Delivery

To be fair to all our customers all orders are dealt with on a 'first in, first out' basis. Our delivery charges are available here

Unfortunately we no longer deliver to Northern Ireland as since Brexit it is no longer economic for us to do so.

All our deliveries are dispatched using APC Overnight couriers, and though not the cheapest we have found them to be by far the best in terms of reliability and care taken of our precious plants. If there are any problems they can usually be resolved fairly quickly as we are able to speak to real human beings directly at their depots. We always take ownership of any delivery issues until resolved to ours and our customers satisfaction.

Please note that our standard delivery instruction to APC are to leave in a safe place and card if out, which is different to and overrides any communications you may receive from them.  If there is a particular safe place, or you would like the delivery left with a neighbour, please let us know in the customer comments box on the check out page, but please try and keep it short as we are limited to 45 characters by their system.

We expect to dispatch orders within 3 working days, with the exception of very hot or very cold weather and during the busy season (March - June) when demand for plants is high.  Rather than close the website to new orders during our very busy periods, which we personally find frustrating when buying online ourselves, we continue to take orders but give clear indication on the website of the expected delivery times with an estimated week commencing delivery date. In that way customers can choose to place an order with the knowledge of how long the wait is likely to be. Almost without exception we keep to the delivery times indicated, and where on occasion we are likely to miss them we will email or call customers to let them know in advance.

Please note that in common with most online business payment is taken at time of order, not dispatch.

Delivery dates are communicated in two ways on the website. The first, and most prominent, is a pop-up box that should appear when you initially hit the website. If you have instructed your browser to block pop-ups you will not see this, so either choose not to block for our site or alternatively refer to the second place on the website which is on the home page in red just below the "Welcome to Puddleplants..." heading. Please note the date is a week commencing date, not the date of delivery, so delivery is likely to be any day from Tuesday to Friday of that week. If you need to know an exact day please email or ring and we will give our best estimate of the delivery day.

We use an express next day delivery service from APC which ensures plants are generally received within 24 hours of dispatch and arrive in the best possible condition. We only dispatch Monday to Thursday so that plants are not held in the courier system over the weekend. You will receive an email on the day of dispatch both from us and the couriers to let you know your order is on its way. Whilst we endeavour to keep an eye on and track all deliveries though the system please do let us know as soon as possible if you haven't received your plants the following day (unless you are in the Highlands and Islands as these are normally a 2-3 day service).

If you need to receive plants on a specific day please contact us by phone or email or make a note in the customer comments box when you place your order: we can then arrange with you the best day for the plants to be delivered.

All our plants will be dispatched with labels and are carefully packaged in plastic bags with plenty of moisture in high quality double-walled boxes to protect the plants and ensure they arrive in the best possible condition. Clear planting instructions are included in a link in the email sent to you on day of dispatch to help you get started straight away and enjoy your plants to the full. The link will take you to a printable PDF file. If you would prefer a hard copy of this with the plants please make a note in the customer comments box on checkout and we will include it in the documents wallet stuck on the outside of the box.

We only deliver within the UK and the Channel Islands