2025 Online Plants Industry Analysis: who’s growing, who’s slipping, and what it says about your customers.

Within our online plants and gardening marketing report, we review the overall performance of the 50 most prominent players in the industry to see who has bloomed and who has wilted online. You’ll find the best marketing data over the past year, plus SEO metrics such as visibility, page speed, brand reach and more.

Our online plants report gives a snapshot of the industry over the past year and is a great way to see where you’re at versus competitors and pick up practical marketing tactics to plan the next year. You can download the full report right here, or read below for a quick inside scoop.

Latest insights

• Bloom & Wild leads with a 544K traffic score, +55% YoY growth and dominates brand searches at 165K monthly.
• Dobies.co.uk exploded +268% YoY, jumping 7 positions to rank 3rd overall.
• The industry grew by +22% overall.
• Mr Fothergill’s surged +232%, climbing 31 positions with one of the year’s strongest comebacks.

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Which online plant brands are gaining the most organic ground?

Below is a view of the traffic score YoY leaderboard. Values show estimated organic visibility for August year-on-year and the percentage change.

Visibility YoY (Aug 2025 vs Aug 2024)

What the numbers say

The market grew +22% overall, which sets a high bar. Against that tide, RHS Plants is one of the standout gainers: +57% YoY, which is +35% ahead of the market. DOBIES also roars back with a triple-digit surge after a soft prior year, while Waitrose Garden accelerates sharply. On the flip side, legacy leaders like Crocus and Thompson & Morgan underperformed, which suggests their generic reach or brand-led demand is not keeping pace with sector momentum.

What this reveals about consumer behaviour

A rising market with uneven gains hints at shifting discovery paths. People are still searching broadly (flowers, shrubs, houseplants), but are more often being captured by brands that guide decisions, not just list products. Behind the winners, you’ll find faster paths from inspiration to selection, content that reduces anxiety (“will it live here?”), and clear fulfilment signals. Underperformers tend to look like catalogue sites: fine for planned buys, weaker for that Saturday scroll.

Expect the next wave of growth to favour brands that compress research without rushing it: short, visual explainers, localised care cues, and softly-stated risk reduction (guarantees, survival support).

Why is RHS Plants outgrowing the market?

In a sector where interest is seasonal, and baskets mix impulse buys with long-term living decisions, balance matters. RHS Plants has engineered a decision-first shopping experience that lets people start with the pretty picture and end with the right plant. The growth backs it up: +57% YoY in a market rising +22%.

What they’re doing differently

• Visual entry points that pull you into inspiration without losing the thread.
• Filters and copy that align with how people actually decide (light, size at maturity, hardiness, pet-safe, delivery window).
• Calm page layouts and care content that shrink risk without turning the choice into homework.

This is the model to watch if you’re trying to serve both buying minds, without forcing a choice between them.

Want the full breakdown? Get the free 69-page report for the complete brand leaderboard, category splits and methodology.

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Which brands have the strongest digital brand reach?

Brand reach blends monthly branded search with owned social engagement to show who’s top-of-mind and has an addressable audience they don’t have to rent.

Brand reach leaders

Reading the table

Three patterns jump out. First, Bloom & Wild remains a household name with 165,000 branded searches a month and the sector’s highest owned social score; a rare combo of recall and community. Second, DOBBIES leads on monthly brand demand but trails the social score of pure-play online specialists. Brand equity is there, but conversation depth varies by channel. Third, Patch Plants over-indexes on owned social relative to brand search, consistent with an education-first strategy that earns engagement and then matures into demand.

Which domains are most trusted by shoppers right now?

Review profiles are a blunt but useful trust signal. Here are some of the most-reviewed sites and their average scores.

The most trusted online plant sites

Why this matters

For considered purchases with survival risk, reviews ease uncertainty. High counts with strong scores indicate not just happy buyers but active feedback loops. Notice how Patch Plants and Plants4Presents achieve both volume and quality, typically a sign of post-purchase nurturing and clear service standards. Conversely, large order volumes with middling scores can mask frictions in delivery or care support that will show up in organic click-through rates and repeat behaviour.

Which products and brands are trending up, and which are fading?

Emerging products (search growth)

• hibiscus flower (+137%)
• russian sage (+73%)
• hydrangea flower (+124%)
• campsis radicans / trumpet creeper (+144%)
• moonflower (+126%)
• creeping thyme (+56%)
• zanzibar gem plant / zuzu plant (+50%)

Receding products (search decline)

• blue passion flower (−86%)
• snapdragons (−44%)
• hanging basket (−31%) and artificial hanging baskets (−34%)
• houseplants/indoor houseplants (−18%)
• snake plant/sansevieria (−15%)
• heb(e)s (−37%)

Emerging brands (interest trend)

• One Click Plants (+77%)
• Evergreen Direct (+41%)
• Chiltern Seeds (+31%)
• Squires Garden Centres (+24%)
• Gardening Express (+22%)

Receding brands (interest trend)

• Dobbies (−16%)
• Sarah Raven (−14%)
• Patch Plants (−13%)
• Direct Plants (−28%)
• Claire Austin Hardy Plants (−56%)

Plant fashion cycles are real. The shift away from generic “houseplants” terms mirrors a maturing audience: fewer first-time buyers, more people graduating to specifics and outdoor projects. Rising queries cluster around showy blooms and climbers, which fits a “make the backdrop better, then add drama” mindset.

Online plant retailer page speeds

Page speed is a known ranking and conversion factor. In plant retail, the trade-off is tricky: heavy imagery sells the dream; heavy pages slow the site. The high performers minimise weight without losing the mood through compressed media, lightweight scripts, and thoughtful loading states that keep filters and images responsive during quick-glance moments.

On mobile, every second you shave off reduces the chance the buyer puts the phone down and the urge passes.

What the +22% industry variance means for planning

A +22% average change in traffic scores points to a broad opportunity, but also volatility. Gains are not evenly distributed. We’re seeing:

• Bigger winners among brands that “own” specific needs (pet-safe, shade-loving, beginner-proof) with clear, filterable pathways.
• Consolidation at the top as recognisable names pair brand cues with helpful copy that sounds like gardeners, not catalogues.
• Seasonal swings that are sharper than last year; spikes around heatwaves and RHS moments amplify demand for hardy, drought-tolerant picks.

Strategic take:

• If you’re already riding category growth, widen the bridge from inspiration to basket: comparison blocks, honest survival framing, and delivery-to-planting timelines.
• If you’re flat in a rising market, diagnose where you’re losing the mixed-mind buyer. Thin PLPs, slow filters, or missing care cues are common culprits.

The ‘two minds’ of plant buying, and why design must honour both

You rarely get a clean funnel. People can fall in love with a fern at 10:02 and talk themselves out of it by 10:04. The sites that grow ahead of the market reduce friction for both states:

• Whim mind: quick inspiration, crisp photography, bold benefits, “will it fit and look good”. Speed and scannability rule.
• Considered mind: risk reduction, care guides, longevity, compatibility, and delivery windows. Credibility and clarity rule.

RHS Plants is a strong example of a brand that has engineered for that pattern. They’ve built a decision-first shopping experience that lets people start with the pretty picture and end with the right plant. The growth backs it up: +57% YoY versus a market rising +22%.

Where the next opportunities sit in the online plant space

• Decision-first PLPs become table stakes. Lead with visual cards that carry “light, soil, size, hardiness, pet-safe, delivery” at a glance.
• Care confidence sells. Reviews that mention plant survival, clear guarantees, and practical care emails turn anxiety into advocacy.
• Own a niche, then ladder up. Pet-safe, shade-loving, drought-tolerant micro-categories are where new recall is won.
• Do not ignore returning buyers. Cross-sell by habitat (soil pH, aspect) rather than generic add-ons.
• Content that respects time. Short how-tos and seasonal checklists for impulse sessions; deeper planting guides and troubleshooting for considered sessions.

FAQs about our Online Plant Retailers Market Report

What is “market size” here?

We’re reporting on digital market size via aggregated organic visibility and branded search demand across leading domains. It’s a proxy for intent in the channel you can influence most cost-effectively.

Is this an “industry report” or a rankings list?

Both. The data gives you a benchmark across brand awareness, organic visibility, reviews and search trends. The analysis turns it into a narrative about why buyers behaved as they did and what that implies for your roadmap.

What’s the most important figure to measure?

Two numbers: your YoY visibility versus the +22% industry change. If you’re not matching the baseline, you’re ceding share even if your traffic is up. If you’re beating it, identify whether it’s breadth (more generics) or depth (stronger brand searches) and plan accordingly.

Pulling it together

The online plants market is growing, but it’s not lifting everyone equally. Brands that treat the journey as human, a spark of inspiration followed by a picky decision, are the ones compounding. RHS Plants shows what it looks like when a site meets both minds in one flow. Others are on the way, blending fast UX, decision-friendly content and social proof that addresses plant health, not just shipping speed.

If you want the full picture, every leaderboard, every brand, every trend, the 69-page PDF is where to go next.

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If you’re ready to turn this into a plan, our team builds technical and content foundations for retail sites that need to convert both impulse and considered buyers.

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