About Fernhouse
We started Fernhouse after killing a lot of our own plants.
Now we choose, deliver and look after plants for London flats and offices, from a small workshop in Hackney.
How it started
Eleanor Hughes spent six years as a garden designer before moving into a one-bed in Dalston with a single north-facing window. The plants she knew from gardens did not like it at all.
She began testing which houseplants actually cope with London flats: dry radiator heat, dim light, owners who travel. Friends started asking her to pick plants for them, then their offices asked too.
Fernhouse opened in 2021 with one van and a rented railway arch. We still work from that arch, and we still pick every plant for the room it is going into.
A few plain facts
- Where we are
- A railway arch workshop near London Fields, open since 2021.
- How we deliver
- In our own electric van, by the people who potted your plants. No couriers.
- What goes in the pot
- Peat-free compost and pots made in the UK or bought second-hand.
- Where plants come from
- Growers in Essex, Kent and the Netherlands that we visit in person.
How we work
Room first, plant second. We ask about light, heat and pets before we suggest anything.
Settled before it leaves. Every plant spends at least a week in the workshop, so it arrives acclimatised and pest-checked.
Honest advice. If a spot is too dark for any plant, we will tell you rather than sell you one.
The people you will meet
