Comments regarding Thuja Gardens (formerly PlantsRus)

I planted 15 Cryptomeria from Thula and they are thriving. I did call to report, within 4 months of purchase, that 2 were not doing well but he was very unresponsive. They died within the guarantee period but he never returned phone calls or responded to emails. I think he has good stock but hope you do not have problem because his modus operandi seems to be caveat emptor, regardless of what his guarantee says.

I placed an order for a Brandywine Maple on 9/14. On 9/23 I emailed the company. I also called later on 9/23 but it was after business hours. I called again on 9/24 and got told my order would probably arrive the next day. An hour later it arrived. I had not received any email stating when it would arrive (as their website states they will). When opening the box I was disappointed. The tree had a disease on the leaves-black tar, leaf spot). The top was also noticeably cut. I did read on another website " Please keep in mind when purchasing, that plants must be trimmed and pruned throughout the growing season to maintain their health and allow them to fit into the shipping cartons, so actual sizes will somewhat vary throughout the season. " so I'm guessing that's what the cut was about? I called thuja gardens about the disease, got told it rained a lot this year-that the tree will be fine once spring arrives, and that they have an 18 month guarantee. I went ahead and took pictures of the leaves, and emailed them to the company for future reference. I am leaving this review neutral while I wait for spring..

If you're expecting fast and responsive customer service, this is not your company. They never responded to any of my 2 phone messages or 4 emails. The only way I was able to deal with them was by chance catching someone that answered the phone, which was few and far between.

I originally ordered 100 hybrid poplars and some maples

They kept telling me week after week they were about to ship, until they finally came clean and said they hybrid poplars had died in the cooler. They eventually shipped only the maples, and credited my card. The maples arrived today, and are in great condition.

If you're just ordering a couple of plants that would likely be in good condition, you'll probably be fine ordering from them. However if there's any kind of customer service need (e.g. questions, warranty, shipping issues) be forewarned that contacting them could be a chore.

There were good and bad parts of my experience.

Good: Roy was very responsive to my questions and concerns, both by phone and by email. Also, the trees were shipped in pots (versus bare-roots), which was great because you don't have to worry about them dying if you can't plant them immediately. A lot of online nurseries ship bare roots...i assume because shipping is cheaper.

Bad: The first set of trees did not appear to be secured within the shipping box. AND UPS appeared to have treated the box badly. The trees were broken and pitiful when I got them. However, after a few phonecalls and a bit of confusion, Roy shipped me three new trees which arrived in MUCH better condition, although they weren't as full as I would have hoped and a lot of branches were STILL broken even though they had been secured much tighter within the box.

So, I'm neutral. I probably wouldn't do this again because it was probably more trouble than ti was worth. I also think there should be a note on the website about the policy of waiting until the trees start to branch out before shipping them...i was expecting them to arrive a lot sooner. But I am hoping that I can bring the damaged trees back to health...and that the good ones turn out beautiful come summertime!

I ordered 30 of the small Thuja slips March 13, 2007. I waited a while and had no luck with the email address I had been given for contact when ordering, so I went back to PAYPAL and signed into the account I had created and challenged the charge for non delivery.

Well, to make a long story short, Roy had frost damage to a large amount of his small Thuja slips from the NorEaster storm they had this spring. He thought he could scrape together 30 for me but could not and refunded my money.

However the refund process took 5 days (over a weekend) and the Payment process (with PAYPAL) was insulting and demeaning. They began calling me "unregistered" or something like that and asking for bank account information... really a royal hassle and an insult too. Remember this is all after charging my card almost a month before.

In my view I would give Roy this neutral rating and I would give PAYPAL a Negative rating of their own if it was possible. They are ok if you're donating to charity of putting money into KIVA.org but I won't use them in the future to send money to a business!

I was able to reorder from another company the next day and I have written another review about that experience on this site.

Seeking Thujas (well I found them but that's another story!)