, wait 2-3 weeks and see how they got on.  I am writing again to advise that the dead plants are still dead and some others are barely alive. 

From the social media posts you don't manage to remove quickly, it seems I am not alone in experiencing such issues.

 That these plants were even received in the poor condition they were in is unacceptable and I would like refunds for the following:

Perfect pollinators: Lupin Russell mixed, Canterbury Bells; Magnolia Collection -  Soulengeana and Stella.

 You are welcome to have them back if you supply a returns postage label.  I took the liberty of planting some straight into a cardboard box as they were already dead on receipt. 

I am keeping the following for now, but am concerned that, in their current condition barely showing signs of life, they would be laughed out of my local garden show and may need to be refunded in a couple of weeks;

Gaura Whirling Butterflies

Pennisetum Fireworks

Monarda Mixed 

Mulberry - received as an expensive single-stem cutting, not a 'pot-grown plant' 

5 weeks after ordering with a 3 week delivery window, I still have orders outstanding.  Please cancel and refund them as they will arrive too late... and they'd probably be dead anyway. 

I have attached recent photos of the plants listed above for reference so you can compare to those I supplied originally."

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Posts

  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    I must admit the only time I've had plants from J Parkers was a purchase of bare root Strawberries.  The order was short of a few plants and when I contacted them, they sent more than the number missing by return without any problems or cost to me.
    That was some 7 or 8 years ago and if you look at the number of posts on the forum in recent years, they do seem to have fallen down - both on the quality of plants and their customer service. They aren't the only suppliers to have gone downhill in recent years tho.
    Just hope you manage to get a result with your complaint :)
  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108
    I have ordered a lot from them recently.  They all arrived looking poor, but the root systems were good and they perked up immediately, except 5 rock roses ordered.  They asked me to wait a few weeks, I did, still dead, contacted them and they replaced them.  Replacement plants and all the others are doing very well. I think they aren’t the best but they are good value and responded straight away to queries. 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    edited June 2023
    Did they have a membrane on the roots,  what we call tea bags,  that needs to be removed and the roots teased out. 5 weeks ago it was quite cold,  here was anyway,  I would have kept them in the green house until now and then they may have grown and be ready for the big outdoors. 
    They are cheap but with the right TLC they usually come on ok. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • philblaylockphilblaylock Posts: 2
    Lyn said:
    Did they have a membrane on the roots,  what we call tea bags,  that needs to be removed and the roots teased out. 5 weeks ago it was quite cold,  here was anyway,  I would have kept them in the green house until now and then they may have grown and be ready for the big outdoors. 
    They are cheap but with the right TLC they usually come on ok. 
    No membrane.  Some looked they'd been saturated for a long time and were completely rotten so no chance of survival. :(
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    I had to order from them a few years back because they were the only company selling a particular plant. Sadly 80% of the order was dead or dying when it reached me. The remaining plant struggled all season and then gave up the ghost.
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    My FIL thought it a good idea to buy me some bare root trees for my my birthday in April, it was a lovely thought, but J Parkers should not be letting people (who don't know any better) buy those at that time of the year.
    Two dead trees arrived, the roots were soaked in water then planted in moist compost, but nothing happened for a month.
    I complained on his behalf (I know the game better than he does) and they sent me back a copy n pasted check list. I rolled my eyes, it was like the dead parrot sketch off of Monty Python.

    In their favour they did respond quickly and refunded, but really they shouldn't have sold them.
    Guess what i'm getting for Christmas?  :)
    Thompson & Morgan and Suttons are both big names too with terrible service who I avoid like the plague.

  • omghiomg_123omghiomg_123 Posts: 96
    Hoping on this thread to ask who people actually recommend to buy from? I’ve had some dodgy plants from both J Parkers and Thompson and Morgan (although to be fair to t&m they have always been very willing to replace/refund, still waiting for a response from J Parker’s). Would be interested to know some sites that do provide good quality products!
  • WonkyWombleWonkyWomble Posts: 4,541
    I've recently had a large order from Parker's. This included grasses, euphorbia, ferns, shrubs and hardy geranium. All arrived healthy although small except the geranium which I was unimpressed that they arrived bare root, all were alive bar one though.
    In the past I've received a completely incorrect order of small Iris which took two years to discover they had sent the wrong ones!
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    @omghiomg_123 I've had good plants from https://www.hardysplants.co.uk/ and Taylors Clematis.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    Never bought from them but Thompson and Morgan are just as bad . Big name but lousy plants I’ve found . It seems to me that service and quality has really suffered of late . Dare not recommend as I don’t want you to be ripped off ,but I use smaller companies these days ,people with small businesses ,they don’t carry everything but things they do have are generally in good condition.
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