Contract Growing
Grown for your project, ready on your date
Plants grown to order, in premium condition
For private gardens, estates, show gardens and installations
When you need specific plants, in perfect condition, on a specific day, contract growing is the answer. Give us enough time and we will grow and prepare the plants for your project on our own nursery, bringing them to their best for the moment they are needed.
Whether it is a private garden, a country estate, a show garden or a brand installation, you can watch your plants grow, follow their progress with our team, and know they will be delivered on a fixed date, ready to perform from day one.
Why contract grow?
Premium condition, grown specifically for you
The exact plants, sizes and quantities you need
Watch them grow, with progress updates and nursery visits
A fixed delivery date, planned around your programme
Peat-free, as all our own growing always has been
How it works
1. Share your brief
Send us your plant list, quantities, quality standards and the date you need everything on site.
2. We plan and grow
We agree a growing plan and timeline, then source young plants and grow them on at our nursery.
3. Watch them grow
Follow progress with regular updates and photographs, and visit the nursery to see your plants for yourself.
4. Delivered on the day
Your plants are prepared, checked and delivered by our in-house team on your fixed date.
Who it is for
Private gardens and estates
Large hedging runs, matching specimens, avenues and big perennial schemes, grown to order and ready for planting season.
Show gardens
Plants timed to peak for show week. Read about growing for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Events and installations
Brand activations, ceremonies and fashion shows where every plant must be perfect on a fixed date. See our events and installations.
Example projects
Contract growing works for projects of every kind. Here are some of the ways we grow, prepare and hold plants to a fixed date.
Show gardens
RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens
Show plants have to peak in one particular week in May. We start with the designer’s plant list the season before, grow perennials on from small pots (a 9 cm plant potted in autumn becomes a 3 litre plant by show week), and bring trees and hedging on or hold them back so they look their best on the day.
Installations
Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony
A garden of more than 200 square metres for the Opening Ceremony at the OVO Hydro, designed by stage designer Amalie White and delivered by Spectaculars. Rather than planting it up at the venue, we contract grew the whole garden on our nursery, pre-growing it into giant jigsaw trays so it arrived as an established, instant garden. The pieces were transported from Surrey to Glasgow for a fixed date, then relocated to the garden’s permanent home at Parklea. A unique, and wonderfully quirky, example of contract growing.
Frequently asked questions
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Contract growing means we grow plants specifically for your project. We agree the plants, sizes and quality you need, grow and prepare them on our nursery, and deliver them on a fixed date.
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The more time we have, the more we can do. Get in touch as early as possible, ideally [a season or more] before you need the plants, and we will tell you what is achievable for your timescale.
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Yes. We share progress updates and photographs, and you are welcome to visit the nursery to see your plants and check on their progress.
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No. We contract grow for private gardens as well as estates, show gardens, events and installations. If you need specific plants in premium condition on a specific date, it is worth talking to us.
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Yes. Form has never used peat in its own growing.
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Yes. Delivering to a fixed date is at the heart of contract growing. We plan the growing around your installation date, and our in-house team delivers nationwide.
Plan ahead with contract growing
The earlier we start, the more we can grow for you. Email info@formplants.com to talk through your project, or send us your plant list through our bespoke sourcing service.