Comments regarding White Oak Nursery

The best place to buy native plants. Jim has a large variety of native shrubs and perennials. I am buying from White Oak Nursery for three years and had no problems with the plants. They are growing beautifully and I have been enjoying buzzing pollinators around them. All plants have very strong and healthy roots. Jim is very knowledgeable and I would encourage everyone to read his articles on website. The only regret I have that I didn't know about White Oak Nursery years ago. Inna

Love this place. Owners are highly knowledgeable. Plants are very healthy. Highly recommend.

My first purchase from Jim at White Oak has been a positive one. I bought 9 plants and they arrived in good condition even though the box had a hole in the side. It's amazing what can happen to packages in transit. The plants were still moist upon arrival. I told Jim about the box and sent him a pic. It was nice that he showed interest in knowing how his package arrived. Anyway, after spring bud break, I noticed that a few of the plants (2 Lindera benzoin and 1 Corylus Americana) were in a perpetual state of bud bread. It was so weird, the buds were green and partially sprouted but they never progressed. I've never seen anything like that. I emailed Jim and he offered a refund or replacement plants if I bought an additional plant and paid shipping. I did the latter. The new plants arrived last week in great condition and are awaiting planting. I am very pleased with how Jim stood behind his plants and showed concern with my order.

I just received nine Fothergilla gardenii "seedlings." When I placed the order I was a little surprised by how expensive the shipping was, but now understand completely. Jim ships very healthy field grown plants with large root mass in big pots. The package of nine "seedlings" weighed in at over 70 lb. These are going to get a great start in my garden, possibly skipping the "Sleep" and "Creep" phases and proceeding directly to "Leap." I'll definitely be ordering from White Oak Nursery again and hope to visit this spring.

I've purchased many plants from White Oak over the past several years and have always been very satisfied with the experience. I have evolved in my gardening into only growing native and/or edible species and White Oak carries many native tree and shrub species which are very difficult or almost impossible to find anywhere else. Their plant and shipping prices are very reasonable and the quality of the plants has consistently been excellent, shipped in generous pots full of soil. The tops of the plants are often on the small size, but being as healthy as they are and with such excellent root systems they become established and grow very quickly. Jim has always been a pleasure to deal with. Plus his book on growing native plants you can order through the web site is excellent and a wonderful resource regardless of your level of experience! A+!

Posted on August 9, 2010, updated August 30, 2010
I purchased 7 plants 5 decidious trees 2 shrubs. Jim helped pack them up for a 50 mile ride on the backseat of my little car. They are so healthy and doing great, Jim gives great advice for his plants, I have some knowledge but am just a beginner. He answered countless of my questions, it was like a class. I could have payed money for all of the information he shared with me on a warm august morning at his nursery. I have decided to go with 90% native plants at my property after reading the website and talking with Jim.

I appreciate the personalized information service Jim provided via email and his philosophy of supporting native plantings. I ordered four items (three trees and a shrub). The price for each was $7. The size of the root media/pot was much larger than found with other more expensive mail order resources. There were even live worms in the soil. Good size and quality plants packaged incredibly well for shipping.

I picked up some trees & shrubs from Jim about a month ago, and a month later they are all showing new growth. You can count on his plants' being healthy and enjoying good root development (he uses pots that allow roots to grow into the soil beneath if necessary). Highly recommended.

I ordered two plants from this company this spring. Both were in excellent condition and a very good size for the price paid. Jim was even nice enough to work around my schedule and travel plans, allowing me to pick up plants at a time that was convenient for me. I have no experience with receiving mail order purchases from this nursery, but the plants I received were large, healthy, and relatively inexpensive for their size.

Jim Engel provides a unique and valuable service, with his emphasis on using native plants and restoration of natural landscape. Best of all for me, he is actually located within a couple of hours drive of my recently-acquired property! His philosophy of gardening is perfectly aligned with my own - plus I actually live within range of his extensive services.

His website alone is well worth a look. Very informative, even if you don't buy plants or services from him. Check it out - there's a lot to learn.

He provides an excellent consultation service. Rarely have I learned so much in such a short time as when he came, in the deep snow of a March storm, to assess my land and discuss the possibilities! He spent 2 1/2 hrs with me, for the very reasonable fee of $150, and I am more than happy to be able to hire him to supply and install native trees & shrubs that will provide beauty and habitat, all the while helping to restore natural balance to my old-field land. If you live within 100 miles of his business (nursery is in Canadaigua, home in Geneva NY) and order at least 20 trees/shrubs, he provides a service that includes the plants (in 5"x8" pots) and planting, staking, and caging them against deer & rabbits, for only $13.00/plant. What a bargain!

But best of all, Jim is passionate about the importance of restoring our native landscape for its optimum health as well as the beauty we seek. Rarely have I met an individual as committed to the environment, and to maintaining natural communities in a vital, balanced, & mutually beneficial state. I am thrilled to be able to work with him, and I expect that the plants he provides will add to the positive balance of nature rather than fight against it as so many gardening practices do. I'll keep you posted - I'm expecting this planting to be a long-term one, so there should be plenty more to tell in this story!

I appreciated working with Jim at White Oak because we shared a passion for native plant material and habitat restoration. He collected seeds locally, and his trees and shrubs were reliably hardy. As a landscape designer, I had difficulty finding locally grown material, as well as plants that could be handled comfortably without heavy machinery. White Oak fills a great need.

I have purchased nursery stock from White Oak Nursery both for my own use and for clients, and have always been pleased with the quality. In fact, I tend to incorporate their stock into my designs. Jim has a great knowledge of native shrubs and trees and also volunteers this knowledge to community groups in the Finger Lakes area.