Comments regarding Digging Dog Nursery

In February I ordered several plants from Digging Dog. In early May I got an email from them that they were ready to ship (on May 16) but some of the plants--hardy geraniums--were not available. They suggested a possible substitution, for another geranium varietal that was hardy only to zone 7, not my Chicago garden in zone 5. I declined and asked them to ship the balance of my order. May went by, we got into June. I called the company, and emailed, but no one answered. I called again and again and finally got a live person. She said they would ship my plants the following week (that now being the second week of June). I reminded her that we have a shorter growing season in Chicago than in her home state of California, and that I would appreciate getting the plants soon or I would have little time to enjoy them. She promised that they would go out the following week. It is now the last week in June. No plants, no communication from Digging Dog. I called again, and sent another email, and used the contact form on the website, asking when I would get my plants. If not right away, then I wanted to cancel the order. But I have not received a single answer. This is terrible customer service, unresponsive and in my experience--as a retired marketing executive and a long-time certified Master Gardener--also rather rude.

I placed several orders this spring, received email's needing to clarify the number of plants etc. I responded. They said it would ship out shortly. That was in April and May, it's now July and still no plants. I emailed asking when they would ship and they never replied.

I definitely will not order from again.

I’ve placed two separate (very pricey) orders for heathers, eryngium, and echinops. Every single plant was stunted, straggly, and despite my ministrations, dead within one month. Very, very disappointed in the poor quality vis a vis the high cost.

"On Aug 28, 2020 10:28 AM, Digging Dog Nursery responded with:

Dear crankyanna. Thank you for the feedback on the order you received in June. We are very sorry to hear that our plants did not survive in your garden. Our mission is to ship plants that successfully dig their roots into their new homes. We wish you would have gotten in touch with us as soon as they began to decline, as we do offer extensive phone support to our customers that may be experiencing difficulties with their plants. Digging Dog greatly values you as a customer, and your satisfaction is important to us. Please call us and we’ll gladly resolve this situation. (707)937-1235. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday."

last year I ordered several plants and they arrived poorly packaged and tiny.......I wrote to them re my dismay as they were to be gifts and I was disappointed; their response was defensive.....as in others love us why don't you...whatever...I let it go....I order a great deal from online nurseries as I live uber rural where there are few resources......I am very happy with my favorites: Annie's Annuals/Perennials and Far Reaches Farm are the best online .....they are top of the line A+........ this year I couldn't find the hardy geraniums I wanted anywhere else and thought the small sizes from Digging Dog would do fine for sturdy plants such as these.....imagine my surprise when they cancelled my order after several weeks.... telling me they had done so because I complained a year ago.........wow.........what a business model.....alienate/blame the customer and make no efforts at genuine communication..............odd and annoying.........I cannot imagine how they keep a business going with such an attitude.................

I live in a mild climate (Willamette Valley) and in the fall of 2015 I ordered some ornamental grass plants from this company. I have planted ornamental grasses in the fall with previous success so I figured this would be a chance to get some interesting kinds instead of the usual fare. I checked to make sure that these plants were suited to my area and they were. I planted them carefully and come spring nothing happened. My other ornamental grasses were just beginning to grow. It became clear that the plants from Digging Dog were dead and I really do believe they were pretty much dead when I got them. The upshot is that I contacted the company and got an email saying that "there are so many environmental factors coming into play when a plant is planted in the fall." Really, why did you sell them? Many things are planted in the fall in my area with great success.

Also, I was told that I had waited too long to register my complaint and that they would only offer me the "shared customer responsibility credit" which is 50%. Now how would I have known the plants were not viable until the growing season for them arrived?

I have placed many mail orders with other companies with successful results. This company is unreliable. None of the plants grew and the excuses were specious.

I ordered 18 perennial geraniums including 8 Rozanne on 6/4/15 asking them to be sent the end of June. On 6/9/15 I was notified they had no Rozanne left and asked me if I could substitute Havanna Blue or Buxtons. I agreed to substitutes for these 2 varieties.I later emailed to send the order sooner as my garden designer was getting back early which they emailed and said they would ship them out the week of 23rd of June. I received these plants on June 25th. I was happy with all of the plants except for what was supposed to be 4 quart sized lancastriense at $7.25 each as I received 4 approx 1 inch by 2 inch small plants for which I was charged $5.75 each. Based on what I ordered and what I received I felt ripped off. I immediately emailed the company on 6/25/15 asking that they combine these 2 mini plants into one quart size and charge me $7.25 for each 2 mini pots or $14.50 and not $23.00 as charged and I thought an $8.50 refund was in order. On 7/3/15 I received a somewhat standardized form letter back giving me the small business issue, cost to grow plants, etc.. and that at the very least their plants were worth $4.75 each or at least $19.00 and was willing to refund me $4.00. I replied on 7/3/15 "Please refund me the $4.00." Today 7/8/15 the $4.00 credit showed up on my bank account. For refusing to refund the $4.50 additional amount on this order she has lost a future customer. In all fairness they did have an extensive list of perennial geraniums and I certainly would have bought many more down the line. While their shipping fees were extremely high I was willing to pay that for the varieties I wanted. In the end I did not get what I ordered. Their loss is my gain as I have found more plants elsewhere and the shipping was way better..

"On Jul 13, 2015 3:09 PM, Digging Dog Nursery responded with:

We value and appreciate all of our customers, and are truly saddened to have disappointed you. Perhaps some of your expectation about our plant container sizes could have been clarified by referring to any of the following pages on our website: "Catalog", "Order Info", or "Planting Info", under the heading "Digging Dog Plants", which states the following container sizes:
Small band: 2-½" square x 5" deep
Medium Band: 3" square x 5-½" deep - (The majority of our perennials & grasses)
Squat Band: 3-¾" square x 4-½" deep
Large Band: 4 square x 6 deep - (Most of our trees & many of our shrubs)
Occasionally, plants will be available in liners (2-¼ square x 3-¼ deep) or landscape plugs and will be discounted $1.00-$1.50 off the regular price.
"

The prices were better than most sites. I assumed the plants would be very small but that was O.K. for me. I spent a long time selecting about 20 plants that totaled about $120 and per another review, when it came to checking out the handling and shipping costs were just under $100. I've been ordering plants for years from on-line nurseries and have NEVER seen such high shipping costs.

So I cut back the order to 9 plants where I could handle the extra costs and placed the order on April 28th. I finally received a message on May 16th to say 6 plants I wanted wouldn't be ready until mid-June and they'd ship the rest on May 26th. Again, I have NEVER ordered on-line and not received plants that showed they were in stock on their website, not ship for a full month! ALWAYS before plants have shipped in less than a week

Their website is full of excuses - Oh, we are so small and got so many orders blah, blah blah. I'm a small business too and I do my job without all the excuses. But the worst is to come, read on.

So I received the first part of my order totaling $34.25 for 3 plants and found they charged me $33.72 in handling and shipping charges!!!!! The full amount for the 9 plants but only shipped 3.

Their prices may look cheap but they sure make up for it in handling & shipping. Now I have to waste my time fighting them to get the rest of my order shipped with no other fees or shipping - I'll see.

There are so many fabulous on-line nurseries - don't waste your time on this one.

Note: I ordered a flat of creeping sedum long after this order that I received in less than a week, well packed in a much larger box and paid $8.95 shipping with no handling and packing fee.

I was in the process of ordering six Salvia today from Digging Dog for a cost of $46.50 ($7.25 each) when before I gave them my credit card I noticed my order was going to cost $76.40. My total cost included $46.50 for the plants, $4.95 handling and packing, and $24.95 for shipping.

I have ordered plants for years from many nurseries and have no problem paying "normal" shipping costs, but $29.90 on a $46.50 order is over the top. I'm interested in what others think of such a large shipping cost......

"On Apr 9, 2015 3:13 PM, Digging Dog Nursery responded with:

We are so sorry about, and certainly understand and share your dismay regarding the costs of shipping. Since we are a small family run business, we are not eligible for the substantial discounts that larger mail-order businesses receive from UPS. As we are all aware, fuel costs have risen dramatically over the past few years and forced carriers to impose increasing fuel related charges on their customers. While there has been a welcome decrease in fuel prices recently, those savings have not been reflected in the rates charged by the carriers. We assure you that Digging Dog Nursery does not make any profit on shipping costs. In fact, we have been absorbing these incremental costs for some time now and in doing so have lost and continue to lose money on many air shipments. In the event that UPS does lower their rates, we will gladly pass those savings on to our customers.

To offset the UPS air charges for smaller orders, whenever possible we ship the package PRIORITY AIRMAIL VIA THE POST OFFICE for either $14 or $17 per order depending on the size of plants.

Over the last twenty years we have earned a positive reputation for our attentive personal service, eco-friendly nursery practices and exceptional, hard-to-find botanical selections. These well-established plants are not only expertly grown, but grown with immeasurable care which has inspired our loyal customers to order year after year."

Posted on September 9, 2014, updated September 16, 2014
6 years ago I ordered 2 plants of Sweet Autumn Clematis. I had grown up in KY with this plant surrounding our home in the fall and fell in love with the wonderful sweet fragrance. I received the plants in good order, planted them, in the fall each year they bloomed - every year blooming more and more - but never ever a single hint of fragrance. I called once after couple of years past and inquired and was given no answer. I thought after several years the flowers would spill out their wonderful fragrance - nothing. So I called the owner last month and told her the above - she was smug to say the least and laughed at me for 6 yrs passing - I told her the above that I kept waiting. She said she would investigate. 3 weeks later no answer. I called/emailed several times she was mulling it over with her Canadian buyer and their decision was "my soil" as the problem. I told her my neighbor has it growing beautifully and full of fragrance. No reply to that. I asked for my money back, she said no too much time had passed. I said I have two vines that I have spent a lot of time on to establish them properly and they are not what I ordered...so if I don't get my money back I will write an honest review about your horrible service and lack of knowledge about this particular situation. To this date - over 2 weeks later I have not received my $27.00. The money wasn't the point so much as her smugness and my having to stay on it. When I planted this vine it was planted with great care - with soil amendments added - watered and fertilized diligently. My sweet jasmine smells wonderful as does my Joseph Coat climbing rose - neither of which came from that nursery. So last month I ordered two Sweet Autumn Clematis - arrived beautifully - from Garden Harvest Supply in Indiana. Will keep you posted next fall.

"On Sep 11, 2014 2:51 PM, Digging Dog Nursery responded with:

Our records indicate that Cathy first contacted us around the second week of August 2014. At that time, she told us about her Clematis terniflora, which she stated was thriving, but not fragrant. We listened attentively to her concerns and said that a picture would be helpful. Upon checking our records, we learned that she purchased these plants on 8/26/2008. We received the photo on August 11. We identified the photo as Clematis terniflora and were so puzzled by her situation that we forwarded it on to a man that operates one of the most respected and largest Clematis nurseries in North America for his opinion. He is a very busy person and it took awhile to hear back from him. He confirmed that it was a robust specimen of Clematis terniflora. He also had never heard of a non-fragrant Clematis terniflora. His nursery, which has been in business for over 40 years, has always supplied us with this particular Clematis. So after receiving the photo, four days later on August 14, we sent the following email to Cathy:

Dear Cathy,
We are so sorry that we did not get back with you sooner, but we were waiting to hear from the supplier. Neither the supplier, nor myself, have received any other complaints about the crop your plant came from, or any complaints about this particular clematis lacking a fragrance in the 20 plus years we've been selling it. Our supplier, who is a renowned Clematis authority, suspects that this may have been environmentally caused due to your particular micro climate, which would be a combination of exposure, humidity, and soil type.

By the photo you sent, we can see that we correctly filled your order, and that your plant flourished and bloomed. Our policy states that we will provide a healthy plant that is true to it's name. As your order was placed six years ago, we are unclear what you would like us to do for you at this late date. If you would like to order a replacement plant, we will waive our handling fee. However, we cannot guarantee that it would be fragrant due to the unusual elements in your garden.

By the time we spoke again, Cathy had become quite upset. She continued to claim that we had sent her the wrong plant. We are very sorry that our attitude was misinterpreted when we attempted to explain to her that we had truly sent her two Clematis terniflora, a fact that had also been confirmed by a renown Clematis authority. In light of the unusual circumstances, we offered to refund half the cost of the plants. At that point, she became irate, threatening to do everything in her power to destroy our nursery's reputation if we did not refund her the full amount. We conceded to refunding her the full price of the plants, even though, we felt that we had upheld our nursery's guarantee and delivered her healthy botanically correct plants. We issued a refund check for $27.00, the total cost of the plants, on August 27 and mailed it to her via USPS standard mail. Since then, she has both emailed and called several times, threatening to take further action, in addition to posting this negative review even though we did confirm on September 4 that her refund check had been mailed. Each email we received from her has been promptly responded to, sometimes within an hour, assuring her that the check was on its way and to give it some additional time. We feel badly that she is so upset, but are not certain what more we could have done to ensure her satisfaction with our service.

I am a garden designer whos intention it was to install a small rock garden for a client. One of the plants I wanted in the garden is difficult to find in my area. Happily, I found the plant online at Digging Dog Nursery, but (sadly) was told that since they would not ship only one plant to NJ, I needed to spend a minimum amount. I chose 3 more [difficult to find here as well] plants to meet their requirement. The plants I ordered came to me *shockingly* small- even for the price ($7, average per plant), considering the whopping S & H ($15 plus $5, grand total $47). Though small, only one of the plants was barely acceptable in spite of all that $$.
When I called to express my
disappointment, the reply (from the proprietor) was an invite to mail everything back. An inconvenient solution was to be my only solace in this already extremely disappointing experience. Her attitude was at once defensive and unyielding. I also noticed a bit of hoitiness in her affect, as if she was doing me a favor by allowing me to place an order.
I have ordered plants mail order in the past and have had disappointments as well- but was always satisfied in the end and inspired to tell others of a great experience, wanting to 'spread the good word'.
I cannot find one good word to spread about Digging Dog Nursery.
Summary: expensive, scrawny sickly plants, terrible customer service.

"On Oct 7, 2013 2:21 PM, Digging Dog Nursery responded with:

This customer called on a busy day for us (our mail order ship date) and we gladly spent a significant amount of time on the phone helping her select unusual rock garden plants, advising her on specific soil recommendations and discussing which plants would be hardy for her area. We rushed the order through on that day to make sure she received her plants as quickly as possible. During one of our phone conversations, she expressed appreciation for all the advice and time we spent helping her.

Rock garden plants tend to grow slowly and are diminutive. Perhaps this is way she felt that the plants were small or unhealthy. For instance, one of the plant’s foliar growth is a mere 1 or 2-inches tall. She had me count the number of leaves and stems on another plant. I told her the plant was not in bloom, that it had just been trimmed for the season and was beginning to go dormant so she would not be disappointed when she unpacked it.

We sent the plants as inexpensively as possible, via USPS Priority flat rate shipping ($14) so they would reach her quickly and at a lower cost than UPS. With the rising prices of gasoline it is costly to send a plant via air across the country. We have never made a profit on our shipping.

Upon hearing of this customer’s overall disappointment, we assured her that each of the plants was healthy and would thrive in the rock garden environment. Perhaps this customer thought I was being unyielding because I stood behind the health of our plants. We grow our plants in open air cold frames using real sterilized garden loam and allow them to go through their natural life cycle, which includes going dormant for the winter. We believe growing our plants in this fashion ensures healthy and long-lived plants, as attested by overwhelmingly positive customer feedback during our 21+ years of growing our plants and running this mail order business.
Since she still seemed upset after we reassured her and answered additional questions, I thought offering a full refund for the plants once they arrived back at the nursery, at our expense would resolve her disappointment. We are truly sorry that it hasn’t. Customer satisfaction is of utmost importance to us, and as a small family-run business we’ve been able to provide personal attention to each and every valued customer. We will still strive to find a way to resolve this situation in an amiable fashion.
"

I didn't notice the outrages shipping charges when I ordered and had to cancel

Wow are the people here crazy or what, they get taken on shipping and rate this company as positive, I saw all the positive ratings and thought I would give them a try, my 32 dollar order had a 29.90 shipping charge with handling to Mo. That is a complete ripoff, it's insulting. There are many good companys that aren't on the top 30 that don't rip you off on shipping. Stay way unless you like the people your ordering from laughing all the way to the bank.

"On Jun 26, 2009 10:01 AM, Digging Dog Nursery responded with:

We are sorry that the person from Saint Charles, MO expressed concern about our shipping costs. We wholeheartedly assure this person and all who are reading this rebuttal that we are not 'laughing all the way to the bank'.

Since we are a small family run business, we are not eligible for the
substantial discounts that larger mail-order businesses receive from UPS.
As we are all aware, fuel costs have both fluctuated and risen dramatically
over the past few years. These events and recent trends have led freight
carriers to impose increasing fuel related surcharges on their customers.
Digging Dog Nursery has been absorbing these incremental costs for some time now. In fact, Digging Dog Nursery has barely raised their shipping costs
since 2003.

After careful research, we found that a $50.00 order sent UPS
AIR does average around $25.00. To offset, the UPS air charges for small
orders, we are now offering PRIORITY AIRMAIL VIA THE POST OFFICE.

Attentive personal service, eco-friendly nursery practices and choice hard-to-find plants that are not only well grown, but grown with a lot of love is what
kept loyal customers ordering for nearly twenty years."

I read some positive reviews about Digging Dog so I wanted to give them a try. When I was ready to order, I saw a notice that read "At present, we are unable to ship to Florida, Hawaii or anywhere outside USA." It should read "unwilling". I emailed the company to ask when they will be ABLE to ship to FL and the reply I received was "Sorry, the state's agricultural regulations are so strict, it simply is not worth it." I for one would not feel comfortable purchasing from a company unwilling to meet the strict agricultural regulations of any state. What does this imply about their quality standards? High Country Gardens is willing to meet Florida's strict standards ( I've made over $500 worth of purchases from them so far) so my confidence and customer loyalty stays with them!

On a side note: some of the zone information included with each plant is incorrect. Lavenders are hardy to zone 10/11.

On June 24, 2006, I sent an email to the company (business@diggingdog.com) inquiring about a hard to find shrub that I was very interested in ordering. The website showed it as being "Sold Out" and I asked when it may be in stock again and the price. Since I never received a response from Digging Dog Nursery, I found the shrub on another website and was able to order it there with no problems.

I ordered two clematis and three acer griseum from digging dog online. The clematis came well packed and heathly, however the acer griseum were sold out. I was not notified of this until I received an invoice with the shipped clematis, about six weeks after my order. As these tree's are only carried by a small handful of nurseries, by the time I knew about this I was not able to order them from another source. While I received an e-mail confirmation of my order, again they did not indicate that the acer griseum were unavailable.

"

Due to a cool spring, our new crop of Acer griseum has taken longer to root
out than usual. Sometimes root development is beyond our control and we refuse to send plants that are not well-established. Please note that in our comments to mathewpok we wrote "We are sorry but the Acer griseum won't be ready to ship until the end of May. Please re-order at that time. We will waive some of the shipping and handling charges if you re-order.

Deborah at Digging Dog"