Bowdens Nursery - Okehampton

Dan Cooper

I ordered a collection of 6 hostas from Bowdens at the 2024 Chelsea Flower Show. They arrived today, as expected, four weeks later. The plants are all of a good size and arrived in almost perfect condition. The addition of a bottle of garlic wash to deter slugs and snails was a nice touch. I am generally hesitant to order plants online as they are so easily damaged, but I cannot fault the plants I have received for the price I paid, which offers a big saving versus buying them individually. Hence 5 stars from me.

If I had any criticism it would be that the plants were quite loose in the box so I think I was lucky that they hadn't shuffled around more. I was also disappointed that plastic bags had been wrapped around the plastic pots - although this does keep the compost from falling out, I'd be even happier if Bowdens could use something more sustainable instead.

Joe Hart

Very knowledgable about Hostas. Extremely helpful on the phone with my questions, and had good recommendations to stop the slugs. The plants and Garlic arrived and look good, so far the garlic has kept the slugs at bay. Great products and good service

Natacha du pont de bie

Hosta Heaven! This well established nursery is well worth a visit even just to walk around the lovely gardens, though you probably won’t be able to resist leaving without a hosta. The nursery has won golds at Chelsea too. There are so many beautiful hostas to choose from it’s hard to pick them. They also sell bamboos and ferns

Suzanne Robinson

I took my mother-in-law here last week. It was a super find, the gardens were stunning and all members of staff we met were friendly, knowledgeable and more than willing to share information and give advice. The gardens were so inspiring, I went home and spent all afternoon creating my own shaded area dedicated to hostas and ferns. We will be back!

Amy Blackwell

Atrocious service, I ordered 5 5 litre bamboo plants and after an email confirming the order and a second confirming the order was awaiting shipment, I heard nothing. I left several voicemail messages and emailed them but did not hear anything. 10 days later a phonecall was eventually answered by a very apologetic person, the plants were despatched and arrived 2 days later by Royal Mail in a box that was not labelled "this way up" or "contains plants". The 5 bamboo are very sorry looking, with lots of brown and yellowing leaves. I would not buy these plants even if they were in a sale section at a garden centre. I have emailed to say the plants are not of satisfactory quality and I want to return them. Unsurprisingly I have heard nothing back and the phone number is going straight to voicemail.

Tom Ridgway

Awful plants! Please read other reviews before purchasing. I ordered some 'special selected' ferns at RHS Chelsea flower show. I paid £80, and the plants eventually arrived this weekend. 6 very small, sorry looking ferns. One is dead. Three are missing labels. There very no planting instructions, or plant listing, or any indication that these plants had been 'specially selected' by their fern expert, Martin Rickard, as promised and paid for. They have a £30 'value' fern selection available on their website, and an £80 selection which contains 20 ferns, and maybe their has been an order mixup, but even so, the plants looked in a bit of a state. I have been ordering mail order plants for over 20 years, and this is the first time I have had to complain about a purchase.

Cully Wilcoxon

I took delivery today on two collections -- one of ferns; the other of hostas. They arrived in great shape. The persons I have interacted with at Bowdens have been ever so nice and helpful. I was grateful, too, to have the enclosed write-ups on hostas and ferns, which included some history of these types of plants, as well as copious instructions about how best to plant them and encourage them to thrive.

Jess Sey

I'm so annoyed with myself for not having been here years ago!
I came away with exactly what I was looking for and a complimentary bottle of their amazing garlic slug repellent as I was their first customer of the year.
I cant wait to look around their garden in the warmer sping.
Super helpful and welcoming. Lovely plants.