Comments regarding Nature Hills Nursery

We have ordered from Nature Hills Nursery for several years. In every instance the plants have arrived superbly packaged and in excellent condition. We regularly order from nurseries like White Flower Farm and our experience dictates that NH is among the very top nursery stock providers.

Michael & Brenda Vaughan
Alexandria, Virginia

Ordered 3 rose bushes, received about a month ago. 1st - although some were described as possible container plants, NH could not tell me anything about whether I could grow them in containers and overwinter them inside in zone 5. (Later, it turned out Home Depot could even tell me more about this re: their rose bushes.) Worse - 2 of the 3 have shown no signs of life, and seem if anything to be deteriorating, although the 3rd is "coming out of dormancy" under the same conditions. At one point someone at NH told me the plants might just need more time to come out of dormancy, but if they didn't, they would be replaced. More recently I have been told I will have to pay 1/2 the price again, PLUS shipping, for any replacements. In contrast - I ordered a rose bush from another online grower. They have not shipped it yet b/c they watch the plant for a couple weeks to make sure it is healthy and ALIVE when they ship it - I prefer this, although it causes later shipping.
A more minor criticism - the 4th plant I got from NH - a cherry tree - looks like it was grown up against a wall, w/growth exactly on 3 sides, on a very even plane. It is very young and I don't want to overprune it to even it out, even if it begins to get branches on the 4th side - I hope it will not end up w/most or all of its growth on 3 sides and a balance problem.

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Unfortunately, there is always a risk of failure when it comes to transplanting live material. Different environmental factors (such as temperatures, soil conditions, and amounts of water) can impact the growth, or the absence of growth, with a newly transplanted shrub. If a plant it unable to survive the shock of being planted, then we can always replace the item for half the price paid plus shipping without question.

If an item arrives damaged due to the shipping, we as that we are notified immediately so that the proper course of action can be taken. If the damage is reported after we are able to put together a claim, then we are only able to rely on our standard replacement policy."

Please head warnings for this company! They use your money immediately and make weather excuses for not shipping product in time frame listed on their site just as many other negative experiences list. My experience: Placed approx. $100 order June 9, 2008. All items showed will ship in 10-14 days. My credit card charged immediately for full amount June 9th. June 25th contact company for when final 3 of 5 items will be shipped. Company rep, Bryan, replied sent to packaging.......ship any day. No emails as to items shipped and no product, so contacted June 30th. July 1st email said had delays of product due to flooding in other states. Also said wanted to wait until after July 4th. How is product delayed AND in packaging??? It is now July 9th, no emails, money gone, no product. I have notified Patti I will be contacting BBB upon no product by end of next week. Too hard to get plants going in July and August around here and the company is only a three hour drive from me and knows this.......would have ordered another place knowing the shipping would be so late. Also had an issue with charge for one tree. Sale was changed to better price the day I ordered, but was charged previous price. Said can't do anything about it but give me discount on next order. Not a chance on another order after all this!!!

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Weather delays are certainly an issue when shipping plant material. Mother Nature can sometimes offer up conditions that restrict us from safely sending viable material. We try to adhere to the shipping times posted as much as possible, but we want to make sure that the order is received in a satisfactory condition for the customer.

Better communication between the warehouse and the call center certainly could have improved this situation by allowing us to keep the customer informed. That is an area that has improved and will continue to improve as order volume increases."

Received my order yesterday and I am really impressed with service, and the quality of the product. I have bought a lot of nursery stock over the past fifty odd years, but must say that this is without a doubt the best quality of Apple and Plum trees I have ever received. And the price was right too. Thank you. Nice to see there are some really very professional people in the business.
Jim., Upstate New York
//www.hammondenglishshepherds.com

Bought a tree from them, dead on delivery. I email them and did not get any response. I am not going to waste my time trying to get half credit for $25 tree. I am glad that this happened in my first order.

Wonderful experience with this company. Their packing for shipment was supurb. My 2 nice size butterfly bushes arrived in excellent condition. Not a leaf out of place and each pot was still moist.

I certainly will shop with this company again. They are nothing like Garden's Alive poor showing who could not get their e-mails to the right address. I received info on two occasions for someone I never heard of. BEWARE of Garden's Alive!!!!

I ordered 2 shrubs from Nature Hills in late March with a confirmation of shipping in late April. They shipped them on June 3rd and I received them June 9th. When I opened the boxes up I discovered that both shrubs had leafed out but the top half of both of them had died. the leaves and blossoms had withered up. I immediately emailed the company. after 4 emails and no response I called them. I took pictures of them and sent them to them. I received an email from them that they would send replacements in about 10 days. yesterday I received a phone call from a Patti who explained that they were just dormant and it would take 60 days to come to life...they are not dormant..they are dead. one was a viburnum and the other a hydrangea..after spending $78 dollars on them. please beware of this company and their useless guarantee..they do not stand behind it. I have registered a complaint with the Nebraska Better Business Bureau and perhaps they can get somewhere with them..do not buy anything from them. I have learned that it pays to investigate a company before you spend your money. I will be buying at Lowes or Home Depot from now on..

I ordered 10 Viburnum Nudum 'Winterthur' bushes from Nature Hills. They arrived in just a few days and looked like they couldn't wait to 'leaf out'. They are in the ground now and are looking great (for newly planted bushes)! We have had 2 other winterthurs for about five years now (purchased from another nursery) and have really enjoyed their beauty all year long....when they are leafing out in the early spring, when they get their lovely blooms in spring, when they turn pretty red, purple and burgundy colors in the autumn and then put on pretty little blue/black berries for the birds to enjoy in the winter. The bushes we received from Nature Hills were quite a bit larger and than the first two were and we paid twice as much for them. I won't hesitate to order any future plants from Nature Hills.

I ordered a "beauty bush" from this company. The bush arrived looking quite dead without any leaves . I planted the bush anyway (thinking it was dormant) and sent the company a quick email to let them know what happened. They agreed that the bush was dormant but that it would take up to 90 days to "wake up". I don't know how everyone else feels but I thinks its absurd to ask a customer to wait 90 days to see if a plant that looks dead is in fact dead. So far, they have not replaced the bush or given me a refund.

I received 4 mimosa trees and a grape myrtle from Nature Hills via. UPS. When I removed the "sticks" from the packaging, I was very skepticle that any of the "trees" would grow. They all looked like dead twigs with no root system or green leaf growth. I immediately planted them and shot off an email to Nature Hills describing the condition of my plants. They responded quickly to my email explaining that my trees had been refrigerated and were dormant. I should be patient and give them 30 to 90 days time to develop a root system and grow....Sure enough within three weeks all five plants began sprouting leaves. I am very happily surprized as I have had worse luck purchasing trees live locally.
Jim Bumb
Indianapolis, IN

After reading the negative comments I was rather surprised. The packaging was far superior to any other I have seen and the Dolgo crab apple was much larger than expected. When we first received the box, we carefully opened it and set the trees in the basement as we were a little too wet to plant right away. At first glance I thought that there had been some slight damage to some of the branch tips that would need some pruning prior to planting. When we were ready to plant after a couple of days, and upon closer inspection, we noticed that the branch tips were not damaged at all, but rather they were budding. What an impressive packaging with all the moss to protect the roots and to keep them from drying out, and there was quite a root system, even on the smaller Honeycrisp apple trees. Now that they are in the ground my only problem is to figure out how I am going to keep the deer and the moose away from them during the winter months. I cannot wait for the next 5 years to pass so that we can enjoy those delicious Honeycrisp apples. I do hope they survive our tough Minnesota winters.

I will definitely be ordering again.

When I before ordered this tree from another place it arrived dead. the one I got from Nature Hills was in very good shape and had planting instructions included so I planted it and boy is it ever doing well. I am happy with it as I have been looking for a tulip tree for a long time. It was shipped packed well and with no problems.

Material send was not packaged properly virtually all the$1200 worth of material is now dead. I know how to plant and maintain, you are better off throwing your money away. Warrenty- I got about 1/2 replaced , but I got a call saying some things woudld not be in until next year do you want to change material. Turns out the replacement is not exchaged by cost but by piece so my $22 plant got replaced with a $5 plant. By the time I was done taking pictures , paying for shipping, replanting what is probably the same poorly extracted material I would have been much better off buying local higher quality, less quantity or going to Home Dpot and getting better quality. Dont be ripped off, this place is a scam.

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Nature Hills has worked with this customer and a solutions was reached to replace the failed items. "

I ordered 15 Hybrid Poplars from Nature Hills Nursery.. I just received them today and I am simply amazed at the quality! I have been ordering online for years. From many different places. NEVER have I received any trees of the quality that Nature Hills has just sent me.

They not only have a repeat customer, but I wouldn't even think of ordering from anyone but them from now on! They are THAT GOOD!

I recently placed my first online order with Nature Hills Nursey after finding they had exactly the plants I wanted after seeing them at the New York Botanical Garden. In just 3 days time I received the most beautiful, healthy, vigorous and lovely plants I have EVER ordered online - two perfectly formed Hosta seiboldiana 'Frances Williams'. I've ordered a lot online from other companies and have come to expect small weak plants that generally don't take off until year two. These big strong beauties already look completely at home in the garden. I will always start my online shopping with Nature Hills Nursery from now on. Kurt-Owen Richards

My experience with Nature Hills was really positive. I have never ordered from them before, so when I received the wrong potato vine, not only did they apologize, but they're sending me the correct potato vine immediately.
Because of the professional way they've dealt with this situation, I would definitely use Nature Hills again, and I would recommend this company to fellow gardners. They have excellent customer service!!!!

Ordered a green gage plum tree and it got here just when it was pushing leaves out. I planted it then moved it the next day...then moved it again the day after that. Now in its final home this tree is putting out alot of growth!

I received the beautiful "Red Heart" Rose of Sharon today in perfect condition. The plant was larger than I expected (over 3 FT) with a wonderful root system. This is my second order with your company and I couldn't be more pleased. Thanks very much,
Annette Nelson
Granbury, Tx.

On April 11, I ordered 4 bareroot Smokebushes (Velvet Cloak). These arrived when promised. I followed the planting instructions that came with the plants. My smokebushes are now spouting forth beautiful purple leaves. I also ordered 6 dwarf burning bushes from this company last fall and all are doing very well, are healthy, and are growing. No complaints here!

I ordered buffalo grass and blue grama grass plugs for a hands on demonstration that the local UN-L Extension Service Office is putting on at our lawn. The plugs arrived well ahead of schedule in great shape and as green and moist as anyone could ask for in live plant shipping. We are ready to plant a water saving lawn.

DG

I ordered a Brandywine Maple Tree. It arrived last week. When I opened the package the top 12" of the tree was broken and had to be removed. I planted the tree immediately. I notified Natures Hills of the damage and they said the tree would still grow fine. I was happy with their answer. That evening I received a call from the Customer Service Manager who was calling to let me know that a new tree would be shipped to me free of charge. He said that even though the first tree would grow just fine they wanted me to have a new tree in perfect condition. Yesterday I received the 2nd tree. It arrived (in perfect condition) with a fantastic root system and buds already developing on it. I planted that yesterday. I'm looking forward to seeing my two trees with leaves this spring. Thank you Nature Hills - I will definitely be back to purchase more in the future. Kandi, Lake Mills, WI

Beware of this nursery! My experience is like the other negative comments. I ordered a ginger gold apple tree. The 4' tree came with a single 8" root. When it failed (big surprise there), I called for a replacement. The amount of effort to get a new tree is amazing. Two phone calls, multiple emails - but the worst part is that I have to pay again for shipping and handling. In more that 30 years of ordering plants from mail order nurseries, this is a first. DO NOT BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY!

I received a Crusader Hawthorne and a Bursting Heart Burning Bush and two different lilacs from Nature Hills about a month ago. I am very pleased, all of them are leafing out nicely and one of the lilacs even has a bloom. They were packed very nicely and I will be happy to order from them again.
=^..^=

Outstanding! Last year I was very impressed with the products provided and quality service. This year, they are already off to a great start, with quick and effective responses. I don't expect the lowest prices from Nature Hills, but the trees are always of superior quality and reasonably priced. To date, everything I've ordered from them is still alive. The better survival rate does make them the best bargain in the long run.

I ordered an elderberry and a virginia creeper plant. They arrived promptly and were packed very well. Both plants were in very good condition.

At first I was a little reluctant to buy from you, since your prices were higher than what I had been paying, but since you had the variety pear that I wanted, I decided to do so. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the two trees. They are so much more than I expected; they are well worth the higher price! I have been receiving sticks with a few match size branches from the other nursery. These two trees are not budded out yet, but they are so much more than sticks and matches, I think I can count on them succeeding. Thank you so much! I certainly will buy from you again if you have the varieties I am seeking!

I ordered a Autumn Blaze Red Maple tree from the Nature Hills Nursery. I had compared their prices with other nurseries, and chose them to order from. As I needed to plant a shade tree for my house, and was not sure of the specifications of the Autumn Blaze, I called the nursery and talked to a person who was very well informed, so I ordered the Blaze. I was notified the tree was shipped on April 16th, and I received it before noon on the 18th. Very fast shipping! ! !
I was so pleased when I saw the tree, as it was so perfectly balanced, with a strong trunk, and many branches. It was planted on the 18th, and I am looking forward to many years of enjoyment from it.
I will definitely order from this company again.

I have just received three ornamental grasses that actually look like plants! They all are very healthy and have a good root system. Will order again!

I ordered 2 serviceberry trees last year. I opened them immediately upon receipt. There was no root system at all on one, very little on the other. One had already broken dormancy. I notified the company by email that I was not satisfied. No response. I planted immediately per the instructions. Both plants promptly died. I requested replacement; they insist that they must receive a photograph for proof. I am not able to get an adequate picture of 2 dead sticks about 4-6" high. I will never do business with them again and recommend no one else do business with them either. I am out my money since they refuse to replace these items or refund the money without a photograph.

I received my first order today and it was perfect. The rhizomes were in perfect shape. The person who designed your shipping container is a genius. I provides complete protection for the plants. I will be ordering more flowers from you soon! Randy

The Cameo apple tree I ordered in fall arrived well packed and in great condition, and had a tremendous root system. It was sent near the date given with the order and I was sent a shipping notice in good time to prepare for the tree.

Nature Hills was the only place I could find that had the Cameo apple tree. Their collection of fruit trees and shrubs is impressive and includes many that are hard to find. It's going to be one of the first places I check from now on! I was really thrilled with the quality of the plant, compared to some I've gotten elsewhere in the last few years.

The fruit trees I ordered were on time and were of high quality, Would order again. Lester M.

Back on January 31, 2007, via phone, I placed an order with a Nature Hills customer service rep. for two trees, which with shipping charges added cost me $73.89.

At the time I was ordering the trees I specified that my USDA zone was on the border of 6b/7a with a heat or sun zone of 8. Then requested that any bareroot trees be shipped to me at the best time considering our short spring, window of time any bare root trees would have, to develop enough roots to support the spring leaf flush of the trees, once I planted them.

By 3:12 pm on that same day Nature Hills nursery sent me an order confirmation number along with notice that I was to wait 48 hours before inquiring further about the order.

As soon as I looked over the confirmation, it was obvious that the order listed my USDA zone as a 6. A true zone 6a region's cool spring temps extend much longer than the much shorter window of time my zone area of the state has for bare root trees to acclimate in preparation before the mid 90 degree F and above heat up stress occurs in the region. This issue concerned me enough that I felt it necessary to canel my order, even though I saw their documented policy to keep $10 of any cancelled order they agreed to grant.

So, in respect to their 48 hour delayed response request, I waited until February 4, 2008 to email Nature Hills Nursery my request to cancel the order and to qualify my reasons for doing so. In the reponse they emailed back to me, they ignored my request for reconsideration of their zone policy and they simply restated that they considered my zip code area to be a zone 6. and stated that they do not consider sun or heat up zones.

They closed the email by afirming the fact that one of my trees should survive in USDA zone 9, which had nothing to do with my concern of receiving both the trees I ordered in time for bothof them to acclimate well enough to survive our quick heat up periods that we so often receive in early Spring. Then they included a request for me to confirm that I still wanted to cancel the order.

I do not know why a company would base their shipping dates for my area as being a USDA Zone 6. Expecially since in the Last several years, our area has been most often classified as a zone 7a by many sources and no less than a zone 6b by the most up to date USDA zone charts.

I do not appreciate a company which holds to a policy which clearly refuses to comply with a customer's experiential reality, when it comes to needed ship by dates.

I found my first experience with Nature Hills Nursery to be a satisfactory and positive one. Here in Washington, D.C. we have been having a very mild winter. As a result, the spring bulbs have started to peek out and the squirrels have been ravaging our gardens by digging them up and eating them. Our crocus garden was devastated so I was determined to replace the bulbs that were damaged. Being December, it became an exercise in frustration when I went to the local garden centers and home supplies stores to get replacement bulbs. They were more focused on Christmas and the coming spring season so I was told that I was too late and out of luck. Next I tried online gardening catalogues because I was convinced that there had to be leftover fall bulbs somewhere. Again I was getting SOLD OUT or OUT OF SEASON messages. That is until I came across the Nursery Hills website which had beautiful pictures of spring flowers and crocus! Even though it was already December 31st, I went ahead and placed an order with a little bit of hope. I was pleasantly surprised about a week later when a small box arrived containing packages with bulbs of crocus in the most beautiful colors. They are safely planted now under a layer of snow and I can't wait until spring to see what they look like. Now that is good customer service because this is a company that doesn't just push seasonal items, but aims to fill any order to complete satisfaction. They are at the top of my online garden websites list and look forward to ordering our spring perennials from them in the coming months.

I ordered a Northern Red Oak tree about a year ago. It took almost a month to arrive, but it was just as described. I did have to call customer service about the order....to find out why it hadn't arrived yet even though I had been billed. The lady was very helpful and said that their shipment of trees was late, so hers, of course, had to be.

It has now been a year and the tree has grown a lot. It is beautiful.
:)
This company used to get so many bad ratings. I just thought I, too, would add my postivie experience.

Don't order their tree stakes, though. They were made of very flimsy, young bamboo and would never hold a tree up during a very strong storm.

I ordered product from them that was to be shipped in Nov. even though time had passed it showed up on time. When i opened the package the plants were in good shape and there were complete instructions on how to plant this particular product, when to water. feed it etc...this is excellent service and the instructions being there and being so detailed were very rare...great company..great service.

Last spring we ordered two Sweet Shrubs from Nature Hills Nursery. In spite of diligent care they did not make it so we contacted the nursery and they agreed to replace them. However, a few weeks ago they notified us that they no longer carried these plants and asked us to select something else. We selected a cotoneaster. It arrived promptly and is loving living in the south. We were very pleased with the personal contact with this company. Its nice to speak directly with a person. We highly recommend Nature Hills Nursery.
Dawn Yunker
Northport, Alabama

Nature Hills Nursery is FABULOUS!!!!

I will definately use them in the future for my gardening needs! They offer GREAT QUALITY PRODUCTS, offer OUTSTANDING SERVICE, at VERY REASONABLE PRICES!

It was truely a pleasure working with NATURE HILLS NURSERY!

We selected the Thalia daffodils for their white color, triple angle wing blossom per stem and lovely fragrance! I also purchased extra to be planted by the bride around the wedding gazebo that her father made for the wedding, which is now being working into her gardens. Looking forward to the glorious wedding garden for years to come! The Bulbs were great as well as very reasonably priced!

Thank you so very much for getting the bulbs for my niece's wedding so quickly. The bulbs are great! We fit two per each favor bag. These are favor bags that matched her invitations that she got at a local craft store. She found a fall toned paper at Staples and printed her thank you and bulbs info sheet...which is then folded in quarters and trimmed to match the size of bag and punched holes in the top of the note to match the holes on the favor bag! Then tied the bags closed with a sheer luminance ribbon. The guest name tag is attached to the bag, so it it is the name-card/wedding favor. The wedding was Sunday, Sept. 30th, 2007 in the Cascades of Oregon!

Really appreciated all of the outstanding service from the knowledgable staff and their immediate reaon to out special needs!

Special thanks to Patti and the entire staff that made sure this would be a very special wedding favor for family and friends. For each to plant in their homes and remember Ben and Heidi's Wedding Day! A gift that will grow as their love will continue to grow through the years!

Most Sincerely,
A Very Thrilled customer! ;^)

I have ordered from Nature Hills Nursery several times, and have frequently run into problems. My latest order was typical: two Lonicera maackii shrubs that turned out to be riddled with a disease that is causing leaf necrosis and premature drop. I have also had items arrive dead due to shipping delays. We order large numbers of a wide diversity of plants for research purposes and house them in University greenhouses and experimental gardens, and I only use Nature Hills as a last resort due to quality issues.