Comments regarding One Green World

I was very excited about ordering from One Green World as they have a wonderful selection of plants, were local, and I liked their environmental practices. This year alone I have spent around $500 at their business and a couple other businesses on trees. I had planned on spending around $300 to $600 exclusively at One Green World next year but will not because of how they mishandled my order.

Their customer service agent took down my order wrong by phone for two of my trees. I did not notice this until after their two week return guarantee (4 weeks total). Trying to get this resolved resulted in much run-around on my part. Despite the fact that the error started with them (and one would think this was clear .. the order date was also entered as 10 months in the future), I was repeatedly told there was nothing they would do. I wasn't trying to be unreasonable or cheat them. A partial refund and returning the trees .. anything would have balanced things out.

I was told on the phone when I made my order that if my fruit trees didn't bloom out they would replace them. However, in a later discussion with a manager I was told that once I had the trees two weeks there was nothing they would do. Period. Since One Green World ships out trees in late winter/early spring well before any of them will bud out, the "guarantee" they provide is apparently worthless.

If they had just fixed their mistake in the first place I would have been one of their biggest fans.

I read most of the positive and negative commentary in Dave's Garden before ordering from One Green World. Decided to jump in and order quite a few plants. They arrived recently in great shape after a long journey. Root systems are strong and deep with no evidence of disease. All the plants have leafed out, and added new growth quickly. The strawberry bundles are a great value, and doing beautifully here, even though they were planted in less than optimal soil in a 12-hour sun location. In summary, my experience with One Green World was a very positive one, and I will definitely do business with them again.

They followed up my internet order with a phone call to confirm and also let me know that one of the things I'd ordered was no longer in stock. They filled the order promptly and it arrived on my doorstep about 3 days later. The plants were in great shape. The were very friendly and helpful. I will order from them again for sure!!!

This was my first order with One Green World. I was very pleased with the packing and shipping. They called me to tell me what day they would be mailed so I would be certain to watch for them. The plants were packed well and arrived without any apparent damage. I was equally impressed with the size of the apple trees and quince.

The trees are still dormant. I'll update this review once they've woken up and started growing. Judging from the roots, I don't expect anything but healthy, happy trees.

I ordered from One Green World this year and received my plants by FedEx. The plants are in excellent condition. I ordered two honeyberry plants and several unusual species of currants. I was very impressed with the solid packaging so that the plants wouldn't shake around in transit. The roots are strong and the plants are beginning to leaf out. One honeyberry is fully leafed out and in a pot that is properly taped so that the soil wouldn't come out of it. Just fabulous looking plants and a very positive experience for me. I fully expect them all to do well in my garden. I would not hesitate to order from OGW again.

I've just received three bare-root plum trees from OGW. All are european plums on St Julian rootstock. All are 3 to 3 1/2' tall, >1/2" in diameter, well branched and with plenty of buds. All seem to have arrived healthy. Very satisfied!

I just got a goumi and a clove currant in the mail from them -- beautiful, healthy, and in bloom, shipped exactly when they said they would.

Ordered an Arbequina Olive tree. It arrived in very good condition, healthy, and was packed well. The 1qt size was about 28" tall w/some blossoming. I'm very satisfied with this order.

I've placed substantial wholesale orders with Northwoods (aka one Green World) for the past two years, covering a wide variety of species. With a very few exceptions, the stock has been of exceptional quality: a certain number of losses are to be expected with bare root stock, however from a total of around 1200 plants, I have only had issues with 6 plants. Each of these were refunded without hassle. Customer service has been superb, and the species selection is unsurpassed.

I can see the frustration that people have had with OGW, but they've been nothing but great in my experience (incidentally, I'm a will-call type customer and haven't had them mail me anything). They carry a nice selection of harder to find stuff and have always been very friendly when I've shown up at their offices in the off-season or unannounced. I couldn't begin to list all the stuff that I've purchased from them, and all of it has been top-notch, healthy stock.

Last year I made two separate trips to buy large plants orders for fruit trees and shrubs. Luckily everything made it through the season! Typically when I install so many plants in a season, I expect a few to not transplant well - but they all did great. I am going back for the third round of plants this February.

They carry a wide range of plant specifies. With some of the less common plants, I was confused about which specific variety to purchase. They were really helpful when I was at the nursery to help me decide which variety would suit my needs and location the best.

I have emailed them with questions before and their response time has been prompt and very helpful. They are great people!

This is the request I sent to OGW-
(I have not had the apple tree for more than one growing season, and the grafts have failed.)

"Last year I got a 3 way apple. It looked fine through the summer, no disease, grew well.
Then within 2 months - first one, then another, leader fell off at the graft union.
There was no mechanical damage. The grafts were not good. The defect was inherent in the plant. I have lost a year of growth towards having a productive tree.
I would like a replacement with a single variety disease resistant apple."

This is OGW exact response-
"We do apologize though we do not offer free replacements this far out. Our policy covers items that are damaged upon arrival and those that fail to come out of dormancy and we do ask that you contact us in regards to these matters right away."

One Green World did not admit that the graft failure was their problem. Just because the tree took some time to fall apart does not change that fact that it was defective. I am completely dissatisfied and will not order from them again.

I used to be a real fan of One Green World for both their selection and environmental practices, but now I don't know.

This yearI received item #8416 Early Cordifolia hardy kiwi with no buds on it at the time of delivery, along with another kiwi that looked great. I immediately reported this to customer support and was told to scratch the bark and see if it was green underneath. It was. I was then asked to simply plant it and be patient.

I waited for a month or two and nothing happened to the Early Cordifolia while the other kiwi sent at the same time was thriving. I called again and was told the same thing. It's now mid-July and the plant never did bud in any way, shape or form, and the scratch test is no longer green. The plant is as dead as a doornail.

I'd like a refund on this plant or a replacement, but their website appears not to be up any longer and the office is closed for the season. What really bothers me is that I repeatedly called and told the staff that this plant really seemed unusually poor at the time of delivery. I've gotten dozens of bare-root plants and this one really looked sick, but now I'm reading on the packing slip that they can no longer offer free replacements? What sort of quality control is that?

Call me frustrated.

I have nothing to but excellent things to say about One Green World. Their catalog is so interesting that it is as good as a novel. They offer fantastic and unusual trees and plants from all sorts of exotic locations. I have a four year old contorted Mulberry and a Shipova that are doing magnificently. I ordered a Quince and a Fig this year - the Quince was so perfect on its arrival that it actually broke dormancy and BLOOMED - I might even get some fruit this year if I am lucky. The fig had been damaged in transit ( just one of those things because both trees were packaged beautifully). I called OGW and explained the situation and a very nice woman said that she would report this and someone would get back to me. OGW called me back and sent a replacement Latarulla Fig - which is covered in healthy leaves now. I applaud their interest in the environment and in plant diversity and I think very fondly of this company every time I look at my backyard. OGW (in a tie with The Lily Garden) has to be my favorite nursery. I like to support the smaller companies that are driven by an owner's passion. I highly recommend this company.

Placed a order for two feijoa plants, a hops plant, a 3-pak of wintergreen, and a Evergreen Huckleberry on Sunday, 15 Apr 2007. I received an acknowledgement immediately. My order had a status of Processing.

On Friday, the order still stood at processing and I was concerned it was lost. I emailed customer service and left a message on the company's answering machine. I received replies to both messages within 24 hours and was told that the order would ship on Monday or Tuesday. It did, and customer service followed up by sending me the tracking number for my order.

Delivery was scheduled for Monday 4/30, but I received the plants today (4/28) - we have a really good FedEX home delivery agent.

Plants were well packed and well hydrated for the journey. They would have been ok for another 2 days in transit.

I was able to obtain plants that are not available locally in a timely manner. My expectations were met.

I've ordered from OGW for the last three years and find this company very frustrating to deal with. The reason I continue to order from them is their selection. I want very much to support a company working to find sources of rare and unusual plants, but the bottom line is this - I can never predict what I'll get - from customer service to planting info to quality of the plants. Two years ago, I placed a large order and explained that I would be on vacation in Europe, and gave them very specific dates that I would be away. I live in RI, so this was a long ship for the plants. I suggested air freight, but the person I spoke with said it would not be necessary and would only take 4 days to get here. I agreed and returned from vacation to find that my plants had arrived 4 days before I returned from vacation and were left in the hot sun in 80F weather. And while the plants were very well packaged, their health was in question. I asked for all the plants to be re-shipped -some had broken branches, others seemed to have leafed out in the box and wilted. They suggested I plant them and keep them well-watered. I agreed then, and now wish I had persisted. I was told the person I spoke with was fired and made many mistakes with my order related to shipping. Now, most of the smaller plants I ordered (seaberries, lingonberries, honeyberries, blueberries, winterberries) have died. I will say though, the larger trees/bushes I ordered rebounded after one year in the ground and have recovered. Having read the comments on this site about others with similar problems, I doubt I'd be able to get credit for them now, given their diminishing guarantees. I went through many calls back and forth with their customer service people and just barely got a few of the plants replaced that were dead or very damaged. This year, I was pleased to find that they have finally started to build their website. When I emailed to ask why they did not have Site and Soil info, and many of the plants do not have pictures yet, I was told to read the website where the information was provided. Apparently customer service doesn't pay attention to their own website. Once I asked the woman to please go to her website, she discovered her error. I also asked for a catalog, but never received one (2nd year in a row they had trouble getting me a catalog). I'm ready to place a good size order again this year, but will look into other nurseries. OGW has great selection ,but I can't afford to be out another $300+ in plants and another year behind in plant growth if I have more quality or shipping problems.

Ordered four fig varieties on 21 April (Saturday) with express shipping, and received the shipment 25 April. Good prompt processing and excellent packaging helps to make for happy customers!
All of the figs are relatively small but to be fair their prices are somewhat less than other nurseries. Everything was still dormant when received and appears to be in great condition. My only complaint: it's raining cats and dogs today and I can't get them in the ground immediately!

I have ordered several unusual items from this company that I couldn't find elsewhere (thimbleberry, Russian quince, etc.), and I've always been very impressed by their plant quality and vigor.

The staff is very willing to talk to you about the differences in their varieties so you can choose the plant that's right for you, and they're very good about explaining culture and growing requirements as well. I highly recommend One Green World!

I am starting an organic orchard, and for the last several years I have placed fairly large orders with both Raintree and One Green World. Honestly, Raintree has always provided superior plants, but I continued to order from One Green World because they offered some unique plants not offered by Raintree Nursery. No more. I am done with One Green World. First, it is becoming very difficult to even contact anyone at One Green World, and second, they seem to have an ever diminishing commitment to their own increasingly limited guarantees. Last year it was small and dead plants that they replaced only after multiple calls. The year before molded plants (which they did replace but not cheerfully to say the least). This year two of the trees I received were simply not acceptable (credit where credit is due; the potted plants were alright and the Stone Pine was very nice). But one of the trees this year was so damaged it's bark was gone to the core of the tree on one side, and the other was barely 14 inches tall and has yet to bud out. I am wondering now whether I should even bother to contact them, or if I even can contact them. Either way. I'm ordering from Raintree next year. Hope you have better luck, but it seems like the quality of service is declining fast at One Green World. Hope it improves. They offer many interesting plants, but if they are dead or dying, what's the point. The shrinking guarantee is a real red flag also, and a troubling reflection of their own faith in what they sell.

I received an order last week and was very impressed by the condition and packing of the plants. This company offers some unique plants that are difficult to find elsewhere. I will order from them again.

I very much like the varieties they offer but was a little disapointed about the small size of plants e.g fig tree. Compared to Raintree nursery their plants are smalles but healthy. Their packing system could be improoved but if plants break they really make an effort to replace them with a really nice plant.

I ordered two specialty seedless grape cultivars from One Green World. They came in larger and healthier than expected. One was over 2 feet in height already. They have since leafed out beautifully. I will order from them again. I do know that sometimes with large nurseries like Raintree, Stark, and OGW we are sometimes at the mercy of the field pickers. Use diplomacy, be polite, watch the ego, and you will be fine if you need replacement(s). Cheers!

I have purchased several times from OGW and their stock is of superior quality. I would recommend OGW to anyone looking for unusual fruit varieties. Make sure to order early since they often sell out quickly as I have found. I have experience with nursery stock and everything I have ordered has been very well cared for.

I have had very positive experiences on 2 large orders from One Green World. Their plants in 3 trials grew better than the plants I obtained from Raintree. I will be using One Green World over Raintree whenever possible
Gaika

I ordered my first plant from One Green World - a quince tree. It arrived extremely well packaged and in great shape. The tree had a nice, healthy mass of roots, and I was pleased to see that it had been trained nicely so that all I had to do was plant and water it - no pruning necessary. I appreciated that very much, as I've noticed other nurseries don't go to that trouble. The tree budded out quickly, and I am enjoying watching it grow.

There was a slight mixup about when the order would arrive, but customer service was very pleasant, and followed up with us to make sure everything turned out allright.

I'll definitely order from them again, and will recommend them to others.

I am very pleased with the plants i purchased from One Green World, with the exception of a bamboo that was very expensive and very small (but healthy, at least!). However, I should add that OGW was the only company I could find that still had this bamboo in stock (P. dulcis). I am surprised by so many recent negative comments because i received my order in great shape and I am satisfied with the quality of plants they sent to me. I'm no beginner, and I'm very picky about my plants, so that says a lot. The Chilean wintergreen and Japanese pepper were particularly large and robust. I also ordered from Raintree and received their order at approx. the same time, and although Raintree's bareroot trees were slightly larger, i saw no great difference in quality of stock, especially among potted plants. I would definitely order from OGW again, particularly the plants that are not available elsewhere. Happily, I have not needed any refunds or replacements, so I cannot comment on that aspect of OGW's customer service.

I ordered from this company last year, because although I usually order from Raintree, this company seemed to have a better selection of the plant varieties that I was interested in and that I knew would grow in this sometimes difficult climate. The pants wer also a little bit less expensive than Raintree, but I guess you get what you pay for!(if that) I ended up ordering also from Raintree, so I was able to compare both company's plants as well as service. The plants all arrived as I had specified, but some were in very poor shape. They weren't in transit all that long to my place in the very north of CaIifornia, so I don't think shipping time is to blame. Was aware of their two week only replacement guarentee, but assumed they would replace anything that was obviously sickly to begin with, boy was I wrong! I do have to give them credit for refunding the price of the Alpine Strawberries, most of which never grew and which were very apparently last year's plants, rather than the new plants I received from Raintree. I had also started some of my own, which were comparable in size to the ones from Raintree. I can't imagine why anyone would have sent such poor plants to begin with, they didn't replace them like I asked and neither did they credit any shipping.

About the other plants: they were three kiwis and a maypop passiflora, all in gallon pots, all of which I have seen growing here. BTW, I am a Master Gardener and the one everyone nearby comes to for advice on their plants and gardens. When I wrote to the company I told them this and also told them that the plants above either never came out of dormancy, or if they did growth was very weak until the plant died a few weeks after starting growth. The plant that did come out of dormancy did so nearly a month after I had received it, so I kept hoping the others would eventually, perhaps along the lines of Persimmons, which can take until fall to leaf out sometimes after transplanting. The plants were all planted as soon as I got them into the beds I had prepared for them and I grew them as taught in the in-depth Kiwi handbook from Raintree. I already have other Passifloras. All of the plants could have been more cheaply shipped, because none of them had very many roots to speak of. The company refused replacement or refund, stating in their letter to me that since the two-week time period had passed I needed to find other cultivars that would do better for me, and /or to seek the advice of someone who know what grows here(!) - pretty sneaky way to get out of your responsibilities! I have since reordered the same plants from Raintree (this year) and they are all doing very well; they all had large full rootballs.

One Green World states in their catalog the they will work with the customer; but if not admitting they sent inferior plants and being inflexible is what they really mean, then I don't need any part of it and will not do business with them again.

Last year we ordered 3 seaberrys which their catalog described as "extremely hardy and tough" and planted them according to the instructions. When 2 died we were told they would not be replaced because they had grown for a year. The guarantee in the catalog is different from the one you receive with your plants which has an added sentence which says "we can no longer offer free replacements". So when they say "We will work with you to resolve any problems as quickly as possible", don't believe it.

I recently received an order of blueberries, strawberries and fruit trees from One Green World. Everything came in a timely manner and was beautifully packed. I was unable to plant for over a week because of weather, and the packaging in which the plants were sent held them well in a moist state.

I planted everything yesterday. Already the stawberry leaves are perked up and looking healthy; the blueberries are upright, the leaves nice in strong; the fig tree has nice budding and a few leaves, all of which look healthy and the bareroot fruit trees have healthy looking buds.

One of the pears I ordered was out of stock and the company phoned to tell me that and ask if I wanted to substitute. Since I need two trees to cross pollinate I asked then to chose a second variety and they sent a healthy, good sized tree.

I was surprised at the size and vigor of both the bareroot and growing plant and, from all appearances, everything should do well.

I HAVE JUST REMOVED ONE GREEN WORLD FROM MY BOOKMARK LIST AND WILL NEVER ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN.

THE FIRST TIME I TRIED TO PLACE A ORDER THE LADY I SPOKE WITH WAS SO UNFRIENDLY THAT I HUNG UP AND CALLED BACK LATER AND GOT A VERY NICE PERSON WHO TOOK MY ORDER. I WAS INFORMED IT WOULD BE SHIPPED THE FIRST WEEK IN FEB. THIS WAS O. K.

I MADE ARRANGMENTS WITH A FRIEND IN SEATTLE TO HAVE THE ORDER SHIPPED TO HIM AND FORWARD TO ME IN LA. BY PRIORITY MAIL BECAUSE ONE GREEN WORLD REFUSED TO SHIP ANY WAY BUT AIR TO LA. MY CREDIT CARD WAS CHARGED ON THE DAY OF THE ORDER.

TODAY ONE GREEN WORLD CALLED AND INFORMED ME THEY WOULD BE SPLITING THE SHIPMENT AND SENDING PART OF IT IN LATE FEB. OR EARLY MARCH WHICH IS WAY TO LATE FOR LA. THE DAYTIME TEMP. IS ALREADY 65 F. 1/24/06. MARCH IS WAY TOO WARM TO PUT OUT SMALL PLANTS. PLUS THIS WOULD MEAN DOUBLE CHARGES FROM SEATTLE TO ME.

I have dealt with this company several times over the past 5 years and am very pleased with them despite a couple of minor issues gracefully resolved (and not their fault). They are pleasant to deal with, and the plant material I have received has been of the highest quality. Their plants, compared with that shipped by their competitors for the same varieties, are larger, more healthy and produce earlier than that I received from other well respected companies. If I am looking for something, I will go here first because of past history with them. Sometimes they will run out of stock on an item that was not anticipated at the time I ordered, but I would rather receive a quality plant anyway.

I am surprised to not find them in the top 30! I think they belong there.

I have ordered from them for many years. This year I ordered several plants from them. The cherry tree was large and healthy and bloomed the spring I got it. All the other plants are growing very fast and healthely. The shipping was quick, and came in the right time for my climate. I have only had good experiances with them. A really great, reliable company.

we ordered some exotic fruit trees and berries from one green world. they were happy to take our order over the phone and accomodated our requested shipping week. when we emailed them to find out an exact ship date they CALLED us back within 10 minutes of sending the email and told us when they shipped out. . the plants arrived in very good condition and well packaged. we will order from them again and can reccommend them highly. they have a good selection of exotic fruits and berries and good customer service

My mother ordered Crandall currants to be sent to 4 different sites, 2 in Illinois, 1 in Michigan and 1 in S.C. All arrived packaged with great care and thoughtfulness. Not a twig disturbed. All are healthy, large bare root plants with a gelatinous like substance and wet paper on the roots. My shipment also had another shrub in a pot, and it had much extra attention to keep it well tended in transit, including a stake. The only complaint - my sister in Z8 really needed it shipped at least a month earlier (my mom called in the fall, and ordered in December, at OGW's request). Apparently, they cannot dig in Oregon until about this time, so she received hers at the same time as we did in Z5. But all in all, you can tell these plants are treated very, very well, as was the customer.

We have ordered from this company before and have been very pleased. I was going to order this year, and was disappointed to find they are not taking orders on their website. So I called them during their business hours and got a recording. They invited me to leave my name and number and I did that. I also said that I wanted to place an order. No one ever called back, so I ordered from another company. I guess that is really more of a negative experience, but maybe there is some explanation.

I mostly like this outfit. I live nearby in Canby so I can drop by on Saturdays. They sometimes hold fruit-tasting or facility-touring events which I like to go to. What I don't like is that when you buy a plant in person you don't get to examine it first. You tell them what you want and then you take what they give you. I suppose if I complained they'd do a switch, but I haven't had to. They might even let me do the selection if I asked, but I don't know. The trees I have bought were healthy and thrived and that's the bottom line.

It was a last minute, spur of the moment decision to order from One Green World-and am I ever GLAD that I did! The fig tree I got (potted, NOT bare-root) is phenominal, healthy, NO signs of FMV. The young tree, a dwarf red-fleshed variety called Sparkle was larger than I expected and is very well rooted. Probably the BEST packaging of plants I've ever seen, it's obvious these people know how to pack a plant so it can survive the rigors and challenges of shipping to arrive unscathed and healthy!
Unfortunately for me, their shipping season is over... Healthy, vigorous plants, GREAT customer service, REASONABLE shipping - I WILL be ORDERING from them next spring!
This has been just a WONDERFUL buying experience!!!!!

I ordered 8 fruit trees and several berries. They were sent when promised and were in great shape. They looked great. Healthy. Nice roots. I was really shocked. I had a pretty large order and really expected some problem with something! Everything is planted now and every single plant is doing well! I would order from these guys again in a second!

This spring I ordered some a few dozen apple rootstocks, a couple of grapes and Lingonberry. My trees from 1997 are also doing well (they were Northwoods then)

My comments:
It arrived at the time I asked to send it - within 1 day. I used air-mail because I am on the east coast.
Very well packed - all roots were wrapped in paper and dipped in gel beads - I cannot think of the name for it
One of the grapes was potted, the other was bare root.
Both were good sized and had good root systems.
The lingonberry was flowering in the pot!
The rootstocks were of good quality, better rooted than others that I have seen - I grafted onto them using the whip and tongue method to multiply my own trees and make a few new ones from the scions I purchased from Fedco Trees.

My opinion:
One of the best companies that I did business with.

By the way, grafting is not as hard as it seems. It is the only way I could afford the trees that I have. It takes me less than 6 minutes to make a new tree. The process - cut a scion with at least 2 buds at a steep angle with a straight edge knife, line up the cambium, wrap with a rubber band (not too tight), apply sealing compound and presto - 90% are usually successful.