Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

I ordered a dwarf gran nain banana through gurney and it is doing excellent!

I ordered because of the $20 coupon. Unfortunately, the wisteria I ordered did not live. I cannot believe what they charge to send a dead twig. I have not contacted them, but plan to send an email. Just not looking forward to dealing with customer service. Also, the seeds I ordered from them were not that great. very few of the seeds even germinated. I am not happy at all with this company and do not plan to order from them again. Glad I had the $20 coupon. At least it was not my money wasted - just a lot of time.

I also had very unfavorable experiences with this company. My order, placed in early April - was for Strawberry plants that were on special, and I added several different flower plants, some potted, some bare root. I did not receive ANY of my order until June, two of the potted plants were mush and had to be thrown away. I never did receive the 25 Strawberry plants, but a refund check for them .... MONTHS after they had charged my credit card for them! I was lied to over the phone several times in early , mid & late May by their reps, telling me that "yes the plants are in stock & my order should ship any day." Of the barerooted plants I did receive, only half of them have shown life & sprouted. Very poor quality plants & terrible service. Wasted an entire growing season waiting for Strawberries that they had no intention of shipping in the first place. I'll never order from them again. Don't be fooled by coupons and sale advertisements from this company - BUYER BEWARE !!!

I too tried this company because of the $20 coupon. Glad I had the $20 off coupon. I ordered 5 red cedar trees along with four other trees and a shrub.

I live in northern Wisconsin and I received my order April 2. Everything was dormant except the cedar trees obviously had green needles on them. But the cedar trees did not look good. They were wrapped together and tortured looking. The needles were falling off and they were covered with what looked like mold. I called customer service and the lady was rather snotty when she replied "I can assure you that is something that is put on as part of the packing." However these trees never seemed to recover. So i emailed them (didn't want to talk to another customer service rep. like that) and they responded within a day that they were sending out a credit. I appreciated that (and couldn't expect more since I had used a $20 coupon) but will doubtfully use it since I don't want to order from them again.

The other four trees and one shrub didn't grow and didn't grow. Finally now here about a week maybe two ago they started growing, in mid-June, two and half months after I received them. Now they are growing hap-hazardly. Leaves here and there. I imagine they will survive with some a lot of extra attention. A little dissapointing since the ones I received from Jungs came already growing.

I ordered some seed and some strawberry plants from Gurney's, and then went to work in my garden preparing a bed for the strawberries. Weeks go by--no strawberries, and no call, E-mail, letter, or anything else. I contact Gurney's, and they say, "Oh, our shipping season is over." They apparently had NO INTENTION of shipping the plants, or refunding my money, or informing me of any of this. VERY arrogant, high-handed, inconsiderate way of doing business--I won't order from them again.

I have ordered from Gurneys in the mid 1990's with good results. But much has changed recently. I placed an order with Gurney's on April 3,2004 for misc seeds, vegetable seeds, tomato, and strawberry plants. Nothing in the catalog, or on their website suggested that there would be any unusual delay. After not receiving the order, or even a courtesy e-mail re: the status of the order for OVER A MONTH, I sent an e-mail on May 6,2004. I received an e-mail on May 8,2004 telling me that they have had "a slower than normal growing season, and an incredible amount of orders". In short, Gurneys customer service said that the order had not shipped yet, but they would put a rush on it. Over the next week, I started receiving e-mails stating that the strawberry plants and tomato plants, along with some of the seeds would ship. I also received these very hard to understand post cards which told me that some of the vegetable seeds were unavailable this season(Huh?!!!! Why do I find this out the hard way and over a month after placing the order? The growing season is in full swing by now!). Bottom line: I ultimately received only part of the seeds I initially ordered(some of the vegetable seeds were unavailable, according to Gurneys). Over 45 days after the order, I did receive the strawberry plants and the tomato plants. Condition of the strawberry and tomato plants? The strawberry plants were dormant, which is what I expected. The tomato plants? I received a promising huge box containing lifeless, brown dead twigs, somehow labeled as tomato plants. Almost two weeks shipping in 90-100 degree weather is not a recipe for live/healthy plants. Never again. I'll buy locally from now on.

I ordered seeds and plants in Mid-March. I specified in the instructions to please ship all immediately and I would plant when the time was appropriate. I received the seed packets within a month. After waiting on the plants, I called Gurney's 3 times at the end of May/begining of June. Each time I was told that they were busy shipping and that it may be a few minutes to speak to a customer service representitive. All three times, I was disconnected. Finally, I got through and was told that my order would be shipped within the next week (almost 3 months after my order).
I received the plants/bulbs today. It is too late to plant some of them this year. The dwarf key lime tree that I ordered was nearly dead as they shipped it June 1st and it made it here today on the 9th (probably not 1st class past). It only has 2 leaves on it, as most of the leaves and the soil were on the bottom of the box. Horrible packing. I doubt it lives.

I've learned my lesson.

I HAVE DEALT WITH THIS COMPANY FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS WITH LITTLE OR NO PROBLEMS.THIS YEAR IS A DIFFERENT STORY,I PLACED 2 ORDERS THIS YEAR,ON 2/19/04 AND 5/7/04.I HAVE SO FAR RECEIVED ONLY 1 ITEM BACK IN MARCH,THEY HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO ANY OF MY INQUIRIES SO I CANCELLED THE REST OF MY ORDERS.THEY CAN'T SHIP ANYTHING BUT I STILL RECEIVE BROCHURES IN THE MAIL,WHAT A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FROM NOW ON THEIR CATALOGS ARE GOING IN THE GARBAGE.

I ordered three butterfly bushes and a high bush cranberry in the beginning of March. They cashed my check by the end of March. I did get the cranberry a few weeks ago, and it does have a few leaves, but it is growing nothing like the shrubs I bought at Lowe's and Home Depot.

The butterfly bushes have still not arrived. I called at the beginning of May and the customer service rep told me they were expecting a shipment any day (huh? a shipment? they don't grow their own plants?) and the plants should ship by May 14. I still haven't got the bushes and have just been disconnected by their machine three times trying to find out if I'm ever going to get them (they'll probably be bare sticks if I do).

I won't order from Gurney's again.

I am a customer of gurney,however my recent order has been unpleasant.I recieved my full order minus a bird of paradise, invoice stating a back order and was to be shipped out May 25th,also stated I owe them a$4.00 balance with a certain subtotal and I used the $20.00 coupon,here it is june 2nd still no bird of paradise recieved and yet I recieved another invoice in the mail with a higher subtotal and now they claim I owe them $10.95,I will never order from this company again,phone call on my dime,for their mistakes,never again.Two of the butterfly bushes were very dried out,& lavender vacum sealed were sticks.

We have dealt with Gurneys in the past with no problems. I would have to say our comments would have been positive, but this year (2004) is a disaster.

We placed 2 orders, March 24th for Hardy Sweet Lavender, Virginiana Juniper, and the Perennial Sun Garden. April 10th for Penngift Crown Vetch Plants, Shady Places Hosta Mix, and Festuca Glauca.

Well, the 1st to arrive, the Virginiana Junipers (30 plants) were thrown in a box, wrapped roots but nothing holding them in place. Other items marked backordered. All were planted and by May 12th all were dead. Customer service via internet is a joke, don't even bother. I've spent my hard earned dollars and am not about to make the phone co. rich. Replied to one of thier email sales garbage and finally got an answer and was sent a Replacement Certificate.

Hardy Sweet Lavender arrived in a plastic bag in May. Planted the twigs and they still look like twigs today (3 weeks later). Checking their web site as to the Perennial Sun Garden status, could not find it. "No Longer Avaliable". When were they going to notify us?

Second order status, who knows? I've emailed 3 times and get the same garbage auto reply that they are very busy shipping. No replies to any of my emails. The season is well under way and it looks as though the local nurseries are the best bet to go.

After 5 years of being a customer, count on this family never to order again.

After the many negatice comments here, I was pleasantly surprised by both the size and condition of the plants when my order arrived. It was a little late, but the company did notify me that due to cool weather they were going to be a bit late shipping some items this Spring.

The care taken by Gurney's in packaging the ornamental grass I had ordered was of particular note. Each clump was encased in a special rigid plastic sleeve that helped keep it from getting crushed or dehydrated. The very expensive White Flower Farms should take note of that packaging device. They don't wrap their grasses half as well.

The 18 dragon's blood sedum were a little small, but no more so than the dozen creeping jenny I ordered this year from the very highly regarded Bluestone Perennials. And unlike that order, everything from Gurney's arrived well cushioned, alive and intact.

Placed order 7 April, 2004. Tomatoes, Clematis, helleborus, blueberry, lavender. All arived 2-4 weeks after they should have. And all are DEAD, except (maybe) the helleborus & lavender. Tried 3 times to call "Customer Service", and their machine hung up on me all 3 times (toll calls). So- no plants, no Customer Service, no hope for this company - JUST A DISGUSTING WASTE OF MY TIME, LOSS OF PART OF GROWING SEASON, AND NOW I'VE GOT TO FIGHT TO GET MY MONEY BACK, AND I'LL PURCHASE REPLACEMENTS LOCALLY. Their "plants" are a joke!

This company is what gives "Mail Order" a bad name. Never should have tried Gurney's, and would STRONGLY suggest that no one else subject themselves to this kind of experience !!!!! I will always buy plants (and bulbs) from local nurseries in the future. I'm MAD!

I just placed my first order with Gurney's yesterday because I really wanted a more mature Hackberry tree and I ordered one that is supposed to be 4 to 5 feet. (I also ordered a Sugar Maple). Where I am planting this Hackberry tree is on our vacation property, so I'm not going to be able to baby the plant as necessary. I am planting the tree as a memorial to my cat who passed away after only 4 1/2 years of his young life. (The reason it has to be a Hackberry is because of its hardiness under the circumstances, but more as sweet revenge that the birds will be fed through the tree's berries after my cat killed so many birds in his life)
I tried to find a local nursery to get an even more mature tree, but no one has them. I placed the order over the phone because I had a special request to have the trees shipped UPS and to find out if they could get the tree to me by May 27th because we are going to the property for the Memorial Day holiday. The person who took my order said he put a RUSH on the order. So, I'm reserving my judgement for Gurney's to see if they are able to satisfy my request. I will keep you all updated. I sure hope I don't get a bad Hackberry like the other person who commented here.

I ordered rhubarb plants and seeds, none were indicated at that time as being out of stock. Most of the seeds arrived immediately and eventually all did. But the rhubarb never arrived though the website indicated it had been shipped. Emails were not personally answered so I received no useful information. Finally I received a check (made out to the catalog holder's name, not to me who had paid by credit card) for the shipping part of the rhubarb order and was told it was out of stock. They really need to get their inventory system and email responses improved. Now it's too late to put rhubarb in this year. I'll probably continue to order seeds if they keep having their $20 off coupons, but not order plants.

All in all my order was positive. I used a 20 dollar off coupon and ordered an elm, a package of fertilizer discs, dwarf daylilies, and lily of the valley in late Feb. The fertilizer came immediately, followed by the elm, and then the daylilies and lily of the valley. The Elm was delivered in good contition and is growing, as are the daylilies - although the Lily of Valley was somewhat "mushy" I planted them anyway last week and it appears as if about 50% are growing. For the price, the mortality rate on the LOV was aceptable. They did not charge my credit card until shipped, and I received shipment tracking info via Email...I'll order from them again

I am a repeat customer of Gurney's and have had some problems with them in the past, but nothing monumental. Last year's order was a problem because most of the items that I ordered were not in stock. After a long wait and many emails the problem was resolved. This year is another story. This year's order was another "out of stock" problem. One pack of seeds was shipped, but the live plants took an additional month to arrive. In the meantime Gurneys shipped a plant that I ordered last year (and was told that my order was cancelled - out of stock) and charged my credit card! I was totally confused and couldn't get any response from customer service. Their emails seemed to be the standard form letter type that didn't address the problem or answer specific questions. Eventually the rest of my current '04 order arrived. The quality of the plants was undersized and poor. As of 5/10/04 I still haven't gotten an answer to my question about the shippment and charge. Now I wonder if Gurneys will decide to ship other items that I tried to order over a year ago and charge them to my credit card account! I want to give my fellow gardeners a heads-up on what I consider questionable business practices. This is the last time that I will deal with Gurney's Seed & Nursery.

Ordered a peach tree and seeds, was a little expensive but I got a $20 off $40 coupon, which made the price reasonable. Got the seeds almost immediately, and the tree very early for zone 5, the tree was dormant, I potted the tree and planted it about 6 weeks later and it is now leafing out well, this was the high quality version of thier offer and it wad about 4 feet long and about 5/8" caliper. Overall pretty good company, I will continue to order as long I get the coupon offers, I have ordered plants and bulbs with only fair success, thier trees and seeds are pretty good quality.

Last year got boysenberries and sweet potatoes, this year
native plums and barberries, aster, and daylily; arrived
small but everything is thriving. I've been happy the
last couple of years; my confidence in Gurneys is coming
back after some bad experiences in the past.

I had to have some plants replaced and did not have my receipt. I emailed them, received a prompt reply and a credit certificate. I was very pleased with this excellent customer service.

I placed an order for a number of schrubs this year. The first shipment only included 5 of the 13 varieties and was short one item. A phone call received a promise of prompt shipment of that item. I now learn it was cancelled WITHOUT ever notifying me. The remaining items are now over a month late. An email received NO response. A phone call indicated that 7 of these varieties were now in stock and would ship SOMETIME. The last variety was backordered. Selling what you do not have is bad enough, their failure to communicate is unacceptable. No more Gurneys orders for this person.

I ordered my plants (carnations, daylilies, lily bulbs, and strawberry plants) online got order confimations and order sent confirmations. The email that notified me of the shipment of my order, included a link where I could track the progress of my shipment so I knew exactly when to expect it. I was a little worried when the order took over a week to get here, but everything looks very healthy, with the exception of one Dayliliy, which I called them on. They are sending a new one. I know many people have had bad luck with Gurney's, but as a first time customer I am very pleased. Now hopefully everything will flourish.

I ordered some cherry bushes from them about March 10. They arrived before April. I held them for a week or so before planting. They are all currently doing very well. Some are even flowering this year. I would order from them again.

We ordered plants in March to be shipped to Arizona, knowing that after temps exceeded 100 degrees shipping would be hopeless. The plants arrived today, May 5th and they were all dead. When I called customer service I was told that they would credit my account but would not refund shipping charges. I informed them that this was unacceptable since it was their fault that the plants arrived dead. Now I not only did not get the plants I wanted, but I am out shipping charges and it is too late to plant in Arizona. I will not order from Gurney's again!

I should have known better than to order with the poor rating on this site. I got one of their sale flyers and was too tempted by the low prices. Unfortunately, a large number of the plants were never sent (I had to wait weeks or months to get various cancellation notes from them). The plants I did get weren't sent until over a month after my order. The weather was hot by the time they got here and the plants were all dried out by then. A few of the hardier plants (machurian apricots, chokecherries) survived, but at least half of what we got didn't do anything after we planted.

Their prices are cheap, but I'd rather spend a few more dollars and get something nice from Raintree or Burnt Ridge.

I ordered a few assorted items in February. All arrived (somewhat slowly) except for the Jerusalem Artichokes, which arrived 4-6 weeks later. They were in a net bag inside a sturdy ventilated box, but there was no packing material and the tubers were very moldy and frighteningly squishy. I emailed them immediately and asked what could be done, adding that I'd prefer a refund, having read the guarantee that the customer's every wish would be granted. The reply, very much like a form letter, didn't reference my request for a refund; instead it said a new batch would be shipped out. That took three weeks or so, but this time there were far more tubers, and they were HUGE. A couple were starting to soften, so I quickly planted them. It's only been a week or so, so I can't tell if they'll sprout, but Gurney's seems to be canceling out its good intentions with poor communication. Knowing that its parent company is Gardens Alive, I would hope that some more effort will be put into the communication/employee education and PR piece. A 52% customer satisfaction rate isn't going to cut it for very long.

A couple of weeks ago I placed two separate orders and received "Order Shipped" notifications a few days later.

Still not having received the first order weeks later I rechecked the notification and it very UNCLEARLY stated that the perennials (strawberries and asparagus plants) were backordered. The only thing shipping was a packet of oregano seeds, which I still have not received. First of all, I find their online ordering system to be very archaic: It should indicate what is available and what is out of stock at order time. That way consumers can be the judge of whether they want to wait weeks for plants to arrive. Second of all, the shipping notification has an estimated ship date of a few weeks from now for backordered items. Are they kidding me? Those plants need to be in the ground now, not weeks from now.

Now, the second order I actually did receive yesterday (two weeks after ordering). In the box was half of my order: 6 bare-root "twigs", which were supposed to be 1-year black raspberry plants. What a joke. I did plant them, but I doubt they'll ever produce anything. The other perennials I ordered (6 blackberry plants) were of course backordered for weeks. I have since e-mailed their customer service to express my disgust. No response as of yet. They clearly WAY oversell their stock and I will never do business with this outfit again. I would advise others to stay far away also.

I recently ordered two trees from Gurney on the internet. The order was acknowledged, and after several weeks the trees arrived. They were healthy with good root systems. After planting both the birch trees and the willow put forth buds and leaves. Would I order from Gurney again? Yes!

I ordered 4 strawberry varieites (85 plants) and 1 dwarf pomegranate plant. 50 strawberry plants arrived quickly. They were large roots and took off very quickly. The pomegrante and and 1 strawberry variety were on back order and no mention of when they would arrive. I emailed them to ask. It took a week for them to respond and basically say - we don't know when they will be shipping. A month later I emailed them again. They said the pomegrante would be arriving in a week (it did and looks very healthy but also very small), but still no idea about the strawberries. I'm still waiting for the strawberries. And I doubt they will be coming, but at least they didn't charge me for them.

I received my order from Gurney's yesterday (Michigan). I ordered 6 hellebores and a buy-one-get-one lavendar. The hellebores look lively and were well-packed, although they seem to have been trimmed pretty hard to fit in the box. I expect them to do fine. The lavendars are small and bareroot, but were not dry or crunchy. I have them soaking right now and I expect to be able to plant them this weekend. I might have been disappointed at one for that price, but 2 for that price seems okay. Overall, I am pleased by what I got, especially since I had read of some poor experiences here. I also used the $20 coupon, so the plants were certainly affordable.

in march i ordered a few plants from gurney's using my $20 coupon for $20 worth of free plants and seeds (i got an english lavender, toad lily, black hollyhock, and a packet of cucumber and a packet of tomato seeds)
i have received all of my plants and seeds and they are all doing well except for the toad lily
i emailed gurney's today about the dead toad lily and they very quickly responded with an email saying they would be shipping me another one in the next couple of days
i got these plants for free.. i only ended up paying $2.25 for shipping, and they are still going to replace a dead plant for me
i found that to be surprising given their reputation, but it makes me happy and i would definitely recommend them to someone else

I was nervous about ordering from Gurney's again, given their changeover and the horror stories I've heard, plus some bad experiences I had with rose plants. But this spring, I decided to try again. I enclosed a letter with my order, explaining my mixed feelings and expressing hope that they would handle my order well. They did! The native plum plants and Hanson bush cherries arrived well packaged and in great condition. I'm willing to order again.

I am new to bareroot planting but was prepared for the look of dead plants when my strawberries arrived. I planted them after soaking in a root stimulator, all but 1 plant took root right away.

I had ordered strawberry plants from those folks at Garden Direct/ Kelly and planted them 5 weeks before the ones I got from Gurneys. Needless to say I was shocked to see the ones from Gurneys out grow the ones from Garden direct/ Kellys / Burgess.

I am a little nervous to order too much from any mail order after reading the horror stories. I too have been burned but not by Gurneys, yet.

I can't wait to see if the berries are as good and as big as the ad proclaimed.

I ordered two 4-5' hybrid elm trees at the end of March. I received two concord grape vines. When I called today(not toll-free), I was told the trees were "obsolete", meaning that they don't sell them any more, and they will not be back in stock. Less than three weeks have passed since I ordered them!! The customer service rep was very nice, but couldn't find the trees anywhere. I ordered two different trees that I don't really want - hopefully they won't send me fruit again.

i used their $20 coupon, and ordered some peat pots, and strawberries... the strawberries just arrived, and are doing GREAT!!!!!!!! i am very happy with them. the peat pots came right after i placed my order in january.i wanted to make sure i got my full order before commenting. i'm a happy customer:)

I ordered a "Shademaster Locust" in the 4-5 foot size. Used the $20.00 coupon, and was totally surprised when the tree arrived in a week. It is taller than 5 foot, well shaped,
and healthy looking. I am ready to get my hammock out and rest in it's shade. I think that Gurney's did a great job.
THANK YOU. I would use this company again.

I too was tempted by the $20.00 coupon from Gurney's. I tried two trees, a 4-5' Hackberry and a 4-5' Hybrid Elm. They arrived on 04/05/04 in a strong box, but inside they were only wrapped loosely in a sheet of plastic. They were bone dry.
The Elm was easily pushing 5' in height and had fair set of roots. Despite having had its' top hacked off at some point, it still retained a good shape. It was even budding.
The Hackberry was a different story. The poor tree only barely makes 4' when measured from the severely lopped off top to the only remaining root it has (the other roots apparently having been cut off prior to shipping). Even if it survives, which is doubtful, this poor tree has been so severely maimed that I don't see it ever having a decent form. I dutifully planted it hoping for the best. Maybe I will have to change my rating, who knows?

I decided to take the bait and use the 20.00 coupon. That was my first mistake! My order never arrived. I called customer service (now it's costing me money for the calls) and the company said it would reship. It did. On the second shipment, I received about half of my order, and 2 items were back ordered. I checked the order online, and all items I paid for were listed, but the packing list was missing several items I paid for. I'm still waiting for resolution. I will not buy here again. This is unacceptable service. As the old adage goes, nothing in life is for free. Back to Burpees.

This was the first time I ever ordered from Gurney's. I was tempted successfully by their $20 coupon.

The facts:
Ordered late January 2004
Items: 2 trees - a peach and a plum
$45 including shipping - $20 = $25 for 2 trees - not bad
Recieved confirmitation of order and shipping via e-mail
Plants in transit for 9 calendar days
Packaging: Bare root, wrapped in plastic, no sawdust or other packing material noted. Strong cardboard outer box.
Plants appeared healthy. Plum had some imperfections. Trimmed some bent branches - it happens...
The plants were moist - the plastic had condensation on it.

The feeling:
The plants arrived during an abnormal cold spell - we just had snow and the ground froze. They did arrive sooner than my ideal planting time of mid-april.
The good thing - it warmed significantly into the 60's a few days later - they only had a few days of wait time.
Came from MO - was it Starks? Could be.

Overall, I was happy with the results so far.