Comments regarding Pinetree Garden Seeds

Seeds ordered January 30th, all except one received February 2nd.
There was a slip in the package telling me that one item was backordered - it was received February 18th.
Postage was high as after a bad experience last year, I did pay the $4.50 "Special Handling" fee. I think it's worth it as the price of the seeds is otherwise so low.
Will report back in late spring on germination.
This has been a good year for me, seeds ordered from 10 companies and everything now received.

This was my first time ordering and am very satisfied. Everything arrived in a timely fashion, including the backorder. I ordered online and was impressed with the selection and the ease of ordering. I would highly recommend Pinetree Garden Seeds.

Posted on May 19, 2006, updated February 9, 2010
I've ordered from this company for several years now and I recently received an order last month. Shipping was quicker than expected less than 2 weeks. I also ordered a hops rhizome and I was very pleased with the condition. It has now leafed out and has sent out several runners.

I really enjoy the variety of seeds they offer and the prices are excellent, far cheaper than any other seed company I have used. If you have a smaller garden, this is a great place to order from.

I've noticed a few comments about slow shipping. I've always ordered online and have not had a problem. They do offer an expedited order processing which I have used before and I got the order quickly. It is less than 5 dollars and with the low shipping and product costs I found it reasonable.

Have been placing orders with Pinetree for several years now and overall very happy with them. Germination can be a bit low sometimes but still very reasonable based on the prices paid. I place my orders early in the season (usually in January) and typically receive them within 2 weeks. This year in fact I got my order in just 6 days.

The problems of last year seems to be resolved; I got my order this week in a little over a week.

Last year they had a problem getting orders filled on time. This year 2010 I think they have corrected that. I will know in a few weeks. Have ordered for several years but last year skipped because they warned on their website about delay in processing orders.

Their seeds have always been very high quality with high germination and true to type. They are among the lowest priced suppliers of high quality seeds and have some difficult to find varieties. Two items I regularly order that are hard to find are Tyfon which is an outstanding catch crop for leaf eating beatles and also excellent cooked greens. And RampicanteTrombocino zucchini. The latter is outstanding in the deep south with no disease or bug problems. Will produce 30 foot long vines here and both edible blossoms and myriad squash. Planting tyfon next to cabbage family plants will keep the beatles of the cabbages. They much prefer Tyfon.

Pinetree's seeds, in my experience, are just as high quality as Stokes or Johny's at far lower cost. They have both modern hybrids and many hard-to-find heirloom varieties.

Please remember that the rating system here is not very granular, and people will often leave comments without taking the time to breathe and think things through.

I had a negative experience with Pinetree in Spring 2009, the second year I ordered from them, when I gather they were a little overwhelmed. I didn't receive seeds (esp. potatoes) when I expected them, though they arrived in time for later Spring planting (round about last frost in my area). The people there were VERY helpful and apologetic, and I think I ended up with a lot of freebies. This is NOT one of those "gardening direct" type ripoff sites. This is a smaller to medium size seed place staffed by REAL people. So if you have a problem contact them (email worked fine for me) and I'm sure they will be responsive and helpful.

I had excellent results with their seeds- very high germination rates compared to others I've tried (especially the "big store" brands). Inexpensive does not necessarily mean poor quality. Germination can be affected by numerous factors- not controlling temperature, humidity, light, water, wind, etc- again controlling these factors resulted in excellent germination rates for me.

I am a repeat buyer and haven't had any other problems- get your order in early! I highly recommend this company.

First seed order from them and received it in about a week.

Plan ahead! Pinetree sends out their catalogs early. Who could forcast 2009 would see such an increase in gardening? They're a small shop with excellent customer service. Their simplicity (catalog, packets, e-mails, etc.) keeps prices down. Their info is accurate, they adapt their offerings to what works, and are responsive to any errors. My only regret is that I didn't "find" them until I moved from New England to WA. Many folks stop by my rural yard/garden just to look and talk, and Pinetree is my first recommendation. Get all the fancy catalogs to see pictures and read the hype, then compare to Pinetree. Order early, save a lot, and be able to order more stuff, Pinetree or elsewhere.

I just received my first seed order from Pinetree, and I will definitely be a repeat customer. Reasonable prices and quantities of seeds were my main reasons for ordering here. I received my seeds within 2 weeks of placing my order. The order was entirely correct (about 30 different packs) - nothing missing, nothing substituted, no mistakes. Seeds look healthy and the packets are clearly labeled with the essential details. I cant wait to start them for my garden this spring!

Very pleased with the company's customer service. I received my order in 5 days, except for one backordered packet that arrived a week later. Their selection of heirloom vegetables is great and the prices can't be beat.

12/5/09....I have ordered from this company in the past
with no problems....Received my order very quickly after
placing the order....I did write on the order blank that I
would post a rating on this website about my seed order....not sure if that is important to a staff member who
is sending me the seed order....Regardless, seeds received very quickly....One disappointment was the amount of Harliquin Marigold seeds....only got 50 seeds
for the 2 packets I ordered....marigold seeds are so plentiful when they grow; not sure why they can"t give
more seeds that item....maryanne, zone 5, Ohio

I placed a very large order (over 200 varieties of seeds), books, etc., and am very pleased to have received everything I ordered, save spring planting materials and few back ordered items, in just over a week! Pleasant, responsive, and patient customer service for this first time gardener. Great prices on both seeds and their wide selection of books. A treasure!

I am surprised by all of the negative comments here because I have ordered from Pinetree for many years and have been very satisfied. Yes, it's true, you don't get a lot of seeds, but the packets are priced accordingly.

I have read some of the negative reviews after I ordered and received my order from Pinetree. They were recommended on another gardening website and the price was right for me and they had the seeds I was looking for. It looks like the company had a bad spot for a while but if my order is any indication maybe things are looking up! I received my order in a timely fashion(about 1 week), everything was right and I am very satisfied. I planted some of my seeds today and if I have germination problems with the seed I will come back and post again. I hope they have fixed the problems and can be a good company to order from in the future for me and everyone cause their prices are good as well as the packet size, and selection.

I like the way they package - I have a hobby of collecting seed packets and these are very top quality - my seeds were also top notch! Fine people from a fine State!

A couple weeks ago I placed two orders with Pinetree Seeds and was very happy with the extremely quick shipping (USPS Priority Mail) and good packing of both orders. I ordered 4 books and 2 plastic canning funnels. The books were very high quality and so were the funnels. The prices were great too! The cost of the shipping was very reasonable! These were my first orders from PInetree Seeds and I was quite pleased with the experience. Thanks Pinetree Seeds!!

It sounds like Pinetree may be going through some growing pains this year, or other issues perhaps? I have used them for years because they have great prices on seeds and a good selection. Plus they have gardening books for cheap cheap cheap! I did order a catalog from them this year because I moved and I did have to ask twice and it took a month or so to get here. Very different from my past experiences. I will still order from them, I haven't had any problems with their seeds not starting for me yet. But who knows whats up. I would encourage you to give them a try. Just maybe order early and only a few items to see if they've pulled it back together. Here's hoping they do! There aren't many places you can spread your money out as well as Pinetree. Good if your a plant nut and can't make up your mind.

Order did take longer to arrive this year, but all came in accurately as usual.

Sorry to see they got so overwhelmed this year. They are normally a very good company.

Pinetree is unique among seed companies for their low prices and smaller quantity seed packets. For a home gardener like me, that's just perfect! Less expense, less wasted seeds (for example, I only need to grow a few tomato plants at a time to keep my family supplied for the summer)

This company has a good selection of both heirloom and hybrid varieties. They're not on the cutting edge of all the trendy varieties that some other companies offer; for that reason, I shop from Pinetree for "tried and true" heirloom peppers, tomatoes, squash and beans. The germination rate has always been satisfactory, about 75%.

I discovered Pinetree seeds four years ago. At that time I thought the customer service was very speedy. It's sad to read that is apparently not the experience so many other reviewers have had this season. This season I ordered my seeds a few weeks later than usual and I also experienced a longer delay in receiving my order. A careful examination of the ordering information notes showed me that January orders are supposed to ship in about a week, and Feb-May orders are 2-3 weeks. Well there you have it, plan accordingly.

I recommend Pinetree seeds for the customer who is happy to order popular, time-proven seed varieties (meaning, at least a couple years "on the market" after the other catalogs have introduced them) and especially for those people who tend to plan ahead and don't need their order "yesterday", LOL.

I placed a large order in February and it came 4 weeks later. I called after two weeks (hitting redial repeatedly) and spoke with the owner or manager. She said their business doubled last year and tripled this year, that she had hired an extra 25 people but still could not keep up with orders. She was very polite and sorry about the delay. My order was complete and the seed germination rate is fine.
A note with my order stated that they have put in additional phone lines and computers along with the additional staff.
I have read that because of the recession, many people are turning to growing their food to save money, and companies are running short of seeds/plants.
I plan to order from them again next year, but will do it in January.

I have ordered from Pinetree for years. Granted, I always order early, with the objective of receiving all my seeds by Christmas, but Pinetree has always come through for me. I had only 2 backorders this year, one of which was for a house plant. The other I received last week, in plenty of time for planting here in IL. I truly hope their apparent current problems will be solved soon, but in the meantime I intend to remain a loyal customer.

I placed an order with Pinetree yesterday morning, paid for expedited processing and just received a call (24 hours after my order was placed) from a lady call Anne to verify my postal code and advise me my order will be shipped Monday! I will post again when I receive my seeds, but I am very pleased with the company thus far.

It certainly seems Pinetree is having a rough year. My seeds were late arriving as well. I phoned the company and spoke with Sharon, who explained they were very backed up. She said she would call me back--and then SHE DID--twice! Frankly, I was surprised. But she found my order and sent it fairly immediately after that. Yes, I waited longer than I wanted to. But I am so impressed that she followed up and stayed in contact, that I forgive all. So thank you Sharon! I'll be back.

My mother and I both enjoy shopping at Pinetree. I love the unique offerings and the quality.

I've ordered from Pinetree for years and they've always been fairly slow, but this year they were VERY slow. I received my order nearly 6 weeks after placing it. I'd guess that the economy is hurting this (and many other) businesses, forcing them to operate with fewer employees than is optimal. That's why I'm staying positive in my review. I think we're all going to have to be a little more patient and understanding of the difficulties that many small businesses are going through right now. If we can all try to work together, perhaps next year, things will be back to normal. Now, I could be wrong, and Pinetree could just be doing a lousy job of shipping in a timely manner, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. They've been good to me before. I hope those who swear they'll never order from Pinetree again will give them another chance. It would be sad to see yet another small business go under in this current economic climate.

To be frank, this company was the slowest of several to deliver my order this year (4 weeks as opposed to days with other companies). That said, the web site did contain a warning about delays. I also have to say that my order was correct down to the last detail. Like others, I'm pleased to be able to pay $1.25 for my first try at artichokes and $1.35 for my first try at Aztec tobacco. When my husband saw the box, he asked me how much I'd paid for it. When I told him $65 including shipping for 4 books and more than 30 packets of seeds (including two large packs of sprout seeds), he just smiled. Ah, yes, it was a bargain. If the seeds germinate well, I'll be ordering from Pinetree again.

I have ordered from this company n the past with no prblems but I usually order in January. This year I was running late and the catalog specifies that starting in Feb the shipping time can be as much as 3 weeks and the web site warned they were experiencing heavy order volumes and delays so I opted for the express shipping for $4.50 extra . I placed my order on the evening of 3/5/09 so if they were true to their word with the express shipping as it was by 24 business hours and I placed the order after closing that it should ship on Monday 3/9 and sure enough on 3/12 it was here and was postmarked on 3/9. The order was for 29 different packets of seeds of vegetables,herbs and flowers so even with the extra handling charge it only costan around 40 cents a packet to ship. Only 1 packet was back order and that was more of a curiosity- a WHITE GOLD ROMANESCO - but what matters is the various seeds that need a 10 to 12 week start indoors made it in time as I live in Central NY so planting time outdoors is the end of May.

This is my first year ordering from this company. I placed my order back in late January along with my orders to other companies. Pinetree was the last to arrive but it was still timely, second week of February.
I have no reason not to use them again. Good, easy to read catalog and fairly good prices.

I never have trouble with slow delivery from Pinetree, but I do my order in January so they are much less busy. I love their small packets so I am not left with a bunch of leftover seed. Their year end sale is great, huge bargains. Just today I called to ask them about a problem germinating some seeds, and they answered right away and are sending a replacement pack. I like them a lot.

This a great company, if only for their wide selection and very reasonable prices. They said my seeds would ship in 2-3 weeks -- after 3 weeks, I was getting worried, so I emailed. They responded by calling me at home on a Sunday, and telling me exactly when my order was shipping. I have never experienced this level of personal customer service from a seed company! I've been very satisfied with the seeds I've started so far; germination of the cabbage seeds they sent me was terrific, almost 100%.

Have ordered from Pinetree for many years. Great prices and good seeds. Never disappointed. It is always good to keep in mind that orders placed when catalogs first arrive will be fulfilled much sooner than orders placed during the busy season.

I've ordered from them for more than 3 years. Their seeds are very reasonable. This allows me to order more than I would with other companies and to make experimenting affordable.
This year I forgot to order one packet of seeds that I really wanted and called a day after I realized my mistake. The person that picked up the phone let me order the one packet without charging me another handling fee even though the packet was going to go out separately. This is the kind of service I love and I very vocally recommend them to other gardeners.
Their seeds always arrive promptly. Once I had all the seeds I planted on a specific bean fail (that was a freak thing because all the other seeds I've gotten have been fine). They offered me a new seed packet or a packet of something else.
Another nice thing they do is send a $2 discount coupon with your order so if you place another order within a specific time period you catch a price break.
They are the first company to mail out their catalogs in the winter. Just when I feel the loss of being in the garden, their catalog arrives allowing me to dream.
They rock!

I have ordered from Pinetree for years and have been happy with their merchandise. They have always delivered the seed in a timely manner and with the exception of a few packets of seeds over many many years, the germination of their seed has been good. I like their range of varieties, but at times would like a little more information on some of the seeds which they get from Europe and Asia, such as days to maturity. Their prices/packet size allow me to order and trial more cultivars, which cannot be done at the prices other companies charge. Overall, they deserve an A+ and kudos to their staff, who are knowledgable and curteous.

I placed a mixed order of seeds, supplies (plastic mulch and row covers) and some potatoes and bareroots that won't be available until spring. My seeds and the supplies arrived almost exactly two weeks later, with the seeds neatly bundled in the same order as on the invoice, making them easy to inventory. The bulk row cover and plastic mulch arrived neatly folded and free of snags or tears.
Pinetree has some of the best prices and a nice variety of heirloom and open-pollinated seeds. I've started the onions already, and although they're well-known for having low germination rates I got about 95% germination (and slightly more seedlings that I planned on).

Although communications (i.e. when shipment has shipped and response to emails) seems to be lacking...shipping charges are MORE then fair. Great prices on a nice selection of seeds as well!!

I love how you can buy 15 tomato seeds for a buck from them instead of 75 seeds for three times that much. That's really nice when you have a small garden and really don't need thirty White Cherry tomato plants. Yeah, you can save the extra seeds for next year, but what if you're trying them for the first time and find out you really don't like them? With Pinetree's prices, I can try out two or even three new varieties/plants for the same price as just one from other places, and not have that many (if any) seeds left over, so I think using them for my seed ordering has actually made me more adventurous.

I also like how their shipping is based on the dollar amount of your order. I had the largest amount ($9.99), and it probably cost a couple bucks less than that to send me, but who cares? It's SO much easier to calculate that way.

I just received the seed portion of my order from Pinetree yesterday. It was packed nicely and sent promptly despite there being over 70 items to round up. The corm/tuber portion of the order will ship in spring, so if there are any problems with it I'll post back here ~ otherwise, consider my experience a positive one. I will definitely order from them again, and will tell all my friends to order from Pinetree.

I have been ordering from Pinetree Garden Seeds for oh, at least 25 years now. I think I first saw them advertised in the Mother Earth News as a company that specialized in seeds that did well in short growing seasons for small gardeners. At the time, I was a beginning gardener at about 9500 feet of altitude in the Rocky Mountains.

Well, I was amazed to find that I could grow fantastic lettuce, brussels sprouts and leeks at that altitude in soil that consisted of little more than decayed granite and horse manure.

A few years later I moved to northern New Hampshire and grew fine gardens for quite a few years with their seeds and other products.

I'm back now in the Rocky Mountains, and still find Pinetree Garden Seeds to be absolutely one of the best suppliers of quality seeds in the nation. I have tried them all, and if I can get the seeds I want from Pinetree I will always prefer them over others carrying the same variety for viability, dependability, and price. And very often they carry varieties available nowhere else that are superior in flavor and robustness to more widely known types.

I ordered quite a few seeds from Pinetree this year. It was my first order with them, and it was quickly delivered from an internet order. Germination was great, even with the more difficult seeds. I will be ordering from them again, and really look forward the the 2009 catalog.