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kaitain4

Mail Order Report Card

kaitain4
15 years ago

Well,

I only have a couple of maple shipments left to come in this season, so I thought I would go ahead and post my experience with the large number of mail order nurseries I tried out. In alphabetical order:

BLOOM RIVER- Very nice, healthy plants. Good size. Packaging and shipping excellent. Average selection. Plants are shipped out of the pots, wrapped in plastic.

EASTWOODS - Very nice plants. Perhaps a little smaller than what I get from some other retailers at times, but the plants are consistently healthy. It looks like they prune their trees more than other vendors do. They have a great selection. I bought some conifers from them too.

They have one of the slickest mailing boxes, made especially to ship plants in pots. It has a little harness to secure the pot in, and they pack the top of the pot with newspaper so the dirt won't fall out. Very cool, and the plants arrive in great shape!

EAST FORK - Nice plants for the money. All arrived in perfect shape and health. They have a decent selection too. Shipping is good, and similar to Eastwoods. I'm waiting on my second shipment from them, so I liked them enough to order again.

FANTASTIC PLANTS - I like this nursery because they grow their plants in Tennessee, so I know they're acclimated to a Southern climate. They ususally have quite large plants, which they do ship. A little bit expensive, tho. However, all trees arrived healthy and much larger than expected. My Osakazui must have been 7 feet tall! They ship without the pot, wrapped in plastic and craft paper. Excellent customer service.

FOREST FARM - VERY nice plants for the money, great shipping in well protected boxes, and the identification tags on their trees is the best I've seen. Gives all cultural requirements, name, mature size, etc. Nice selection, and they have a huge catalog of other plants and trees.

GREERS - I was BLOWN AWAY when I saw the packaging. The long box had a custom wooden crate securely protecting my trees. The trees are shipped without pots, but they do put gel in the wrap with the root ball. The plants were large, beautiful and perfect in every way. They did cost a bit more than places selling 1 year grafts, but it was well worth it to get such large, beautiful trees.

MENDICINO MAPLES - Nice trees. They had some unusual cultivars I did not find elsewhere. Shipping and pricing was about average.

MOUNTAIN MAPLES - Waiting on a large order.

WILDWOOD - Probably my least favorite. Plants were not boxed well and the shipper damaged a tree. Wildwood is sending a replacement.

WORLD PLANTS - LOVE their new graft program. Love their pricing - $15 for a cultivar is not too bad. I've placed 2 orders with them. Shipping is average, with plants coming in 4 inch pots with confetti stuffed into their tops. Good sucess with all grafts.

If any of you have found a great source for JMs, please post if for the rest of us! And tell us of your experiences ordering by mail.

Regards,

K4

Comments (17)

  • alley_cat_gw_7b
    15 years ago

    K4, I have bought from most of them at one time or another.One thing i have to pass on is, around two weeks ago i had ordered an ap 'tattoo', wellabout a week later Harold the owner of Greers called me at home and said he wasn't comfortable with the condition of his 'tattoo' cultivars and didnt want me to be disapointed! Of course I clearly understood, and was perfectly fine with that. What a first class operation! Some places would have shipped whatever, and just went for the almighty dollar! Four stars to GREERS!!!!!!! AL

  • noki
    15 years ago

    WHITMAN FARMS - Have really nice 5' trees, ready for the landscape.

    MENDICINO MAPLES sent me a really nice small maple, no
    problems.

    I also got an Osakazuki from Fantastic plants and it was very thin and weedy, had four main stems which drooped to the ground when it rained. Disappointing.

    Got some non-maples from Forest Farm. Not sure what the hype is about them, the plants I got were not "the pick of the litter" by a long shot if you know what I mean. Maybe I was just unlucky.

  • dawgie
    15 years ago

    Here's a summary of my mail order experience:

    HERTER's -- Trees (new grafts) not as large as other sources but delivered very quickly and packed well. Prices a little higher than some sources but they have a good selection of JMs including some unusual varieties.

    WORLD PLANTS -- I've been ordering from WP for about 4 years, but not sure if I will again. My order took a very long time to ship this spring, undoubtedly due to their grafting failures. The past couple times I have placed orders, they have substituted other trees or just shipped the wrong variety. One shipment was infested with spider mites, which quickly spread to other trees and has been hard to control. On the plus side, almost all of the trees I've received from them are nice healthy grafts, they are packed very well, and their prices are low.

    WHITMAN FARMS -- I placed my first order with them this spring and was pleased with their selection and the condition of the plants I ordered. Prices are the lowest I have seen for all sizes of JMs, and they didn't even charge me for shipping. They advised me not to buy one of the trees I ordered because they suspected a reversion, and we agreed on a suitable substitution. My trees arrived very quickly but were not packed very carefully, although none were damaged.

  • botanybabe
    15 years ago

    I just received my Emerald Lace JM today from World Plants. Aside from the long wait (graft failure) I was pleased with the product. The graft looks good and the tree looks healthy. The pot and stem were secured inside the box, though some dirt spilled out when I opened the box. The foliage is magnificent so I'm happy.

    Lainey

  • garp1
    15 years ago

    Fantastic plants-
    I ordered a Seiryu 6' that had the top branches broken. Also a Shaina..1 gallon. He gave me a discount on the Osak that was in nice shape.

    Stanley and Sons- I don't think you can beat them if he has instock what you want. The packaging is impeccable. The price is wholesale.
    5 gallon AP Fujiyam- $42.50 and a AJ Aataryi- $42.50.

    Also Larry has a large stock of 1 gallon's for $10-$15.00-
    Orange Dream, Lemon Lime, Jeddulah Orange, Matsugae and the list goes on. The shipping is not cheap but your cost still is much less

  • herman_neutics
    15 years ago

    Ebay's Bonzaibob has sent me excellent plants. I'm a fan of Topiary Gardens in New York.

    Garp more info for 'Larry'?

  • mattnova
    15 years ago

    I second Bonzai Bob which I also received a plant from last week. The 'Samidare' he sent me was the most well brached, healthy and well packaged plant I have gotten from ebay.

  • kaitain4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I tried to buy a couple of trees on e-bay and I was always out-bid. Very frustrating. I don't want to bid on things, I just want to BUY them and be done with it.

    K4

  • kaitain4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Wildwood sent their replacement for the tree that was damaged and I got it today. It was really packed well, braced, foam cushions for the trunk, etc.etc. They made up for the first time! Plus the tree was quite nice. I'm now a happy camper!

    K4

  • tonyb416
    15 years ago

    kaitain4 -- ever consider using an auction sniper? There's a few: Auction Sniper, EZ Sniper. They usually give you 3 free snipes.

    -- Tony

  • kaitain4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Tony,

    I'm really not into the ebay thing. If I find something I like I just want to buy it and get it delivered - not wait a week and fight over it with heaven knows who! I have more important things to do with my time.

    Thanks,

    K4

  • itsjulie
    15 years ago

    I bought a Shaina and Waterfall from Fantastic Plants. Both are much healthier than what I've seen in nurseries around here, AND more expensive. The man was always very helpful and fun to talk to. There seemed to be very minimal damage from packing and shipping, just a couple of twigs here and there were broken. I would have done worse damage hauling them in my car. I'll buy again, if I can find some more room.

  • kaitain4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Everthing I got from Fantastic Plants has been very healthy, with the exception of a Hosta, which they replaced immediately. Their JMs were large, healthy, shipped well, and are flourishing in the Tennessee heat! Good company.

    K4

  • kaitain4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Update on recent orders

    TOPIARY GARDENS has blown my socks off on 2 orders. WOW!! Wonderful service; large healthy plants, great prices for what you receive. They also have a HUGE selection of standard and unusual cultivars. Diana is a Gem, and will give you personalized service. Worth a look!!

    EAST FORK has also blown me away. Great prices and perfect shipping! Samantha is an angel! Get to know her.

    K4

  • wardawg3916
    15 years ago

    can some of ya'll email me the phone no# of some of the places you get your trees from i loss all my trees in huricanne that hit new orlens in 05 and now living 45 north of new orleans and like to get my plants and trees going again

  • kaitain4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    East Fork Nursery: 360.263.2662 (Washington)

    Eastwoods Nursery: 540-675-1234 (Virginia)

    Fantastic Plants: 901-438-1912 (Tennessee)

    Mendocino Nursery: 707-937-1189 (California)

    Topiary Gardens: 315-673-9016 (New York)

    ForestFarm: 541-846-7269 (Oregon)


    Hope this helps!!

    K4

  • kaitain4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    WHITMAN FARMS - I just got my first order in from them. Very nice, large plants. Prompt service. Plants are growing in unusual black fabric pots, but seem to be thriving in them! Good value from these folks...

    K4

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