Comments regarding St. Lawrence Nurseries

I just love this nursery. Over the years, I've bought five lowbush blueberries, two amelanchier, and a sour cherry 'Bali' from this nursery. Every one of them is thriving here in eastern Massachusetts. The amelanchiers are now two stories high (I'm in a city) and 'Bali' bears huge crops every summer (except after last year's late frost, which destroyed the whole state's stone fruit crop). Two or three years ago I contacted the nursery to ask about 'Bali's" root suckers, and they answered promptly. Also, their prices can't be beat.

I ordered 4 Black Currant Plants in early spring 2019. They arrrived well-packed and proved to be healthy and hearty despite the rough start I imposed on them. I was not able to plant them at the right time. So I potted them after arrival. Due to the unforseen circumstances that prevented me planting them in the ground to begin with, they did not exactly receive the appropriate TLC, though they were not neglected. That circumstances were not ideal was visible when they leafed out. However, the young plants not only withstood the difficult start, they ultimately thrived. I would not recomend doing what I did. But I do want to give this shout-out to the health and heartiness of St. Lawrence Nurseries' stock. (Btw, I had also ordered 2 plants from another nursery, and while they also have done okay, they did not recover from my minimalistic care as well as those from St. Lawrence.) The plants so far look fine at the end of this strange freeze-thaw-freeze-snow-rain confused winter. Am eager to see what spring brings out in my young shrubs.

Received 2 pear trees in April. Ground still frozen. just left them where it was still really cold. Planted them in Mat. So far so good. Both have leafed out.

Received a very nice Sweet 16 apple tree!! Very helpful and friendly.

My first order from St. Lawrence Nurseries in the Spring of 2013 for Honeylocust trees and Potentilla shrubs arrived the first week of April. The plant packaging was kind of unusual (the postmaster remarked that it looked like somebody sent me a broom), but they were very well packed and arrived in good condition.

It was still a little early in my area of Wyoming (I have a Zone 2 micro-climate), so I stored them according to SLN's directions for a couple of weeks, even though they were just starting to break dormancy.

After planting, the Honeylocusts grew well for being their first year (they are fast growers) and they are going to be good trees. The Potentillas seemed to get off to a slow start (these are my first, so that is subjective), but at the end of the season, I had well-established plants with good flowers ... BTW: Thank you, SLN, for carrying white Potentillas, they are hard to find!

I eMailed a question to them between ordering and shipment, and received a prompt, courteous reply. All in all, I was pleased with this first order, and will be buying from them again next year.

Great customer service. I haven't purchased yet. I merely inquired about shipping dates and cancellations. I sent an email and received a very friendly and professional response within the hour. I will definitely be buying trees from them.

Having done business with St. Lawrence Nurseries in the past I will say they know what they are doing. As far as answering e-mails well remember it is a small company and most if not all employees including the owners are out tending the various trees and plants for harvest and shipping to customers. I planted bare root apple trees and watered them once per week 10 gal min (live in central Wisc) and they are doing very fine. (two 5 tree plots. one full sun shine on the south east face of hill-Great. and the 2nd set of 5 in very sandy soil 3 doing great and 2 about half as well.) I am more than satisfied with those apple trees I purchased from them and will be buying more this yr as well. I would suggest anyone that wants to plant in the northern area of the states to purchase from them.

My experience was very good with st lawrence nursery, i ordered 26 bareroot fruit trees from them and all are looking good. They give you an excellent guide for planting your trees when you get them but make sure to review the guide on there website before ordering so you can make proper preparations. We had a very hot spring this year and was concerned because the trees were budding when i got them, but i did what the guide said and they all are looking very alive. I plan on ordering from them for many years. The trees were packaged very good with no damage.

I've ordered from St. Lawrence a number of times and have never been disappointed by the size and quality of their products. always a good buy.

I love the catalog and my plants arrived in excellent condition, well packaged and secure. Would order from again.

I ordered a variety of shrubs and fruiting seedlings. Hard to find varieties that are SUPER hardy. Smaller plants- but this is clearly noted in the descriptions- nothing was smaller than listed. i had a few plants not make it and the garuntee was honored and the plants are being replaced this year. Very good and timely communication- excellent customer service. Plants were very hardy- I live at 7000ft at 5b- we get snows through May and their plants were troopers. THANKS

The nicest people and great selection of unusual varieties. I placed 3 orders with them over last 3 years, and will be placing another one soon. Most of the stuff i ordered from them grows great with exception of 1 or 2 plants that didn't perform well ( but may not be their fault). All in all, great experience and friendly people to del with.

Posted on April 9, 2007, updated May 6, 2011
I ordered eight fruit trees from this company and all were quite satisfactory and performed well their first summer. I wish I had heeded their ample trunk protection warnings before snowfall; somehow I forgot to do it and paid the price with all but two with rodent damage and one completely girdled. The black raspberries didn't do much but am hopeful for growth this year.

I ordered a sour cherry tree and some black raspberry plants.
They were on the small side as described but they are all planted and growing well. Would order from the again.

best shipment I ever got. Big Trees well packed
raspberrys have done very well also

Ordered Stacey pear trees for spring 2010. Received large healthy trees that have done well.

I ordered 6 blueberry bushes from St Lawrence last year. The plants arrived on time in great condition. They have made it through the winter beautifully and I hope by next year to have at least a few to eat. I ordered from them because they specialize in hardy northern varieties and was not disappointed. I will order again when I am in the market for fruit trees or bushes.

Blueberries and ribes bushes twice the size of equally priced mail order companies. Packing with soil was done well and plants are already leafing out in the garden.

Ordered 3 apple trees from St. Lawrence three years ago. The trees looked healthy on arrival. Three years later and they are doing great. Would order from them again.

this spring is the second time i've ordered from st. lawrence and both times i've been completely pleased with the results. I've never bothered them for customer service but i've always received exactly what was ordered exactly when it was expected. their prices aren't exactly cheap, but they are very reasonable and the plants themselves are always excellent specimens with large, well-developed root systems as claimed. in contrast i have been disappointed by the pathetic barely rooted twigs often offered by other mail order outfits.

I just finished planting another wonderful order from St. Lawrence Nurseries! I try to place an order every year, and am never disappointed with the quality of the plants - especially the fine root systems - and their expert packing and planting tips.

I'm a zone or two warmer than Potsdam, New York, but, with the fierce windchills here and spotty snow cover, it is definitely worth erring on the side of caution with hardiness. The plants I receive from St. Lawrence Nurseries are always rock solid, and the MacKentleys are a pleasure to deal with.

I have been ordering from St. Lawrence Nurseries for a few years now because of their quality and hardiness. There has never been any problems with their stock. Everything sent was extremely well packaged and arrived in good condition. This spring I ordered 2 apple trees and 2 types of Juneberries, all of which are growing well- the Juneberries have really shot up fast. Deer managed to knock over one of the apple trees' protective mesh cages and badly chomped the seedling; we were afraid it was a goner, but it has leafed back out and is growing well. We are slowly reclaimng an old farm and orchards, and plan on using St. Lawrence for future tree purchases.

I have ordered from St. Lawrence twice now. The first time was last Spring and now I am a returning customer. This alone should tell anyone that my experience with St. Lawrence was a good one.

Last spring I bought a cherry, which leafed out but shortly thereafter died. I emailed the owner and was asked to describe what had happened. I offered to pay for or split shipping on a replacement, but he wouldn't accept anything, replacing the tree last fall (it looks great and is close to breaking dormancy now)

This Spring I again ordered from him, this time two other cherry varieties. St. Lawrence offers plants that are difficult to find elsewhere and their shipping is very effective (though a little intimidating to open for the first time.)

As long as I have room I will likely keep St. Lawrence one of the first places I look when preparing my orders each spring.

~Chills

After two years of failure in Idaho trying to grow heirloom apple trees from a California nursery I learned about St Lawrence and ordered 10 trees. They arrived well packaged and in good shape and have done well through one growing season so far. Initially I didn't send enough money for postage, so I got a phone call from a very pleasant young-sounding lady requesting another $15 or so. It appeared she was a family member. While I had her on the phone I asked a specific question regarding my site (6000 feet, zone 3). She wasn't sure exactly how to respond but while I waited she asked and then reported a detailed and helpful answer. This brief conversation with an apparent teenager who was not only interested in horticulture but obviously committed to customer service, a real contrast from some young people, was worth paying the extra shipping charge.

As a former employee, my knowledge is first-hand. The general giste of all the comments I reviewed was about what I experienced as a manager over ten years ago. The MacKentley's attention to detail and personal involvement is definitely amazing. ALL customers get this treatment, no matter the size of the order. A big factor some of you may not be aware of is that all orders, once shipped, are not always treated kindly by the people handling them. The packages are tossed, bumped, overheated or frozen enroute to their destinations. I remember packages (which we took GREAT CARE in putting together) coming back smashed into pieces or "cooked" inside to a smelly mush. As with any business, all factors cannot be perfectly controlled. You would be hard pressed to find a company who truly believes in their convictions or pays more personal attention to what their customers want. Our policy was the customer is always right. I recall replacing the same orders repeatedly, even though we suspected the customer was doing something wrong, year after year. That's when the planting guides were developed. We could do everything on our end right, only to have improper planting or care kill what we spent 3-4 years preparing. Having planted over 10,000 trees and plants yearly at the nursery, I believe the biggest culprit in mortality is improper planting and care on the customer's end. Think of how a seed must force the growing root through the soil. That root's surface then expands and "fattens" over time, keeping intimate contact with the surrounding soil at all times. Now, take it out of the ground with a shovel,(hopefully during dormancy), and send it off to Joe Farmer and he gently places it in an oversized hole and scoops fresh-turned top soil onto the roots. Next comes the water, sprayed on (the worst!) or dumped on with a bucket. That water follows the surface down under the soil, creating an air space between root surface and soil, effectively starving the tree. When a tree dies, grab the trunk and lift. If the tree slides out easily, you didn't plant it correctly. Grab a wild tree and try to pull it out of the ground and you'll see what I mean. They are anchored. When planting, don't be afraid to pack that fresh soil onto the roots. I weigh 250 lbs and I really use my body weight to firm the soil. Of course, you can overdo this, but you get the giste. Lastly, trees want to live and grow like any other living thing. Treat them right and they will flourish for generations to come. They are actually hard to kill. I hope my comments will help. Good luck to all.

I've ordered from St. Lawrence regularly for years, because they give me the cultural, hardiness and harvest date information I need to succeed in my central Alaskan location, and the stock I've received from them has always been stout and healthy. Their catalog, staff and website make dealing with them an anticipated spring pleasure. My crabapples, plums, currants, gooseberries and raspberries are in bloom, and look better than the cultivars growing in a more favorable location at the Univ. of Alaska's Agricultural Experiment Farm nearby (from other nurseries) - I told them about St. Lawrence, maybe they'll have better success in future!

Ordered several plants -- hazelberts, juneberries, highbush cranberry, elderberry. All arived in 10 days from mail order, and before they even cashed the check! Everything all showing growth after 5 days in ground. Amazing. Great condition. Sent along 50 page growing guide.

I ordered several different currants and roses from St. Lawrence this spring. All plants arrived in excellent shape, some of them much bigger than I expected. All but one rosa rugosa are doing great after planting (and I have only myself to blame for the rugosa's misfortune). I had a question about their delivery timeframe and both my call and my email were answered promptly.

We placed a large order last fall, including cherries, raspberries, lingonberries and chokecherries. The plants arrived today and are beautiful. They are large and well branched and just starting to bud out. They also included detailed planting instructions.

I highly recommend this company!

I got some beautiful healthy looking trees in the mail today.. I'm very excited. They also sent an instruction booklet! and the trees were packed better than anything I've seen..

I would order from them again.

I have bought from this company over the past 12 years and it has always been a positive experience. The plants are healthy and well packaged upon arrival, the owners are most helpful, and everything grows very well.

Due to the positive reviews here I ordered two plums from St. Lawrence and was shocked at how quickly they arrived. I had made a mistake in my order, thinking I needed two different pollinator types instead of two of the same - they corrected that instead of blindly filling the order, for which I am incredibly grateful. The trees are lovely, taller and healthier than I'd imagined. The instruction booklet is priceless. I heartily recommend St. Lawrence and am so glad Dave's pointed me to them.

Everything that I have gotten from St. Lawerence has been exceptional. The Red Rasberries were bountiful this year, the Roses are hardy. The goose berries and siberan pea shrub have been hardy and fun. The Bali Cherry tree and apple have a couple of years yet, but the are strong. Everything came packaged well. There is long life in all the plants that I have gotten. I Highly recommend them. The price for this quality, care and dedication to the nursery, and the people take care of you is inexpensive. I intend to order with them again! Rene

I ordered 20 hazelbert trees from this nursery. They seemed just a little pricey but what arrived were large well rooted plants which were also sensibly packaged. These were not thin whips, but good sized stock. Now that they are planted, almost all are leafing out now. The real test will be the winter but from the comments below, I expect good results.

I have never ordered from this company before so I started w/ a small order to test the waters. I ordered a half dozen blueberries and an apple tree. I needed them to ship so it would arrive close to the weekend because I live 200 miles from where I was planting them. Not only was the comunication by email good, they personally called me on the day they shipped to let me know that the package was on its way and when to expect it. It arrived as promised and the plants looked great. It even came with a nice planting guide for the novice. About the only thing I didn't like, was they don't take credit cards. I like the protection that you get when using a credit card. As a result you are bound to money orders or check. But, from my experience, I wouldn't hesitate to place an order w/ them in the future. It is really nice to deal with a nursery that caters to the northern grower. My garden is on the zone 3/4 border and hardiness is a must. Apparently all there plants are grown in zone 3 climate. That should prevent the disappointment that happens after a test winter and you lose some of your prize plants.

Received a very well packed order of excellent stock on April 1, 2005 - as requested - for my zone 3/4 orchard.

St. Lawrence Nurseries has very high quality cold hardy fruiting trees and bushes. I have ordered from them a number of times, and everything I have order is alive and flourishing. These are some of the highest quality plants that I have ever received via mail order. I live in Wyoming and their products are great for our climate.

Last year I bought ten Hazelenut trees from St Lawrence Nurseries. Since I picked them up at the nursery, I was able to meet some of the folks and see their business. This place is run by wonderful, friendly, happy people and a pleasure to deal with in every way. Even though I was picking up my trees, they were bundled and in the cooler waiting for me. The trees have done very well and produced nuts (a few) the same summer. The trees were large, healthy and vigorous. Over the summer I did lose one of the trees (standing water) but I don't want to tell them because they would probably replace it regardless.
This year I am ordering grapes, juneberries, gooseberries, blueberries and eldeberries. Can't wait.

Got my first order from St. Lawrence and all three plants (pear, cherry, currant) are big, vigorous and beautiful! The instruction manual was very helpful since we have never planted fruit in the fall. They were good about communicating, shipping went smoothly and I can't wait to order again in the spring from their many varieties of cold hardy and unusual edibles!