Thuja Gardens (formerly PlantsRus)

So THANKFUL I didn’t give my credit card to this joker. Like all others on this board, the availability and price drew (suckered) us in. After a phone call to confirm availability and check pricing for a cryptomeria tree for sale, but not listed in his website but available he asked that I order it online. He told me to wait a few minutes to update the site to show cryptomeria in stock. When I checked in 10 minutes later to order - he had his wife INCREASE ALL THE PRICES ACROSS THE BOARD on my order. My order went up $50 plus dollars ‘while they updated the instock items’. I called to ask him why price changed and he semi laughed, and asked where else I’d get them at that rate. I laughed back and said no thanks. STAY AWAY.

I have purchased 20+ green Giant Thujas this year from Thuja Gardens. Because I wanted to ensure the trees would arrived the firs time that I ordered, I called and talked with Roy directly. He’s great! Roy told me how to order the trees in my first and what to put in the order notes so that they arrived in time. I’ve ordered a total of three times from Thuja Gardens and i’ll be ordering again next week. Each time, the trees arrived on time and in beautiful shape! Each tree is indivually secured in the shipping box. This gives some extra protection during the shipping process. I’m very happy with the trees that I received and how healthy they all are. I found Roy to be honest and communicative, both by phone and email. Thanks, Roy!

Highly recommended. I purchased, 8, 3 foot Thuja trees which were ordered and delivered within 1 week. Arrived by Fedex, well packed and with beautiful lush green foliage and healthy root system. Planted the following day, so far so good I really do not expect any issues. Absolutely will purchase future plants. Thank you!

This was my 2nd order placed with Thuja Gardens. With so many choices of where to purchase, it became clear to me where to get the best quality trees and guarantee after talking with Roy. My initial order of 20 Murray Cypress trees are still thriving after a major flood of over 60 inches of rain fell last August. The trees had to endure the flood waters for over 7 days until it receded. In addition, we had one of the worst winters on record. The trees are amazing. My 2nd order just arrived, and the 7 trees made it here in perfect condition. My Mis Satomi even arrived with blooms in tact! Thank you Roy and Thuja team for providing such great service and care.

I ordered 8 five to six foot green giants from Roy and was delighted when FedEx delivered them undamaged. When I unpacked them they were packed very well and were very healthy....well worth the money I paid which was very reasonable. I would not hesitate to order from Thuja Gardens again and consider my money well spent

I ordered a package deal of 16 Thuja Giant trees from Thuja Gardens via an online transaction. When my order was delivered, I was a little concerned by the size of the carton. I discovered that the trees were packed in the carton in an ingenious manner. Every tree was in great shape with very little soil loss from the pots. The packaging was superb as were the trees. I planted the trees the next day. I am very satisfied with my purchase. I will purchase from them in the future.

Received nice plants HOWEVER when one failed they were NONRESPONSIVE to multiple requests to honor their 'guarantee' and replace. They seem busy and bothered, and unwilling to deal with issues.

Thank you for your prompt shipping of my order -- one week from ordering to doorstep! The tree arrived in great condition and packaging could not have been better. This was our 2nd time ordering from Thuja and we will order again if the situation arises. I will definitely recommend Thuja Gardens to friends. Every indication this fall is that the tree is healthy and will be beautiful for years to come.

Vender is running a scam where he sells Edward Stevens Holly as a Male pollinator of the Nelly Stevens Holly. He charges a high premium for this "so called" male which is difficult to find and ships the Nelly Stevens Female. I was disappointed this spring to find my "so called" male pollinator covered in berries which prove it is a female. I'm posting this so future customers of this vendor are warned of his SCAM dealings. I should have listened to the previous negative reviews this vendor received.

I recently ordered five 3 gallon thuja giants and had them shipped by fed-ex. They arrived within 2-3 days of being ordered and as mentioned in other comments, Roy has the packing down to a fine art! All trees looked great and I quickly got them into the ground into large holes with 3.5 cu.ft. of topsoil, 1 cu.ft. of manure, 2 cu-ft of mulch plus 3 or 4 of the fertilizer plugs sent with the shipment, for each tree. I will try to post a follow up in a year with success rates. My plan is to order another 40-50 or so to replace an aging/thinning cedar hedge, one segment at a time!

If you are scared to order on-line, don't be; you'll be thrilled with what you get from Roy. Well-packaged BEAUTIFUL plants. I bought 10 through the mail and was so impressed I made the trip and bought 10 more in person. Much cheaper in person. I bought the 3-4' Nelly R. Stevens; all were at least 4' tall and all are thriving.

We just ordered eleven 15 gallon green giants to screen out a fence our neighbor just built. Roy was very helpful and the trees are great. We picked them up in a uhaul we drove from Va. They are just as he described them. He was easy to work with, the trees are beautiful and we are thrilled. Before ordering from him, I did quite a bit of research online and also checked several local nurseries. There truly was no comparison.

Two years ago I ordered 75 Leyland Cypress and 75 Murray Cypress seedlings from another retailer online. I was happy enough with the product, but had a mortality of around 30% over the next year despite regular watering. Some died when a grass fire came through the area of the trees, so the mortality was exacerbated by that event. I replaced them with new seedlings from the same retailer and sadly, most of them died slowly despite a regular watering program where they were never totally parched. Fast forward, this year I needed to replace many of those trees again but the retailer was sold out. After a quick look online for alternatives I ordered from Thuja Gardens instead. I ordered 10 quart sized Murray Cypress trees and 25 seedlings. The difference between the same products from two different retailers is amazing. The trees came from Thuja Gardens in pristine condition, packed very carefully and robustly. What I noticed the most was the significant rooting system on each of these new seedlings that were at least half as big again than the seedlings from the other retailer. As well as that, the roots are at least twice as much as the previous trees. There was quite a gap time-wise between the ten quart plants arriving and the 25 seedlings. I let it ride for a while as North Carolina had a hurricane come ashore around that time, but eventually emailed, then called a few days later, leaving a message. Despite emailing and calling, I heard nothing for some days until the FedEx van drove into my driveway with the second package. I'm not sure that Roy is super good in the communication department, but I'm absolutely delighted with his product.

I purchased 15 - 1 gallon thuja green giants from Roy a year ago. While 14 of the 15 are doing great, One had trouble. I emailed Roy some pictures and after a few back-and-forth emails he sent out a replacement. I will definitely be buying more from him in the future and will recommend him to anybody looking for good quality trees.

I order trees 2x from Thuja Gardens. The shipping was quick, trees did well and are growing so fast! I did have to reach out for answers to some questions and the service was great, helpful and nice! Thank you!

It appears to me that Roy's Thuja Gardens is a one-man operation, or very close to it. The guy's into plants, not talk. He does have trouble communicating with humans, but is apparently brilliant at communicating with plants. Everything I've gotten from him has been excellent, and he's been willing to take care of problems caused through no fault of his own (e.g., deer, drought, fungus, caterpillars). I was amazed at how well the stuff he sent me was packaged, and how promptly it was delivered. He clearly likes working with his plants, and does a great job with it - he probably wishes he didn't have to sell them. Please be patient and persistent in calls and emails - he does respond, but he's got a lot on his plate and dealing with humans is clearly not his highest priority. I'd much rather have a reliable source of high quality plant material than warm-fuzzy-hand-holding, and I think that's what Roy's providing. Dan Hawes - www.VirginiaLegalDefense.com

I purchased 44, 1 gallon thuja trees quickly and at a reasonable price. I was extremely pleased with the quality of the plants as well as the careful and precise packaging. They even included the fertilizer tabs which was a huge plus in my book. No nickel and diming. I did have a slight issue with some of the plants being under the advertised size but after contacting Roy he made everything right. He truly is a stand up guy and I would certainly do business with them again. They are tricky to get ahold of but once you do it is worth it.

I love the 10 Thuja Green giants we purchased two years ago. They were the gallon size and they are already 5 feet tall. I just purchased 4 more 3 gallon size.

We purchased 25 Thujas which arrived this week and they are all extremely healthy. I corresponded with Roy via email, phone, etc. and he was extremely helpful and responsive. Neighbors have been asking where we got the trees and commenting on how great and healthy they look. Amazing how they shipped and stayed perfectly in tact! I'll be back for more and it looks like a few of my neighbors will be as well. Thanks, Roy!!!! It's been a pleasure working with you.

I planted giant thujas in Spring 2015 and 23 died. I contacted Roy via e-mail Fall 2015 and he gave me a link for replacements. I paid shipping costs April 2016 and within 10 days received healthy, vibrant thujas along with fertilizer tablets. Roy honored his guarantee and I couldn't be happier with the plants he sent.

I ordered one pollinator for Nellie Stevens (the male equivalent of the Nellie R.Stevens) hollies and about 12 seedlings of Nellie R, Stevens hollies. Instead of contacting me and advising me that they have a minimum order of seedlings, and giving me an option of adjusting my order to include the minimum number of Nellie Stevens hollies, Thuja just sent the Male pollinator. One plant for huge box that could have possibly held the female Nellie Steven seedlings. The owner and I got into a pissing match because of his blunt and unfriendly replay to phone inquiry. I hung up on him, went home, checked my computer, called him back and straightened out the situation. The male pollinator was well packaged and in excellent health. I believe with better communication skills and customer service training, this place could be the Nellie R. Stevens of the mail order business. I admit, I was also at fault, but as the customer, I should have been handled a litter better in regards too respect. I recommend ordering from these folks, BUT...BUT...make a phone order and ask about exactly what you will be getting.

I am very pleased with my 16 three gallon Thuja trees that arrived yesterday. They are beautiful and were extremely well packaged, arriving in perfect condition exactly on the date according to the Fed Ex tracking number given me. My communications with Roy were excellent. My emails were all answered within 24 hours. I would recommend Thuja Gardens highly with no reservations.

I ordered 70 trees or saplings. The trees looked great and packaging was the best of any I have ordered from other places. The price was good. Overall a good experience.

I needed a couple of Thuja Giants and I liked Roy's price. His video was very hokey but it sold me on the idea this guy raises nice stock. I spoke to him on the phone about a couple of things and decided to order. He had indicated the plants would be on the way in a couple of days. I had a question so I emailed him a few days after ordering. The next day I phoned and left a message. No responses so I emailed a 2nd time and still got no response. About a week after ordering I was getting irritated and phoned again and Roy answered. He made no mention of the previous attempts I had made but he assured me the plants were leaving soon and he reminded me to note how they were packaged. The plants did ship at the 10-day mark and I got them after only 2 days via FedEx. The large box was unmarked and unbelievably sturdy and his packaging was a work of art. Basically my two plants were tethered to each end of the heavyweight box facing each other so to speak. The 4' high trees were probably the best-looking plants I have ever bought; simply gorgeous and robust. When I took them out of the pots I noticed how healthy the room system was. I have every confidence these trees will thrive. I couldn't ask for nicer ones. Roy did notify me by email of shipping and emailed me a 2nd time to say delivery was scheduled. He obviously was following FedEx tracking. This guy sells great plants. His communications could be better but I give him a Positive rating when everything is considered.

I planted 15 Cryptomeria from Thula and they are thriving. I did call to report, within 4 months of purchase, that 2 were not doing well but he was very unresponsive. They died within the guarantee period but he never returned phone calls or responded to emails. I think he has good stock but hope you do not have problem because his modus operandi seems to be caveat emptor, regardless of what his guarantee says.

Excellent service. Quick responses. Beautiful trees. Now I am waiting for them to grow:)

I had already ordered 2 Nellie Stevens hollies from another nursery, but I needed Edward J Stevens. I finally found him at Thuja Gardens. The girls arrived before the stud did. I got worried, but Roy was a pleasure to work with and all I could say when Edward arrived is WOW! He is a stud - twice as large as the Nellies and oh how healthy!!! Thank you, Roy.

I ordered 17 Thuja trees and they all arrived well packed and in the size I expected. But I had to pay about 10 dollars shipping per tree when they come packed in sets of 4. The cost is reasonable for 1 plant but it should be reduced if possible for sets of 4.

I just wanted everyone to know what a great experience we had with Thuja Gardens. I ordered 30 Thuja Green Giant quart plants/trees 16-18 inches. The box was 32 pounds according to Fedex. Upon opening the box, my trees were in perfect green condition. I took one out and measured it, and sure enough it was 18 inches from the top of the dirt to the top of the tree. The trees were packaged in clear bags, perfect for ease of removal and none were overly rootbound. There were clear little Osmocote beads on top. We are crossing our fingers they will all make it through our winter, as one of our favorite local nursery guys told us that as long as our ground was workable it wasn't to late to plant the Green Giant in our zone. We are experienced gardeners in Fl, just not in Zone 6, so we are hopeful they survive the cold and snow. Luckily for El Nino, we are having a week of fantastic weather here in Maggie Valley giving us the time we needed to plant and mulch them in time for the cold weather.

I ordered 3-4 ft Nellie Steven Holly (12 of them) and they arrived within one day of shipping, in perfect condition and were all in the 3-4 ft range. I have ordered plants on line before and they were nothing like the description but theses were perfect. I would definitely order from this company again.

I ordered an Edward Stevens holly from Thuja Gardens in Fall 2014, and it arrived quickly, well packed, and healthy. A year later, it's thriving. I ordered 3 Nellie Stevens hollies from the company in Spring 2015, and they too arrived quickly, well packed, and healthy. They're thriving, too I just ordered 2 more Edward Stevens hollies, and as before they arrived quickly, well packed, and very healthy. With each order, they emailed me when they received the order, when the order shipped, and again to confirm delivery when FedEx delivered the plants. This is more than any other company (even non-gardening stores/websites) have ever done, and I appreciate it. I'll be very happy to order from them again in the future: I have a whole front yard to landscape yet :)

great transaction! I ordered 5 3-gallon Thujas and they arrived via FedEx well packaged and not damage. I like that he sends them in planters and not bare root... bare root shipments don't always fair well. Thanks for a smooth transaction!

The six gallon size Thuja Green Giants I ordered on April 28th arrived today, May, 5th, via FedEx. They were packaged well and all trees arrived in perfect condition. I have dealt with other nurseries over the years and receiving stock in good condition is not always the norm. I already have the plants in the ground and watered. The stock looks terrific! I will definitely keep you in mind for future orders and recommend you to others.

We ordered over 100 thuja trees about 1.5 years ago. The trees were in perfect condition when they arrived & fertilizer tabs were also included. I also received 2 rose bushes as a free gift. The trees have all done well except 1. I called Roy & asked for advice he explained that I didn't do anything wrong & it probably couldn't be salvaged but he would send me a replacement for free! A few days later he called me back to see how tall all the other trees are so that the replacement would match their height. I would purchase from thuja gardens again as their products & Roy's attitude & customer service are fabulous!

We recently placed two orders with Thuja Gardens. The first order was for six three-gallon Thuja Greens, five one-gallon Thuja Greens and one three-gallon Red Maple. The order arrived via Fed Ex to our home in a little less than two weeks from the time we placed the order online. The trees were all on great shape and they even provided free fertilizer tablets to plant along with the trees. They have great instructions for tree planting online which were very easy to follow. We were so happy with the first order that we ordered two additional three gallon Thuja Greens. Once again, they arrived in less than two weeks from the time we placed the order. The container of one of the trees in this order was damaged. We have notified Thuja Gardens and plan to plant the tree anyway with hopes that it will be fine once in the ground. We realize this is Fed Ex issue and not an issue with Thuja Gardens. We will definitely order from Thuja Gardens again. Their trees are beautiful, their prices are reasonable and they gave us free shipping!

Posted on April 10, 2015, updated April 15, 2015 I am in the middle of a dispute. I ordered trees in the fall, 6 green giants 5-6ft tall. Roy was kind of bad about communication, took a bit longer to respond, but I got my trees within a few weeks and they looked ok. Fast forward to about 9 months. The trees did not fare well in the winter. Very burned. Most foliage is crispy and flakes off to the touch. I would say 10% of the foliage remains alive. I sent Roy a detailed email and his response was "brown doesn't mean anything, water them and they will come back". Well it has been a few weeks on a drip line and they are worse. Roy has not responded to my emails now.

I just received my order for 54 Thuja trees/17 boxes. The ingenious way they are secured in the boxes allowed the trees to arrive in perfect condition! It does not matter how the shipper places the box, the trees remain stationary, absolutely no dirt spilled! No broken branches!! Amazing!! Like precision clockwork, I received notice of shipment with 17 tracking numbers and anticipated delivery date 7 days prior to my requested ship date I set up online 2 months prior. Perfection, order complete. Not only would I use Thuja Gardens again, I would highly recommend them. Roy is a very helpful, knowledgable individual and also a very pleasant one!

Mr Lawing. we received the cryptomeria and they are healthy and beautiful. thanks so much for your great product and equally great customer service. I will order my GG arbs from you next year Jim Wolfe (Willow Creek Nursery) southeastern PA

I have ordered three times from Roy. We ordered 25 Green giants initially. Due to all the ice and snow in the Carolina's and Georgia at that time, the order was delayed but arrived healthy with an extra Gardenia included as well as more than enough fertilizer spikes for planted. The second order of 25 arrived on time without any problems and again with a Gardenia and extra fertilizer spikes. The third order of 35 Green Giants, 3 fire flame crepe myrtles and some other shrubs have been shipped and are due to arrive today. All the orders were with free shipping and because we are out of state were without taxes. The quality was way beyond anything I could get at the local nurseries. I was kept abreast of the status of my order via the FedEx link. This has been a great experience and if the need arises, I will order from Roy again. He has been extremely helpful and accommodating

Great Service - Fast Delivery and the trees looked great.

From the very beginning, my experience with Thuja Gardens was superb. The information online was extremely helpful, and the trees I ordered arrived in packages that were very secure -- it was as though I just brought them home from a local nursery. Roy was very helpful when I called regarding information about my order. Unlike many folks, he actually answered his phone; did not have to rely on voicemail and hope of receiving a call back. Roy also responded to my emails very quickly, which was even more surprising. When I changed my order to take advantage of a reduced price for buying two trees instead of one, Roy quickly refunded the cost savings back to my bank card. He also provided FedEx tracking information when my trees were shipped to my home. I most definitely recommend Thuja Gardens for anyone who wants to order trees and plants online. Roy will look after you and make sure you get what you expect.

I ordered 14 Murray Cypress and 4 Emily Bruner's from Roy at Thuja Gardens. It was a nightmare!!! I ordered them on a Wednesday and got an email stating they would ship the following Tuesday. The email also stated that I should not call because I would get an email from Fed EX with a tracking number. I waited until the Tuesday that they were to ship and sent Roy an email asking about my trees. BTW he already charged my credit card even though they had not shipped. I called Roy and spoke with him about my order Thursday of that week. He told me that he had emailed me to let me know that the Emily Bruner's were on back order and that he was waiting to hear from me if I still wanted the 14 cypress to ship. I never got that email. So I told him yes, please ship the 14 cypress. He told me he would call later that day to let me know they had shipped. He also told me that the Emily Bruner's would ship the next Monday. He never called me back. I still had no FedEx tracking number either. I waited until the following Tuesday and called him again. This time he gave me another story. He told me that he would look into my order and would call me back in an hour. He said that he would make sure I was happy by the end of the business day. He also told me that the Emily Bruner's were still on back order. I did not get a call from him; on a previous call he made sure he had my correct phone number and I verified it was correct. I sent another email to him asking about my order and reminding him of all of our conversations. Again, not one reply from him. Finally, I called one more time and his message machine box was full so I could not leave a message. I then had to call my credit card company to dispute the charges. I sent Roy one more email asking him to cancel my order since I don't trust him or his company. Just today ( it had been a 5 days) I received two emails from Roy; one was a reply to my cancellation email and one was a "your order is cancelled" email. Every time I spoke with Roy he had a different reason that my tress had not shipped. He did not call me back when he promised me he would. I would steer clear of this company.

Bought 25 thuja trees and was surprised at how fast they got here. Sent two emails to Roy and both were responded to very quickly. Just finished getting all the thuja in the ground and they look fantastic. All were packed well and arrived in great shape. Will definitely do more business here.

We bought Green Giant Arborvitae trees from Thuja Gardens. The trees we received were great - very healthy and also the correct size we ordered. We received everything that we ordered. The costs of these trees was also very great and much better than other sites. We also couldn't buy these trees in our city. So we will buy more of them from this company in the future. Roy Lawing responded to me very quickly with good communication in email also. So overall we are very happy with these great trees and we love them.

I simply could not believe my eyes when my order of 100 Thuja trees arrived. They are the best I have ever seen. That said, while communication was a tad slow; it was WELL worth the wait> I look forward to ordering from these guys because you can tell they really LOVE their plants!

I ordered 25 Thuja Green Giant Hybrid arborvitaes Seedlings and received my shipment in a timely manner. They transplanted well and all already triple the size. I am super excited about the product and would recommend placing an order with the company. With respect to the customer service, it has been great. Any email has been replied to and with great information. I am extremely happy that I choose to order from Thuja Gardens.

A+! I would highly recommend Thuja Gardens for their superior product and outstandingly positive customer service!

I purchased 12 of the five gallon green giant thujas in the fall of 2013. We had a very very hard winter here in Hamburg New York. The average daily temperature in Feburary was 8 degrees. Three of the 12 trees I had planted died. After speaking with Roy Lawing at Thuja Garden Center and explaining the situation, he promptly sent three replacement trees free of charge. The replacement trees were of very high quality. To date in the last three years I have purchased a total of 50 Thuja Green Giants to create a privacy screen in my back yard and these were the only three that died. The trees always arrive in excellent condition and help is always available via e-mail or phone if I have any questions concerns about the trees. They are very hardy and survived the drought of 2012 with minimal watering. I would recommend the trees and Thuja Garden Center to anyone needing trees of high quality and reasonable pricing. ---- Alan Kaczmarczyk Hamburg, New York.

I recently ordered trees from Thuja Gardens and although a mix-up occurred, Mr. & Mrs. Lawing came through with flying colors in customer service. Not only did they correct the problem but they went above and beyond their responsibilities to compensate me for the confusion. I would definitely do business with them again. I give them an A+ for customer service.

I purchased 6 trees from Thuja Gardens last year. I was encouraged by the 18 month guarantee. Unfortunately, over the winter, I lost 3 of the 6. I dreaded calling and putting that guarantee to test, but Roy absolutely made it right. He had me measure the remaining trees so he would know which size to send. I provided him with the info on a Monday morning. He said the replacements would ship on Tuesday (and emailed me to let me know they were on the way!) Sure enough, they arrived on Wednesday. They looked great! No problems at all! Would definitely buy from them again!