London is a proudly leafy city, loved for its tree-lined streets, famous parks, hidden gardens where you'd least expect them, and community spaces sprouting out from behind office blocks. And that fervour for all things horticultural extends to this city's residents, who turn suburban gardens into abundant paradises of blooms, transform concrete courtyards into cool havens of ferns and palms, or deck their balcony with extravagant swathes of flowers.
This city's centre is ringed with garden centres that can feed even your boldest gardening-related ambitions. And for anyone without access to outdoor space, they also offer indoor growing options galore, while boutique-style high street shops turn houseplant ownership into a way of life. Here are the best garden centres in London, as well as plant shops not to miss if you want to make your neighbours go green with envy.
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Escape the Camden Market chaos at this peaceful, plant-stuffed oasis, which is surprisingly extensive given its central location. You'll find a massive range of outdoor and indoor plants, plus an affordable onsite cafe and bookshop Pritchard + Ure that'll encourage you to linger among the leaves. Plus, you'll get a virtuous glow long after you leave: Camden Garden Centre is a charitable enterprise that runs traineeships to help disadvantaged people develop their green fingers.
This vast warehouse of houseplants on Cambridge Heath Road has a really great selection of pots, hanging terrariums and cacti. It’s also a cheaper alternative to the pricier nearby plant shops, with some great local advice from the friendly owners.
Alexandra Palace is famed for its rolling green lawns, but you don't need stately home style grounds to enjoy the wares of this nearby north London garden centre. It's packed with plants housed in what used to be an Olympic-sized swimming pool's glasshouse, and its neighbouring changing rooms. These spaces plus some more modern additions now house a solid selection of indoor and outdoor plants and shrubs, gardening tools and accessories. There's plenty in the way of cute and quirky gifts here too, and there's a sublime Christmas department to be explored in December as well.
Local values, sustainability and the gentle spread of nature are the goals at the heart of community fave Alexandra Nurseries. The much-loved Penge plant haven is a ramshackle herbaceous oasis in south-east London. Visitors can also find vintage homeware and a charming café, which sometimes stays open late in the summer months for barbecues and beer, under a canopy of vines.
The N1 team knows their urban clientele well and the site is dressed like an interiors magazine, with garden design furniture and chic accessories (it's a gnome-free zone). But for all its designer's eye, it's hugely practical too with a good range of solid tools, and friendly and knowledgeble service.
Among the pretty canals of Maida Vale you'll find Clifton Nurseries, a horticulturalist’s paradise on a grand scale. The centre’s impressive exotics are pampered in a large hothouse, there’s a huge flowering shrub and perennial section, plus a lovely indoor shop featuring tools, gardening accessories and lots of lovely ceramics. Non-gardeners may be interested in the legendary Clifton design and landscaping service... or the opportunity to drink tea beneath trailing houseplants in the atmospheric glasshouse cafe.
One visit to Conservatory Archives’ urban jungle and you’ll be lusting after its hanging greenery and climbing vines. Its shops on Lower Clapton Road and Middleton Road are lavish indoor gardens stuffed full of weird, wacky and wild vegetation. Prepare to fall hard for the green stuff.
Puns always deserve praise, but its name isn’t the only reason we love Battersea Flower Station. The sprawling space is a homage to shoots and roots. Its narrow space alongside a railway line is like taking a wander in woodland, past two huge greenhouses full of houseplants, pots galore, huts, hanging lights and bunting. Let it lead you up the garden path.
Transform your outdoor space without chipping a single manicured fingernail at this haven for well-heeled gardeners. The Chelsea Gardener offers landscaping services that'll transform your patch (at a price) as well as top-quality plants, ornaments and planters with the wow factor, from glowing LED pots to bling sculptures.
Kentish Town spot Boma is jam-packed with bedding plants, trees and bushes, plus pretty pots and cans. But it's not just a place to visit when you're in need of some plants. Boma's horticultural experts also offer the complete gardening package, including regular gardening services, advice on revamping your outdoor space, plus personal shopping to help guide you through your purchases.
The gardeners of Dulwich would be bereft without the boutique-sized Alleyn Park, which emphasises UK-grown stock from small suppliers. Reimagine your shrubbery with its carefully curated range of herbaceous perennials, or head indoors to stock up on tools, gifts and houseplants.
Set in the railway arches of Deptford Market Yard, Forest is a leafy space populated with unusual houseplants, terrariums and the kind of understated homeware Pinterest dreams are made of. Fronds hang from the ceiling while shelves and surfaces are covered in a clutter of potted plants. It’s blooming marvellous.
Few garden centres serve up good vibes quite like this south London store, which has a retro disco soundtrack, artistically arranged displays, and deliciously incense-scented air. Its original Nunhead site packs a surprising range of outdoor bedding plants, shrubs and perennials into its small footprint. There are now also branches of the Nunhead Gardener in Camberwell and Elephant and Castle, which are more indoorsy in feel, with a focus on gorgeous houseplants, pots and homewares.
The Palace Gardener is a teeming haven for west London's greenfingered residents, run by the team behind the Chelsea Gardener. There's a massive range of indoor and outdoor plants, plus plenty of accoutrements like barbecues, planters and ornaments. Its onsite Glasshouse Cafe encourages you to linger with delicious soups and quiches in a light-filled greenhouse.
This east London florist wants you to green up your gaff with glossy, fluffy and spiky indoor plants. A trip to its aesthetically pleasing shop will be all the convincing you need. They've even released a book called ‘How Not to Kill Your Plants’, too. Which should come in handy, unless it’s a ‘Day of the Triffids’ situation.
A visit to Rassells is probably as close as you’ll get to children's book, ‘The Secret Garden’. On first sight, this century-old shop looks like a florist, but once inside a hidden door leads to an expansive and completely unexpected courtyard. Rassells is a wonderful centre to explore, full of surprises at every turn. Plenty of staff are on hand too, with friendly advice.
Urban gardening is the focus of this west London garden centre. It’s on the edge of leafy Ravenscourt Park, in and around the railway arches, and staff pride themselves on knowing everything there is to know about keeping plants alive and well in a city. Pop in for a plant, or for a coffee and a slice of organic cake in their botanical-themed cafe.
Located bang in the middle of leafy Crystal Palace, The Secret Garden was once a building site. Just over 30 years on, the centre sells a varied offering of shrubs, climbers, planters and roses. Lots of plants are proudly sources from the surrounding areas, including herbs from Surrey and perennials from Essex. As with all good garden centres, there are accessories, tools and gifts too - plus eccentric, kid-pleasing touches like little plastic dinosaurs exploring the foliage.
What would happen if a garden centre and Anthropologie had a love child? This. Petersham Nurseries is a cathedral to leafy bohemian chic, with as much focus on moss-covered statues or bougie homewares as on the actual plants. There's also a famous (and pricy) café and restaurant housed in its beautifully shabby greenhouses, which now has a picture-perfect outpost in Covent Garden.
At the fringes of Wandsworth Common, Neal’s is one of the largest garden centres in the capital. Pitched at the mainstream gardener, it comes well stocked with a wide selection of popular plants, covering fruit and veg to roses, as well as a small number of specimen trees. The spacious shop, meanwhile, offers a wide selection of garden accessories, designer garden furniture and indoor plants. Staff are helpful and offer on-site assistance (for free) or a landscaping service (for a charge).
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