Comments regarding Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com)

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.

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.

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.

Posted on November 4, 2014, updated November 27, 2014
On August 19th I placed an order for 3 Plum Pudding poppies from Spring Hill's website. I understood that they would be shipped for fall planting. In the meantime, I received three order status emails, the first on September 9th, the second on September 25th, and the final on September 29th stating that Spring Hill had shipped the 3 Plum Pudding poppies I ordered in August. When the box arrived it contained 3 substitute poppies because the Plum Pudding poppies I ordered were unavailable due to "exceptional sales." I notified customer service that I did not want these plants and was told I would receive a certificate for future use at Spring Hill Nurseries for the cost of the plants but not/not the additional shipping and handling fees. I responded that, based on my experience, I did not want to do business with Spring Hill again and wanted to be reimbursed in full. The customer service representative did not have the professional courtesy to respond. I also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau on Ohio, which the company ignored. My bottom line is that the company has no/no posted substitution policy, so the consumer has no opportunity to opt out. Moreover, on the day I received my plants and for several weeks afterwards, Spring Hill continued to offer Plum Pudding poppies for sale on its website--plants which it clearly knew it did not have in stock. I'll shop elsewhere next time.

I've had both good and bad experiences with Spring Hill. We ordered a lot (hundreds $$) this past spring. When some items did not survive, we were given either replacements or certificates with a minimum of hassle. That's the positive. The negative is that they don't update their online listings to accurately reflect actual inventory. My wife spent much time planning out her purchases based on color, size, etc. (she's a true landscape artist) and in a couple cases we were informed by email and postcard that the items sold were OUT OF STOCK! I told them this made all her planning a waste of time, and after a few emails, someone was nice enough to offer an apology and small credit. This is why I've chosen the "Neutral" rating. So the problem is not the nursery so much as the website. They really just need to upgrade their inventory system. I'm sure we'll buy from them again.

Posted on May 14, 2013, updated May 14, 2013
Posted on September 10, 2012, updated May 14, 2013
Posted on September 2, 2012, updated September 10, 2012
Posted on August 20, 2012, updated September 2, 2012
Posted on August 16, 2012, updated August 20, 2012
Posted on August 8, 2012, updated August 16, 2012
A few years ago I ordered a collection of three Japanese Iris. I paid $30..00 plus shipping for Three root starts. A red one called Shogun, A purple one, and a Yellow one. They sent me some very tiny starts. This is the first year they bloomed.

They were all Louisiana Irises that were the same yellow color with a thin blossom. None of them were the plants I paid for.

I purchased them under a lifetime guarantee but I don't have record of the order number so the customer service rep said there was nothing she could do.

"On Aug 14, 2012 1:02 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your posting. I will have one of our customer service representatives contact you for your account information and locate your order and have these reshipped to you."

Back in the fall, I ordered a black knight butterfly bush. It claimed it would be viable in my zone (4a) yet now I see conflicting information on their website - it lists both zones 4-9 and 5-9. So I guess I have my fingers crossed.

The plant shipped at the appropriate time this spring, but it took 8 days to get here, and when I got it, it was sodden and half dead. I called customer service and was immediately issued a new plant and requested expedited shipping, even if I had to pay extra. I ended up not being charged for it.

The new order took a while to process, but it arrived within a reasonable amount of time after shipping. This plant was much bigger and healthier. I have both in the ground now - I'm trying to nurse the first one back to health - and we'll see how they survive a Wyoming winter...I'll be mulching them heavily in the fall so hopefully at least the new one will make it.

I'm calling this neutral because they have remedied the problem, but have conflicting info on their site and their initial shipment was substandard.

I have ordered from Springhill in the past and have had a fairly good experience as far as plant quality and a quick replacement once! This year (2013) I ordered 4 plants and they arrived on March 22-two days before the largest snow storm in years- with more cold weather predicted for at least two weeks. I have managed to keep the plants alive in my kitchen window, but do not understand how they could mail these plants so early for my zone!!! The orders are filled from Ohio, so they only had to step outside to know that it was too early to mail them. I will think long and hard before ordering spring-planted items from now on!

"On Apr 5, 2013 12:40 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about your order. We ship according to the USDA and sometimes the weather does not cooperate. If you have any problems with the plants just let us know and we will be happy to reship them to you."

I've ordered many things from Spring Hill. Most of what I've ordered had some problems, but I'm not too upset. For example, many things I've ordered have not been the correct color. I ordered the purple tree lilies, and 1 of 3 was white, ordered 4 purple hellebores, 1 was purple, 2 white, and one is a purple/white. I ordered 3 red carpet phlox, 2 were red one was a magenta. Also, it was listed as an extremely vigorous grower, and I'm on year 3 and they're about the size of a dinner plate. I ordered a purple clematis, and it was so tiny when I got it that I'm on my 3rd year with it and I hope it grows this spring in a more impressive way than last years scrawny 1 foot. I ordered the Freedom Hedge rose or maybe it was called something different. The website talks up its disease resistance, and all three quickly died of rust, while all my other roses were fine. They did replace them, which was nice, though I'm going to pull them out this year for lack of vigor.
I was trying to go with a purple color theme for my wife, and ended up with more of a mixed bag. I like the plants though so I'm not as upset as other customers might be. The hard part is, you don't know what color the plant will express until you have put a lot of time and energy into growing them. Anyway, I've switched back to trying to support my local nurseries after this luke warm online experience.

"On Mar 14, 2013 11:24 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about your plants. We will be happy to ship the correct plants to you. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information."

I have done business with Spring Hill for many years and have gotten good service and many great plants. When others were telling how bad their plants were I was very surprised. However, this year it seems something has happened to their customer service. I ordered a collection of poppies the fall of 2011. All the roots looked good, many of them large. A couple were a little smaller and one of the little ones never emerged. Only one out of ten not coming up isn't bad. I have emailed the company four times asking for a replacement of just this one plant. I am very disappointed that I have never even received an acknowledgment of my emails. I have always had quick responses. I am now worried about ordering from them again if they are not going to stand behind their plants. I have always tried to be fair. When a plant didn't grow and it was bad weather, etc. I didn't ask for a replacement, but all the others grew so I am certain that the root just wasn't strong enough. I have had good experiences with them in the past, but now I am wondering what is going on.

"On Oct 5, 2012 2:25 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your posting. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and take care of this for you. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Posted on May 27, 2012, updated May 31, 2012
This is the last year I will order daylilies from Spring Hill. I have had success with their survival, but I now know I cannot depend on them being the cultivar I ordered. I'm posting here because others have said email to them seem to be ignored. This year I am up to three cultivars not being what I ordered. Last year the customer representative I spoke with doubted that the daylily supposed to be Susan Pritchard Petit
did not bloom as a double or was even the wrong color. It could not be replaced and I was issued a refund. Another daylily, Exploded Pumpkin, was planted last year but did not bloom until today. It is supposed to be an orange double, but I have a deep red flower out there! Spring Hill is in the process of replacing Whoppy because it too did not bloom anywhere near what was pictured in the catalog. These daylilies are much more expensive than what I order from daylily farms and the price is for only one fan instead of two.
I expect to recieve what I see, and it is a big disappointment
to see something else when it blooms. I cannot fault the company for trying to make things right for the customer, but I'll be passing on any more daylily orders.

"On May 29, 2012 4:15 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your posting. We apologize that you had received the wrong lilies. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and make sure everyting is taken care of."

My experience with this company indicates that if you order bare root plants, and they arrive looking like dead sticks, that's what they are. If they arrive showing a little life - a touch of green peeking out, a viable looking plant - then they are going to survive and do wonderfully. I will not be ordering again because of the number I have received looking exactly like dead sticks that were not able to be revived, no matter what. My suggestion to the company, considering the way they ship - which uses UPS ground that is transferred to your local post office for delivery - is to consider the transit time and only ship early in the week. Using this method of delivery, if the estimate is four days and UPS can actually get it to you in three, they hold it to extend it to four (yes, I have tracked a delivery to me that was actually in the local delivery area and held until the estimated date). To compound matters, when it is shipped on a Wednesday, you won't actually receive it until the following Tuesday (the estimate of four days is only based on weekdays, beginning the day after Springhill shows it shipped). This is just too long for plants that young and delicate to survive the shipping process.

"On May 29, 2012 4:18 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for sharing your experience with our company. We do take seriously everything our customers have to say. We will make sure to pass along your suggestion. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and find out what needs to be replaced."

I placed a fairly good sized order with Spring Hill on 5/18/2012. I haven't received anything yet, but about half my order is currently in transit. The situation that has me on the front about Spring Hill is with two of my plants that haven't yet shipped. I ordered
74513 CAMPANULA BLUE CLIPS
77225 KALEIDOSCOPE BUTTERFLY BUSH
though it says on their site that these two items are in stock and shipping in spring and fall for my area. After I placed my order though the ship date for the two specified plants read 09/17/12-10/08/12. Not only would planting these plants in Colorado in September be an issue, but there was nothing stating a fall ship date prior to them taking my money. The part that's frustrating me the most is that I've tried three times to contact them via email about the situation but haven't heard a thing back. If they fix my problem and all of my plants arrive at the proper time, in healthy condition, i would definitely recommend to friends and family but until then....

"On May 30, 2012 2:36 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we apologize for the inconvenience. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and check on your order for you."

I have placed MANY orders with this company in the past. They have always been prompt in a refund if I had plants that didn't thrive. Please note that the best way to deal with this company is by PHONE, not email.

With that said, I have finally learned the trick to getting healthy plants that survive from Spring Hill, and not be on backorder. I ordered VERY early this year- the beginning of February. Their initial spring shipment actually came 2 weeks earlier than listed on their website, which was fine since I was out gardening already. Everything actually survived this year, and is doing extremely well. I have now learned that if I want to order with this company, I need to start planning for it in the winter, and my results are much better.

"On May 14, 2012 2:12 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your posting. Happy to hear this worked out for you. We ship our plants according to the USDA as well as maturity of plants and weather conditions, enjoy your garden!"

We just received our order two days ago from the Annual Store. The reason I am posting is because of our disappointment with the size and condition of the plants upon arrival relative to the cost. They arrived in small cells size plants, completely dried out and wilted. I immediately transplanted them into larger pots and watered them and they perked up overnight. I have purchased perennials many time before but I will not buy annuals again from Spring Hill. I can buy twice the plant for 1/3 of the cost locally. Time will tell if the promise of unique color, etc. is realized.

"On Apr 21, 2012 12:51 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

We appreciate you letting us know. If you have any problems at all just let us know, we will take care of whatever you need."

Posted on April 2, 2012, updated April 5, 2012
I ordered 3 snow on the mountain plants and a weeping cherry tree. When I received them, they are practically dead or on the verge of it. The snow on the mountain plants are tiny with dried yellow leaves. There were only a few green leaves. As for the weeping cherry tree, it is tiny. Basically, it is a stick with three tiny limbs. I'm very disappointed with what I received. To be fair, the ordering process was easy and the items arrived relatively quickly. I'm going to call customer service and see how they respond to my issue.

"On Apr 4, 2012 11:57 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

We appreciate you posting. We apologize for the problems with the plants and we will be happy to reship them to you. A customer service representative will contact you and get your account information to process the reship."

Posted on March 12, 2012, updated March 23, 2012
Well... plants i bought went on sale right after (in a day) . I sent an email if i can get a partial refund because my order didn't ship. No response, got the plants after 3 weeks. I sure hope they are short staffed and can't answer everybody ..i see here they have almost half of their reviews negative and over 100 neutral. I sure hope the plants will do something ... the russian sage was the smallest thing i have ever seen. I think i will just use the local nursery as their prices are not a lot higher. And if their customer service is not good... i really don't have a reason.

"On Mar 13, 2012 10:14 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your posting. A customer service representative will contact you and we can refund you the difference in the plants as well as reship a new sage to you."

I haven't actually ordered from this company. But, the past few years my wife and I have been receiving their catalog in the mail. We intended to order from them many times due to the great looking deals and selection. But thankfully there is a website called Davesgarden.com that has likely saved me money and headaches. I would have ordered from SpringHill. Now I am glad I didn't.

"On Nov 9, 2011 11:42 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

It seems like people do not take as much time to post positive experiences as they do negative. Many of the people who post negatives do not realize we offer a lifetime guarantee. As a mail order company that ships live plants, sometimes things do not go as we anticipate (shipping in all weather conditions, damage to packages). I encourage you to visit our website and few some of your favorite flowers and give us a try."

Posted on October 26, 2011, updated October 26, 2011
I believe I am about to have a problem with this company. Way back in the beginning of June, I placed an order with them because they were having a special where you get a $100 grab bag with any purchase. Seeing this listed as a good deal on a deal site, I ordered an Anne Greenaway Lamium for about $6. I actually got no confirmation and visited their facebook page to see that many people with no confirmation actually lived in states where the bags presumably wouldn't ship.

So, I assumed the order just wouldn't go through and put it out of my mind. Well, then, last month (keep in mind this is over 3 months since I placed my order), I suddenly received an order confirmation email. I clicked through to the site at that point to check out the order. It showed the Anne Greenaway Lamium and the grab bag under my order with expected ship dates (the grab bag wouldn't ship until quite a ways into 2012). I thought, ok, cool.

Well, as of last week I got a notice that my Anne Greenaway Lamium had shipped. However, when I went to check out the shipping details, lo and behold, the grab bag no longer shows up! I do not intend to pay for just the Anne Greenaway Lamium when I was supposed to get $100 in other plants....

That would be like paying for $106 in gift cards and only actually receiving a $6 gift card! Unacceptable! I have, of course, sent an email to customer service regarding this issue. However, I am not going to get my hopes up having seen all the negative reviews here. I intend to decline delivery and notify my credit card company to prevent any charges unless I am contacted by the company and this issue is cleared up.

"On Oct 26, 2011 2:06 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check on your order for you. We apologize for any confusion and will check into this for you."

Well I ordered quite a bit of plants from them, this being my first experience with them. Yes, the plants were cheap and I got enticed by their offers. Well I ordered back in July for a fall shipment. At first I was supposed to start receiving items in the middle of September. Then stuff got pushed back till the end of September, then early October, then the middle of October. I have received most of my stuff, still waiting on two more shipments which will probably be here this week. I am hoping my plants will have enough time to establish themselves before the ground starts freezing here, which could be in a couple of weeks. I emailed them several times asking if they could ship my plants sooner than later, but they just kept telling me that they shipped according according to my zone. So beware about their shipping dates!! Plus my orders were shipped via ups....but every time the package gets to my city, ups transfers to USPS. Not sure what's going on there. I also had an order of hedge roses cancelled by them too....which was disappointing. I also had to cancel a grab bag because i wasn't supposed to receive it until the middle of November.
I didn't give a negative because all the plants seemed fairly healthy, granted most if not all were bare roots And bulbs/ rhizomes. They also threw in a nice hosta some astrilbes for my complaining i guess. Don't know if I'll ever order from them again though.

"On Oct 25, 2011 10:43 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback and we apologize for the delay in your shipment. A customer service representative will contact your for your account information to check on your order. If you have any problems with your plants just let us know, as we do have our lifetime guarantee."

I also ordered couple times from Spring Hills. Overall, not too bad for mail order plants. Small, but usually packed well, customer service is good.

One thing I am not happy, when you place an order, they send you a confirmation email with only a link to their site, ( in stead of giving you a list of plants with price you paid like other company). Since they ship their plants in multiple shipments and over a long time, later I would forget what I have ordered and what I already received.

Now I have some Out of Stock post card sent to me, one of them is for Hakuro Nishiki Willow, double checked their website, you can still buy it, don't know what they up to.

Also, didn't they return the money for those OOS plants? I need to check my credit card bills~~~~~

Posted on September 28, 2011, updated October 6, 2011
Posted on September 20, 2011, updated September 28, 2011
Posted on September 27, 2010, updated September 20, 2011
I order from this company a little every year, it is hit or miss with them. This year their potted plants were in good condition and are growing. However their bareroot oriental poppies are not great-each bag (except one) had two roots in it, but on several of them I could not tell the top or the bottom as their were no root hairs, or any telltale sign of which end was up. So I did the best I could in planting them correctly. They should be more careful in their inspections. Another plant I ordered in May, won't ship until March 2011. They are not consistant with their service. Sometimes they are great, the balance of the time they are sub standard.

"On Sep 28, 2010 8:28 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate your comments to better serve our customers. We will have a customer service representative contact you about your poppies.
"

Posted on June 9, 2011, updated June 20, 2011
Posted on June 9, 2011, updated June 9, 2011
Posted on June 6, 2011, updated June 9, 2011
I have placed an order from them 2-3 times. The first order came out to be bad and they sent me replacement for the day liles that dies as well as ranunculus. The ranunculur never survived but I did not bother to call them since the day lilies are doign good.

This year I placed a big order that contains a number of plants and 2 grab bags that were on sale. The ship date kept getting pushed so I contacted CS and was told my order would ship in 2-3 days. It did ship but only 25% of my order :( There are many plants as well as grab bags did not ship. They have been taking order for the grab bags are even giving it free now with every order but still havent shipped the one I ordered earlier. I hope that I will get everything that I ordered this season as today is the last day to order for this spring per their website.

"On Jun 20, 2011 12:37 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about your order. A customer service representative will be contacting your for your account information. We will pass along you comments to our web department."

Spring Hill packages their plants nicely and they have always arrived looking healthy. I have had mixed luck with plants I have ordered from Spring Hill. The astilbe I planted last year has come back and looks good. I have not seen any sign of the creeping thyme I planted, however.

I had placed an order for Pink Ladyslippers several months ago, and I found out that the order was cancelled only because I looked at my bank statement and saw the purchase amount was refunded. I had placed the order almost immediately after I received the catalog, so I can't believe that they were already out of them at that time. This was disappointing enough that I don't think I will be ordering from Spring Hill again.

"On May 30, 2011 11:28 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for letting us know what happened with your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and see why your order was canceled."

I placed an order on May 16th for a Sensation Lilac and 3 Burgundy Lace Japanese Painted Ferns which I received yesterday, May 27th - which compared to some comments I've read, really isn't bad at all. However, what concerns me is the fact that my plants arrived in town (by UPS) on Wed morning (May 25) and because UPS has this wonderful little agreement now with USPS to deliver some of their packages, my plants sat for an extra 2 days before making their way to me. Kinda irritating when I live 5 minutes from the UPS warehouse. While that in and of itself is not the fault of Spring Hill, there are 2 points:

First, when I called UPS and asked why it went to the post office (esp when UPS drives by here every day) they said "it was the sender's request" - so of course the next thing I did was call Spring Hill and ask why and I was told "No, we did not make such a request and we've been having this issue a lot this year..." So IF this issue has come up multiple times, why continue to use UPS? I mean in situations like this, if ya pay for a company to deliver something, don't you expect them to actually do it and not transfer it to someone else? If I were Spring Hill I'd be asking UPS for my money back since they weren't actually the ones to do what they were paid to do.

Second, I'm noticing how many companies have schedules concerning shipping across the country (i.e. all the way across ships beginning of week to local at end of week) - even from OH to CO why would you send out a package on a Friday knowing the first thing it's going to do is sit all weekend??

Despite the extra shipping time, two of the four look pretty good considering the week they took to get here; I'm worried about the other two, but time will tell over the next couple of weeks.

My lesson learned: I will only order from companies that ship FedEx from here on out, as I don't want to deal with the whole UPS/USPS deal. If Spring Hill makes that change, I'd be happy to order from them again. Until then, this review stays neutral.

"On May 30, 2011 10:22 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for sharing your experience with our company. We also appreciate your thoughts concerning shipping and I can pass along your suggestion. If you have any problems with your plants just let us know and we will be happy to reship them for you."

Posted on May 12, 2011, updated May 18, 2011
I placed an order 5 days ago and mistakenly ordered the wrong product; i immediately emailed the company to let them know and to request a correction. No response for 4 days, so I sent a reminder. They then got back to me, apologizing for the delay and said they couldn't do anything about it, that my order would be shipping in 3-5 days.

Here's my beef: I understand this is the busiest time of year and that they may be slow in responding for this reason, but the fact that they immediately replied to my second email means they ignored me the first time. They still had time to correct the mistake and send me what I intended to order because the order won't be shipped for another 3-5 days but they decided not to. I thought this was an upscale company, and I had even ordered from them last year and was satisfied. Guess their customer service has gone down the tubes.

"On May 13, 2011 10:14 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for the delay in responding to your email and not changing your order for you. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and see what we can do about shipping the item you wanted to change."

Posted on March 31, 2011, updated April 6, 2011
Posted on March 30, 2011, updated March 31, 2011
Last summer, through a mail offerring, ordered two of their new, mildew-resistant phlox collections. The sets were to include a beautiful orangs, white, red, blue, purple and pink. I planned out my gardens in anticipation of them. I don't know if these were suppose to be for fall planting or not. As it stands I haven't received ANYTHING, nor did Springhill answer my e-mails. I guess that it how it is-I'm not happy.

"On Mar 31, 2011 9:26 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem with your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information so we can locate your order and make sure it is shipped out to you as soon as possible."

I just received my first order from this company. I kept it small, only ordered three plants to try them out. The daylily looks great with nice big healthy roots and the same with the white feather hosta. However, and the reason for the neutral rating, the burgundy lace fern I ordered arrived completely mangled. I understand what a three inch pot is and was not surprised by the size of the plant, just unhappy with every frond being broken and hanging or laying in the pot. I called customer service and they basically told me it's only the roots that matter and that it would come back just fine. I'll wait and if it does then I'll change my rating to positive, but really for the price paid I don't feel like this plant was worth it at all. Hopefully it will bounce back because this was the plant I was so excited about this year.

Posted on March 10, 2011, updated March 17, 2011
I ordered three "shade grab bags" to plant a bed under a Bradford Pear. Only 6 of the plants were suitable for shade. The 6 other plants and 9 bulbs were all for full sun to partial shade. I understand the concept of a grab bag, but I also understand what "shade" means. I called and complained and they are sending new plants, but the customer service representative I talked to said there was no way he could pass along my feedback. That's why I'm doing it here. I gave the plants to my neighbor and hopefully I will be able to use the ones that Springhill is re-sending.

"On Apr 8, 2011 3:47 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. I apologize for all the confusion concerning sun/shade plants. A customer service reprehensive will be contacting you to make sure you have received the correct items.
"

Thank all of you for being so open with your comments about Springhill......I had just completed a "huge" order to start to landscape a 2 acre lot here in Florida, but decided to do a review of opinions before hitting the order button. I don't have the patience to deal with the issues written about. A 50% approval rating is not a company I want to do business with. Obviously, they spend so much on advertising trying to get new customers, when they could probably sell more by properly taking care of their existing customer base. Remember, SpringHill, a happy customer will tell a few people about you, but an unhappy one will tell thousands!!

"On Jan 13, 2011 10:31 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. Please understand that our company is based on 100% Customer Service. We are trained and qualified to answer any questions you may have or assist you with any problems that may arise. Thank for for giving us the opportunity to provide you with world class service.
"

Posted on October 25, 2010, updated November 8, 2010
In mid April of this year (2010), I placed a large order with Spring Hill Nursery for a variety of plants for spring planting. My credit card was immediately charged, however I received no shipment notification. After multiple follow ups and repeated requests for updates, I kept being told my order was going to ship the following week for 2 weeks running, after week 3, I asked again why there was such a delay and I was finally informed that a few of my items were back ordered. Not once was I informed via email or phone call that 1 or 2 items (in this case a clematis and a hydrangea) were holding up the rest of my items from shipping. If I had not asked or followed up, I have no idea when my items would have shipped, if at all. I reiterated, again, that I had items in my order that needed to get in the ground ASAP because the weather in Georgia was already in the 80's, headed into the 90's. I first requested that my order be shipping incomplete and the customer service agent told me I'd get charged extra for that, even though the delay was their inventory management issue and not mine. I finally just told them to cancel the items that were back ordered. They said they'd put a "rush order" on my remaining items and they still didn't ship till the following week.

When the items arrived, I had a mixed review of the products. My roses have done quite well and the Spiderswort (tradescantia) root plantings took off like weeds, however the pictures on the site of the Spiderswort were misleading and didn't truly show what the full plant looked like. If I'd known what the full plant looked like, I wouldn't have purchased them. I have actually ended up digging up the plants at the end of the summer and will be replacing them with other perennials and looking for new homes for the Spiderswort. I also planted 3 ginger orchid roots and 2 of 3 came up, but were very weak plants (however, to be fair, I believe that is due to where I planted them and not Spring Hill's fault). The summer cheer daffodils I ordered did NOT bloom during the summer. I did not even get a single shoot, let alone a flower. I dug them up this fall when I put in my other spring bulbs and discovered that they had active roots, but their guarantee of "Summer blooming daffodils" was erroneous. They may have gone into the ground too late in the season to bloom in the summer, however that delay was also over a month due to their late shipment of my order.

Finally, it took almost 2 weeks to get a refund on my items that had been back ordered.

I will not be using Spring Hill Nursery again.

"On Oct 27, 2010 8:38 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your input. Your comments are very appreciated and are used to better service our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you about the problems you had. Happy Gardening!

i am not happy with the outcome of my first order with spring hill. i bought a kaledioscope butterfly bush and 4-plant coneflower variety (1 yellow, 1 pink, 1 white, 1 double decker) back in july. when i inquired why i have not received my order back in august, they said they won't ship it until fall plant season. while excitedly awaiting for the arrival of my order, i happened to read some articles about the butterfly bush being classified as a noxious weed in washington and oregon unless the plant is some kind of cultivar or hybrid which is sterile. i emailed the company days before i received my shipment since i want to know what i should do with the plant. i wish there was a warning about this. the description only said it cannot be ship to AE AK GU HI PR. i emailed them 3 to 4 times every two to three days and i was not getting any response. finally i received my order. my coneflower variety was missing 1 yellow and 1 white variety and instead was replaced by a green variety. feeling dissappointed that i did not get the yellow variety which is really what i have been waiting for and not getting a response on my emails, i called the company. the person i talked to tried hard to find a replacement for the yellow variety (i really didn't care about the white) in vain. finally a refund was issued. i also asked why nobody is responding to my emails, the person said there were only 2 people who are in charge of answering emails and they are backed up. it is better if i call. i told the person that they don't have a toll free number and i didn't want to incur additional phone expenses and besides, email is my best form of communication.

i am giving this company a neutral rating because though the plants i received are healthy and the person i talked put a lot of effort into finding a yellow variety for me trying hard to make me satisfied, i am not pleased of their slow response in emails (i got responses on my emails about a week after i called), selling more than what they can supply (they still have not pull down the item from their website last time i checked) substituting a plant without getting my pre-approval and selling a plant is classified as invasive in a state without more information on how to handle the plant. i hope it is not always going to be like this.

"On Oct 13, 2010 10:51 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate your comments to better serve our customers. We will have a customer service representative contact you for your account information and help to answer any questions you have."

I ordered 5 of the Apricot Princess Roses ... before they were shipped I decided I wanted to cancel. I emailed a cancellation. NO response and the roses arrived . a week or so later........and I must say in very nice condition.

I chose neutral for my response since the plants were so nice and I am ORDERING MORE, THEY ARE GREAT ROSES, blooming their hearts out all summer and still going .
It was the communication I would fault. Stilll I am taking a second chance by ordering again.

"On Sep 27, 2010 10:18 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. We use our customers feedback to better serve our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you concerning your order and about the no response to your email."

Posted on August 4, 2010, updated August 9, 2010
Posted on July 29, 2010, updated August 4, 2010
I had plants to be replaced this spring. All but about 4 things came in on time. I knew I was going to be gone when it would be delivered if it was more than 3 weeks, so I called the company rep and told her that I needed to cancel anything after that time. She said she did. I left on over month long vacation. I got back and called to order my plants to be sent to me as I was home for the rest of the time. They said they had shipped it and would not ship it again. I did find out that a neighbor of mine saw a box and the plants were all dead and then she has been on a long trip abroad till now to give me that information. They also said none of the replacements were guaranteed at all. I have probably spent at least $1000 with this company that says plants are guaranteed FOR LIFE ............but then they say it is a new company and they don't honor the guaranteed plants from before 2000........well if they have the same name....use the advertisement that they have been in business for over 40 years etc so they use the time to make them seem like a strong company but then they don't accept the responsibility of the other owner. I feel like it is very unethical. I hope they can change my opinion of them. I absolutely love their Prim Roses and hate to think I have to buy them somewhere else. We will see. I didn't receive my Annabelle Hydrangae and other plants........my orchid has died also but if they aren't guaranteed...I just got cheated.

"On Jul 30, 2010 8:28 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for help with your previous orders."

Even though I saw all the bad reviews on watchdog I thought to give it a try as I could get a bargain bag (one spring grab bag and one lily grab bag) and only paid the shipping fees (12$). I ordered from other companies before (santa rosa garden and bulbsdirect.com). Spring hill does not have a great packaging (brown bags) for the plants but the bulbs or roots are OK (labeled plastic bags). The plants were not in great shape. Some of them were dry sticks and few bulbs and roots were rotten. The lily bag was really a bargain as I received more than 40 lily trees for 12 bucks. I decided to contact the customer service and complain about the plants that were in bad shape. To my surprise they answer in less than 5 hours and on a Sunday and a 4th of July! They told me that they will resend both orders in full! one by the end of July the other next year. It's ok I can wait. So overall it's neutral because the customer service is good and fast and you get good bargains but the plant are not the best on the market. But for the price, you get a lot.

"On Jul 6, 2010 1:33 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information to check on your reship for you."

ugh... Where do I begin? I ordered my plants from SH about 3-4 years ago. They were all quite small but with time some have done fairly well. Some died after the first season and one of the plants never came up. I decided to wait to see how the others did before contacting the company. I have contacted them now on at least 6 different occassions and received one replacement plant and two coupon credit slips that can only be used on mail in orders. I was never offered a refund. One of the credits was for blue toad lilies and was for $8.00 even though they are currently charging $19.99 for 3 toad lilies (I can't remember what I paid.) I originally asked about 3 other toad lilies and a hardy hibiscus that were unsuccessful, but have gotten no response from the company about these plants other than generic response emails and one to tell me they are not on backorder for my account. They have never responded with any offer to replace these plants or refund my money. Overall my experience has been pretty frustrating and I can't say I would ever recommend them to others.

"On Jun 14, 2010 11:49 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information."

Posted on June 9, 2010, updated June 9, 2010
Posted on June 8, 2010, updated June 9, 2010
Posted on June 8, 2010, updated June 8, 2010
Posted on June 7, 2010, updated June 8, 2010
Posted on June 7, 2010, updated June 7, 2010
Posted on June 6, 2010, updated June 7, 2010
Posted on June 6, 2010, updated June 6, 2010
I am disappointed with this website so far. I placed my order on 5/12/10 for 2 Three Season Gardens. My card was charged on 5/13/10, so I thought delivery would be quick. In checking the "Track Order" option on the website, I saw my delivery range was somewhere around 5/28/10. I didn't think that was too bad, so I started ripping out my front gardens, adding soil, etc...Today is 6/6/10 and still nothing. Everytime I check the "Track Order" my delivery dates are changed. This is what I found this morning:

Items Not Shipped:
2 THREE-SEASON GARDEN
Delivery Estimate: 06/13/10 - 06/20/10

As of midnight last night, it said delivery estimate 6/10/10 - 6/19/10....it seems to be changing daily, now it's almost a full month longer than the first delivery was scheduled. I have rec'd no email or even a phonecall that the items are backordered, or with even an excuse as to why things are delayed. All I'm receiving are emails with offers to buy more from them. I had figured I'd give them some time, with the weird weather going on, maybe they're delaying shipping etc...I'm going to contact customer service tomorrow. Depending on their answer, I may just cancel my order. I'll also have to see what the delivery estimate has been changed to in the morning. This is REALLY frustrating. Their prices are great, but at this rate, I'd rather spend more at a local nursery and have immediate results.

"On Jun 7, 2010 1:08 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information to check on your order."

I ordered a "Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid." It took over 2 months to get my order. It turns out it was on back order (very understandable) but no one bothered to ever let me know that this was the case until I eventually contacted them. When I did contact them they were prompt about getting back with me.

The plant I received was healthy...albeit with one dead and one nearly dead bloom which means I will have to wait a whole year to see my $50.00 plant bloom. Luckily I used a coupon.

"On May 24, 2010 5:28 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to let us know your experience with our company. It is information like this that helps to provide better service to our customers."

I am going between positive and neutral. Overall my experiences with spring hill nursery (SHN) are positive, however there have been a few things that have bothered me. But I will start with the pros:

1. Lifetime guarantee, this is the reason I shop at SHN, I know if I mess something up or it doesn't work out I can call them and they will ship out a new one, with no hassle.
2. Quality products, most of the items I have ordered from them have grown well.
3. Great prices on items if you have a coupon. There is normally some sale that will get me to buy an item or 2 for my garden. It brings the price down to a regular nursery price but again, I would pay the little extra for the Lifetime guarantee. I don't know how many hydrangea's I have bought from a regular nursery only to have them fail leaving me to buy them again the following season.
4. Great phone support, anytime I have called about a question or issue the customer service has always been helpful.

Now the cons:
1. Shipping, there is a lot to be desired here. First there is no express or overnight shipping option, second, it seems no matter what they claim the delivery date will be on the order it will always change to a later date. I place an order in august of 09 in hopes all items would come in the fall, this was not the case. I received a few items but not my Josee Re-Blooming lilacs, I called customer service and they informed me they would ship in a couple of weeks. By the time the spring came they still did not ship and the date kept on moving back. I emailed customer service and they said they would ship by a certain date, the date came and went, so I emailed customer service again and they finally shipped.

2. Slow email response time, When I emailed customer service it seems it always took 3-5 days for a response. This makes it hard to communicate you questions back. If you want a response, call them they have always been really friendly on the phone, but I am normally a calm guy and try not to sound to frustrated.

"On May 13, 2010 1:28 PM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with: