Larch Cottage Nurseries Reviews 

Larch Cottage looked incredibly appealing from the outset — rustic, charming and exactly the sort of place we were hoping to discover. We visited based on a recommendation and were planning to buy a large number of plants.

Arriving at 1pm on a Friday, we decided to stop for lunch in the café. It looked beautiful and the menu sounded delicious, so we were really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. We were left sitting for quite some time before anyone brought us menus. We eventually ordered drinks and food, but were warned there would be a 30-minute wait. In reality, we waited over an hour. We hadn’t ordered anything particularly complicated, yet another table — who had arrived well after us — received their food before we did. One of our orders, simply a portion of olives, never arrived at all.

My husband went off to find the plants we needed (whilst I waited for the food), but it took him an incredibly long time to find anyone who could actually help. When he eventually did, he was simply pointed in a direction and told that the plants were arranged alphabetically. They weren’t, and many were labelled using their Latin names, making it very difficult to find what we were looking for.

They do have a good selection of plants which appear to be good quality, but unfortunately the overall experience means we certainly won’t be visiting again. I dread to think what the service would be like on a busy weekend.

I ordered three plants from Larch Cottage via mail order three months ago. I chose LC as they were the only supplier of a particular variety of perennial Helianthus, a plant I know. After a month it was clear that these plants were not the variety I ordered and I rang LC. They said wait till they flower and send us a photograph which I did. This photograph confirmed the plants were not as ordered. LC then said return plants via a courier that they arranged. By now the plants were 8 foot with a large root ball and although LC had said I could cut the stalks down to 1 foot they added keep the box a small as possible, so I only sent one plant in the hope of saving the nursery carriage costs. On receipt of the plant no refund was given. LC maintained the plants did not come from their nursery and must have been growing in the garden already. I then explained their plants were planted into a totally bare garden and sent photographic evidence of this. The company then claimed there was no evidence of their soil on returned plant (we had hosed the root ball to get it in the return box!). I eventually received a refund for the one plant I returned, not all three, and the reason for this was given as I only returned to one plant. I feel I have been accused by LC of lying and would describe this transaction as the worst customer service I’ve experienced. Putting this impression to one side though, the real issue was a lack of clarity re returns policy. Here is one customer who was confused, not cheating.

Unusually extensively-stocked nursery with high quality plants and lots more besides, and good café/bistro and shops. Well worth a visit. Caveat emptor - plants etc are understandably relatively expensive and they say their plants etc are so good (fair enough) but they will only offer the most minimal refund/return policy for any plant failures. Compare & contrast other specialist growers (e.g. a well-known & long-established quality rose grower, amongst others, which offers up to five years refund policy for failures in certain circumstances).

Beautiful surroundings and good quality food but there appears to be something seriously wrong with the attitude of staff in all areas of this business. In almost every interaction across several visits, I didn’t see a smile, an ounce of warmth or any awareness of basic customer service. Just simple questions like “how was your food?” from the cafe staff or “were you able to find everything you needed?” at the payment desk would be a start.

I really want to like LCN but I won’t be visiting again just to be looked at as though I’m little more than an inconvenience. And the responses from the owner to negative reviews on here are very revealing, perhaps explaining why her staff seem to treat customers so disrespectfully.

My first order with this company. I ordered two acer trees. Both trees arrived very well packaged and I was made aware of delivery times. The trees were in lovely condition and nice and large. Very pleased with my experience and I will be a returning customer with no hesitation and hope my experience will once again be positive

Received my Acer Ryusen today and what a beautiful healthy specimen it is too.
It was very well packaged and in perfect condition arriving less than 48 hours of placing my order.
This is the second Acer i have bought from Larch Cottage, which was also a great plant and doing really well.

In search of a rose named Nancy to honor a cherished friend who had passed away, I discovered that Larch Cottage Nurseries was the sole nursery nationwide with it in stock. They kindly set aside two for me—one for myself and another for Nancy's daughter. The roses arrived in pristine condition; I was informed of their dispatch date, and they were delivered the next day. One of the roses was adorned with numerous buds, some just starting to bloom, which I gave to Nancy's daughter. The other rose is budding, and I eagerly anticipate its full bloom. The packaging was impeccable, and I am thoroughly pleased with the outstanding service and the exceptional quality of these beautiful roses.

Great customer service and range of plants. Extremely helpful staff, very kindly added to order a plant I had missed off my order (if at anytime possible please make wishlist have direct option to add to basket!) - make sure you double check to save yourself and their team hassle. Plants arrived quickly and safely with a good courier, and care was taken by seller to ensure delivery instructions were as good as possible. Plants were quality checked before dispatch. Seller happily and helpfully answered queries, and independently gave helpful advice around some of my communications. Only minor complaint was one plant came very dry, though this may have been because it was freshly lifted and uneasy to water before transport in cardboard boxes. Would happily use (personally myself more organized!) again for great service and huge range of plants including unusual varieties hard to source elsewhere and in all one place/supplier.

Purchased 6 plants from them, 4 were completely dead within a few months, 1 needed more than 50% of the branches removing due to disease. The 2 holly plants died from disease and the spread this to other plants in my garden.
I complain about the state of the plants when I received them but they make it very difficult to get a refund so I tried to persist with the plants but the majority of them died shortly afterwards.
Please don’t waste your money on this awful business as they have no intention of providing you with good quality products, they just want your money and will send any garbage in order to get it

In reply to the below response from March cottage as stated: I DID TRY TO RESOLVE THIS WITH LARCH COTTAGE BUT THEY REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT and seem to accuse any customer that is unhappy of harassment rather than providing them with an acceptable product that they paid for, hence why they are receiving a bad review. Even now they are trying to pass the blame on to their customers. An absolute disgrace of a company

I was looking for a rose called Nancy in memory of a dear friend who has died and Larch Cottage Nurseries were the only nursery I could find in the country with them in stock. They reserved 2 for me which was one for me and one for Nancy's daughter. The roses arrived in excellent condition, I was told which day they would be dispatched and they arrived the following day. One rose had a lot of buds, some of which were just beginning to open and I gave that to Nancy's daughter, the other rose has buds forming and I am looking forward to seeing it in flower. They were very well packaged and I am delighted with the service I received and the condition and quality of the lovely roses.

I bought an expensive piece of wall art from them.When I received it it was covered in cobwebs and bird excrement and was bent. I contacted Jo at Larch Nurseries and she basically told me to get a clothand clean it off!!I sent photos of the condition when it arrived. I explained it should not have arrived in the condition she said I could have a refund but would have to pay the postage. As it was a gift and part of it was a voucher I would have had to spend some of the money with Larch Nurseries,which I did not want to do. My partner and I spent a long time cleaning it to bring it back to its good condition. I do not expect to do this from a company it should arrive in pristine condition.

£16 postage for one small plant is a rip off. No one else charges anything like that! Doubles the cost of buying something!

Larch sent me a pathetic little philadelphus plant. It was wrongly billed on their website as a potted plant in a 5L pot, but in fact was a bare-rooted plant recently stuck into a small pot of compost, with no root development at all in the pot. The £40 charge including postage was a rip-off. Customer "service" was awful when I requested a refund: said I was bullying and threatening when I told them I'd complain to trading standards. In the end Larch gave in and refunded, on the condition that I posted the plant back, leaving me £8 out of pocket. There are many far better plant suppliers in the north of England. Gardeners looking for quality plants at a reasonable price should avoid Larch Cottage Nurseries like the plague.

We have been twice in the last 2 months. Staff polite and helpful and the cafe food was lovely. Admittedly today ( 1/8/24 ) many of the plants/flowers were coming to the end of their season but many were still in good condition. Some of the pots contained some weeds but that only indicates they are established and the weeds are easy to remove. An excellent range of reasonably priced plants and being in alphabetical order makes finding plants easy. We much prefer buying plants here than the 'Posh' over-priced Garden Centres near Carlisle and Ambleside.

We used to love this place and visited 3 or 4 times a year. Usually having coffee or lunch and buying some plants. Visited last week and bought a plant I was looking for but it was in bud so I couldn't see the colour. When the flower came out it was the wrong colour and had been labelled wrongly. I contacted the company and spoke to someone called Jo. I fully expected them to offer to post out the right plant or at least offer a refund. However their only offer was for us to take it back. I pointed out this was a 40 mile round trip for a £9.99 plant and 2 hours out of our day. Not good for the customer or for the environment. I absolutely know people make mistakes but this could have been put right soo easily and so much better than this. Jo was adamant that was all they could offer. This is not the first time I have bought plants from there that were wrongly labelled and the are generally more expensive than other garden centres. They have certainly lost our 3 or 4 yearly visits and the few £100 that we would have spent with them over a year. But it was clear it was of no importance to them. It's sad when a business you previously enjoyed visiting lets you down.

I am extremely disappointed with the plants, a hosta & an acer that I bought on line early April 2024. The hosta Rainbow's End £11.99 still has only 3 miniscule leaves approx 1" length....initially in April when I contacted the nursery I was told the hosta was correct variety & would grow.....The Butterfly acer I bought looks dead.....I am a very experienced non professional gardener and can only think the plants Larch Cottage supplied were substandard. With postage I paid a total of £62.98.....a huge amount of money for very shoddy weak plants.

I visited Larch Cottage Nurseries on a day out with friends. Before we left, we visited the shop. The shop is stocked with all manner of pretty, different items - but all very expensive. I saw a silk dress which I could not take my eyes off - it was beautiful, but with a hefty price tag of £110.00. I attempted to barter but was told in no uncertain terms this was not done. I did buy the dress on an expensive impulse, and we left. When i got home I tried it on - and it looked dreadful. Too big, and just did not suit me. As I live 2 hours drive away from the place, returning it in person was impossible so I telephoned. I was told that the shop does not give refunds, and all i could be offered was a credit note. I explained that there was very little chance i would be visiting the shop again, therefore a credit note was of no use to me. The lady I spoke to then said she would ring the owners to check on the return policy and call me back, which she did. She reiterated that my only choice was a credit note. So I asked for the email address for the owner, and duly emailed her. I pointed out that there is no notice displayed to clarify their returns policy, I was not informed at the time of purchase that I would not be refunded if the dress was unsatisfactory, and there were no changing rooms within the shop so I could try the dress on. I repeatedly asked for a refund, but eventually received a reply saying they had noted my comments and if I returned the dress I would be given a credit note. I had pushed the boat out to buy that dress and it did not cross my mind that in this day and age, a refund would not be given.
Appalling customer service.
Warning to anyone buying from that shop - be 100% sure you are satisfied with your purchase before you part with hard-earned cash

I emailed the nursery on Sunday enquiring about an acer and requested a photograph. I received the photograph the next day and I purchased the acer (which had been put aside for me) the same day. The acer was delivered on Wednesday morning. It was very well packaged and in perfect condition. Thank you Jo and all the team who helped me. I will be shopping there again, it takes the hassle out of online shopping.

Have ordered from them several times now: exceptional choice, wonderful website. Plants really well packaged and delivered on time. And note that their pot sizes are large, so you get well rooted plants ready to go straight into in the ground. In fact several times I've been able to divide plants before planting and got three or four for the price of one.

Thanks very much to the team. My plants arrived in excellent condition, no damage whatsoever in transit and really good, healthy specimens. The standard tree was very well packaged. A little delay in dispatch - ordered on 25 May and delivered on 9 June - but when I contacted the office they were helpful and gave me an updated ETA. It's a busy time of year. And in fact the plants arrived a week earlier than promised, so all good. Recommended.