Grow a healthy garden by shopping wisely for trees, seeds and plants, to protect our environment. For gardeners, autumn is a time of gathering in the abundance of summer months, storing and preserving this bounty for the winter to come.
I’m busy with the last sowings of the year, including salads and brassicas for late winter and spring cropping. Soon it will be time to plant onion sets, garlic and broad beans.
Late autumn and winter are ideal times for adding new fruit bushes and trees to the plot. Looking ahead to spring, I’m choosing more flowering bulbs to plant now, for bursts of colour and to provide forage for early pollinators. Some of these purchases will be from local growers, and some online.
Online plant and seed sales are booming, with an estimated annual turnover of £15.7 billion. This has dramatically increased choice for home gardeners, but with it has come the increased threat of plant diseases and pests into the UK.
With plant and seed sales being a lucrative market, there’s an increase in scams and misleading information, including websites which appear to be UK based but are illegally importing from abroad, companies using AI generated images to sell plants that do not exist, and online gardening communities that are scams.
It can feel like a bit of a minefield, but fortunately there are safety measures in place that we can use to confirm that online sources are legal and safe to use. This includes authorised phytosanitary certificates (PC) and plant passports.
Blue sunflowers? Kitten orchids? Don’t fall for it!
I’m sure most of us will have seen on social media adverts for plants in unexpected colours, or with curious flowers resembling cats or butterflies, with links to the seed or plant supplier. What’s the strangest one you’ve seen?
These weird and wonderful flowers are completely fake. They don’t exist, the photos are AI generated. A quick search for “cat face orchid” offered several suppliers, all shipping from China.
Goodness knows what seeds are actually supplied in the packets (one review said that their “cat faced orchid” seed grew red clover). In addition to scamming gardeners, these fake brands are increasing the risk of spreading harmful plant pests and diseases globally.
What are Plant passports?
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) introduced the UK plant passport scheme, when the UK left the EU. This requires professional plant and seed suppliers in Wales and England to register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), and then apply for the relevant plant passports. There’s a similar scheme in Scotland. Northern Ireland has remained within the EU plant passport scheme.
Once the authorisation is completed, all plants must be thoroughly inspected and the plant passport label attached to each plant, or batch of plants. This means that should a disease or pest be discovered, APHA can quickly and easily trace plants and reduce the risk of a serious outbreak.
Plant passports are also needed for seed potatoes. Find out about the Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SPCS) here. Similarly, plant passports are needed for seed garlic, and onion sets.
🎄Plant passports are also used for all rooted Christmas trees, and cut trees over 3 metres tall.
How do I find an authorised online plant seller?
Unfortunately some online sellers are not reputable and are offering plants for sale without the correct inspections and plant passports. They can be difficult to spot, so APHA have compiled a list of businesses which are authorised to sell plants online or by mail order (aka distance contract).
This is not just about protecting customers, but also the wider environment, because plants and seeds brought into the UK illegally can have disastrous environmental consequences.
Buying from nurseries and garden centres
Shopping locally means that you can check the physical health of plants in person, and check that there are no invasive weeds (such as oxalis) in the pots. Nurseries, where the plants are grown and cultivated, usually have expert staff on hand to answer questions and advise on growing conditions, etc.
Reputable nurseries, garden centres and other suppliers of plants, seeds, seed potatoes, flowering bulbs etc (such as supermarkets) should all be selling goods with the relevant plant passports (if needed).
Don’t Risk It!
Biosecurity is important. Plant heath is under threat from factors including a changing climate, extreme weather and human activity, including international travel and trade. Plant diseases and pests can travel quickly across the world, causing damage to local ecosystems, horticulture, agriculture and the wider environment.
Non-native plant pests and diseases can be devastating for parks, woodlands, farmland, gardens and natural landscapes.
It may be tempting to bring a particularly nice looking plant back from a trip abroad, but please don’t risk it. Even the healthiest looking plant or cutting can carry diseases or pests. Similarly, resist the temptation to bring a fat garlic bulb or tasty potato tuber into the uk, to grow in your garden.
Instead, buy from reputable suppliers in the UK.
Colorado beetle and other invasive pests
APHA has asked allotmenteers and home gardeners, as well as farmers and market gardeners, to be vigilant for the presence of Colorado beetle. This attractive striped bug is a major threat to potato crops, and will also strip the leaves from other members of the Solanaceae family including peppers, tomatoes and aubergines.
There have been several outbreaks of Colorado beetle in the UK, all swiftly eradicated. The last one was in Kent in 2023, but they have been spotted again in the UK.
The beetles enter the UK as hitchhikers on plants including leafy veg and fresh herbs. The key to controlling the spread of this pest is public vigilance. In April, APHA’s exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show raised awareness of the impact the beetles can have on the potato industry and food security in the UK>
Be Plant Wise – stop the spread of non-indigenous plants
Japanese knotweed
Introducing non-native species into the UK not only increases the risk of pests and diseases, but also can be catastrophic for native plants, wildlife and the wider environment. These include plants grown in gardens and also in ponds.
The impact of non-native plants on the environment includes crowding out native varieties which other species rely on for shelter or food; damaging buildings and other infrastructure; spreading plant diseases; clogging waterways; harming marine environments; and some are harmful to our health.
Be Plant Wise has produced information about how to garden without harmful invasive plants, including information about native species to use in ponds and aquariums. This includes suggestions for beautiful native species that we can grow in gardens and ponds. Read and download the info PDFs here.
Take part in National Plant Health Week in 2026.
To help stop the spread, ensure that non-native invasive plants which are already growing in your garden remain there, by removing seed heads and pods regularly to prevent them spreading. Grow away from boundaries so that they can’t spread by runners or seedlings.
Most can be composted at home, but do check first. This is especially important when adding plants to council garden waste collections. Check first if your local council will accept it.
Japanese knotweed has extra controls. Find out about dealing with this plant here.
Get Involved!
Plant Health Action – become a good plant health citizen!
Become an ambassador for biosecurity, by helping to keep the UK free from harmful diseases and pests. There are many ways that we can have a positive impact on plant health, helping to ensure that plants and trees in our communities thrive.
Look out for signs of pests and diseases. Free resources are available online to help you identify pests and diseases, and also report any sitings. This information helps to support important tree and plant health monitoring work, contributes to scientific research and helps to protect our environments.
Useful resources:
Citizen Science
Observatree
iNaturalist plant health project
TreeAlert
Keep It Clean. Help to prevent the spread of disease in parkland, woods and other wild spaces by cleaning boots, pushchairs, bikes and wheelchairs before visiting, and also afterwards.
To learn more, watch the You Tube video Keep It Clean here.
Be Plant Wise. Avoid buying invasive species which can spread out of your garden and into the wider environment. There’s more information about which plants to avoid, alternatives to choose instead and other helpful guides on NonNativeSpecies.org.
Become Plant Healthy Certified. If you are a horticulture professional trading in plants, see whether your organisation can become Plant Healthy certified.
Get the whole family involved learning fascinating plant health facts with fun activities with Izzy the Inspector. There’s a downloadable activity book too, available in English and Cymraeg.
This blog post is a paid partnership with the Welsh Government and in collaboration with Climate Cymru and Gweithredu ar Hinsawdd Cymru / Climate Action Wales to support Plant Health awareness in Wales and across the UK . It forms part of a collaboration with me (Stephanie Hafferty) to promote plant health in the UK, something that as a gardener, homesteader and garden writer/teacher is hugely important to me
Fantastic advice, thanks so much.
thank you