Comments regarding Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com)

I was a little hesitant to buy this brand because I had seen a lot of negative reviews, but I ordered two Spring Hill Nursery plants from Home Depot that seem to be drop shipped directly from the nursery in Ohio. The plants arrived in perfect condition in two separate shipments. One plant was in the mail for a week due to delays with FedEx but arrived healthy in a box with air holes. It seems a lot of people have had bad experiences buying directly from them, but if you order Spring Hill Nursery products through homedepot.com, Home Depot will guarantee that you are satisfied with your puchase so there is little risk. Anyways, the plants are growing well and really healthy. I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

One of the plants in the order became unavailable. Rather than shipping the rest when they need to be planted I ended up with iris and slow growing plants in late June with already 90F heat during the day and 75-85F at night. They were not going to grow and probably not even survive if put outdoors. It was not likely they'd go back to being dormant until fall so to keep some bright sunlight and cool loving spring/fall plants alive I quickly ordered some grow lights, found some big pots, used up most of the soil I'd bought for planting this year, and filled the bay window that has an ac vent below it. One was very slow to sprout but I did manage to save them all so far.

The rest of the order only got worse.

1 bag of a mix of tubers turned out to be empty with nothing but the peat mix they packed the others in. Out of the remainder of what should be very hardy species that are near impossible store and ship wrong only 2 of 5 have shown any growth. 1 is growing well and the agastache despite having leaves when planted is still about 3" tall. Everything should be several feet tall with flowers by now but they apparently sat around not properly kept dormant and not being shipped for several extra months and now are struggling to grow no matter what I do to try to help them.

The backordered item was refunded but not for anything beyond what the plant was listed for on their website so any additional shipping or tax was not included. They are willing to make me pay the shipping cost for their mistake but they won't do it in order to get the other plants out alive. Every other nursery I've dealt with over the years would have gone ahead and sent out the other plants and accepted that selling more than they can get of something is their mistake. They would have accepted the cost of having to ship it separately when it became available or it would have immediately been cancelled with a full refund and probably a discount code on future orders.

With the missing and dead on arrival plants this order probably would have ended up free from any other of probably a dozen online nurseries I have ever used due to the low quality they sent out, mistakes, and inconveniences. Spring hill Nursery won't even refund the empty bags and dead plants they already charge more than most for. Don't bother gambling on this place. They have nothing you can't find elsewhere with less risk.

Springhill Nursery sells products that they don't have on hand. I have waited months for a shipment that keeps getting moved back. They don't notify of shipment changes, you must log in periodically to see the new shipping date. The bush to have been delivered mid-April is now slated for mid-July (the worst time to plant a bush), maybe it will get here by the fall. This is after calling them and having my order placed on high priority.

I also placed a large order last fall for spring delivery which was delayed and delayed until I finally cancelled it as too late for spring planting.

I used to order from them regularly but never will again.

I am a Home Depot customer and order quite a few live plants from them which are supplied by a variety of growers. What I receive is always beautiful and thrives. This time I ordered two plants from Home Depot that were listed as coming from Spring Hill Nurseries. What I received was inferior and damaged. The quality was horrible. Do not be fooled by Spring Hill Nurseries' friendly customer service. They will waste your time telling you to just give their pathetic little plants a chance. If they spent more money on sending out healthy and vibrant plants, than they do on paying customer service agents to soothe disappointed customers, they would have a better business and more sales.

Years ago I had ordered a whole garden of plants from Spring Hill as a new gardener, and after painstakingly planting the tiny seedlings they sent, nothing made it past the winter. The plants were just sprouts. I thought this time might be different, and I really wanted the rose they were offering. I also wanted the giant phlox, and hoped that over the years Spring Hill had improved. I was wrong.

I will never order from Spring Hill again, no matter how lovely are the pictures. I trust one thing about Spring Hill Nurseries, and that is I know I will receive a low value and inferior plants from this company. Where is their integrity?

Spring Hill Nursery is the only online retail nursery in the USA that had a native plant that I wanted, other than one other nursery that offered it for fifty dollars more than Spring Hill Nursery.

My internet search indicated this plant is widely available in Europe, yet it is nearly impossible to find in it's native country. Could the USA nursery industry be responsible for why we do not plant more native plants?

Spring Hill Nursery described the plant as being small. The diciduous plant arrived last week with frail looking stems and a few tiny new leaves emerging. Even though I was disappointed with this puny looking plant, I planted it in rich potting soil, watered and put it in the shade. The roots looked healthy.

One week later the plant looks wonderful with plenty of large new leaves and more robust stems. I'm a happy customer and feel very lucky. I truly appreciate Spring Hill Nursery for offering this plant.

April 2022

Did not ship product. I ordered to hardy perennials on December 29th 2021 for Zones 7a. Per the company's website orders to this zone shipments were to start in February. April 29th, after numerous attempts to communicate with the company I got an email stating that the company did not have the product and as a result would not ship until potentially the end of May. Meanwhile, in that zip code, local stores are selling full plants to be planted immediately. This is clearly a "Take Their Money" plan as they did not have secured product and did not deliver the products that they never had in stock. There is no reason to purchase from this company.

How in the world do you come back long after the sale has been made and demand an additional, arbitrary amount of money for shipping? And they’re relentless about it, too! I agree with a previous reviewer who believes that they are affiliated with the also pitiful Michigan Bulb.

Last night I placed an order from Spring Hill's sales catalog which featured a 50% price reduction. After completing the online form, I noticed that the discount was not reflected in the final price. I placed the order anyway thinking I could call them in the morning and ask to have the discount applied to my order. I called them less than 24 hours after placing the online order for $190.96 and I was told they could not give me the discount. I was informed that I should have used the "offer code" that was on the back page of the catalog. No where in the catalog or website does it state that the offer code must be used in order to get the discount. This is deceptive advertising. I will NOT ever order again from Spring Hill Nursery.

I tried this out as it's one of the few places I could find pixie crunch apple available. The website gave me a specified window of delivery. The night before the delivery window, the ship date is pushed back 2 days. Same thing 2 days later. I call them twice & they firmly cannot ship, although "items are in stock", because "they follow the Dept of Agriculture recommendations". The difference is only 2 days that keeps getting tacked on to their original posted ship window. If you cancel the order, the confirmation email states that the refund will be processed in 30 days. If you change your mind and want to reinstate, they cannot and you must pay for a whole separate new order. I'm glad I only tried to order one tree and will see if they process the refund.

The last plants I received were not healthy at all. I believe this place is affiliated with Michigan Bulb, which is also dubious.

This is for Springhill Nurseries in Ohio that Lowe's uses. I ordered 3 lilac bushes and they arrived within a week, in good condition and properly packed. Only had a 3 day delay on delivery as FedEx had wrong day but it updated quickly.

I can't tell you how perplexed and disappointed I have been with my order from this company.
The first part of the order (dormant root balls) arrived when we still had two feet of snow on the ground- way before they should have reasonably been sent. I had no-where to put them, but did my best by potting them up in the garage, and will now have to transplant them again. A month later, neither have thus far shown any signs of life.
The second part of my order, a clematis, arrived after a circuitous route through the midwest after leaving Ohio, traveling for ten days to reach me in Chicago (?) After its rigorous travels it arrived yellow and dry, quite spindly, and the stem was snapped. I would consider the plant a "seedling" at best. I planted it anyway hoping that it would come up from the roots. No signs of life yet,
My third delivery arrived on Saturday, gloriosa lily bulbs, cavalierly thrown into a plastic bag with no protection whatever. They did not survive the rigors of the US postal systems so unprotected, and are smashed mush.

The items I chose were interesting things I can not get at the local garden centers, and so I purchased from Springhill although their prices were at a premium from what I can get locally. But I'm going back to the local garden centers going forward.
I contacted Springhill, and have received no response. I might have just as well flushed that $100 down the toilet.
Don't just walk.....RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought 5 Mr. Lincoln rose plants at $25+. These are the smallest and scrawniest plants I have ever ordered. Your ad didn’t specify the grade or size (all of the rest of your roses were in 1 or 2 gallon pots). I expected a 1 or 11/2 quality plant. These are 3 or4 rating.

In addition, the bare root plants were totally dry, without ANY moisture preserving wrapping. Surely, not sent by a credible nursery.

Please be on notice that if every plant doesn’t leaf out properly,
i will expect a total refund. BAH!!!

I don't understand how this company can continue to be in business. I ordered 10 Princess Nadia Ajugas in mid-August 2020, and to my memory, they were at least $10 apiece. They gave me an expected shipping date of mid-September. I received no word in mid-September of why there had been no delivery, an expected delivery date, or order cancellation. I waited another three weeks, then contacted them again. I received my plants about three weeks later, again with no explanation of what the delay had been.

I still can't believe what I received. The plants were packaged in what appeared to be an unprotected garbage bag, with no separation or protection between them. Each "plant," which was little more than a sprout, was packaged in very poorly wrapped plastic. Some had lost all of their minimal soil. Eight of the ten were so gnarled and shriveled that I planted them just to give them a chance to live. Two were undeniably dead. l took a picture of EACH INDIVIDUAL PLANT and emailed them to the company so they could see for themselves what the plants looked like. The company sent me a free coupon for two plants the next time I shopped with them and offered no compensation or explanation for the extremely poor condition of the other plants. I will never shop with them again under any circumstances. I am waiting until spring to see if any of those extremely sorry plants managed to live. RUN, RUN, AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

Posted on June 1, 2020, updated June 9, 2020
Posted on May 13, 2013, updated June 1, 2020
I ordered 4 plants from Spring Hills and when they didn't come in 6 weeks, I just gave up and forgot about it. I hadn't paid them anything so nothing ventured, nothing lost. Then this week in the mail I get a dun notice. It says the plants were shipped 2 weeks ago. Not only did the plants not come but they were invoicing me for double what the plants were worth. Now everybody knows there are no businesses that ship their product without it being paid for. I wrote back for them to "stuff it". I have not yet received any answer and don't expect to. These folks will sell your address to anyone and are tied in with other scam companies like Mich. Bulb. Avoid these people like the plague.

Oh! I wish I had read the feedback on Dave's Garden before I ordered from Spring Hill Nursery!
I received a Spring Hill email with a special offer: BOGO, Buy One Get One for an additional 1 cent. I ordered a rose (which was a bit pricey but, I thought that's how they make their profit!) and when the email confirmation came it showed one rose coming and no additional 1 cent charge. Immediately I called their customer service department and after 30+ minutes of musik I decided to send them an email.
They sent an email in return saying with Covid, etc. etc I would be hearing from a customer service agent soon. No call ever came although the wimpy little rose plant did arrive last night. I just got off the phone with a customer service agent who must have a degree in talking in circles; he explained I would have had to pay 1 cent to get the second rose, which I had stated in my email to the company! The best he could do was offer me a $10. coupon for my NEXT order but, guess what?? There will NEVER be a next order for Spring Hill Nursery from me!!

I ordered an over priced 4' arborvitae at $99.99 because the quarantine for the covid-19 virus prevented me form going to a local nursery and they would not deliver. I was surprise to receive a 3' tree that is priced $50.oo less than the one I ordered.

I received a very nice catalog from Spring Hill with plants I've not seen before. I was very hesitant to purchase the plants due to Spring Hill's terrible reputation and so many negative comments. I took the plunge and ordered a golden weeping redbud tree, a double blooming redbud, and a variegated Yuki Gessho Variegated Panicle Hydrangea. Several gardening friends on Facebook told me horror stories about the company. I was beginning to fear I had made a terrible mistake and wasted $137 dollars! The plants arrived in a couple of weeks and were of a nice size considering they were mail-order saplings. They were well packed and looked in great shape. I planted them and now they are all leafing out. I was so relieved the plants looked as nice as they did considering Spring Hill's bad reviews. I guess time will tell if they grow and flourish, but for now everything is looking great!

Everything I ordered grew, so I can't really complain. On the other hand, their packaging seems rather hit or miss:

The clematis was extremely well packaged.

The Dahlia bulb was placed in a small, open plastic bag with minimal peat moss (or some other organic material) added. This was then placed in an unpadded envelope.

The Salvia root was at least in a box, but again, the material around it left much to be desired, the root being left to rattle around in the box with little to hold it in place.

Everything grew, but in 2 out of 3 cases I'd say that was in spite of the packing.

For zone 8, I order over 25 plants in mid-April (shipping window as listed on the website was open for my zone). The plants were listed as in stock on the website but they did not ship until the end of May (5/30 to be exact) and will not arrive until mid-June. There was no communication during this time to tell me about the status of the order and the plants each time I checked the website were still listed as "in stock". I reached out to customer service twice during this time - the first time they said that one of the plants had "been processed" but the other two were back ordered. The second time when I attempted to cancel the order they generated a shipping label (although no actual shipment had been delivered to the carrier) and told me that I couldn't get a refund since the order had "been processed". Two months to receive plants and no updates during this time is unacceptable.

I wish I had read the reviews of Springhillnursery.com before ordering. They ship to Fla in the summer when it is near 100 degrees and they use FedX/usps to ship which in this case took 8 days. One item was backordered though they had my order 2 months ago.

I ordered a twisted lavender redbud last year. It did nothing, so they refunded. 2/2/19 ordered. Because of the extreme weather, I canceled 2 other trees the 1st week in March. I requested that the Redbud be shipped in the middle of May- extreme weather. Wanted to ensure success. Checking the status of my orders; did not see the redbud or the shipping status. Contacted cust. serv; SOLD OUT. Surprise !!! No email notification, just we issued you a refund yesterday. It's a popular tree and we're out. We can notify you when it's in stock and give you $10 off. Isn't that why I ordered early- to get one? Happen before with Garden Alive companies. They will fill other orders before yours no matter how early you order/pay. Perhaps if you are running low you should ensure all orders are filled before selling more and/or contact delayed shipping requests to see if they want it shipped earlier because running low on stock. I live in a rural area and depend on mail order selections. I will have to pay 2-3x more and drive 100 miles or more to get one. Fulfill your orders before selling more stock than you have. At Springhill, the early bird doesn't get the worm. Service reps don't listen and they're responses are silly. No I don't wanted to be notified when you get more; that will be next year; there is no guarantee of getting on even if I place my order early.

Only ordered one thing, a Romeo bush cherry late this spring. Packed well, shipped promptly, and was HUGE. Not sure if I'll order from them again based on these other reviews.

When the plants arrive in good condition, I've had excellent results. You can usually find some pretty good deals if you keep checking the site and sign up for their emaisl.
My big problem with Spring Hill is that they ship via Smartpost. So if you are ordering live plants they will be at least a week and sometimes two in transit.
I recently ordered hardy mum plants. (16 of them) It took 11 days for them to arrive and nearly all of the growth on them had rotted down to the stem. If you are shipping live plants this is ridiculous. It's fine for bulbs, bare roots etc., but not for live plants.

I was aware of Springhill's somewhat 'iffy' reputation but they had a plant I wanted on sale so I thought I would give them a try. I ordered four purple Culver's Roots (Veronicastrum Fascination) on sale from Springhill and received my order a couple of days ago. The bare root plants were nicely packaged, healthy, and a very nice size for bare-root starter plants. I already planted them and they are all sending up shoots.

I am actually pretty happy so far with Springhill, so much so that I placed another order for some Heuchera's (that I can't find locally) that were also on sale...I am hoping I won't be disappointed by this order.

I've kind of shied away from 'mail order' plants as the various companies have all been bought up and are owned by the same big company(s) and the selection and quality have gone down. I am glad I took a chance on these Culver's Roots...I am very happy so far!

In January or February, I ordered a kit called "Color in the Shade". It included 18 shade plants like hostas, lily of the valley, etc. I also ordered 2 Siberian Iris bulbs and their fertilizer pellets. I studiously avoided ordering live plants---everything ordered was either a bare root or bulb.

The first tip-off should have been the lackluster description on the website. I needed to know the sq. footage required for this kit, and it was not listed. I also enquired as to whether a planting diagram was included. The first question was answered, the second was ignored. Since I received this kit, the question has been answered on the "questions" portion of their website.

I received everything in mid/late April (~20th). Inside the box there was zero planting information. No diagram, no cards to indicate planting depth, spacing, watering requirements, etc. Only plant names stamped on the plastic bags containing the bulbs/roots. I googled everything and did my best.

About 4 weeks from planting, only 6 out of of the 18 plants in the kit had sprouted at all. It wasn't a situation where I had planted things wrong. I had 1:6 Lily of the Valley come up, 2:3 Hosta, etc. The only things that failed to sprout entirely were the bleeding hearts.

I called and was told I had to wait 6 weeks to get a refund. I e-mailed, and was told that things have different blooming times. I replied and pointed out that I understand that things have different blooming times, but 2/3 of their kit had failed to sprout. I was refunded within 24 hours of this email.

Took my refund and went straight to the local garden center, where I got some lovely plants.

Posted on March 5, 2011, updated May 30, 2018
Today is 3-5-11 and I received an e-mail from Spring Hill Nursery stating that my order had been shipped. I'm in zone 6, but more like zone 5. Every nursery, except this company, ships in April for my zone. I have lost several of their plants and I think it's because they ship too early. I have asked them not to ship plants early, but they continue to do so.

"On Mar 7, 2011 3:29 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for contacting us concerning the shipment of your plants. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check into matter for your."

Ordered 16 plants from Spring Hill Nursery April of 2017. Most of these were in 4” pots. All plants were received in good condition. They have an excellent selection.

I recently ordered a razzmatazz grape and a hardy issai kiwi from Spring Hill Nursery. I was not expecting healthy plants to arrive based on the negative feedback here. Despite the horror stories of others my experience was positive.

I placed my order in mid March. Spring Hill sent a email stating that the plants would ship sometime in April or May. Well my plants arrived promptly on April 5th. The plants were in pots and had live healthy roots. Each pot was secured tightly inside of a cardboard sleeve. These sleeves were then packaged securely inside the shipping box. The size of the plants was smaller than I would have liked given the price paid but the plants were very healthy and dark green. To me plant health is more important than size.

Overall I am happy with my purchase.

The bulbs, tubers and corms I received from Spring Hill Nursery this year were among the worst I have ever gotten from an online supplier. The dahlias were ridiculously tiny, many were shriveled and one was damp and rotting. The begonias were desiccated and spongey. The freesias were undersized. The entire shipment seemed to be third-rate stock. The dahlias I purchased at Costco were three times the size of the rubbish SpringHill sent me, and the Costco tubers were plump and perfectly formed. I wasted my money buying from SpringHillNursery.com! (I placed my order months in advance, and they never confirmed it. When I contacted them to find out when the order would ship, they gave me a date that was about a month too late for my region. They refused to send the order earlier. Horrible service.)

I ordered a birthday gift on Oct 29. It finally arrived at its destination in Arizona on Nov.22nd. The delivery person said the address " does not exist" and returned the gift to Ohio. Both my phone number and the recipient's phone number were included on the original order- no effort was made to contact us
for directions. I have visited and sent gifts to the address many times- it does exist. The delivery person could not bother to ask for directions.
I finally got a response from the company telling me that the order can not be re-sent because they were no longer accepting orders for fall delivery. REALLY? It was ordered on Oct.29.
I can only hope that I will get a refund .
I do not recommend this business and will not be using them again.
Wish I had checked here first. Almost 50% of the feedback is negative.

Posted on June 6, 2017, updated June 9, 2017
I ordered some tiny rose bushes in three inch pots a week and a half ago. After several queries it became apparent that I was not going to receive my plants until at least the middle of June, too late to plant.
If they did not have the plants in stock that they advertised, they should not have taken my money. I wanted roses, not some Wall Street sale of rose futures. If they did have the plants, they should have promptly shipped them.
I ordered bare root roses from their sister company Gurney's and the roses were shipped out the day after I ordered them.
Terrible communication and service. I've asked Paypal to help me resolve this.

I was shocked at the small size and appearance of the three tiny half-dead perennials I received from this company today. Never again!

Not only did they ship the 1 agastache I ordered in early March, they shipped it and 8 others at the beginning of April. To Detroit at the beginning of April? 6 other people's orders too? And when I called them they said the other customers will no doubt call to say they didn't get their plants. This even though I gave the fellow the other order numbers. Is it just me or would most people expect the company would contact those customers? So the rep said he would send me a new plant and, at my request, have it shipped at the end of April. Oh, when I placed my original order in early March, it included a solar powered birdbath and a bee house.

To make a long story longer, the new plant came in the middle of April, and at the end of April I was notified the birdbath and the bee house were out of stock. Really? They didn't either know it when I originally ordered or at least during the several emails and telephone calls we exchanged.

I have in years past ordered from Spring Hill, but I will never do so again. BTW, I gave away the extra plants after babying them through the harsh weather we had here.

I ordered a Carmine Jewel dwarf cherry as well as a Romeo dwarf cherry in January of this year. My plants were shipped to me in early May (I'm in a Northern zone 4b location). The bushes were huge and well branched, between two and three feet tall with excellent root systems. They were shipped bare root in an extremely sturdy box with shredded paper to keep them moist in transit. I'd order these bushes again, and recommend them to anyone.

Posted on May 5, 2015, updated May 3, 2017
I ordered 6 Astilbe's, when they arrived I thought they were dried out, but planted them anyway and am very please to see how well they are doing

Received my first plant order in a few years today, dazzler candy lilies (iris family) and 3 bare root daylilies. Am totally delighted with my order. The daylilies are much bigger root divisions than I expected. They do not appear to have any rot. I will soak them in water tonight then heel them into a garden container. The candy lilies are green plants. they were well packed in plastic with a long cardboard tube protecting both the root and the green stems. I will be planting them also tonight in a container. I'll plan to bring the planter for them in at night, as our evenings right now are in the 30s (F), and daytime upper 40s and 50s. ....I had ordered years ago from Spring Hill and had positive experiences. But it looks to me like they have improved from what I remember.

In early March, I ordered succulents and four Marley's Pink Japanese Snowbells (hard to get trees at 25% of what my local nursery wanted for them). I read the company reviews after the fact and was sure that I would have problems.

Four healthy, five foot trees and three well-wrapped and healthy succulents arrived in three weeks. A month and a half later, my trees are growing quickly and are covered in blossoms. The succulents have doubled in size.

I will definitely order from them again.

After much consideration I've decided that my review must be positive, even though It's on the neutral edge. I ordered several plants this year, and I was pleased that they look to be in fine condition. Especially my two Fragrant Cloud Honeysuckle vines, hence the positive review.

However, I am really frustrated that Spring Hill decided to ship soooooo early! I received my plants in early March (which is within the scheduled shipping time listed on their website for my zone 6). Now, aside from the fact we are having an unusual spate of crappy winter weather right now, our last frost date is in the late April, early May time period. My bare rooted plants are content to hang in the fridge for the duration. But I had to pot up my poor Honeysuckle vines to keep them toasty for the several weeks they have had to spend inside.

Of course, the more important thing is the quality of the plants, which as I said, appears to be top notch, but I really wish they had a better grasp on the shipping schedule.