Is rhs.org.uk Legit?

The RHS Garden magazine is very poor quality now. I have subscribed to it for over 20 years and it is no longer the excellent gardening magazine that it originally was. Less than 50% of the content is worth reading - it is just a rubbishy cheap magazine full of advertisements some of which have nothing remotely to do with gardens. Therefore I will not be renewing my annual membership when next due.

Begging phone call from third party company. RHS have given my details to a third party company who phone asking me to add gift aid. On the strength of this alone I have cancelled my membership. They sound more and more like a scam company every year.

Visited for the autumn colours. As usual immaculate display and such evidence of hard work along the stream in particular. Well worth a visit. Not the same in the Harrogate Arms. It was lunchtime admittedly but service was so slow we walked out after waiting 15 minutes in the queue that never moved. Three staff behind the counter. One who just delivered clean cups and then stood back. One tried up with coffee maker and one serving Left to go to Betty's cafe in the grounds. Four servers at two serving hatches. Served in give minutes. Second time this has happened . We expected the Arms to have learned how to serve but no.

As a member tried to book for Chelsea Flower Show - you can only book if you have a smart phone. Like many disabled pensioners, I don't - deaf and couldn't hear one. Spoke on an adapted landline to RHS. Gave me a number to help through the usually excellent Access system for the hearing impaired. Except they couldn't sell me a ticket. Extraordinarily, this issue was flagged up by Angela Chevalier within RHS (credit to her) - but the show organisers, "A different part of the organisation", would not listen and couldn't care less. This is discriminating by age and disability. I suspect this is illegal under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

I wish I could rate RHS plants as zero stars or negative! Do not buy Plants from them they are terrible quality and not worthy of the effort of planting.When you complain, they dispute the the fact with RHS jargon about growing in an environmentally friendly way.I have purchased from 4 other supplies this season and had beautiful plants. One Click Plants have been fantastic!I’m hopeful that they will sort out the problem.A very dissatisfied customer

Coffee on the Hill is no longer a pleasant experience. The queue has been moved from the paying area to the dispensing area where people are standing waiting for their number to show on the small screen on the counter. There are more people standing than sitting. A bit like a railway station. A small improvement would be to move the screen to the ceiling so customers could sit down whilst waiting. A large improvement would be to revert to previous system where the queue didn’t affect the sitting area.

Booking advance tickets for garden visits.When RHS Bridgewater first opened I persuaded my husband to visit as we were so close. Unfortunately we couldn’t book tickets as there were only 200 available.Yes the system showed availability but it wasn’t possible to book them! So my husband refused to go on the off chance we could get in. Guess what? Yes tried to book tickets in 2024 and despite over 1800 tickets being available, I still can’t.Obviously the lovely email of apology we got all those years ago meant nothing.Really the RHS has the most awful websites, slow, doddery and disfunctional.They haven’t even claimed this site on Trustpilot as their own.My advice, go without tickets, booking is only to help them plan so I was told.

1st time customer. Reasonable delivery time. Good packaging. 4 plants ordered. 1 very dry and floppy. 3 others acceptable. 2ltr shrub healthy, but very small and obviously just repotted into larger pot with fresh very loose compost prior to delivery. Not awful experience, but way below what I would expect from RHS. Won't order again, and may rethink my membership in future.

The gardens were lovely. However, I took 3 year old granddaughter to the glasshouse kitchen and bought a children's pasta penne for £6.50. The dish contained about 25 to 30 pieces of pasta penne and about 2 to 3 tablespoons of tomato passata. The taste was pretty poor. In all, less than 50p worth of food....heated up. Daylight robbery. Never again. Shame on Wisley. I have been a member for several years and the price of food, the quality overall has been dreadful. It shades the gardens completely.

no reminder received for a yearly subscription which was then taken from my account despite me cancelling a year prior. Promised a refund within 21 days - never came, called again promised a BACs payment within 72 hours - never came, called up and was promised a call back within 24 hours as they apparently didn't know what BACs was - call never came, sent an email asking for clarification on why they were not paying me back - has so far not been responded to... what a joke of a company, not only helping themselves to my £96 despite being cancelled but the refusal to assist in returning the money. Avoid

I bought a Tulip shaped wind spinner for my wife. The first one arrived broken. The customer service was very good and dispatched a replacement one quickly. The problem is - IT DOES NOT SPIN. I have tried everything: It is exactly plumb, I have used oil, WD40 and even supported the metal support with steel tubing so it does not flex in the wind. Nothing works - I think it is just aerodynamically poor. Very disappointed.

I find the RHS website pretty poor and hard to navigate and the new RHS Grow app is just as bad. I understand the RHS is trying to make money by charging for the new app, but we're assured we can still access our plant lists/wishlists. What isn't clear is that not all browsers are fully compatible with the website and app. I tried Google Chrome and Firefox, neither worked properly. I then tried Brave browser and the problem was solved.It's frustrating that when I contacted RHS help about this problem, the reply just told me how to navigate to My Wishlist and didn't solve the issue.I'm on a free trial of the new app, but based on my experience I won't pay for it. And when my membership renewal comes up next year, I may very well decide to save my money and cancel.

So, you want plants or gardening tools. You are of a certain age? The RHS? It conjures up stability and Monty Don. It sounds right. It seems to bypass Search Engine Optimisation, because that is what you want.I made two orders. Both were damaged on delivery. I contacted customer services. So ok, they will collect the rotten stuff, but how come they cannot get it right?First, they have a customer services department with people who cannot understand or write English. My correspondence with them was like talking with a demented robot. Secondly, they obviously do not keep stock in hand. In effect, they are drop shippers. Google it if you don't know what a drop shipper is.All in all, a once great British Institution does not give a FF about its customers. Avoid like a bad case of Phylloxera

We’ve been RHS members for 20yrs or so and used to enjoy a day out at our local gardens at RHS Wisley where we could enjoy a coffee and a bacon / sausage roll before embarking on a nice long stroll. Not any more! The food choice seems to now only cater for vegans and the Hilltop cafe is a confusing mess where you can’t even order food and a hot drink in the same queue. Wisley used to be so well run and the food quality much better but over the years we’ve noticed a steady decline. If you’re aching for an Nduja Roast Pumpkin polenta or Aubergine Chickpea stew upon arrival then you’re in luck, however if you just want a plain old bacon sarnie you’ll be very disappointed!Bring back the Honest Sausage!!!

I last visit then RHS Hampton Court show some 10 years ago.What a difference today, eye watering ticket prices, in excess of £47 each plus £16 to park a vehicle is truly outrageous for what one gets.Its actually quite small, effectively a few small gardens , one rose tent and one plant tent, the rest is dedicated to garden furniture and extensive tat from China that has pervaded every garden centre.Choice of refreshments very poor, mainly consisting of food vans.Save your money and spend the £100s saved at a nursery- far more pleasure than this overpriced, ill thought out disaster.

I first went to Chelsea in 1986. Iven been about 12 times now. This year the RHS let its members down. Far too overcrowded and clearly a profit making exercise. After 20 years or more a member of the RHS, I am surrendering my membership and cannot justify paying £400 for me and my friends to go to THE show but not be able to see or experience what I and other members (members day) paid to see and experience.

Annual member for over 10 years .Great garden, lovely views , excellent staff .Suggestions : improve the menu in the restaurants, offer discount to members .Please don’t charge children under the age of 10. At least , reduce prices from £9.95 to £5 . This would enable us to bring children and grand children .

Went to the flower show at Hyde Hall and purchased some Mr Fothergill seeds for £2.69. When I opened the seeds the following day I noticed a white sticker on the price and when I peeled off the sticker the price was £2.15. It's not the 54p difference but the fact I was been charged more than I should have been and feel cheated. As a matter of principle, I have also contacted Mr Fothergill. I agree with other reviews that the RHS is not what it was 20 years ago. It's turned into a corporate instead of a charity. The restaurant at Hyde Hall used to be fantastic and now it's like a great big cafeteria. Long queues and expensive.I will not be renewing my membership next year. Don't suppose they'll care.

Visited RHS Bridgewater in March on a beautiful day. All we saw was a brown, boring vista: not a daffodil or other Spring flower in sight - except on a small plants-for-sale table outside the restaurant. I know it's a newish garden but there has been plenty of time to plant bulbs last Autumn. Doesn't the garden art include colour year-round? Seeing the long food queue, we went to a local garden centre for lunch where colour blazed everywhere. I have photos but no means of adding them....

Went to stay at new RHS campsite at Worth Matravers near Swanage. Was £27.00 per night. ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️Terrible! Water and toilet emptying facility. Looks like an old cow shed. Never again!

“Green fingered gardening wizard or complete gardening...”

Green fingered gardening wizard or complete gardening neophyte? (I'm the latter.)The Royal Horticultural Society Website has something for everybody if they interested in anything to do with gardens. The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 and granted a Royal Charter in 1861. It promotes gardening and horticulture in Britain and Europe, runs flower and garden shows throughout the year and has four major display gardens open to the public – Wisley (Surrey), Rosemoor (Devon), Hyde Hall (Essex) and Harlow Carr (Yorkshire). The website is extensive and easy to navigate. They offer gardening courses, advice on plants, design, jobs to do, places to visit, gardening for kids, shows and events, online shopping, competitions, research, etc., etc. Good website and the RHS shows and gardens are a great day out if you are in the area. Recommended. http://www.rhs.org.uk/

“We used this earlier in the year to book tickets and...”

We used this earlier in the year to book tickets and disabled parking at Hampton Court Flower Show and really liked the site. The tickets arrived without problem and we had a really great day out at the show. Shall definitely use it again to book tickets for next year.