Comments regarding One Green World

Ordered an Asian pear in April. Took two weeks to ship and the plant that arrived had dry roots. It was essentially DOA and failed to leaf out. Other varieties of bare root Asian pears from Grandpa's Orchard and Raintree ordered at the same time did do well, however.

When I first read the posts here, I was nervous to place an order, but eventually I ordered 8 asian pear trees on end of March, and got the trees last week after 7 days in shipping. The package was in great condition and the roots was wrapped in moist saw dust. Thanks to the cool April weather, all the tree starting budding after ten days planting, hope they will grow well this summer.

I ordered some lingonberry plants from them. The plants are beautiful, very healthy looking. I've had them in a cold frame and am waiting to plant them. They've already started to grow a bit more. Also, I spoke to them on the phone - very nice people.

Posted on April 24, 2012, updated April 25, 2012
I ordered a couple of trees from the site, and noticed my card had not been charged. When I went back on the site, I just saw "Void". They never contacted me in any way, they apparently just voided the order without explanation.

I ordered 16 fruit trees this year(2012). When they arrived, I opened the boxes right away. The roots were totally dry. They had been packed in sawdust. wrapped in newspaper and then in plastic bags. The large staples used to close the boxes had punctured the plastic bags, allowing the roots to dry out. I attempted to rehydrate the trees and planted them within a few days. I emailed the company about this problem and got no reply. Time will tell if i change this rating to negative or not. Also, almost all of the trees were branchless whips, unlike the advertized trees. Another issue- Their planting and pruning directions are not species specific. At this point, I would say to spend the extra $5 and buy from Raintree. I've ordered from them in the past and had no complaints.

I placed an order with OGW in 2010 and 2011. Love this company! Both times plants arrived on time and well packaged. Their selection of hard-to-find edible plants is like no other, and I am very happy with their plants. Once a persimmon tree arrived with dried up roots and I thought it wouldn't grow, but it bounced back later and is doing fine. I just placed my new order for next year, so excited!

I placed my order several months ago and have now received several plants from OGW this year: two currants, a gooseberry, a yellowhorn, and two goumi. All arrived in excellent condition and exactly on time for planting at my home in Vermont. The yellowhorn is a bit on the small side, but all the others are as large as I would ever want from something coming in the mail and have good looking roots and lots of healthy looking leaves. The gooseberry and one of the currants even had a little bit of fruit on them already. I've had the plants in the ground for about a week now, and all seem to have made the transition without trouble.

I have placed 2 orders with One Green World. I ordered 2 pawpaw trees from them (2009), and they were very well packed and they are growing well. I had nothing but praise for them and looked forward to placing many more orders with OGW.

However, another order I placed with them arrived slightly damaged - the top part was broken off. I took a photo and sent them an email right away (April), I never got a reply. By August the tree had started dying, I emailed them with no answer so I started phoning. After filling out a form (and I included photos), I was told I would have an answer in 7-10 days. I never received that email either, so I called them to ask about a resolution. I was told "maybe" there was a soil problem, or "maybe" the PH was wrong and my request for a refund or replacement was denied.. I have grown many of these trees in the exact same soil, water and sun

If they had made any sort of offer of meeting me halfway, half price on another tree, free shipping - anything, I would still be ordering from them today. So, for $10 or so, they have missed out on hundreds of dollars of future orders from me. That is too bad, I really would like to order more trees from them.

I just ordered for the first time from OGW, and my experience has been positive. I usually make a small order when dealing with a company for the first time, so I ordered just one 'Mango' pawpaw. I got a confirmation email within 24 hours, which also gave my order shipping date. I responded to the email with questions about this cultivar, and I got a reply within 24 hours. My pawpaw arrived as promised today. The pawpaw was in an appropriate deep pot, well packaged, and of good size. It was in better shape than most other potted pawpaws that I have ordered. I will definitely order from them again.

I bought 2 currants, one gooseberry, one fig tree and a bunch of strawberries in April. Nice weather, good time to ship for my zone.

The negative: it took two weeks to pack the shipment and send it and there was no notification. I kept emailing them for updates.
The fig tree was mostly a stick (10-12 inches). While it's true that figs grow fast, I would still have liked a bigger plant for the money I paid.

The positive: the way the packed the plants in the box was unbelievable. I've bought plants from a lot of nurseries, but none of them pack the plants so well. Nothing was damaged in transit and the plants looked healthy.
The currants and the gooseberry have very nice root systems.

All in all, not sure if I'll buy from them again.

Just received my order, and I was disappointed, especially as my past orders with this company had been higher quality.

This time, however, I received what appeared to be a machine dug persimmon that had not much root (bare root, root chopped extremely short). The root was loosely packed with just wood chips that were barely moist, in a wrapped plastic bag with entirely dry newspaper holding the barely moistened chips.

Perhaps the management of this company is not as involved as it once was in maintaining quality control? I've planted the plant, so we'll see, but based on what I saw I'm not overly optimistic. It's disappointing, because the variety of plants they have to me has always seemed unmatched, but if the quality is no longer there what does it matter?

Posted on April 8, 2011, updated April 20, 2011
An enticing catalog, but their shipping is erratic, despite promises. Usual excuse: too cold to ship overland, though by air the cargo would be sub-freezing. I will not be ordering again.

I ordered 5 pawpaw trees, 3 honeyberries, and 2 bundles of alpine strawberries from OGW. I placed my order fall last year, and was told that they had the trees I was interested in (Susquehana, Allegheny, and KSU-Atwood) in stock. I called them back about a month ago, and they initially couldn't find my order (which freaked me out a little), but they found it eventually and got back to me. They said they wouldn't be able to ship out until early April, which I said was fine. April 8th I called them to see what was going on with my order, and they said they had already shipped it April 4th, and they gave me a tracking number. I had asked them to call me before shipping them out on my order form - I wanted to avoid being out of town when my order got to me. I checked the tracking number they gave me, and FedEx said the order was only 6 pounds. This seems pretty strange, because 5 potted trees, 3 bareroot bushes, and 10 potted strawberries should not weigh only 6 pounds. So I call OGW back and ask them why my order only weighs 6 pounds. They tell me that they ran out of pawpaws, so they canceled that part of my order. I was only ordering anything from them because I wanted the pawpaws, so I asked them to contact FedEx to have them take the rest of the order back. They say they can't do that - I will have to refuse the order in person. The FedEx guy knocked on my door the next morning, and by the time I got there he was already gone and I had a package of unwanted plants. To be fair, the plants I did get were in pretty good shape - well packaged and healthy looking. But I lost a whole year of growth because this company wasn't able to keep its inventory straight, which is just inexcusable. The fact that they didn't call me early is the worst part - I may have been able to order from another company if they had been honest with me. Instead I have a full quarter of my backyard dug out and prepared for a pawpaw patch, with no pawpaws to put in it. I will just take the next year to plant some cover crops there and try to improve the soil quality for next spring. I think I am going to get my pawpaws from Nolin Nut River instead.

I am new to ordering from this company, and quite honestly was slightly concerned due to some of the negative posts placed here (and due to the distance of shipping cross country to PA). I kept my order light for a first time experience and ordered currants, sea berries, vines, and hardy bananas.

To my delight the items shipped exactly when they were supposed to and arrived in some of the best condition I have ever seen mail order plants arrive in (and I order a lot!). All plants were very well rooted, damp, budded or leafed out, and even secured down with rope inside the box to prevent shifting! Based upon this trial run, I will definately order again!

My advice: Buy OneGreenWorld plants from good local nurseries. A reputable nursery will add a layer of quality control and probably provide a refund or replacement should there be issues with the plant/tree. Many have a one year guarantee. Your local nursery can probably special order any plant for you if they don't carry it.

The variety of plants OGW offers is great. In the past they have replaced 2 of 3 problem plants I oredered from them, however getting a good plant in the first place is much better. I shop at almost all the local nurseries and know which ones have given me the best success rates. These nurseries have no problem returning or not accepting shipments with diseased plants from any source including OGW. Best wishes for your unusual/rare fruit growing!

I wish that I had checked with this Watchdog page before being suckered into their beautiful webpage that has seems to offer tremendous variety and potential. Despite their high prices for most varieties I splurged in 2009 and placed an $800+ order with high hopes to expand the varieties in both my nursery and orchards in WI. At the same time I also placed orders with 5 other mailorder nurseries and staggered their deliveries over two weeks so they'd all get planted promptly. What arrived for the most part looked very good except for some of the smallest bareroots ie.kiwis but usually I've had good luck with even the smallest if given enough attention. Bottomline only one of 8 apples survived the summer despite plentiful rain, weedmat and woodchip mulching. and plenty of supplimental watering by my college workers, and a very good growing season for everything else i planted or had already in place. 3 of 6 honeyberries are flourishing this year at 3-4' tall but the other 3 never leafed out just like the apples the first growing season. Only 3 of 9 kiwis grew. Aian pears, persimmon, and 1/2 of the mountain ash had a few leaves the first summer but dead this spring. I called last September to report my concern and then this April (to keep it under 1 year) and they gave me the old scratch and look for green which I did on those brown trunks off the apples and went back and forth on the phone until they stopped calling. So I called to ask what their head horticulturalist (the owner)had decided and I was blown away when told that Wisconsin has too harsh of a climate for their plants and that they were winterkilled. BS as all ordered were rated for my zone and the fact of the matter was that most just NEVER LEAFED OUT while at the very same time Stark brothers, Oikos, Woodstock, St. Lawrence Nursery, Hartmans,etc orders did very well. An e-mail to them in which I made my final rebuttal to the owner herself was unanswered two months ago. The only worse customer service which I've come across is from Direct Gardening mailorder which I next write about. For the amount of $ and time lost I should have contacted my credit card company for a partial refund but didn't.

This company does not stand behind their product. Often their stock are too small for field trans-planting and die. I lost hundreds of dollars of stock dying the first year after a cold winter. I figured at least they would replace a paw paw tree that is supposed to be hardy. When you call in they ask you lots of questions to find that one excuse why they will not replace your stock. I will never buy again!

STAY AWAY!! I am good friends with a former higher management employee, and I bought a European Pear from this company and I Constantly had problems with it - season after season it would lose its leaves and the pears would rot before ever ripening - my friend finally admitted that OGW's "mother block" (where they get all their cuttings/starts from) has been knowingly infected with Pear Blister Disease. AND that's not all, the Figs they propagate and sell are known to have Mosaic Virus, which can ruin an entire fig farm if infected. This employee also told me that he had been ordered by THE OWNERS (!!!) that if someone wanted a particular variety and it was out of stock to simply take a different variety and change the tag on it because "only about a quarter of people will ever even figure out they have the wrong one". He told me there was a lot of other circumstances but wouldn't elaborate. I can't even imagine a company purposely swindling their own customers. STAY AWAY!!!!!!!

I placed an order for three items. One Gogi plant, one Chinese Haw tree and one Asian Pear. The Gogi was in a small pot...a bit smaller than expected but in good shape otherwise.

For the two trees, I expected bare root and dormant, but what I got were bare root STICKS. Not one branch. Cliped entirely down to the stick. The web page says pruned to fit. This wasn't pruned, it was MAULED!!!

I tried to work something out with them, but they are uncooperative. Additionally, FedX left it in front of the house on a 95 degree day in full sun against brick, where temperatures soar to 110 easily. They said there was nothing they could do and it's my problem with FedX.

Not knowing yet what to do, I kept them indoors where it was cool, waiting on someone to call me back. They said "no manager was available. Yeah...3pm their time. Sure. They said the supervisor "just stepped out" when I asked for that. Complete B.S.. I asked for a call-back. So far still waiting. While the trees were indoors, I discovered also that the stuff they sent them in was loaded with ants. WTF?

Um...well...I worked in the catalog industry too, and can tell you it's the shipper's responsibility to get an order to you in satisfactory condition. This was anything but satisfactory, and I will also be filing a BBB complaint as well as one on http://www.ripoffreport.com as well.

This company should be avoided like the plauge!!!

Only placed a very small "wait and see" order to check them out, and I am ever glad that I did! I was really blown away by the size of the lingonberries and the blueberry, and one of the best parts was hearing my plant-neutral husband oohing and ahhing over their packaging (he NEVER gets excited about anything horticultural, so that really is a big thing). Will definitely be ordering again.

They did again! Exceeded expectation! Wanted to receive by lemon tree by 5/6 received it today! And it's gorgeous - thank you!

I am a new customer to One Green World, and so far my experience has been very good. Their selection of hard-to-find trees and plants is impressive. Most importantly, the items I ordered (feijoas, goumis and a flowering quince, all in nursery pots) were perfectly packaged and arrived healthy, in excellent condition. The quince even had two tiny little fruits started on it.

I have ordered twice online from One Green World; once this past fall, and once this spring. On both occasions the company called me to alert me to a potential problem, and they were very professional and courteous. I appreciated their care of me as their customer.

If I had one complaint about OGW, it would be that my spring order took three weeks to ship, which is a tad longer than I am used to from mail order nurseries; but then again, April is their busy season, and I usually order in January because that's bareroot season in Zone 9.

I will definitely give OGW more of my business next January when I will be shopping for trees.

4/17/2010

A few weeks ago I ordered a Seville Orange from One Green World, it came in excellent condition. The tree was loaded with citrus flowers and fruit. I couldn't believe such a company took such care of it's orders. Two weeks later I ordered a Chinotto Orange Tree, same deal great packaging, the tree was excellent, full of fruit and flowers. They know how to package their plants so they arrive in great condition. The one draw back is they never answer their e mails or send you a tracking number for Fed Ex. I would still order from them again, this is one company I would rate very highly.
Joe Baraba
Santa Fe, New Mexico

My plants were much SMALLER than I could ever expect, when they arrived in the mail last year ($40 for an 11 inch tall "tree"?). And they had many MILDEW/MOLD/FUNGUS related issues (they probably overwintered in some dark and wet storage place before getting shipped out).

Or maybe I am just spoiled by what other local nurseries have to offer...

I think OGW mails out plants they can't sell in their storefront. You end up waiting extra years for the stuff to produce any fruit, when you start with such tiny, covered in green fungus, mildew, peeling bark, asymmetrical little bareroot sticks.

On the other hand, I am glad there is someone like them, offering such a variety. OGW is good for plants you CAN'T really get from your local nurseries.

If you have gardening experience, you can make (most) their plants work. It may take more work, and longer than you expect though...

I have ordered from this nursery in the past, both as a retail and wholesale customer, and had been satisfied. Last week I ordered about $200 of fruit trees, the plants arrived today. All but one were beautiful, big and clearly healthy. All were well-packed and arrived promptly and in good condition, except the one. All were potted, or had been recently unpotted, and had good roots, except that darn one. The one was a rooted cutting, where all the others were potted plants that were well-established. The wood of the one was dried out and had no live buds. Weird. All the other plants were great; big and promising with swelling buds or healthy leaves.

I called immediately, and asked what they might do to rectify the situation. I was told to plant it and that they "stand behind their plants" and they were sure it would make good growth. I can tell you, after growing plants and fruit trees for 40-some years, this plant was not going to make good growth. Still, they gave me the company patter about their "love of plants", and said wait and see. After going around a few times and realizing I was not going to get a replacement or a refund. I decided to take it up with my credit card company. This prompted a return call from a supervisor who at first said they did not guarantee their plants, and then, finally, gave me a refund. What an ordeal. I had offered to return the plant, more than once, BTW. Wacky company; use at your own risk.

I had placed an order in 2009 and had just the absolutely best mail order experience ever. I ordered 400$ worth of Apple, pear, cherry, and plum trees. All trees arrived larger than expected, in excellent packaging, and thrived beautifully once planted. I have nothing but good reviews for one green world. I will definitely order from them again!!

I am really sorry to see some of the negative remarks made about this company. I have bought plants from One Green World (OGW) several times in the past few years and only have had very positive experiences with them. The plants have always been very health, well packed and arrived in good condition. I have bought Blueberry plants, Goumi and Kiwi plants from them. The blueberry plants were larger then expected 2 to 3 feet tall and were very healthy. In fact I had to take the blossoms of them in the summer so they did not bare fruit the same year I planted them. The kiwi was a very nice size and appears health. I am hoping that this one makes it through the winter this year, but if it doesn’t it will not be OGW fault. Whenever I have had a question about a plant I wanted to order or one I had already purchased, their customer service has always had an answer for me and offered suggestions. Their prices are competitive and the quality has been very good. I have not been disappointed with them or their service. They send me plants that I would have picked out for myself if I had been at the nursery. I recommend them to my friends and family. I realize that not everyone has had the same excellent experience with them that I have, but I also know that any online nursery company can make mistakes or have a bad day. Just so long as it is not a pattern. From my perspective it does not appear to be a pattern with this company.

I love One Green World. They have a great selection, they are local and "salmon safe". So far, I have purchased from them: a duke blueberry, a royal empress tree, a negronne fig, plus a few strawberries and crocus. Everything has done really well, the plants were healthy on arrival and well packaged. Great value. I Plan to order more this spring.

I hate to review a company on my first order, but I was very hesitant to try One Green World because of the mixed reviews here, and the plants I tried were very well grown and arrived in great condition, so perhaps some detail will help others.

I ordered two plants online: a European elderberry and one of the two San Sho (or Sansho) species offered. (Array of species offered: a positive.)

I could find nothing in the online or print catalogue that said what size containers the plants would be in (a negative).

I received no acknowledgement of the order (a negative).
I received no shipping notice (a negative).

The time between ordering and shipping was short -- I ordered on December 26th, a Saturday, they shipped Fed Ex on the 28th, and I got them before New Years' Day. Pretty good. (a positive, or two)

The plants were very well packed and secured in their box. The soil in the containers was wet but not soggy, in a well-designed medium -- with some coarse bark chips included-- which kept the roots in good shape. (Big positive)

The plants were in deep 4" pots and had sturdy stems and very good root systems without being at all rootbound (a HUGE positive that overcomes all negatives!)

The plants were both a bit tall for the root systems --that's pretty standard, though regrettable. (neutral)

The prices -- $16.95 for each plant -- were in line with other nurseries' prices for European Elderberry (nothing to compare the Zanthoxylum with). The Zanthoxylum was a bit pale but it's usually described as deciduous so maybe it shouldn't have leaves at all in January. The elderberry was dormant (and better be, for January planting). (neutral/ positive)

One glitch, which may not have been OGW's doing: there are two kinds of Zanthoxylum, the kind that produces Szechuan Pepper and one whose leaves are used as an edible garnish, San Sho (or Sansho) in Japanese cooking. OGW listed the variety I ordered as San Sho (Z. piperatum). It seems to me to be Z. simulans, the Szechuan pepper variety. It doesn't taste at all like the San Sho I've had in Japanese restaurants (and once grew). The leaves have the taste and tongue-numbing quality of Szichuan pepper. OGW could be printing what they were told, or possibly mixed them up (It's not possible *I* could be mistaken, of course!).

(Note: San Sho is notoriously resentful of transplanting, according to a Japanese source. I'm not expecting a lot despite the excellent condition of the plant.)

The owners have provided a unique array of woody perennial fruit-bearing bushes and trees. An impressive selection, but I prefer to buy organic, which these folks are not. As for pricing, I found the rare and unusual plants (e.g. honeyberry) to be reasonably priced, while a smattering of common plants (e.g. cinnamon vine, horseradish) were distinctly overpriced. Knowing all this, I decided to give them a try, but when my bilberry plants came they were very weak and only a couple of them made it through to the first season. The ones that did make it prospered, though, and were correctly identified, which was great. I'd have to rate my overall experience as neutral.

What a nice surprise I had waiting for me when I arrived home from work! My two Shropshire Damson Plum trees were on my front porch and I couldn't wait to open the box to greet them. I am still amazed at the condition these two trees arrived in! These two trees are in pristine condition - not a sign of root damage and every leaf on both trees were healthy and happy. I couldn't be happier with this order from One Green World. If these trees never bear or die on me, it will be NO fault of this mail order nursery. I can't help but shake my head when I read a post that complains that 5 years later no fruit. Folks! Instead of blaming the nursery (which is the easy way out) why not spend that energy investigating what is going on culturally in your own back yard!

This was my first time ordering from one green world. I was very impressed with the nice shipping and the size of the 4 foot tall apple tree I recieved from them. After getting the tree this spring I planted it in a large pot and it leafed out in only one week after planting. The tree came with such a perfect 3 pronged top that when it leafed out it had such a nice shape that I planted it in my brothers front yard. I been scamed so many tmes by other online nurseys with 5 inch tall trees, so made this review to let people know they are not one of them. I am very happy with my order and will be ordering again this spring.

I ordered a wolfberry plant five years ago from One Green World, and it has never flowered or fruited. I recently asked for a replacement, since a friend's plant had berries the second year. OGW informed me that I bought a seedling which takes 3-6 years to fruit. I told them I did not buy a seedling, that it was a cultivar. No way were they to accept responsibility. I live within an hour or so from their nursery and I have bought kiwis and guavas from local plant fairs and local nurseries that stock their plants. None of their kiwis have fruited, although the Chilean Guavas will fruit this fall. I've had some good conversations with Jim, owner and president, and he strikes me as very rigid and he doesn't flex an inch over a plant issue that is his nursery's responsibility.

I am a nursery owner and have been a horticulturist for almost 40 years. I know how to grow plants, and I know about good customer service. I treat my customers with utmost respect, .even though I don't always give them what they want. However, I treat them fairly, and if their loss is a fault of mine, I make it right. I rarely, rarely have a customer complain about their plant purchase because I sell healthy, disease and pest-free plants.

As nursery owners we need to look at the big picture. I am self-employed by my customers, the people who buy plants from me. That's just how it is!

Kenan Rowlett
Artistic Gardener Nursery & Design

I ordered a gojiberry last spring and was worried when I opened the box. The leaves were covered with white spots and they said not to worry. And their website doesn't offer any information on possible disease for this plant. Now this shrub is completely covered with mildew--I've never seen a plant so susceptible. I'll probably have to remove it and would never have bought it if I'd been told about this possibility in the first place. Apparently this is a very common problem for gojiberry plants, and who wants to use a fungicide on a fruiting plant you're growing for its health benefits? Very frustrating to grow a plant that could infect the entire garden with mildew, and to not be told of that possibility.

one big green negative.I ordered over 300.00 worth of plants half died.( the ones i wanted were honey berries) order 8 plants -6 died and were delivered under 3 inches.i read honeyberrys that are small usually do not make it ,contacted company.told them 2 of he plants were over 12 inches on delivery,and the small ones died and i had read that was not uncommon.also told them it has been hot i planted in shade as instructed, and the large ones survied.all i wanted was one more plant for excellent pollenation and was told all the plants were 18 inches and they died from heat.well i told them it was hot and some are still alive-called me a lier and would not honor sending out ONE measelly plant after all i had spent $329.07 i have gardened for over 30 yrs made me go out and scratch a dead 2 inch stem just to insult me and say the head gardener said they were all sent out over 12 inches.i should of spent the 329.07 on him some new glasses!

I just received a seaberry and two gooseberry plants packed well and appearing in reasonably good health. It was a late summer order and so the gooseberries were already leafing out (not ideal). One gooseberry did have some yellowing leaves with signs of mildew (common). The plants were potted and of good size.

Based on some of the feedback recorded here, I started with a small order (a couple of asian pears, a couple of gooseberries, and a jostaberry). I had no problems. The plants arrived near their target date and all had leafed out. Will likely continue to order hard-to-find plants from OGW. Thanks.

Wow..I ordered a currant and a gooseberry from these guys this spring, and although they were sold out of one of the currants I wanted, I got a voicemail within a day or two of the order, so I was able to locate a replacement in ample time.

The plants I received were just stunning..even the dormant bareroot currant was HUGE, and the gooseberry had a few gooseberries already.

Nothing but good things to say about my experience!

I've purchased plants from One Green World several times in the past year. They have an impressive selection of hard-to-find plants, including ones not carried at the local nurseries.

They don't offer bearing-sized plants, but their prices are also a bit lower than most other places. So far the newest trees and shrubs are leafing out nicely, and all of them arrived with a nice, well-branched root system.