Hetty's Herbs & Plants FAQs | Hetty's Herbs & Plants

Hetty is here to help ……

Ordering

The herb I wanted is out of stock or not showing as available?
Have a look at Hetty’s full catalogue list, this will show you if it is a variety we grow and when we expect it to become available, if the item is shown in our catalogue you can request to be e-mailed when it’s back in stock

Can I cancel, amend or add to an order?
If you wish to cancel an order then please contact us as soon as possible, before we dispatch, quoting your order number. We are sorry but at the moment we are unable to amend or add to an order.

Will Hetty send me emails about my order? confirmation and dispatch e-mails?
Yes as soon as your order has been processed on our site you will receive an order confirmation. We will also send another email once Hetty has processed your plant order and DPD will contact you with tracking information once it’s in their system.

Why won’t order progress to Checkout? There is no Delivery option showing, only Collection and I need Delivery.
There is a minimum order value of £10 for all orders, if this is not reached an order will not progress to Checkout. Once the Basket total is over £10, the delivery option will be offered.

Why haven’t I received any emails from Hetty since placing my order? Does this mean there’s a problem with my order?
Customers often find our Hetty emails end up in junk & spam folders, please check these and hopefully you will find our emails. If your payment has been successful then please contact us to check that we have received your order.

How can I pay for my order?
You can pay securely for your Hetty’s Herbs order via PayPal or by Braintree. You do not need a PayPal account to make payments using the PayPal payments system, including by card. Hetty’s does not store any credit or payment information.

Delivery

How much does delivery cost?
Delivery for all mainland UK addresses is for orders of £10 to £30 is £7.50. For orders over £30 to £50 delivery is £5. For orders of only seeds, delivery is £3. Delivery is free for all orders over £50. Delivery to parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and Island, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight may incur an additional delivery charge which will automatically be added at the checkout, some areas we are not currently able to ship to.

When will my order be dispatched?
We are currently dispatching orders within 8 working days from the day we receive an order, with many orders being dispatched sooner.

I’ve been contacted by Hetty to say a variety of plants I ordered are not now available. How can this happen as they showed as being in stock when I placed the order?
With over 200 varieties of plants grown over the season one of our biggest challenges is to predict the exact number of plants available at any one time. We get it right most of the time but with so many factors affecting plants occaisionally when we go to select the plants for an order we find the plants are not available to pick. This can be for a number of reasons such as the weather delaying plants being ready in a new batch or plants nearing the end of a batch not being of a high enough quality. Hetty will make contact if your order is affected to discuss the next step which could be to offer a substitute, place your order on hold or to provide a refund.

When will my order be delivered?
We dispatch plant orders on a 24 hour service via DPD, you will receive an e-mail from us once it’s on it’s way. Seed Orders will be sent via Royal Mail.

Will I be provided with tracking information?
Yes for potted plant orders, DPD will keep you updated of the progress of your order by SMS and/or emails. You will have the opportunity to liaise directly with DPD about your delivery. Seed orders are sent via Royal Mail.

What happens if I’m not in when DPD try to deliver?
DPD will in the first instance try to leave your order with a neighbour. If this isn’t possible they will take your parcel to the nearest collection point, please arrange to collect it as soon as possible so that the plants are not compromised by being in their box for too long.

Can I collect my order directly from Hetty’s?
Yes, local collection from Hetty’s at PE11 4JH is available on checkout for a 40% Discount. Enter the code HETTYSLOCAL for the 40% disocunt of plants and seeds to be applied. Please note collection is not immediate, these orders are processed along with our other orders and may take up to 6 working days, Once your order is ready to be collected we will contact you by email.

Can I have a look around the nursery?
Unfortunately not, our main supplier is a wholesale nursery only. Hetty’s picks the plants each from the nursery and brings them to our unit close by to handpack orders and dispatch.

Growing

How will I know how to care for my plants?
In each order a Hetty’s plant care advice sheet is included, please read this on delivery of your plant order. A copy is also available to view here. Plants are delivered with a care card, this will give you more information on how to care for the individual plants and varieties. More growing tips can also be found on our Growing Tips page

How big will my plants be?
This will depend on a number of factors such as the time of year the plants are sent out and how early on in a batch a plant is sent out. The potted herbs we send out in the 9cm size pot are healthy, robust and rooted young plants ideal for growing on. Over Winter and early Spring plants may be sent out in their winter dormant state whilst others may be smaller to grow on or well established in their pot and ready to be potted out.

What is Winter Dormancy?
In winter many plants appear to be lifeless. However they aren’t and the plants you will receive are healthy plants which may be a little smaller than normal but will grow once the warmer weather begins.

Will my potted herbs be large enough to use for cooking when they are delivered?
The potted plants we send out are young plants ideal for growing on. We would not advise that the smaller 9cm potted plants are harvested until they have grown on and become more established. For the larger Litre pot size later in the season these may be large enough to use a few sprigs straight away but again it is best for the longer term to let the plant further establish.

What are the best growing conditions for my herbs?
Most herbs like well-drained soil and a good amount of sun but see the individual listings for more detailed information

How do I get the best results for a chamomile lawn?
True Chamomile lawns are non-flowering and are the Treneague cultivar (although we do sell other popular varieties). This is a compact variety which is ideal for lawns. Plants can be spaced between 10cm and 20cm apart, depending on how quickly you would like to achieve coverage. The closer the plants are the quicker the lawn will fill. When deciding if to buy our plug plants or the 9cm pots, this again comes down to how quickly you want to achieve full coverage as the plugs are much smaller so will take longer to fill the space. When calculating the number of plants needed, if plants were spaced 15cm and planted in staggered rows over an area of 3 meters square you would need approximately 150 plants, however if you planted 20cm apart this could be reduced to 85 plants

Can I grow my herbs inside?
Herbs are first and foremost outdoor plants that in the right indoor environment do thrive, however this is more difficult to achieve. Mint and Basil are the two varieties most likely to do well in your kitchen. Pinching the plants regularly to keep any wild growth under control will help keep the plants nicer for longer. We’d also suggest that you keep your plants on the drier side, over watering is a common mistake people make as many of the herbs are originally from a Mediterranean climate.

Do you use any pesticides or animal derivatives as fertiliser when growing your plants?
Our potted plant supplier uses no animal derivatives at all and have not used neonicotinoids for some time. With pesticides, there is little that can be used now nowadays and biological control is the main focus. Aphid is the main enemy, for which natural products are used if and when needed which have a zero day harvest interval, meaning they are deemed safe to eat straight after spraying.

I’d like to plant a Rosemary Hedge, which is the best variety and how?
Rosemary Officinalis is strong and pretty tough so would be the best choice, other options would be Barbeque or Miss Jessop’s varieties.
The ideal time to plant the hedge would be between mid-April until the end of September. Rosemary is frost hardy but the combination of cold and water logging can kill immature plants. It’s best placed in a sunny, sheltered location (as it originates from the Mediterranean) and needs very well-drained, slightly chalky soil. Space plants around 45cm apart and aim to keep the hedge around 60cm tall. To promote bushy growth, cut back after flowering in early summer

How long will Rosemary Trailing trail down?
Rosemary trailing can grow to a metre in length over time. It prefers fairly well-drained soil.

What herbs can I plant in Autumn to over-winter?
Planting herbs out in the Autumn will give them a chance to establish before the colder Winter sets in and will give the plants a head start in Spring. There are no guarantees that plants will survive a winter, however there are many varieties that we offer that usually over-winter well. The varieties which the nursery overwinter outside here in Lincolnshire include Angelica, Catmint, Catnep, Chervil, Mint Moroccan, Mint Garden, Fennel, Marjoram Compact, Oregano Hot & Spicy, Savory Winter and the many Thyme varieties

Other Topics

Who is Hetty?
Please see our about us page for more details about Hetty