Can anybody recommend a good local plant nursery or garden centre?

[Sue]

Now that we have sadly lost several of the local and localish  places to buy plants, can anybody recommend a good nursery which is reasonably near and has a good selection of shrubs?

Or alternatively a good place to buy plants online (though  I would rather see what I am buying, as I've had bad experiences in the past when buying plants online).

I need something urgently which is evergreen and prickly and will grow quickly to fill a shady  corner space at the back of my garden where fences have become bare and cats are climbing  over and waiting for birds to come to the feeders 😭

I'm thinking a Mahonia. It doesn't actually have thorns, but the leaves are prickly.

Alternatively, is there some other way of deterring the cats without harming them (I like cats!) I don't want to use anything like spikes or barbed wire.

If this is in the wrong section, admin, please move!

Edited April 19, 2025 by Sue
Edited to add garden centre to heading to avoid confusion

[diable rouge]

I can vouch for a Berberis being a good thorny deterrent, and colorful too...

https://www.jacksonsnurseries.co.uk/hedging-plants/thorny-prickly-intruder-proof-hedging-plants/

Gooseberry bushes have thorns plus the added bonus of the fruit...

https://www.jacksonsnurseries.co.uk/?subcats=Y&pcode_from_q=Y&pshort=Y&pfull=Y&pname=Y&pkeywords=Y&search_performed=Y&q=gooseberry&dispatch=products.search&security_hash=66c20a8bb7c61038d2180d03a4660735

[ed_pete]

I can't guarantee that they'll have what you're after but I was very impressed with The Nunhead Gardener this week.  I'd also been to Croxted Road and the Pot and Plant next to North Dulwich Station and the selection at both paled by comparison.

[tiddles]

Alleyn park garden centre in west Dulwich - very knowledgeable and super helpful and can deliver - give them a buzz 

[Sue]

1 hour ago, ed_pete said:

I can't guarantee that they'll have what you're after but I was very impressed with The Nunhead Gardener this week.  I'd also been to Croxted Road and the Pot and Plant next to North Dulwich Station and the selection at both paled by comparison.

Thanks, I thought the Nunhead Gardener only did house plants. 

I'll give them a call.

1 hour ago, diable rouge said:

I can vouch for a Berberis being a good thorny deterrent, and colorful too...

https://www.jacksonsnurseries.co.uk/hedging-plants/thorny-prickly-intruder-proof-hedging-plants/

Gooseberry bushes have thorns plus the added bonus of the fruit...

https://www.jacksonsnurseries.co.uk/?subcats=Y&pcode_from_q=Y&pshort=Y&pfull=Y&pname=Y&pkeywords=Y&search_performed=Y&q=gooseberry&dispatch=products.search&security_hash=66c20a8bb7c61038d2180d03a4660735

Thanks, I'm not sure a Berberis would be tall enough, but I'll check it out!

It wouldn't get enough sun for a gooseberry, sadly.

30 minutes ago, tiddles said:

Alleyn park garden centre in west Dulwich - very knowledgeable and super helpful and can deliver - give them a buzz 

Thanks Tiddles, I will call them!

[malumbu]

Surprised nobody has recommended Peckham wildlife centre:  https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/nature-reserves/centre-for-wildlife-gardening

Very close.

Also the greenhouses at Brockwell Park Greenhouse, Google it, another wildlife garden, open some weekends.

[Mystic Mog]

Went to Nunhead Gardener this week.  Very good selection of healthy plants, indoor and out.

 

[Friernlocal]

If you mean proper nurseries where they grow plants and not just garden centres there are several on Woodmansterne Lane just south of Wallington. I prefer going there as you get a lot of plants you don't see in garden centres. The two I go to most often are Flittons https://www.flittons.com/ and Barnes https://www.barnesnurseries.co.uk/.

There are a few others on the same road and a large Dobbies if you want a garden centre that sells other things.

[Sue]

1 hour ago, malumbu said:

Surprised nobody has recommended Peckham wildlife centre:  https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/nature-reserves/centre-for-wildlife-gardening

Very close.

Also the greenhouses at Brockwell Park Greenhouse, Google it, another wildlife garden, open some weekends.

I was at Brockwell Park greenhouses very recently, they don't have any plants for sale which are suitable for my purpose (though that's not why I went there).

I'd be very surprised if the Marsden Road place did either, as I need a fairly large prickly shrub!

33 minutes ago, Friernlocal said:

If you mean proper nurseries where they grow plants and not just garden centres there are several on Woodmansterne Lane just south of Wallington. I prefer going there as you get a lot of plants you don't see in garden centres. The two I go to most often are Flittons https://www.flittons.com/ and Barnes https://www.barnesnurseries.co.uk/.

There are a few others on the same road and a large Dobbies if you want a garden centre that sells other things.

Thanks, I used the term nursery a bit too loosely, sorry. I did mean including garden centres.

Your post is useful, thanks. 

I'm not looking for anything unusual though, just a prickly shrub to deter cats! Much as I love unusual plants, I only have a very small garden.

Many of my plants (some unusual and some I had had for years) have disappeared due to wood  pigeons trampling everything under my bird feeders in their quest to eat anything edible dropped by smaller birds using the feeders 😭 

Edited April 19, 2025 by Sue

[lizbells6]

Pyracantha? Covered in white flowers and pollinators in the summer followed by berries for the birds. Can be a bit of a thug though so you have to keep on top of pruning it through the thorns! 

[Sue]

2 hours ago, lizbells6 said:

Pyracantha? Covered in white flowers and pollinators in the summer followed by berries for the birds. Can be a bit of a thug though so you have to keep on top of pruning it through the thorns! 

Ooh yes, good shout!

[Angelina]

Could this help while your plants grow? 
Doesn’t look as though it would hurt them

[Mystic Mog]

https://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/garden-plants/special-deals?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtpLABhC7ARIsALBOCVoIUs5ntdnG6WSCYw0w5eJe08baDH-VDESreUOibdY6jfrLyahTkfMaAtLREALw_wcB

[hellose5]

nunhead gardener - because they are doing plants which last and give advice - you can get stuff from all over, but support local, give local people work and get some advice and the plants have lasted

[malumbu]

I do like the Nunhead Gardener.  Shannon's was cheaper but that is academic.  Garden Centres have not benefited from Brexit, one reason that Shannons closed.

The wildlife centre is good for native hedging, fruit trees and bushes and the like, and worth a stroll down to in any case.

[Sue]

10 hours ago, Angelina said:

Could this help while your plants grow? 
Doesn’t look as though it would hurt them

Thanks, that's really useful!

[natalee54]

18 hours ago, lizbells6 said:

Pyracantha? Covered in white flowers and pollinators in the summer followed by berries for the birds. Can be a bit of a thug though so you have to keep on top of pruning it through the thorns! 

The thorns are brutal though! I've been trying to cut some back this morning and I look like I've had a fight with a cat! Also, maybe because ours in a communal garden haven't been well kept, the cats still get in and amongst them, but that might be because all there spikes are at the top? I'm constantly clearing cat poo up from underneath them and come out covered in scratches. 

[Huggers]

On 19/04/2025 at 17:13, malumbu said:

Surprised nobody has recommended Peckham wildlife centre:  https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/nature-reserves/centre-for-wildlife-gardening

Very close.

Also the greenhouses at Brockwell Park Greenhouse, Google it, another wildlife garden, open some weekends.

They only had trees recently and no aground or plants

[Sue]

6 hours ago, natalee54 said:

The thorns are brutal though! I've been trying to cut some back this morning and I look like I've had a fight with a cat! Also, maybe because ours in a communal garden haven't been well kept, the cats still get in and amongst them, but that might be because all there spikes are at the top? I'm constantly clearing cat poo up from underneath them and come out covered in scratches. 

Oh dear! 

I have had one in the past.

Spines at the top would be fine, because it might deter the cats from jumping over the fence.

I will try the cat deterrent fence topper as well.

Edited April 20, 2025 by Sue

[intexasatthe moment]

https://www.alexandranurseries.co.uk/  in Penge ,any good to you ?

[Brian up the hill]

I have always found the Secret Garden in Crystal Palace to have a good selection of plants and probably the largest in the area. Nunhead Gardener is good but I find it’s led by what’s fashionable this season. It is also quite limited by size, same goes for Alleyn Park. 

[intexasatthe moment]

Quote

I have always found the Secret Garden in Crystal Palace to have a good selection of plants and probably the largest in the area.

Good shout .I'd forgotten them .

[se22]

I happened to be at the secret garden today. They were very busy due to the bank Holiday. There was an excellent selection of plants and the staff were very helpful and friendly. 

[Sue]

1 hour ago, se22 said:

I happened to be at the secret garden today. They were very busy due to the bank Holiday. There was an excellent selection of plants and the staff were very helpful and friendly. 

Yes, thanks, I had forgotten them too.

[HeadNun]

The Secret Garden is great and delivers - excellent customer service and advice. I think the Nunhead Gardener is way too expensive and not sure they really know their stuff. 

I hate to admit that I go online for plants but Gardening Express is just brilliant - great value for money (I used to use Crocus, which is extortionate and so many of their plants didn't make it) and their plants have grown like crazy since I got them.