Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions apply to goods purchased from Hedging Plants Direct LTD.

In these Terms:

• Hedging Plants Direct LTD, we, us or the Seller means Hedging Plants Direct LTD, Long Road West, Dedham, Colchester, Essex, CO7 6ER.
• You, the customer or purchaser means the person or organisation purchasing goods from us.
• Consumer means an individual purchasing goods wholly or mainly for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession.
• Business Customer means a person, company, partnership, organisation or other purchaser acting wholly or mainly for purposes relating to their trade, business, craft or profession.
• Goods means plants, trees, hedging, accessories and other products supplied by Hedging Plants Direct LTD.
• Order means an order placed with Hedging Plants Direct LTD through our website, by telephone or by another method agreed with us.
• Dispatch means the point at which the order has left our nursery or has been handed to, collected by or committed to a carrier for delivery.

Some legal rights differ depending on whether you are purchasing as a Consumer or a Business Customer. Where consumer law gives a Consumer rights that cannot legally be excluded or restricted, those rights take precedence over these Terms.

All orders are subject to stock availability. Many of our plants are seasonal products and some are lifted, prepared or sourced specifically for an order.

If part of your order is unavailable, delayed or affected by seasonal or weather conditions, we may contact you to discuss the available options.

Please check the species, size, quantity, delivery address and other order details carefully when placing your order. If you notice an error, contact us as soon as possible.

Plants are living products and natural variation should be expected. Photographs, illustrations and measurements on our website are intended to give a useful representation of the plants offered, but individual plants will naturally vary in shape, colour, density, branching and appearance.

Plant height ranges and pot or root specifications describe the product supplied but should not be interpreted as meaning every plant will be identical.

Seasonal plants may also look different depending on the time of year. Deciduous plants may be supplied without leaves when dormant, and recently lifted or root-balled plants may naturally show seasonal variation.

Prices shown on our website are quoted in pounds sterling and include VAT where applicable unless clearly stated otherwise.

Prices may change without notice, but changes will not normally affect an order once its price has been agreed and payment accepted.

Delivery charges, where applicable, depend on the size and type of goods, packaging method and delivery location. Current delivery information is shown on our Delivery & Returns Information page and during the ordering process where applicable.

Where an order reaches the relevant free-delivery threshold, no standard outbound delivery charge is added to the order. Free delivery is a benefit provided by Hedging Plants Direct LTD and does not mean that the carrier provides the delivery service to us without charge.

Bare root and root-balled plants are seasonal products. Orders placed outside the normal lifting season may be accepted as pre-orders so that stock can be reserved for dispatch when seasonal and weather conditions allow.

Payment may be taken to secure pre-ordered stock. We will provide delivery or dispatch information when the plants become available.

Plant lifting and dispatch can be affected by temperature, frozen ground, excessive rainfall and other weather conditions. Where necessary, dispatch may be delayed to protect plant quality.

We aim to dispatch orders as promptly as practical, but dispatch times depend on stock availability, plant preparation, seasonal lifting conditions, order size and weather.

Current dispatch estimates, delivery charges and delivery-area information are maintained on our Delivery & Returns Information page.

Any delivery date provided is given in good faith. Living plants and nursery operations can be affected by circumstances outside our reasonable control, including severe weather, transport disruption and conditions that prevent plants from being safely lifted or handled.

Please make sure the delivery address and contact information supplied with your order are accurate and that suitable access is available for the type of delivery being made.

Free delivery does not mean that no delivery cost is incurred. Where an order qualifies for free delivery, Hedging Plants Direct LTD normally absorbs the standard outbound carrier cost as part of completing the sale. We still pay the relevant courier, pallet network or specialist carrier for transporting the order.

If you ask us to cancel, intercept or return an order after Dispatch, carrier costs may already have been incurred and additional charges may be incurred in stopping, redirecting or returning the goods. How those costs are dealt with is explained in Section 9 below.

Orders may be collected from our nursery by prior arrangement.

Please contact us before travelling so that we can confirm the complete order is available and prepare it for collection. Current nursery opening and collection information should be checked before your visit.

Please inspect your order as soon as reasonably possible after delivery.

If anything is missing, incorrect or appears to have been damaged during transport, please contact us promptly and preferably within 3 days of delivery. Photographs of the plants, packaging and any visible damage can help us investigate the problem quickly.

The three-day request helps us establish what happened while plants are still in substantially the same condition as when delivered. It does not remove or restrict any statutory rights you may have if you contact us later.

If you need to cancel or return an order, please contact us as soon as possible. The point at which we receive your cancellation is important because costs may already have been incurred once an order has been prepared or dispatched.

Cancellations before Dispatch

If an order has not yet been dispatched, we will normally be able to stop it and arrange a refund. Where the cancellation is dealt with under our voluntary cancellation policy, reasonable non-recoverable costs already incurred may be deducted where permitted by law. If a Consumer is exercising a statutory cancellation right, the refund will instead be dealt with in accordance with the statutory rules that apply.

Cancellations after Dispatch

Once an order has left the nursery, we may already have paid the carrier for the outbound journey. If you then ask us to cancel, intercept, redirect or return the order, we may also incur a separate charge from the carrier to recover or return the goods.

For Business Customers, unless otherwise agreed in writing, a cancellation after Dispatch does not make carrier costs already incurred disappear. We may deduct from any refund the reasonable direct costs actually incurred by Hedging Plants Direct LTD as a result of the cancellation. These may include:

• the actual outbound courier, pallet or specialist carrier cost already incurred;
• carrier fuel or delivery surcharges relating to the order;
• return carriage, interception, redirection or recovery charges;
• other reasonable direct third-party costs caused by the cancellation; and
• non-refundable payment-processing charges where applicable and permitted by law.

This applies to Business Customers even where the original order qualified for free delivery. Free delivery means that we agreed to absorb the normal outbound delivery cost if the transaction completed; it does not mean that no carrier cost was incurred by us.

We will only seek to recover genuine and reasonable costs actually incurred. These deductions are intended to reimburse direct loss caused by the cancellation and are not a cancellation penalty. Where reasonably practicable, we can provide details of the relevant carrier or third-party costs.

Consumer Customers

If you are a Consumer and statutory cancellation rights apply to your purchase, those rights take precedence over the Business Customer provisions above. We will provide any refund, including any delivery-cost reimbursement required by law, and make only those deductions that the law permits.

Depending on the goods and circumstances, different statutory rules or exceptions may apply. Nothing in these Terms is intended to remove a Consumer's statutory rights.

Return carriage

Where the customer is responsible for arranging or paying return carriage under our voluntary returns process or under applicable law, the goods must be returned using a suitable method and packaged so that they are adequately protected in transit. If we arrange the return on the customer's behalf, any return-carriage charge for which the customer is responsible may be deducted from the refund where permitted by law.

Our current practical returns process and delivery information are explained on our Delivery & Returns Information page.

If a plant return has been agreed, the plants remain your responsibility until they are received back by us, except to the extent that applicable law provides otherwise.

While a return is being arranged, please:

• keep plants upright, sheltered and appropriately watered;
• protect the roots and foliage from drying out or avoidable damage;
• re-pack plants securely using the original packaging where practical, or equivalent protective packaging; and
• keep the original plant labels attached so that the plants can be correctly identified and traced.

If returned plants have been damaged, allowed to dry out or otherwise reduced in condition while in the customer's care, this may affect any refund to the extent permitted by law.

We inspect and prepare plants before they leave the nursery and aim to supply healthy plants in good condition.

Once plants have been delivered, their continued health depends on factors including planting, watering, soil conditions, drainage, weather and ongoing care.

As an additional guarantee, if bare root hedging supplied by us fails to come into leaf during its first growing season, please contact us. Where the guarantee conditions are met, we will replace the affected plants during the following suitable planting season.

This additional guarantee does not cover plant failure resulting from causes outside our control, including vandalism, drought, physical or chemical damage, fungal or insect damage, waterlogging, severe winter damage or poor planting and aftercare practices.

This additional plant guarantee does not affect your statutory rights.

Plants should be unpacked, checked and cared for promptly following delivery. They should not be allowed to dry out while waiting to be planted.

You are responsible for providing suitable planting conditions and appropriate ongoing care once the plants have been delivered. Where you are unable to plant immediately, plants should be kept in appropriate temporary conditions and watered as necessary.

Our care guides provide general horticultural guidance, but individual sites, soils and weather conditions vary.

Plant supply and delivery can be affected by events outside our reasonable control. These can include severe weather, frozen or waterlogged ground, transport disruption, carrier delays, plant-health restrictions, disease-control measures and other circumstances that prevent plants from being safely lifted, transported or supplied.

If an event outside our reasonable control materially affects your order, we will make reasonable efforts to keep you informed and discuss the available options where necessary.

We take reasonable care to keep product descriptions, availability, prices and other website information accurate. Occasionally an error may occur or information may become outdated.

If we identify a significant error affecting an order, we may contact you before supply to explain the issue and agree how you would like to proceed.

We use personal information supplied in connection with an order to process the order, communicate with you and arrange payment, collection or delivery.

Further information about how personal information is handled is provided in our Privacy Policy.

These Terms & Conditions and contracts between you and Hedging Plants Direct LTD are governed by the applicable laws of England and Wales, subject to any mandatory consumer protections that apply to you.

If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply.