Plant Advice

Sources of plant related advice^*

General gardening | Trees | Pests & Diseases | Scientific

General gardening enquiries

Contacts

• Good garden centres

• Royal Horticultural Society (provides advice only to their members), but also many free online advice sheets

• Scotts' advice line (garden product suppliers) 08705 301010

• PBI advice line (garden product suppliers) 0845 345 4100

• National Council for the Conservation of Plants & Gardens 01483 211465 (can provide details of specialist National Collections throughout the UK)

Books

• The Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening by Christopher Brickell (Editor). 1992. ISBN: 0863189792 c.£35

• The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants by Christopher Brickell (Editor). 1996. ISBN: 0751303038 c.£55

• RHS Plant Finder: 2001/2002. ISBN: 0751332542 , price c. £12.99 (the definitive guide for sourcing any plant available in the UK; also available free online.

• RHS Gardeners' Yearbook by C. Quest-Ritson, & C. Blair. Dorling Kindersley

Websites

• Royal Horticultural Society

• BBC Gardeners' World

• The Garden

• Greenfingers.com

The latter three sites all have discussion forums where you can post horticultural queries

Trees

Contacts

• Tree Advice service (Arboricultural Advisory Service) 09065 161147 (staffed by trained and experienced experts; calls cost £1.50 per minute)

• Local Authority arboricultural departments (first point of contact for Tree Preservation Orders, disputes etc.)

• Rural Development Division, DETR 020 7890 5623 (Tree Preservation Orders, disputes etc.)

• Arboricultural Association 01794 368717 (can provide a list of approved contractors in your area)

• Oxford Forestry Institute 01865 275000 (scientific enquiries only, not gardening advice)

Books

• Protected trees: a guide to tree preservation procedures. Leaflet available from the Department of Environment, Transport & the Regions Tel: 0870 122 6236

• Tree Preservation Orders: a guide to the law and good practice by DETR. £8 or free online. Tel: 01709 891318

• Tree felling – licences and permissions by the Forestry Commission. Tel: 0131 314 6156

• Also see general gardening books above

Plant pests & diseases

Contacts

• Royal Horticultural Society (provides advice only to their members)

• Scotts' advice line (garden product suppliers) 08705 301010

• PBI advice line (garden product suppliers) 020 8344 6822

• Central Science Laboratory (commercial service - £45 + VAT) 01904 462324

• Entomology Department, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD (identification of insect pests)

Books

• The Royal Horticultural Society: Pests and Diseases by Pippa Greenwood, Andrew Halstead. 1997. ISBN: 0751303666 c.£20.00

• Collins Photoguide: Pests, Diseases and Disorders of Garden Plants by Stefan Buczacki, Keith Harris, Brian Hargreaves. 1998. ISBN: 0002200635 c.£20

General scientific questions (conservation, ecology etc.)

Contacts

• Scienceline 0808 800 4000

• English Nature 01733 455000

• The Environment Agency 0845 9333 111

• The Environment Council 020 7836 2626

• DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affirs) Helpline 0645 335577

Books

• Good encyclopaedias and dictionaries

• Who's Who in the Environment from the Environment Council Tel: 020 7632 0110

Websites

• Natural Selection - "your guide to quality Internet resources relating to the Natural World"

• Sciencenet

• English Nature

^*Please note, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew can take no responsibility for the advice or information given by any of the sources listed above.