Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

In spring 2018 I ordered a shade tree, and some wild flowers. Shipping was fast. The tree that was sent looked decent and leafed out, but soon the leaves began to curl and it died. The roots that were sent to represent the flowers were a little disappointing. I really had to dig in the bag and search for them because some were very small; almost indistinguishable from the soil they were in. They never came up. Fortunately there was no issue in getting a refund for the merchandise. Glad for the refund, but disappointed in the dead plants.

This was one of several companies I ordered from this year. I ordered plants and trees from them only once but it took weeks to get everything. My order consisted of a gala apple tree, a fuji apple tree, 2 paw paws, and some early girl tomato plants. The tomato plants were DOA, but they quickly refunded me for them.The gala went out of stock. The fuji arrived healthy and in great condition and is now fully leafed out. The paw paws took the longest to get here and were a bit dry in the box on arrival. Only one survived. I have had great luck with their seeds, I just don't think I'll order anymore living items from them.

On the bad side, Gurney's shipping schedules are ludicrous. I placed an order in January with multiple items on it, and I have STILL not received all the items (my order has been shipped in three batches of plants). The projected shipping dates for the last set of plants changes constantly, even after I called and complained.

On the good side, every plant I have received from Gurney's so far has been healthy, of reasonable size for the price, and ready to grow. And I made my order in the first place because I was able to get a variety of tree from them for $19.99 that I couldn't purchase from anywhere else for less than $60. (That tree was about 3' tall on arrival, and marked with a Spring Hill label despite being purchased from Gurney's.) Also, I ordered on their half-price sale and checked multiple other sites to make sure I couldn't buy my items more cheaply elsewhere. Always do that first!

In sum: if you buy on their half-price sale, AND if you're willing to wait a ridiculously long time for your plants, at least the plants will probably be healthy when you get them. But don't ever buy from them at full price, and don't ever buy from them when you're in a hurry!

I have ordered from Gurneys and their sister companies for decades.

I learned a lot about what they are good at and what they are not good at. I bought many fruit trees over the years and many grew up to be a completely different tree than what I ordered. For instance, I ordered two Bing Cherry trees 10 years ago. They are now about 6 foot tall and produce very dark pie (sour) cherries. I like them even better than the Carmine jewels even though I have no idea what kind they are. They are not North Star or Montmorency.

I have 6 Carmines that I am happy with although they don't produce more than about a quart after 6 years. I ordered the best Pixie Crunch trees and it took them 1.5 years to arrive. Gurneys kept running out of them. I can understand once but not twice when my order was in a year before. Four trees arrived and only 3 were apple trees. One was some type of red twig bush.

Anyway, the seeds are always good and this year when the strawberries all died they replaced them right away and they produced fantastic.
So, I have learned to buy the seeds and berries from them but not the trees. Out of about 60 trees in the last 30 years about half are still alive and about 15 were not the trees I ordered.

I also don't like the size of the trees they send. The very expensive Pixie Crunch trees were only about a foot tall. I ordered a similar tree (Candy Crunch) from a competitor this year and it was 4' tall, less than half the price and is already taller than the Pixie crunches that have been in for 3 or 4 years.

I will continue to buy from them. Their customer service is top notch.

I ordered in a moment of insanity or weakness thinking it would stop the barrage of coupons and promotions to every point of contact I mistakenly provided (email, facebook, home address, etc.) but, silly me. It made no difference. It seems they double their prices so that you're forced to use the coupons they bombard you with. I imagine they shake hands at the end of the fiscal year thinking their tactics were effective (and, well, they were).

I have had mostly successes with the product. The few losses I had were with the vines. Mostly grapes and hops. I can't for the life of me get the hops to grow, but maybe it's the variety (nugget) and not the company's stock. Had the same issue at Miller Nursery out of NY (before they closed) and I believe they also had the nugget cultivar.

Posted on June 16, 2014, updated April 12, 2015
I've placed 2 orders with this company. The first one was simply for some seeds. I had no problems receiving this order.

After the first order I was emailed a $50 for $25 coupon with this site. I went on and picked out some plants. Upon opening the site, they had a clearance sale. Naturally I go and shop the clearance section. When I go to the checkout and enter my coupon code, all the prices change (mostly back to full price). I called the company and was informed that the clearance section was a "coupon". Okay..... I ended up changing my order and using the first coupon anyway.

I ordered:

2 blackberries - no complants. Good looking bareroot plants.
6 pack lily grab bag - I hadn't planned on planting them at that moment but most of them were already growing and breaking out of their packaging. So in the ground they went.
1 olive "tree" - Olive "twig" is more like it. The main part of the plant is 3" tall with a 6" branch. I'd be really upset if I paid full price for that twig, as it is I'm going to wait and hope it becomes a tree. If it dies I'll replace it with one from StarkBros.

1 blue berry - First it was going to ship separately then was out of stock and being refunded. The Bluecrop Blueberry is STILL available to order on their site. My 2 big issues with this is they should have an actual inventory not a "order in good faith and hope they actually have it when your order is packed" and that the plant is still listed as available on the site. Come on now.....

That's three strikes against Gurney's. One, bait and switch on prices. Two, the twig. And finally three, the out of stock but still available on their site blueberry.

The blackberries and lilies are looking good. The seeds were shipped with out problems. BUT with the three strikes, there are soooooo many sites out there that I won't be doing business with them next time.

Ordered 2 Ka-bluey blueberry plants last year in January. Small plants arrived in March, one year ago. Grew much larger in pots over summer, supplemented with the Gurney "blueberry food". No fruit yet. Fall color was pleasant light red/orange, small leaves, persisted well into early Winter. Over-wintered indoors in pots. Zone 7. Both starting to leaf out again now (still indoors). Will be planted in ground once permanent site is chosen. Review to be updated this coming Fall with regard to fruit. Ordered one dwarf Meyer lemon and one dwarf Key lime. Planted both under same conditions. The Dwarf Meyer Lemon grew well but the Key Lime died very soon after arrival. Gurney's to be contacted for replacement and review to be updated as to how it is handled.

Posted on April 10, 2009, updated May 29, 2014
I will admit, I was a bit apprehensive about ordering from here, based on all the negative reviews. But Gurney's/Henry Field's was the only place around that I could find a Carmine Jewel bush cherry, so I took a chance and used the "Save $25 off $50" coupon.

I ordered the bush cherry, a grape vine, and a "buy 25, get 25 free" everbearing strawberry special. The bush cherry, while small (about 12" high), was very healthy, and packed well to avoid breakage. The strawberries are just breaking dormancy and the grapevine - while great-sized at about 3 ft tall, appears to still be dormant.

I received an email confirming my order when placed, and an email when the items shipped. I could go to their website and check the status whenever I wanted, and if an item has shipped, they also provided a tracking confirmation number.

I was expecting to be disappointed and took comfort in the fact that if something went wrong, I could at least dispute the charge on my credit card bill. I am pleased with this order though, so pleased that I placed another order for some more fruiting plants - including a peach tree. I'm hoping to get lucky the second time around and will update this review when I receive those items.

One thing to note on the 2nd order I placed - the blueberries went from having a delivery estimate of next week, to mid-May, and then back to next week. Although either dates are fine with me, I obviously would prefer them sooner than later, so am keeping my fingers crossed.

I can remember that my dad ordered from Gurney's many years ago. So, I decided to order heirloom tomato plants and some other vegetable plants for our garden.

I placed my order on April 4th. They emailed that the plants would be sent at the proper planting time. Well, it is now May 14th and we are near St. Louis, MO. We are well past planting time for many plants.

Part of the order arrived today. I cannot tell you how disappointed we were when we opened the boxes. The plants had been in transit for easily a week and the stress had taken their toll. They looked as if they were not even watered prior to packaging. The plants were wilted, yellowed and looked so bad that I immediately emailed Gurney about it.

I requested a full refund - not replacement plants. They were also about 6 inches high - they were not even nice specimens.

I have given a 'neutral' rating due to the email I promptly received from Gurney stating that they were refunding the money for the tomatoes and peppers and would cancel the remaining part of my order and refund that as well. So, Gurney still has a customer service department. But what we really wanted was nice vegetable plants for our garden!

I will not be ordering from Gurney again. This is sad. To have a company that has been in business as long as they have and then not be able to handle that business adequately. A real shame.

If the refund does not arrive in a timely manner, I will post again. Writing this review saddens me - but I wish I had checked out their reviews prior to ordering. It would have saved us a lot of wasted planting time.

I ordered 4 trees from Gurneys this year. I have ordered from them in the past and have been satisfied. I ordered a apricot, a nectacot and 2 peach trees. The apricot arrived first, they were out of the standard size and substituted two i dont even know if i could call them twigs to replace the full grown tree. I called and let them know I was very disappointed and they promptly refunded my money. I did plant the little sticks because I didnt want to just throw them away. Well they were so small the first time I mowed I ran over them because I couldnt see them! The next to arrive was the peach trees. I have ordered them before from Gurneys and they have been decent size, this year they were pathetic, half dead and very small. I called again to say I was very disappointed, they told me last summer was not a good year for growing peach trees. I told them I would try them out. I planted the trees, but within two weeks I could see they had died and I pulled them out. I called back and was again promptly refunded my money. I was waiting for my last tree arrive wondering what this one will look like. Well to my surprise they ran out of this tree and it was cancelled on me and Again I was refunded the remainder of my money. I was very disappointed in Gurney's this year, I have never got awesome trees from them in the past, but they at least were a little bigger and ALIVE! The only reason I gave them a neutral rating instead of a negative is because there customer service has been so good about refunding if you have a problem with anything. That has always been the case with Gurney's is their great customer service. I ordered fruit trees from Stark Brothers and Van Well Nursery. The Stark Brother trees were nice size and alive, much better than Gurney's, but if you want nice fruit trees order from Van Well Nursery, the trees I got from them were beyond nice. Large, well branched, large caliper trees. Very impressed with them. I will only order from them and if I cant order from them what I want I will go to Stark Brothers.

FYI: Customers ordering from Gurney's Seed & Nursery previous to 2000 were dealing with a totally different organization than that of today. Before 2000, it was located in Yankton, SD where it was started in 1892 and operated there until 2000, when it was sold and moved. People who worked there were proud of the company and cared about the customers.

"On May 9, 2013 12:56 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We here at Gurney's want you to know we are very proud of our company and do our very best to take care of our customers. We offer a lifetime guarantee on our plants and we work with our customers to make things right."

Ordered asparagus plants for my FIL's birthday last May and payment was taken out promptly as soon as I ordered. Received the plants 1st week in December. Since I live in Iowa, I doubt the plants had much time to get roots established before we received 14 inches of snow. Neutral since only time will tell if my 60 plants survived. Will be my last order from them.

"On Dec 28, 2012 10:52 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. I apologize the plants arrived so late, just let us know if you have any problems and we will be happy to reship."

This year was my first year that I ordered from them. I used their 100.00 off 200.00 order several times to order everything that I wanted.
I spent upwards of 800.00 on 18 trees ( 2 peach, two cherry, 2 pears, 2 granny smith, 2 honey crisp apple, 2 black walnut, 2 chestnut, 2 blue spruce, and 2 willows)10 lbs potato seeds, 10 pks of sweet potatoes, 100 strawberry plants, 2 ground cherries, 3 gooseberries,5 raspberries,5 blackberries, 17 grape plants, 2 angel trumpet trees, 2 honeysuckle, 10 garlic blubs 2 pks peanut seeds and three blueberry bushes. (think that's all)
I have had mixed results with all the plants.
So far what has done well is:
Both Willows
Both Black walnut
Both Chestnuts
Both Peach
Both Pear
Potatoes
Garlic
Sweet potatoes
Honey suckle
Angel trumpets
All grapes
Blackberries

Plants that did not grow or died:
Both granny smith
Both cherries
Both honey crisp
One blue spruce
(all the above trees were one shipment and all did not sprout with exception of blue spruce it was shipped "alive")
Ground cherries
Goose berries

Plants with mixed results:
Blueberries are growing but very poor
Raspberries are pretty much dead
Strawberries lost 25 but none have bloomed, making runners instead.

I called CS about the 6 fruit trees I lost. The CS was wonderful with replacing them ( they had only two in stock the other 4 will be shipped next spring)
I found this site since I was searching for reviews on gunerys since I can't believe so many plants have died wondering if it as due to my error or the stock of gunerys. I have a pretty good green thumb and hate to think that I have lost so much money in dead plants. Seeing as they offer such a "wonderful" replacement it gives me the impression that they are aware of there stock not all being to standard.
While my first experience with CS was good I dislike the fact that I am set back a year on the plants producing.
I will be contacting CS for replacements of the plants that have died. That will be the true test of this company for me. if all goes well I will be ordering from them again despite the act that I have a 50/50 chance do good plants due to having such a huge selection. Either you have to have the money to run around to local nurseries to find what you want or the patience of getting the plants replaced with this company and not be wasting time and gas hunting.
I will be updating once I contact CS next week.
Melissia D.

"On Jun 11, 2012 10:48 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We apologize for the problems with your plants. We would be happy to reship them. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information."

Posted on May 16, 2012, updated May 16, 2012
Posted on April 26, 2012, updated May 16, 2012
I placed an order for a cherry tree, plum tree, and a dwarf key lime. Received the cherry and plum but the dwarf key lime was back ordered......No problem. Received what was supposed to be my order for the key lime 2 days ago. My box was packed with someone else's order (4) butterfly bushes including their invoice. Of course I immediately sent an email to find out where my key lime is. No response. Sent 2nd email tonight and still waiting for a response. In the meantime, these butterfly bushes are dropping leaves like crazy and I've taken them out of the box and am nurturing them on the back deck. I'll keep everyone informed. I realize mistakes sometimes happen, but it's how Gurney's reacts that will keep my business or not. I'm really hoping I can change my experience to positive.

"On May 3, 2012 10:36 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and make sure your order is shipped to you. Please keep the butterfly bushes with our compliments."

While I will never order from Gurney (or Field's) again, they did refund most of my money, without being asked. I had ordered and planted Vinca and lilacs which failed to thrive and were non-existent by the following spring. The wild flower seeds grew and even came back the next year. I wrote them just to explain the plants died even though they had been cared for according to directions. They sent a check for partial payment! I wrote again to ask for an explanation. They then sent another check, minus S&H, plus a new seed packet! Odd, since I had specifically complimented them on the seed growth as being different than the plant death! Their customer service people do not read, their plants do not thrive, but they do cut checks.

"On Jan 31, 2012 2:32 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We apologize for any problems you may have had. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information."

Posted on June 19, 2011, updated September 27, 2011
Wish i would have found Daves Garden a week earlier ... I would never have began doing business with Gurneys had i seen these ratings.

Ordered two 3-1 Spirea bushes, one Kaleidoscope Hydrangea, and one Bi-color butterfly bush.
All are supposed to ship in the fall around the 2nd week of September (6A) ... I will update the neutral rating with a thumbs up or down when that time arrives.

Fingers Crossed

"On Jun 20, 2011 10:29 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback about your order. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check on the ship date of your order.

I just received my order from Gurney's. It took them 10 days to send it out and it was in transit for 7 days.

The plant arrived fresh and alive, but it was a puny little thing. Merely a rooted cutting. The box and packaging were fine, in fact, I'm going to say the packaging probably actually cost more than the cutting.

The cutting was in a tiny "paper" pot, which was barely holding together and most of the soil had fallen out.

All in all the plant was in pretty good shape. I just thought I'd get something a little larger than that, considering it was shipped as "2 lbs".
I won't give a negative because the plant did arrive alive and the packaging was great, but not the paper pot the plant was in.

"On May 13, 2011 9:25 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. We apologize that the paper pot did not hold up in transit. If you have any problem with the plants please let us know and we will be happy to replace it for you."

I ordered near the end of April to get 50 Sweet Potato slips and 1 basil seed packet.

April 29 2011 I got an email saying they had shipped the basil via USPS.

It is now May 10 2011 and no sign of seeds and no further email saying Sweet Potatoes are shipping. I have to have my sweet potatoes in the ground before the end of May to get a harvest in NC.

So far I am not very satisfied with them. They are slow, and when I tried to track my package I could not. I am not very pleased with them. If I change my mind if/when I receive my plants I'll let you know how they are.

"On May 11, 2011 9:38 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information to check on the delivery date for your sweet potatoes and what happened to your basil."

This was my first order from Gurney's. I ordered two cherry trees, and they were originally expected to arrive during the last week of April. Then I was later told to expect them mid-May.
At the end of April, I received a UPS shipping notification, and I tracked the shipment for a couple days until the UPS website stated that, per sender's request, my package had been transferred to the local post office for delivery. The postal carrier then left a note in the mailbox that I had to come pick up a package at the post office. I wrote to the company asking about this, if it was normal protocol, and expressing my disappointment, but received no response.
When I finally got my package after a week in transit, I was pleased to see that my cherry trees looked healthy and green. But after the shipping fiasco, I must admit I was surprised.

"On May 11, 2011 9:35 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with our company. We do ship our orders UPS but in some cases the orders are transfered to the local post office by UPS. Please let us know if you have any problems and we will be happy to help."

I ordered five berry plants this spring, received them in three different shipments. Three out of the five plants did not survive. I hoped they might pull through, but finally realized it was not to be. Called customer service today and was informed all are out of stock for reshipment this season. One blueberry and one blackberry are available for shipping this Sept, and the other blueberry next spring. I was given the option to have them shipped this fall and next spring, or to have all three shipped next spring. I have chosen to receive the replacements as soon as available. The customer service rep was friendly and prompt with the replacement option and gave me a confirmation number. I'll update my rating once the replacements are actually received.

"On May 11, 2011 9:30 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you sharing your experience with us. We are happy we were able to help and have things taken care of for you. Please let us know if you have any further problems with your order."

Gurneys had shown a "Buy one, Get one free" deal on their website. I ordered a Clematis and it arrived in very good condition, when my "Free" Clematis did not arrive I called them and was told that I was not able to participate in the offer, despite what the "promotion" said. I had copied the offer and put it in "WORD". No where on the page did it say I could not participate. I refuse to argue over $7.00, so I told them that I would take my business elsewhere. The Clematis I purchased is doing fine, but the integrity of the company is sadly lacking.

"On May 5, 2011 9:53 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will have a customer service representative contact you and have this taken care of."

Gurney's clearly does a large volume of orders and they seem to have perfected the advertising for the gardening set. Their discounts and specials were enough to entice me away from my usual mail order companies this year.

My recent order was placed back in February and plants arrived several weeks ago (April), all looking, frankly, not so healthy. Luckily, I have the skills to rejuvenate some of them, but two of the plants clearly gave up the ghost long before I got them (a "hardy" lavender, I note with some irony... and a Russian Sage plant) and the third is teetering on the edge of shuffling off its mortal coil (a banana tree/plant).

I will be contacting Gurney's regarding these under their lifetime guarantee and will see where this goes, but generally, it looks as if Gurney's is relying on volume rather than quality in its plants. So if you are looking for quality plants the first time, I might recommend looking at another company, based on my own (albeit) limited opinion. Depending on the outcome, I may try these guys again, but currently, as a first time customer of Gurney's, I am not impressed with their quality.

"On Apr 27, 2011 11:53 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem with your order. We apologize for the problem and a customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and have the plants reshipped to you.
"

Posted on March 28, 2011, updated April 11, 2011
Posted on March 17, 2011, updated March 28, 2011
The plants I ordered were small and dry, half of them were dead. I contacted and they said to wait and see if they grow.

Do not order from these clowns...

"On Mar 17, 2011 9:50 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem with your plants. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information so we can reship the plants that did not do well for you.
"

This is my first experience with this company. I ordered three items to add to my growing family orchard: Native Plums, Manchurian Bush Apricots, and a Carmine Jewel Dwarf Cherry. The plums and apricots arrived quickly and in perfect condition - well rooted and damp and are beginning to bud out already.

On the other hand, the Carmine Jewel Cherry has been backordered with no suggested re-delivery date. I'm hoping it ships before the season gets too late. My order was placed in mid Feb., and their website still does not have the item listed as "out of stock". Perhaps just a popular new item that they have yet to receive. Just hoping it ships timely and in as good a condition as my other items.

"On Apr 12, 2011 7:24 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information to check on the ship time for your cherry tree."

Two things. First, a couple of years ago I ordered blackberry plants thinking they would ship for spring planting. They rolled in here in the hottest, driest part of the year for fall planting. The ground was hard as a rock and I was pretty ticked. Besides, whoever heard of planting blackberries in the fall?? I couldn't find any scientific documentation to support this.

Well, Gurney's wouldn't take common sense for an answer. No refund, but they promised to send along plants for the spring.

So, I broke the ground and planted them. Turns out that they did GREAT! And Gurney's shipped about 1/3 of my order in the spring too. I kept them, figgering it was payback for fall shipping and all that extra work with my cement garden.

Second thing. This year I ordered tomato seeds early. Three varieties. They came in in fine time. One pack went to my neighbor.

Both he and I had the same experience. The seedlings came up, thin and frail and fell over and died. Both he and I are experienced gardeners.

I replanted...twice. Same experience. I have no way of knowing what the real cause was. (He theorized they didn't get enough sun, but I made sure the re-plantings did for sure.)

So, the first chance I got, I went to the local farm supply who had fresh tomato seeds and I have a fine crop of baby plants sitting outside my window on the air conditioner now.

I'd give it less than 30% probability that we both messed up. My neighbor is the kind of guy who can poke a stick in the ground and it will root. So, I wonder what kind of quality control that Gurney's maintains these days.

I still have a few seeds left. They are much smaller than the seeds I bought locally. It makes me wonder if they are actually from hybrid tomatoes, sold for the real thing. I may never know.

So, the jury is still out in my mind, but I'd love to solve this mystery.Thus, I'm not making a judgment on Gurney's. We *may* have both messed up. Even if not, they could have had an an uncaught problem with a foreign supplier.

If nobody else has had this sort of problem this year, that would throw it back on me.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with tomato seed from Gurney's or elsewhere?

"On Apr 12, 2011 7:21 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for bringing the tomato seed problem to our attention. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and find out what seeds did not for well for you. When we receive this information we will pass it on to our quality control department to have this checked out."

I received part of my order & I've emailed several times about the remaining 2 Tarragon plants I get an automatic response that someone will be in touch but I have yet to hear from them This neutral will soon be a negative as I will try once again

"On Apr 1, 2011 3:51 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and check on your order for you."

I guess I will learn as I go too. I too should have found this site (DG) before I shopped. I placed an order with Gurney's, I received what I ordered, with the exception of the onion sets and potatoes which they said will be sent at the proper planting time??? now I am worried if/when I will get them. Also I ordered a popular zucchini,.. and got a summer squash, it is not worth the hassle to get it replaced, I'll just buy local.... and next year,.. I will shop around a lot more.

"On Mar 16, 2011 8:26 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information to check on your onions and potatoes for you. I apologize the wrong item was shipped to you. You may keep the squash at no charge and we will have the zucchini reshipped to you.
"

Posted on February 7, 2011, updated February 7, 2011
Posted on June 2, 2010, updated February 7, 2011
Last year, I ordered plants (asparagus, perennials & several berries) from Gurney's. As I remember, they arrived promptly and plants looked to be in good shape. I had some that never actually came up and some that didn't survive the winter. I emailed customer service about replacements and within 48 hours received a reply. I'll be receiving replacements for my strawberries soon. The asparagus will come next spring (which I wasn't thrilled to hear but I'm sure it's because it's too late to plant now- at least they gave me a timeframe). Two other berries are no longer available and I received the merchandise credit certificates yesterday (about 10 days after my initial email).

It would be nice if there was a clearer way to request replacements online, there's really no proper format on the website for this.

This was my first experience with Gurney's and I would order from them again.

"On Jun 8, 2010 12:42 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. Your feedback is used to help provide better service to our customers. Happy Gardening!"

Have ordered several things from them over the years, with no major problems. This year, I ordered a pair of dwarf banana trees, that took a while to arrive. When I opened the box, I found two spindly, sickly looking plants, and placed them in a sunny window. I'm a good gardener, and have babied these plants until they look better than the ones in the catalog. They are now shoulder height with leaves two to three feet long. They have also divided at the roots, and I have seven baby banana trees. They will all go into the greenhouse for the winter, so it will be interesting to see what happens next year.

While this is a happy ending, I think it had more to do with my skills that it did with Gurneys.

"On Oct 13, 2010 9:25 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. Your feedback is appreciated and used to provide service to our customers. Thank you for taking the time to let us know."

Posted on July 22, 2010, updated August 27, 2010
I have had had poor luck with Gurney's plants. A lemon tree was healthy and did well, but a Knockout rosebush I bought from them a tiny seedling! The biggest problem was with a six-pack of heirloom tomato seedlings, however. These plants showed up looking yellowed and quite diseased. I was afraid to plant them in my garden, because I was concerned that they might introduce a blight into the garden soil. (Late blight is particularly a concern in the US right now, but I think this looked more like verticillium wilt.) I emailed and asked for a refund or replacement. I even included some photos of the yellowed plants. No response. I emailed again - and a third time. No response. Eventually, the plants died and I threw them out. I never received a refund or replacement.

I have also placed several orders for seeds and supplies with Gurney's. Some of their prices are high; however, they often offer coupons that make the supplies or seeds a good deal. My complaint is with their plants, and lack of replies to emails.

"On Jul 23, 2010 10:34 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. We offer a lifetime guarantee and a customer service representative will be contacting you about your order."

First experience with this company. I was tempted by an offer found through web search for $25 off a $50 order. I figured it was an end of season sale and decided to give them a try. I placed order for some ferns on June 13 and my debit card reflected the charge the very next morning. Decided to review this forum and found many negatives posted, so I sent them an email asking when the estimated shipping date would be, as I was aware the cut-off was June 15. I received no reply to the email, so the next day, being unwilling to risk the issues described in this forum, I send a request for the order to be cancelled and my debit card to be refunded. They did so promptly within a few hours. I am grateful to have this forum as a resource.

"On Jun 18, 2010 10:16 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order."

Last year I ordered Strawberries, Lupine and Red Hot Pokers. The Lupine and Red Hot Pokers arrived in the fall as bare root plants. I planted them when I received them as instructed, but they never came up in the spring.

The Strawberries came in the spring to be planted, however, they arrived when we were on vacation and when I came home and immediately planted them, they did not survive.

In both cases, I called Gurney's. They immediately replaced my Strawberries, however what they sent were very near death. I have photos of them from when they arrived, just in case I needed to prove my case. I was very fortunate that I was able to nurse them back to health and they are doing pretty well right now.

They told me over the phone that they would send me new Lupine and Red Hot Poker plants in the fall, and then a couple of weeks later, in the mail I received a refund check. I called to make sure that was the way they had it in their records and it was. So, I used some of the money to buy seeds from Diane's seeds.

"On May 26, 2010 10:33 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. We apologize for the confusion concerning your order."

I recently ordered a passiflora 'maypop' and it came well packed and the vine was about 5'' and healthy. within 2 weeks it drooped and died. I did not have a chance to harden it due to the fact that I live in Wisconsin and its still to cold here so the plant was placed in my indoor greenhouse. Im not sure if I did anything wrong to cause this, but any advise would help because I do have 5 more varieties of passion flowers and would cry if any more met the same fate! The company no longer carries this species and I have yet to recieve a response from them.

"On May 4, 2010 11:23 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We are always here to assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you. Happy Gardening."

I'm not sure why I placed an order for strawberries on their website--there was no way to tell when the plants would ship or what sort of packaging/pots they would be in. At any rate, the plants came, but there was no advance notice and it was a long wait for not a great product. I'd rather pay more for better quality and more info about what exactly will arrive and when.

"On Apr 15, 2010 10:49 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. Our company is based on 100% Customer Service and we do offer a lifetime guarantee. We guarantee all of our plants to reach you in perfect and healthy condition. What's more, any item that does not grow and flourish to your complete satisfaction will be replaced free, with no time limit, for as long as you garden."

I ordered a red currant, black raspberry, blueberry, and 50 strawberry plants form Gurney's at the end of February. There was a deal going for $25 off an order of $50, so I decided to give this nursery a try. I noticed that their prices were a bit higher than what I'd seen elsewhere, but I figured they were paying for half the order, so they could afford to have higher prices. I also assumed that high prices would indicate high quality plants, but that wasn't quite right. My black raspberry was a twig with a small bundle of roots hanging off the bottom. The blueberry was small, but had pretty nice roots. The currant had quite a bit of roots as well, but was also small. The strawberries were pretty well rooted, but about a dozen of them were dried out. Not bad, but I was hoping for better quality.

When I placed my order, I emailed customer service asking for a shipping date. I waited a week and there was no reply, so I sent another. I finally got a reply which said they couldn't control the shipping date and that my order would be sent at the appropriate time for my area. Then I got another message from a different customer service rep that said my order would be shipped ASAP. It turns out they only shipped the strawberries ASAP and the rest would have to wait. I got the next piece of my order about 2 weeks later, and then the final piece a week after that. The last 2 pieces arrived without any sort of notification from Gurney's, but luckily I was available to plant them when they arrived.

I don't know if I'll order from Gurney's again. I don't know what I was expecting, what with all the negative reviews they have, but I guess I was hoping for higher quality plants. They sent what I ordered, which is more than I was expecting. It wasn't a terrible experience, but my orders from other nurseries were much easier and the size and quality of the plants I received from other nurseries was better and most of them had cheaper prices, too.

"On Apr 13, 2010 4:21 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. If at anytime you are not satisfyed with your order please let us know, we offer a lifetime guarantee on our products."

Posted on March 11, 2010, updated March 11, 2010
Posted on March 10, 2010, updated March 11, 2010
Posted on March 10, 2010, updated March 10, 2010
I put in an order to Gurney's about a month ago. I finally recieved my potatoes a few days ago. The rest of my seed has yet to even ship. At first estimated delivery was early march, now it's mid to late march. It seems everytime I email them wanting an update on my order, they push the delivery date back further and further. On Gurney's shipping information, it clearly states that seed orders will be shipped immeadiately. That to me would mean one or two days. Not several weeks or even a month later. The current delivery expectation is about a two week range. I guess I'll be lucky if I get my seeds in time for next spring.

"On Mar 11, 2010 11:23 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your inquiry. Please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience we may have caused. We will be contacting you for your account information to see what we can do to make sure your order is shipped right away."

F.Y.I.
Gurney's OUTSOURCING

We all know that plant material can come from many places in the world and this is positive.
I just placed an order with this company two days ago and it was very unsettling. I had ordered from them years ago and still got their catalog.

THEIR CALL CENTER FOR ORDERING IS IN INDIA!
No Americans employed there.

I did not realize this until after the order was completed and my credit card three digit code was taken and I could not cancel it. I could not understand the person taking my order and I finally mentioned that she had an accent and I was having trouble understanding her, she replied that she was in India taking my order! It was a headache because of the language barrier and of course she was not familiar with Colorado growing conditions and I could not seem to get her to understand that I wanted my plant material earlier to grow in the greenhouse.

I want to support AMERICAN companies that employ American workers and NOT companies that outsource jobs that Americans can perform and need.
I will have to wait to see if I get my order correctly and will update the review at that time. I wish that I had read the reviews before I ordered.

P

"On Feb 26, 2010 11:23 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We have many call centers and do have a call center outside of the US. This is to ensure 100% customer service and to assist you in placing orders 24 hours a day."

I recieved a contender peach tree last year they just never would grow. Other than that everything else I have bought in the past few years has been good.

First, I still order seeds from Gurneys. However, I would like to point out that the current Gurney's Seeds and Nursery has nothing to do with any living or past Gurney other than the format of the catalog and the branding. It's just a mail order house. I am a descendant of the original Gurneys from Yankton and its really not that great of a story how it all transpired, but I don't believe the company that currently holds the name is responsible for that. I do hope that they do their best to provide good service and products for the good of the family name.