Gardening Direct

How ethical is Gardening Direct?

Gardening Direct is an online plant retailer which has fallen below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table. Gardening Direct’s below-benchmark performance is driven by poor ratings for environmental reporting and peat free status.

What does Gardening Direct do?

Gardening Direct was founded in 1996 and operates an 11-acre nursery in rural Lincolnshire, from which it supplies bedding plants, perennials, shrubs, bulbs, vegetable seeds, and indoor plants directly to consumers across the UK. The company despatches in excess of half a million individual plant parcels per year. Gardening Direct is owned by Kester Capital LLP, a Jersey-registered investment vehicle.

Why does Gardening Direct fall below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s benchmark?

Gardening Direct’s below-benchmark performance is driven by two poor ratings. The poor rating for environmental report is the most significant. For an online plant retailer operating at significant scale, despatching hundreds of thousands of plant parcels annually from its own nursery, the absence of a published environmental report means consumers have no transparent account of the company’s environmental commitments or sustainability performance. Publishing an environmental report would address this gap and provide accountability commensurate with the company’s scale.

Gardening Direct also receives a poor rating for peat free status. The UK government has committed to phasing out peat compost sales to amateur gardeners, and the wider horticultural sector is transitioning to peat-free alternatives. Adopting peat-free growing media across its nursery operations would address this gap and align the company with the direction of the sector.

Gardening Direct does perform well across several criteria, achieving good ratings for fossil fuels, animal welfare, armaments, irresponsible marketing, and political donations, with no documented public record criticisms. The packaging rating is acceptable rather than good, indicating further room for improvement. However, the poor ratings for environmental reporting and peat free status are concerns that The GOOD Shopping Guide cannot overlook.

Consumers seeking garden suppliers that meet The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark are encouraged to consult our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table and our guide to ethical garden suppliers, and seek out brands that hold The GOOD Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation. Our how we rate page explains the criteria used to assess all brands in this sector.