Comments regarding Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com)

Plants were in great condition when they arrived. Instructions were good. The price was excellent. I asked them to ship early in the week so as to not be stuck in a wharehouse over the weekend and they did just that. I ordered perenials for the shade.

Spring Hill was the first catalog I ordered from about six years ago. I've ordered from them often, but I resolved to stop ordering from Spring Hill after a negative experience a few years ago during their bankruptcy. Since that first order, I've purchased from Bluestone, Fieldstone, Wayside, White Flower Farm, Ashdown Roses, David Austin, Countryside Roses, Jung, and Klehm's Song Sparrow, so I have a lot of room for comparison.

This year, I couldn't resist one of Spring Hill's $25 off coupons. I was EXTREMELY pleased with my order. It came before orders I'd placed earlier from other nurseries, and it came in great shape -- healthy and well-rooted. But more importantly, all the potted plants were in 3.5 X 5 inch pots -- much bigger than the 2.25" X 3" pots they used do send. The quality was better than Bluestone and Wayside for sure.

My order (6 Veronica 'Pink Spires,' 3 Campanula carpatica, 3 Tricyrtis 'Gilt Edge') was a great value and extremely vigorous. Spring Hill has really turned around their quality and value after the ownership change. I will continue to rely on more specialized nurseries (especially for roses), but they are a good source for beginners because of the helpful garden plans and presentations. My only caution is that their marketing copy often overexaggerates -- the plants all sound like three-season bloom machines hardy from Minnesota to South Florida.

I've only ordered from them twice but experience was good. A few years ago, as a novice garderner, I ordered a shade garden, planted it the morning before leaving for a month's vacation with a neighbor tending to the watering. When I returned the plants were huge but no flowers. A renovation was going on in the town house next door. While removing the plaster walls they got plaster dust all over my front yard. I was livid til one of the workmen pointed out that gypsum was good for our clay soil. Sure enough - a week later I had more flowers than I could count.

Last April, I ordered a number of annuals and perenniels. They did take awhile in coming and 2 plants had to be canceled because their scheduled delivery was too late. My rule of thumb in D.C. is in by Mother's Day. The annuals were spectacular and will order more this year. "Rose the Fairy," a bare root shrub was so dry and brittle I almost returned it. Took a chance and soaked it in warm water for a couple of days which made it pliable enough to fit in the pot. Come fall I meant to give it a protetive cover but forgot. It survived the winter fine and is already showing signs of new growth.

They will definitely stay on my list while trying some other suppliers.

I was very hesitant to order from Spring Hill due the all the negative feedback. I also ordered the mini rose collection at a great price. They all arrived in good shape, healthy, nice root systems and packaged well.

I ordered 3 blue hydrangeas, 3 lady's mantle, an old fashioned lilac and 3 butterfly bushes around March of 2005 and I am very pleased with their service. We received them quickly and I was very pleased by how good they looked. They did a very good job packing.
They were small but I consider that a good sign because larger plants never seem to really thrive. I planted these and they took off like rockets. The butterfly bushes are now 3 feet tall and had several blooms on them. The lady's mantle is looking beautiful and the hydrangeas are looking full and lush. My husband ran over the lilac with a lawn mower and I was never able to save it. I am planning on ordering another one this year. Hopefully all will go as well again.

I ordered early last spring, before I found this site, but was very pleased with the plants I received. I ordered 3 'William Guiniess' Columbine, 2 'Multiblue' Clematis and 1 order of 6 'Waterperry Blue' Veronica. They all arrived quickly and in good shape. Once planted they did very well. The columbine filled out very nicely, and though it did not bloom this year, it spent the year developing a good root systme which I am very pleased with. The Clematis took off and I got 4 blooms off of them! Anything I can find on clematis says not to expect blooms the first year. The Veronica also filled out nicely and seemed to be doing wonderful and it bloomed exceptionaly well. My former neighbors used to let their dog run lose however and he kept peeing in my garden. The Veronica seemed very sensetive to this and I lost 2 of them. When I contacted customer service they immediatly shipped me another package of 6. It arrive via the US postal service and despite good packaging and lables which said, this side up, it had been placed on my front walk, in full sun and upside down. Needless to say that was probably the best treatment the package had seen from the postal service. I can honestly say I think they kicked the box the whole way to my front walk! Customer service was again very pleasant to deal with and shipped me another order of Veronia. They arrived in perfect condition and transplanted very well. Everything I orderd has thrived while plants I order from more expensive companies has not done nearly half as well. I shall certainly order from them again!

Anyone who doesn't believe you get what you pay for should give up now. I order from Springhill when I want cheaper and common plant varieties. Everyonce in awhile they will have something unusual but usually they offer common garden plants for very reasonable prices. Although the plants are never large, I can honestly say that I got what I paid for. These plant are perfect for those gardeners who would like to try their hand at mail order for the first time but do not want to spend a whole lot of money. It is also good for those of us who want a lot of plant for next to nothing. The plants may arive small, but I honestly believe that this is an advantage when you consider that they are less likely to go through shock. I hat it when I order an expensive plant and I get a plant with little roots and a whole lot of leaves. They usually end up with fewer leaves within a short period of time. For all you out there that believe bigger is better, please reconsider. This company is given a bad rap by many garden snobs. To all of you willing to keep your mind open, try this company, you won't be disappointed. And I would remind many gardeners that one bad experience with one bad representative does not mean that the whole company is bad.

Seeing others' feedback made me hesitant about dealing with this company, but Springhill had exactly the combination of plants I wanted, and it wasn't terribly expensive. So far, things have been arriving on schedule and in healthy condition. I am pleasantly surprised.

I redeemed a coupon they sent me for $20 of free plants (not including shipping). I was able to get 50 muscari and 50 snow crocus mixture, with just a very small shipping fee. The bulbs arrived today and appear to be in healthy condition. Now all I can do is plant them and wait until Spring to see the results. This was a positive experience.

I have been dealing with Springhill for nearly 20 years, and I remain a loyal customer because of their customer service. Their packaging exceeds any other I have seen, but the shipping of plants is a risky business at best. Over the years I have on occasion received a product that was damaged or was disappointing, but it was always replaced promptly without a fuss. I will remain a loyal customer as long as that standard exists.

My first order with Spring Hill was in April '05. Globe Thistles, Improzed Blaze Climbing rose, White Liatris bulbs and ?

I was told about weather delays and such but actually had my merchandise in a month. Thankfully, as I live in New Mexico heat. I was impressed with the packaging even though a root on my $16 rose was broken. Mind you I also received a shipment for Burpee the exact same day that was all tossed in a green bag.

I was delayed in planting so put it all in the fridge. Weeks after receiving my shipment the plants are in the ground. My Thistles came up in 2 DAYS!! I will keep you posted on the rest!

I did have a problem with the promotional keycode not working so couldn't order online.

I feel like the odd man here, but my experience was positive. I got timely delivery of healthy plants.

Spring Hill, although a bit slow on delivery, sent me all my plants, in good condition. I had ordered two complete gardens and a couple of extras. The few plants (four out of about 50) that did not come up were promptly replaced, after sending customer service one e-mail. Now I've received the daisy collection, and three of the plants that have arrived look a bit chewed up, however, I will still plant them and see how they go. While the plants I've received don't look enormous, for the price I am exceptionally satisfied as they took root and are growing nicely.

I have ordered from Spring Hill for three years now. I wait until I get the $20 coupon then place a small order. The plants are usually small, but survive. If I do have problems, customer service is always great and things are taken care of quickly.

Ordered the blue perennial garden last Sept. and most were bare root. A few did not come up, and Spring Hill promptly sent replacements, with no hassle. The plants are growing well and looking great. My wife and I are very happy with the plants and service. We will order from them again.

I recently purchased perennials from spring hill. They arrived in a very fast manner, I had 2 items on back order and since my initial order I received 1 of the 2 on back order. I still have one on back order and hope to receive it very soon. The quality was good and I will buy again.

Although the company seemed to have a lot of negatives, I decided to order some plants using a 50% off coupon I received with one of their catalogs. I ordered a potted variegated Weigela (marginally hardy in my 4b Zone), some bareroot Nora Barlow Columbine, some bareroot Physostegia virginiana alba, and potted Knautia macedonia and Aster 'Wild Romance'. The bareroot stuff and the potted Knautia macedonia came first, the bareroots were packed in a sealed, labelled plastic bag with semi-moist sawdusty packing material, they looked fine, the Knautia were packaged very nicely in a 3 pack container, they looked great as well and had good growth. I planted them right before a late hard frost so they don't look so hot right now but that isn't the fault of Spring Hill. I got the Weigela a few days later, that was also packed very carefully in a tall narrow box with plastic around the pot, and a cardboard frame around the pot and plant so nothing would get bumped. The plant itself looked healthy and happy, it too was later damaged by the frost but that wasn't Spring Hill's fault. I am waiting for the Asters, I expect they will be carefully packed as well. I would say that perhaps the negative reviews were acted on by Spring Hill and they have taken steps to pack and ship stuff in a better way. I would buy from them again.

After reading the postings on this site, I was quite worried that the order I placed BEFORE finding this site (4/21/05) may be a bit of a problem. I prayed & crossed my fingers hoping for the best. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when I received very helpful and friendly customer service via the telephone as well as an email indicating that two of my selections were on BO, but two others would be arriving between 5/2/05 and 5/4/05.

As promised two of my selections (coral bells & balloon flowers) were delivered by USPS this afternoon. The outside packaging was a sturdy cardboard box (with air-holes) and the coral bells were packaged in plastic containers having a protective "flap" to keep the soil in the "pot" while supporting the leaves of the plants. The balloon flowers were packaged bare root in a plastic baggie but appear to be healthy and have good root systems.

Although I am unable to comment on the remainder of my order, I am quite pleased with what I have received thus far. Maybe the comments posted here have prompted those companies with less-than-optimal ratings to re-evaluate their product as well as their issues with customer service. Hopefully this will become a win-win situation for all of us!

In Feb. 2005 I placed my very first order with Spring Hill Nursery. I have had a wonderful experience with this company. I received one of those "Buy all you want- get 50% off" offers and took advantage of it. I ordered 7 gardens and 18 foxgloves. Whenever I called to check on the status of my orders, the customer service reps were always friendly and helpful.

The orders arrived in a few different shipments, but this wasn't a problem. I've never seen such great packaging for mail order plants! The only major problem I had with one of the shipments was the fault of USPS... it arrived looking like a gorilla had sat on half of the box. Amazingly enough, only two of the plants inside were damaged.

So far, out of approximately 200 plants ordered, only 6 did not make it either on arrival or once planted. I'm still waiting for some of the ferns and lily of the valley plants to emerge, so they aren't included in my plant count.

Regarding replacement plants, Spring Hill is the best! When I notified them of the plants that did not survive, the replacement process was hassle-free. I thought I'd have to endure an inquisition about getting the plants replaced, but the customer service rep was quite friendly!

I'm pleased with the replacement plants they've sent. For the potted plants, if you only need to replace one, they send three (since they only have them in 3-pack bundles)! And there's no additional charge. Quite a bonus. I'm hooked on Spring Hill Nursery!

I received my order today and the plants are beautiful, healthy, and they were so well packaged in the shipping box that they have no damage at all.

The lilac is about 12" tall and all leafed out, and the rudbeckia is about 4 inches tall and lots of leaves.

I'm very happy with my order and will order from them again.

This may seem premature since I haven't yet recieved my order, but I feel that order quality aside (that remains to be seen) I can give some positive feedback on my experience thus far. On April 15th I recieved the spring 2005 catalog. There was a coupon for 50% off the entire order. I went to the internet and ordered $171.00 worth of plants. When I entered the special "key code" on the coupon it didn't work. I called customer service and the girl didn't realy have any idea how to fix the problem, but put a note in the computer that I was requesting the discount even though my bill did not reflect it. This was at 2 a.m. and, although she couldn't solve the problem, I was impressed that there was someone even there. I called the next night to see if things had been rectified and pretty much got nowhere, but was told someone would call back. No one did. I called the next afternoon and found out that the people I'd been talking to earlier were actually not customer service (they are available 8 am to 5pm) but were phone order operators. At least they tried to help. When I finaly talked to Customer Service durring their hours, they very quickly explained that the coupon had expired several weeks earlier and that I must have gotten a late mailing. Well I thought that was that and I was not getting the discount, but the girl said "but because you couldn't have placed your order on time since you got the mailing late, we will be happy to honor the coupon even though it has been expired for several weeks and some of the items you ordered were not even available then and would not have been subject to the 1/2 off special." FANTASTIC!! Barring any unforseen little shop of horrors plant problems when the items do arrive, I am quite sure they have a long time customer in me based on the service alone. (Just be sure that you are talking to customer service and not phone orders, though they were equally polite)

I have ordered from a number of different mail order nurseries this year and last. I have to say that Spring Hill has done a great job for me. The bare root bleeding hearts I ordered last year (my first time for bare root) had my husband laughing as he "planted" them. Sure enough they came up and came back this year with a vengence.

Every order gets an email confirmation and another when it ships with a tracking link to see it on its way to you. Only one order did not go perfectly, a collection of mini roses, after two phone calls (one to ask why it hadn't shipped and another to follow up) it was shipped priority. All the plants I have received have been healthy and viable and the bare root plantings have grown beautifully. I will order from them again!

I love SpringHill Nursery. I have purchased from them for 12 years and all purchases have made me happy ($100's of dollars worth yearly) I have moved 4 times in the past 12 years and have 4 times started new gardens with their plants, bulbs, trees and shrubs. All the trees and shrubs are shipped dormant so they appear dead - they are not. They are easier to plant this way and have a much better survival rate than things I have bought on impulse at garden centers.

Plants I love from them are butterfly bush, clementis, weigalia(sp?) butterfly garden collection, lily's, and hosta. I live in heavy clay area now and with correcting the soil to the plants need, everything survives. One exception, a butterfly bush - the poor thing didn't survive the lawnmower as my husband wasn't paying attention. Their prices are not as low as some wholesalers, but their $25.00 off $50.00 coupons help and if you order online the shipping charges count towards that $50.00. Their penny sale is awesome and all the bulbs I have ordered and not taken very good care of - keep coming up!

I was a first time Spring Hill customer, and I read this site before I ordered--with fingers crossed that I would be in the happy half of the customers who have rated the company. I only ordered a few plants using the coupon that came with the catalogue. I was really anxious to receive my order, as I wasn't really confident that I would receive plants I could use. The shipping confirmation came on Monday, and my plants came on Friday. I planted some of them today and will do the rest tomorrow. The plants were a little small, compared to what I have purchased locally, but if they thrive they will be well worth the price.

I basically ordered a couple of inexpensive items from this company as an experiment, because there were so many mixed reviews. I ordered a $5 Nikko Blue Hydrangea and a $3 Old Fashioned White Bleeding Heart. The Hydrangea was small (but I obviously expected that) and it was very healthy and vibrant. It had been carefully packaged, and in my opinion, was a bargain for $5. I just wish I had ordered 2 more of them. The Bleeding Heart was a little less entralling. It was basically just a dorment bare root, but upon inspecting it, it does look firm and healthy. The order came in yesterday, and I live in a zone 6, so they are going to have to hang out in my greenhouse for a few weeks, but otherwise, I think I got a pretty good deal. If I had paid a whole lot of money, this rating would be different, but the prices were so low and that makes me a happy customer.

About a month ago, I placed a very large order with Spring Hill Nurseries. Much to my dismay, I ordered BEFORE i joined and read the comments on this website...but I figured live and learn. Yesterday I received the first of my order (partial shipment). I was a little annoyed at receiving the order, considering its too early to plant just yet in my zone. However, when I opened the box I was pleasantly surprised. I had ordered 3 rose bushes as part of my total order: 2 subzeros and a climber. These are, by far, the largest bushes I've ever received via mail or purchased in a local nursery for the price. All three plants had very thick bases and a large root system. I can't say I was too impressed with the shipping (bare root plants in a plastic bag), but nonetheless, they were healthy and very moist. Now granted, they'll remain in my basement in pots for atleast a few weeks until all the snow melts, and that is a bit inconvenient. But I'll gladly deal with this minor inconvenience considering the large, healthy plants I received. All in all, well worth the money. I'm anxious to receive the rest of my order and I'll keep you posted on how everything turns out.

I ordered a Daylily collection from Spring Hill Nurseries in last fall. After all my daylilies started to come up, I noticed that three of the ten had not made it. All were rather small when planted, but I hoped for the best.

I called Spring Hill this afternoon and explained the situation. I no longer have my order number, and didn't know my customer number, but the customer service rep was able to pull up my information quickly, and tell me which collection I had ordered. I asked for replacements for the three that died, and she told me that she couldn't replace just three because it was a collection, so they are reshipping me the entire collection of ten plants.

Five minutes later, I had an email order confirmation in my inbox showing both what I had ordered and that the order status was a reship. I am giving them a positive rating for the speed and politeness that I received when calling for replacements.

Placed a large order about a month ago. Just recieved part of it so far (due to delivery times for my area) - a Golden Chain Tree. It came packed fairly well, was larger than advertised (they had to bend the top a bit to get it in the box, but it sprang right back) and appears to be very healthy. Very green with bulging buds.
Roots are a bit more insubstantial than I'd like to see on a tree this size, but they appear very healthy nonetheless. No obvious signs of insects, disease, or damage.
They also sent me an e-mail confirmation when they shipped.
Only issue I have is that now that I've ordered from them (my 1st time) , I'm getting at least 2 pieces of junk mail offerings from them EVERY DAY. Oh well, I can live with that if the rest of the stuff I ordered comes as healthy as this one did.

I ordered 3 vigna caracalla from Spring Hill this spring. They were shipped promptly and arrived healthy. I also ordered two roses from them last year. Those were the biggest bareroots I've ever gotten from a mailorder nursery, and I've ordered from a lot of nurseries. I was surprised to find out this company only has a 58% rating. I will definitely order again.

DianaT

I have ordered numerous plants from Sping Hill and I am relatively pleased with the plants I received. Yea...most of them are small, but they are not that expensive. I would say they meet my expectation. I did receive some plants that looked a bit bad when I planted them and I lost a few of them. I emailed Spring Hill and they sent me over twice as many plants as what I told them died (NO QUESTIONS ASKED AND NO PROOF REQUIRED). Their products are priced reasonable and I have found them nice to work with. I definitely will order form them again.

I have placed several online orders with this company and have not had any problems so far. A few items were placed on backorder for shipment the following season, but I considered that a minor inconvenience.

Just received an item (backorder from last season) : cabernet sauvignon grape. Very pleasantly surprised and well worth the wait. I was expecting something about 1' high so I was very surprised when it arrived in a 5' box, the kind trees are shipped in! The grape is 3-4' high with multiple, substantial branches all with multiple "buds". In addition, the plant has a substantial root system and appears VERY healthy.

Ordered in the fall of 2003, things were a little small and all but two plants ( Trumpet Vines, which I did not think a person could kill) came up and bloomed the first year.

Service and shipping were satisfactory.

I've ordered from them a few times and have always been pleased with the items. In fact, I don't recall anything I have ordered from them not making it, so I have never had any experience with their replacement guarantee. My most recent order was for a couple of hydrangeas, some violas and primroses. I ended up getting two shipments because of a couple of the items being on back order and I appreciated that they went ahead and sent what was available on time and the items on backorder arrived not too long afterwards without any additional shipping charge for the split shipments. I particularly liked the Pro2 packaging they are using that protects the entire plant during shipping and makes for a much neater box when you open it.

I placed two large orders with Spring Hill the end of August. I received an e-mail shortly thereafter with a link to their shipping schedule. My account was not charged until they shipped. Although I did not receive an e-mail when they shipped, everything did arrive in the time frame they had told me. The plants were all healthy and well packaged. Some items were a bit small for the price, but I appreciate the conveniece of ordering online. I am looking forward to seeing my beautiful gardens in the spring and summer!

I just ordered from Spring Hill. Received my order in just one week. Product was as described. Will know more when spring comes. I was pleased with what I ordered and what I received.

Spring Hill was the very first mail order company that I tried and I am very happy with the plants that they have sent over the years. There were a few that didn't make here and there over the wet cold winters, but with no questions asked they have refunded my money. I order a Weeping Cherry tree from them about two years ago and paid half of what my sister paid at Home Depot, her's was even bigger. Within the two years it has caught up and is doing just great and it looks better.

My first mail order experience. I liked and needed the info provided at the website and the reasonable prices. My order arrived in three separate shipments, and altho they promised to notify me via email when each shipment left, they only managed one notification. The packing was a bit flimsy, but arrived in good condition except one alstroemeria (order included roses to flowering perennials and bushes). I contacted the company when the alstroemeria died and they promptly sent a replacement. Each CSR was very polite and helpful, I will order from them again in the spring.

I placed my first ever mail order for plants with this company after not being able to find the plants and/or quantity I wanted at an affordable price.
I ordered Starry Eyes Campanula (Campanula poscharskyana).
It did take longer than expected to receive the plants, but I received an email from them stating they were behind on their orders and when I could expect mine to be shipped.
The plants arrived well packed and in very good condition. All of them have survived and I expect them to continue to thrive.
I would order from this company again.

This was my first experience with any online nursery so I wasn't sure what to expect. My first order was March 2004 and was a Rhododendron collection (3 plants- each was a different variety). I ordered them because they were supposedly a hybrid that grew well in southern climates as Rhododendron normally fry down here. They arrived within a week and came very well packed- bare root. There was a nice amount of root material, healthy stems, and lots of leaves. I planted all three in different areas in my yard- all partial shade. Two of the three grew by leaps and bounds and look fine. One shriveled up and died. I notified the company and was given the option of a replacement or a refund. I took the replacement option, and was given a certificate in the amount of my purchase. Very generous, in my opinion, considering 2 of the 3 are fine. So to me, that makes up for the shipping costs on the next item. All responses from the company were timely and courteous. I also received an email notice at the time of shipping.

Later that month I ordered the Kaleidoscope hydrangea collection. Again, 2 of the 3 are fine and one died. They were planted side by side so I'm not sure what this 2 out of 3 living thing is all about! Same situation as before and again I took the replacement option.

Last, in June 2004 I ordered the "grab bag" collection of perennials, bulbs and ground cover. The ground cover is all doing fine. So far, only one type of bulb (not sure which plants at this point as I forgot to note what I planted where!) is coming up. I know it's late in the season, but the advertisement said they were summer bulbs and you could plant them right now, so I did. Anyway, I will at least give them until next spring and see if it comes up. If not, I will probably just request a refund.

So all in all, I have had a good experience with them.