Comments regarding Willis Orchard Company

Posted on April 17, 2023, updated April 24, 2023
Who I am. I am a member of Garden.org and many other state garden groups. I run my own very local city garden group with over 200 members. I'm very good at what I do and I'm currently growing over 26 cold hardy pomegranate trees and I have currently succeeded in growing and fruiting 5 citrus trees in zone 6B/7a outdoors in the ground. I placed a multiple pomegranate order from Willis Orchard Nursery a year ago. This included cultivars of different sizes.
The larger sizes did very well and I was very happy with the product. The smallest size barely leafed out and then failed. I consulted a specialist on the problem and was told it was usually a sign of roots being underdevoped on the cutting. Another member of my garden group had also bought one of the very small cultivers and reported the same problem. I placed an email request for a replacement and I the company happily replaced the tiny pomegranate with another tiny pomegranate that had the exact same problem. When I called the company to kindly report what happened the second time with the small cuttings the receptionist very rudely told me they have a whole greenhouse full of thousands of the rooted plants and that my complaint was the only complaint they had received so it was obvious that my growing skills were the problem. This review is not necessarily based of product since I have received some excellent stock from Willis. This poor review comes from poor customer service and the choice to immediately insult and accuse the customer before asking a single question. I warned the receptionist that I would place a negative review on The Garden Watchdog to which he responded that the reviews were possibly coming from "The Competition" so the complaints were most likely not valid and he was convinced I was still a crappy gardener. That said, I was informed that the Owner would pick out a very good cultivar himself of the same size and send it to as a replacement. Fair enough! We will see what happens. I have a home gardener hobbyist and no "competition" for a commercial grower. I informed the receptionist that this review would turn positive if I received a healthy, sturdy growing cultiver as a replacement.

I ordered 4 plants from Willis Orchard and all 4 were spectacular. 2 pear trees, 1 fig tree and 1 wisteria. All arrived at the perfect time for my area. They were healthy beautiful and well rooted. They were nicely wrapped with the roots protected and kept moist for their journey. I put them all in a bucket of water to soak and rehydrate for about 30 minutes then planted them. It took a bit for them to start to grow but once they did they have all done very well and are happily growing. So pleased with my order. Thank you Willis Orchard!

Ordered a Bonanza Dwarf Peach Tree (Jan 2021) came within a week, healthy. The only thing I would caution, I had not checked the chill hours for my zone so called the company up before the tree shipped, just to make sure it would produce fruit. The lady who answered the phone said "you will be fine it requires 800 chill hours" to which I responded that I would not be fine living in SC (29210) as there is no way we would get 800 chill hours. She put me on hold to check and the tree actually only requires 400 chill hours. I was a little perturbed about her immediate answer she gave without her actually knowing.

I ordered:

3 Peach
3 Crabapple
2 Chickasaw Plum
1 Damson Plum
3 Elderberry
1 Blackjack Fig

grand total with shipping, ~$125.

If it is possible to start gardening at somewhere less informed that "beginner" that's where I am, but I've stumbled back-arsewards into a large property with not a whole lot going on by way of pretty, practical plantings. My theory is starting with little plants that are under $10 (for the most part) means that the price of my learning curve won't be *too* expensive. All of the trees I ordered came bare root, not much more than whips. I planted them upon receipt - I think back in January - without much coddling. As of mid-to-late March, the Damson and two of the peaches are busting out with leaves, the crabapple are budding, the elderberry are doing well, and only the fig, one peach, and the Chickasaw plum have yet to show exuberant signs of life.

I tend to assume that any plant failures are my fault, and any signs of success are a miracle, so take my review with that perspective in mind.

Is Willis Orchard as clearly superior in care and attention as Heirloom Roses? Nope. That being said, I've also gotten suckered in to one of the worst-rated mail order places (the one in Tennessee that shall not be named) and Willis beats them by far, so I'm sticking with a generally positive rating for my experience with Willis. My experience wasn't knock-your-socks-off great, but based on my personal experience and success rate, I would order from them again.

My husband ordered 5-6' tall Red Delicious and Granny Smith apple trees at the end of February. Both arrived shipped together in good condition. The trees were planted in the ground in mid-March (we are in zone 8A) and both of the trees already have leaves. So far, so good.

I received my two fruit trees from Willis Orchard today, and I am very happy with my purchase. They came in one box, with roots wrapped in plastic and packing jelly. They shipped the trees when I asked, and I had no problems what so ever, with the whole process.
I bought them early in the summer of last year and I have waited all year for this, it was definitely worth the wait!
I purchased a 3in1 Apple tree and a Pawpaw tree.
But what I received was a 4in1 Apple, which made my day! The grafts on the Apple tree are nearly 4 feet long with a gorgeous, branch structure. The Pawpaw tree has a thick trunk and branched out beautifully.
After reading all the negative reviews it kind of discouraged me. I am very glad I did business with them. They have exceeded my expectations. I will do business with them in the future and have already started to recommend this company to all my tree-loving friends and family. These two trees are my new pride and joy, and I can not wait for them to fruit!
Thank you so much Willis Orchard Company!

I am new to gardening, the extent of my knowledge comes from guessing and vague memories of 4 years in FFA classes for school.

They sent me 10 grape vines, most of them had huge root stocks. I am assuming that's a good indicator of grape vine health. The roots were 3 feet long. They are vining out now, and hopeful by next year they produce something.

Negatives, they are very iffy on shipping times and notices. One has to be very careful when ordering to ensure a shipment doesn't go out when there's frost on the ground or that it's snow season.
The canes of the grapes are very thin I was a bit puzzled by that, hopefully in the next few years they will thicken up.

I was very unsure about ordering from here because of all the bad reviews. I decided to take a chance, because they were the closest place that I could find that sold a Catalpa x erubescens 'Purpurea'. I emailed them first to make sure they had them, and I received a reply the same day. I received my tree about 4 days after ordering. It was about 3 feet tall. I was still nervous because it was winter, and I had several months to wait and see if it leafed out. Needless to say, I had no need to worry. It is covered in pretty purple leaves and doing well. I would have no problem ordering from them again.

I have never ordered bare root plants before. I ordered from Willis,taking a chance on bare root plants. I ordered a bing cherry,Rainer cherry,Pawnee pecan,and an elberta peach in late January. I waited about 10 days until my order was shipped. I received about mid February all 4 trees in a box about 7 feet long. When I unwrapped the trees and detangled the roots, the roots were still moist from their 3 day trip up interstate 75. The day I received them I soaked the roots in water for about 6 hours and had them in the ground by sunset that evening. It's now been almost 2 months, the bing and Rainer cherries are almost in full leaf, the elberta peach has bloomed and is now leafing. The Pawnee pecan is getting ready to break! A few weeks later I ordered 4 Thompson seedless grapes and 4 concord seedless grapes,all bare root 3 year old vines, almost all the buds have broken and the vines have about 2 inches of growth. I had my doubts about Willis, but those have been put to rest. All trees and grape vines are in excellent shape. My only disappointment is when I went to reorder more trees from Willis they were out of stock. When Willis gets more trees ready I will order again!

I ordered 7 raseberry bushes and two blueberry bushes. They shipped within 2 days of the order and I Got them in one day. The blueberry bushes are growing great, but I had a couple of the raseberry bushes not take. I called them back and spoke to Mr. Jay and explained the situation to him. He was more then willing to help and he sent new bushes back out to me. It is hard to get service like that anymore. I have been unsure about other problems with plants That I own, and I have emailed pics to Mr Jay and he has always looked at them and told me what was wrong and what I needed to do to address the problem. This is a great company and I encourage the each of you to buy from them.

Posted on May 28, 2015, updated May 5, 2016
I ordered 5 trees from Willis Orchards back in March. The trees were shipped and all were well branched and large, very impressive. Unfortunately some failed to come out of dormancy. When I contacted Willis Orchards, Jay Willis got in touch with me. He explained that if I had used any fertilezer in my potting media, it could have compromised the roots of the trees. But, Jay was so sweet, courteous and professional, and offered to replace all the trees which failed to emerge from dormancy.

Jay patiently explained their t policies, and that my new trees would be shipped in the fall. I am so happy that my trees are to be replaced, but also am delighted with the service I received from Willis Orchards. The nursery is one that offers mature fruit trees, which is difficult to find. But, they also stand behind their guarantee and service.

I wholeheartedly recommend Willis Orchards and would love to use them again. Unfortunately, I live in a townhouse, and I turned my tiny backyard into a stone patio, so I have to grow my trees in large "smart" pots.

Thank you, again, Jay, and I wish you and your company great success!!!!

I ordered a a crab apple and two Asian persimmons fromWillis Orchard last spring. The crab apple and one of the Asian persimmons survived the summer and are doing well in dormancy. This past week, my second order of Black Beauty mulberry, a Big Red Mayhaw, and two Paw Paws arrived today in excellent condition. They went immediately into the ground. So far I am happy with this company and its plant offerings. I will do a follow-up and post a final review in the Spring on the recently planted trees. So far, so good.

I have purchased over 300 trees from online companies that send them bare root. I judge the trees by the quality of the roots that on them.

Willis always has a huge amount of roots and they don't trim the top so I have the choice on how I want to trim them.

This year I ordered two apple trees from them (Pink Lady and McIntosh). I needed a 6 foot and a 7 foot. This is my only compliant. every tree I have received from Willis is 4 foot and since they are untrimmed they were not cut to fit in the box. They were 'really' 4' but labeled 6 and 7 foot.

However, the trees take off right away and it is now August and they are hitting a second growth spurt.

I never let the trees set fruit the first year. The Pink Lady tried but I pinch them off to give them a year to grow.

I learned that the trees are 4 foot no matter what I order but I have 100% success rate with their trees, so I will continue to order and recommend them to others.

I'm giving Willis Orchards a positive review, even though my experience with their trees hasn't been perfect. Part of why I'm doing that is, I had one experience with an online nursery this year (Garden Delights aka Online Plant Nursery aka TN Plant Nursery, which is in NO WAY affiliated with Willis, they just also happen to sell bareroot) and that was truly, terribly horrible, and frustrating, and, by comparison, Willis Orchards is doing okay in my opinion, so far, depending on how things go in the fall. Let me explain.

Last summer I ordered 5 trees from Willis: A 6 ft. Chickasaw Plum, a 4 foot Loblolly pine, a 6 foot Sycamore, a 6 foot Tulip Poplar and a 6 foot Southern Crabapple. All these trees were bareroot, and so, they did look a little like sticks in the box they came in. The pine is still pretty spindly, but it's alive and green for the most part (not the full pine I was hoping for but...) the Sycamore is doing well, and the Chickasaw plum, though it had a good bit of breakage on the branches in the box, is doing okay. I wouldn't describe any of these little trees as looking super strong and I think I've learned the hard way not to order bareroot if possible, or at least only to order smaller bareroot trees--I feel like it traumatizes the tree a little to be shipped bareroot--but the three trees I've mentioned are living and putting out new growth.

Anyway, the tulip poplar and the crabapple were the problems. the poplar tree just stuck there like a stick, on into May. I kept tending it and waiting. It tried putting out a few leaves at the base, but the top was completely dead. As for the crab apple, it never came back to life at all, poor thing. I should say, I babied ALL these trees equally, had pre-dug square, not too deep more wide holes for them, soaked them prior to planting, took them out of the box and had them in the ground almost immediately from the time they arrived, researched where to plant each species of tree, have many other trees and shrubs from different nurseries that I planted and cared for last fall that are now thriving...I don't think the fact that two of them died was my fault.

Fortunately, Willis didn't act like it was my fault either. I took pictures of the dead trees, and had no problems in my dealings with an employee at Willis named Cynthia. She issued me a $69.90 credit, and although I will have to wait until the fall to plant things once again, I'm still not incredibly upset about it because at least I have credit so my money is not completely gone. I spent hundreds of dollars on bareroot trees from that online TN nursery Garden Delights place, on over 50 trees, to have only THREE survive, and their customer service is horrific, they sent me trees that weren't even the species I had ordered, demanded that I mail the trees back to them if I wanted even a store credit, and had the rudest customer service I have EVER experience. That was not the case with Willis though. They assured me that I have a full 69.90 dollar credit, the replacement trees they will send me in the fall will also be under warranty, and they do seem to know how to properly dig bareroot plants (I think the other place just dug trees out of the woods the day before they sent them to me, with no root pruning the season before or anything, knowing they would die).

I will write again about Willis, depending on what happens with the trees I receive in the fall and how healthy they are, but at least this company shows *some* good faith in terms of making it right if some of their plants die on a customer, and I appreciated that. I guess bareroot trees are higher risk, so I'm glad they offer some form of guarantee. Also, all the trees I got from them were, in fact, labeled correctly, and, sadly, I don't take things like that for granted now either!

Posted on November 29, 2014, updated May 24, 2015
I've just received my first order from Willis ... its almost Dec. now, I was expecting the plants to come in the spring because the nights are already getting below 20 deg. here in Missouri ... so I am alittle nervous about their survival chances ... I ordered 3 pear trees and I have to say that if these stay alive I feel that I really got my money's worth .... the trees are a very good size for the price I paid ( when compared to some tiny crooked " twigs " you get from some other online outfits.) They also have a good shape , nice straight and normal looking ( not rejects or picked-overs ) ...I wish that they had left a few more roots on them when they pruned , but we'll see what happens.... of course the real test will be in the spring , if these trees survive the MO. winter and wake up .For now , I have to leave a positive rating because I got these at a good price , the trees are large and of a nice shape . So I will report back in the spring and let you know if they woke up or not.

Posted on May 5, 2015, updated May 12, 2015
I purchased a Katherine Havemeyer lilac from Willis. I have wanted this lilac for many years. I gave it a prominent place in the garden I have designed and built from scratch. As expected it bloomed this week, but I am very disappointed to find that it is NOT Katherine Havemeyer! Today, I sent an email to Willis with the order # and complete information and have asked them to please send me the lilac I ordered and paid for. I think they may assume that most customers will not know the difference, but this lilac is nothing like the one I ordered. I will change this review only if I get the right one, and if they send it to me promptly. Of course, I will have to wait till it blooms in 2016. I am not getting any younger...

I ordered a Meader Hardy Kiwi, Pecan Tree, Banana tree, Palm tree, Olive tree. All arrived well packaged and in good condition. I'm happy with my purchase.

Last year I purchased a variety of trees and vines from Willis including a 4 in 1 Apple tree, a 4 in 1 Cherry tree, an English Walnut tree, a crimson grape, a merlot grape, a blueberry grape, and a blueberry bush. I received my items on March 21st and planted them the next day. Although the roots were packed with gel, I personally felt more care could have been taken to ensure all of the roots were secured inside of the plastic packaging, some of them slipped through the folds and were not exposed to the gel, leaving them dry and brittle. The Apple tree showed signs of life right away and actually began to produce fruit on two of the branches, though I picked them off before they could mature into anything. Soon after the blueberry bush leafed out and the crimson grape after that. The Cherry tree, merlot and blueberry grapes, and the English Walnut tree never made it. As per their 1 year guarantee, I followed their instructions online which were to remove the dead trees/vines from the ground, and ship the lower half back to them for a replacement. Their return process was fairly painless, the only time I called was midway through March to get an idea of when I could expect delivery. My replacements arrived today, a little later than I would have liked (the Cherry tree has broken dormancy) but overall they all look good. I still feel that more care could have been taken in packing the roots, but the root structures on these trees are a little less butchered than I remembered them being last year. Though I have not had a chance to see if these replacements take, it is irrelevant from my perspective as their guarantee only applies to a single replacement. However, I do feel the company deserves a positive review for a quick and easy replacement process. Aside from the packing of the roots, both the original shipment and the replacements seemed in good health upon arrival.

I ordered three of each: 2 year-old Indian Summer Red Raspberry Plants, Heritage Raspberry Plants, and Southern Bababerry Raspberry Plants. They had a shipping window of 11/10/2014 - 04/10/2015 but arrived in November. They were very securely and well packed and had moisturizing gel covering the majority of their roots. They were all fully dormant. I did a nick test and they all had green underneath. I planted the same day they arrived. It's the first week of April now and they have all broken dormancy and are doing really well (some that get more sun even started growing a month ago).

I ordered from Willis Orchard I was so afraid because I found this website after the fact. My order arrived today via Fed Ex and was packaged nicely. My Dwarf Nectarine Tree has buds and is very green. My two Gogi Bushes they are really nice and green. I'm so happy to get everything. My order is beautiful and I couldn't be anymore happier. I never give reviews but when I read all these comments and they were so negative. I decided to give my input. I hope this helps the next person with their decision to order. Thanks Willis Orchard.

I bought some nice pecan trees from Willis. I would recommend their pecans. Teresa

Very pleased with my recent order. The Albemarle Pippin apple tree (hard to find elsewhere) was good-sized, well-shaped, and sturdy. The packing was excellent. Very pleased with my purchase. Much better than what I have gotten from some better-known companies!

I was pretty satisfied with my purchase here. My trees arrived 6 days after the order was placed. The root ball was wrapped and packed with ice, and the roots were in very good shape (by my judgement at least). I ordered two 4-5 ft trees and three 3-4 ft trees. You can see from the pictures below that almost all the trees were ~5 ft + 1ft of root, so I thought that was definitely as advertised or better.

Here are a few pics of the trees as I opened them.
//googledrive.com/host/0B7eL7BH54ZMsb1p4VVdMdUp5Y1k/1.jpg
//googledrive.com/host/0B7eL7BH54ZMsb1p4VVdMdUp5Y1k/2.jpg
//googledrive.com/host/0B7eL7BH54ZMsb1p4VVdMdUp5Y1k/3.jpg

I've had bad experiences in the past with other mail order plant companies and have come to realize that there are inherent risks with bare root plants. What I expect from a good company is:
1) You got your order as specified (size, species, etc) and it wasnt *over* pruned, or a younger plant sold as an older pruned plant.
2) It was delivered on time such that the roots didnt dry out.
3) Customer service is good in the case that a mistake is made.

(And for my part I always make sure I plant the trees within 24 hours of when I get them)

I thought this company met all those expectations. Now I just have to take care of the trees to make sure they set in and grow!

Posted on December 30, 2014, updated January 29, 2015
I very carefully weighed my options when I decided what and where I was going to order from. I opted to use an online grower for multiple reasons, one being I could check out reviews about them and another being I could fully research exactly what I was buying before I bought it to ensure it would grow properly in my home. The fact that Willis was located in Georgia, to me was a bonus because the record low temperatures in the regions did a number to area growers.
-- What I ordered:
Red Delicious Apple Tree, Granny Smith Apple Tree, Stella Cherry Tree, Weeping Santa Rosa Plum Tree, Golden Delicious Apple Tree, Shinko Asian Pear Tree, Blenheim Apricot Tree, Sam Houston Peach Tree, Bartlett Pear Tree, Then three I believe of 3 year old grape vines, and a blueberry bush
What arrived: Everything- Wrapped meticulously and nicely pruned in a box, bare root, with gel. They arrived just as we had begun to warm up a bit and they had not broke dormancy. We had already prepared all the holes as we were expecting their arrival. We purchased mostly Ez-picks, a couple instant orchard size but the Blenheim was young and was the only tree we bought on a whim (without previously researching). The blueberry bush already had some green on it and was the first we planted immediately out of the box in an area with acidic soil just perfect for blueberry bushes. We soaked the roots for the others and added mycorrhizal fungi to the soil when planting to help the roots have the absolute best start. All the trees were planted within a few hours of arrival. The grape vines honestly looked fairly poor. I know dormant vines always do, but these had me really wondering. We planted them along the trellis built for them and crossed our fingers. Within about a month, the Sam Houston just looked pitiful despite it being one of the more expensive trees we bought. I called a neighbor who happens to be a horticulturist and asked for help. He said a lot of peach trees were fairing poorly this year, I explained it had only been transplanted a month prior and he said the best we could do was give it some time to see how well it would do. By late August, a scratch test revealed it was indeed completely dead and we removed it. It was also around that time that my shinko asian pear died of fireblight. The entire tree (that is suppose to be resistant to fire blight) was overtaken and had to be removed as well. Our blueberry bush did not take off either and our grapes remained sticks as well. Dead. Now onto to the good news. The Santa Rosa weeping plum flourished beautifully. The Stella Cherry tree had minimal growth but it is thriving. Our three apple trees had lots of foliage growth and grew wonderfully. The blenheim we purchased was not much more than a 1 year maiden and as such performed like one. A little growth but too soon to say how she'll perform. The barlett pair had minimal growth, I am keeping a close eye on him- but being now it's winter, we will have to see how he does once breaking dormancy.
So why the neutral-
Well, my experience with their customer service was positive when I ordered. They answered questions in a timely manner and I appreciated that. I was disappointed that my trees did not perform as well as I'd hoped, but I am still watching carefully. Due to an error on my end (tossing the receipt that came in the box) and being a victim of identity theft, I had closed my bank account so I could not pull up my receipt. After reading their guidelines on their website and other reviews stating the difficulty of attempting to get replacements, I didn't even bother and have sucked it up as my loss.
I am now researching to put a new order in for this year for several more trees and some other bushes and grape vines. I am not sure what company to order from. I am on the fence with whether or not to order again from Willis or not. I appreciate that they offer mature trees that other companies do not. In the same breath, I'm unhappy that my blueberry bush did poorly, and my grapes and a few trees died. I'd rather pay a little more and have healthy plants and trees than to put all this time, research and effort into a losing battle.
I may update this eventually in the future when my trees get a little older. I did take many pictures when I unboxed my trees that I had planned to blog about, perhaps I'll do that this spring and update their growth. I noticed when researching this company there were some but not many unboxing/planting/growth updates online. That is vital information for someone like me with limited land to grow on, and a large family to feed.

"On Dec 31, 2014 9:42 AM, Willis Orchard Company responded with:

Dear Customer,

We are sorry to read that some of your trees did not survive and that you would have redeemed warranty if you had receipt. It's OK that you don't have receipt, as we will have your order record of file. Please contact us and we will gladly replace the ones that did not grow.

Sincerely,
Willis Orchard Co."

My experiences with this company have met all expectations. All orders were correctly and timely shipped and all plants have survived but one, and I believe that the problem there was may fault. I have ordered, on several occasions fruit trees suitable for wildlife, and they range from paw paws, apple seedlings and crab apples, pears, mayhaws and mulberries over a 3 year period. Most were tubed. All were bare root, and I am NOT a fan of this to start with. I'm an air root prune, accelerators or rootmakers, propagate them myself kind of guy. I just like to plant stuff. But I have to admit that I've done well with the bare roots so far, and I wanted pollinators and genetics from different populations to go with my own. And I give them the proper care.
My reason for this post is to convey my experience and to add that a satisfied customer rarely says thank you to the vendor, much less post on a publicly shared site. I have no stake in the game. But I WILL use Willis Orchard again. They offer selections that I want, the quality so far has been good, and the customer service contact, while limited, has proven to be excellent. They do seem to know what they are talking about. I hope all find this helpful.

I recently purchased a few bare root pecan trees from Willis Orchard. They arrived a little later than expected, but they looked excellent. I was pleased with the price, compared to what I saw online from other similar places they were a little below average on the price but a little above average on the quality. I purchased last year from another nursery here in S. Carolina and had less luck.

"On Dec 30, 2014 5:51 PM, Willis Orchard Company responded with:

Reviews from CustomerLobby.com
[HYPERLINK@www.customerlobby.com]

William M.

Dover, TN

12/22/2014
5

Willis Orchard provided excellent trees and Jay Young was extremely helpful

I've purchased Apple and pear trees from Willis Orchard in the past and was very satisfied with all the trees I received. I purchased 2 giant Fuyu persimmon trees last spring, unfortunately the didn't survive. I contacted Willis Orchard's Jay Young who was... Read More

William T.

Sanford , TN

12/03/2014
5

Good quality fruit trees and customer service.

I went online because I was looking for fruit trees and found Willis Orchard company. I ordered about 9 trees that came on a timely manner and well packed. They are good quality trees and I recently ordered 2 more. I am very pleased with their quality and the... Read More

Thomas B.

Bearden, AR

12/01/2014
4

Very Good Company.

This was the first time I worked with Willis Orchard Company. I hope to do more business with them in the future after my great experience with them. I ordered strawberries from them. I found that they are very prompt with their shipment and their order exceeded... Read More

Reba J.

Kearneysville, WV

11/30/2014
5

Great Service

I ordered three trees from Willis Orchards. I received only two. I emailed them and asked for a record check because I had not received the third tree. They checked their records and apparently their records showed that all three trees had been sent. HOWEVER, they... Read More

Bill B.

New Hampton, MO

11/25/2014
5

Nice selection and great quality, well handled and taken care of.

Willis Orchard Company provides quality products and great customer service. I've purchased from other businesses, but the quality that Willis has is off the charts. They do phenomenal packaging, and everything has been great. Other places usually send me inferior... Read More

Glenda B.

Cartersville , GA

11/24/2014
5

Very satisfying.

Willis Orchard Co was a very good company to work with. They had a good selection of trees and they even helped us plant the trees in our yard. It was a great experience. Read More

Cindy H.

Columbus , OH

11/17/2014
5

Much better than I ever could have expected.

Willis Orchard Co provided me with plants with really long healthy roots. I was very pleased with them. They were also in clean tidy packaging, and they were delivered to me on time. At first I thought they would be really small plants, but they are a great size.... Read More

Denise I.

Nyc, NY

11/11/2014
5

Stand by their products, keep their word!

I have had many dealings with Willis. In just a few cases, the tree did not survive, or I was sent the wrong plant. They replaced each without any problem. Jay in customer service went above and beyond to help me, and even set up orders to automatically ship in the... Read More

Reynaldo C.

Harper, TX

11/06/2014
5

Great products, customer service, and delivery.

Willis Orchard Co has very good prices and quality. Whenever they have a desired item in stock, they send it right away. I am impressed with their variety and I usually go there for vines and little trees. Whenever I call them, they always put a knowledgeable staff... Read More

Seth B.

San Tan Valley, AZ

11/03/2014
4

Responsible Company!

I would like to thank Willis Orchards for being honest, and responsible. I had a problem with some of my trees, they offered some very responsible solutions, which fixed all my problems. I'm now a satisfied customer who wants to let you know that you're dealing with... Read More

Jeff S.

Scottsville, VA

11/03/2014
4

Man with brown thumb is happy

Everything with Willis Orchard Co. has been good so far. They have trees that are hard to find in stores. I bought three trees from them, two were an American Chestnut tree, which brought back memories from my childhood. I was extremely thrilled that they sold... Read More

Ken M.

Summerville, SC

10/10/2014
5

Outstanding Product and Customer Service!!

Over two years I have bought over $2,500.00 worth of trees and berry plants from Jason Willis. I have not had one issue, have gotten sweet fruit on the first year! Cynthia is outstanding in customer service, also knows the product that she sells. I will always... Read More

"

This is the first time I didn't check here for a review before ordering from a company. If I had I would not have ordered as their customer service seems to be highly erratic. As it is I ordered 9 fruit trees and an elderberry bush and a week later they arrived looking fine. I planted them the same day they arrived. Since I pruned them after planting I know that they are living. It is Mid-December here in NJ and the soil is still highly workable in my garden so I am hoping they will do okay and I will have spring growth. I will follow this review up once spring has arrived and we see if they will live. I am hoping they are the correct fruit selections of my order since that also seems to be a problem from other customer's comments.

I ordered a persimmon tree several years ago. It took a couple of seasons for the tree to fruit as expected. What was not expected was the variety. I did not think that it was the variety that I ordered. I took a picture and sent it. They double checked my order in their records and confirmed that the picture was not corresponding to the variety ordered. Even after the several year time period, not only did they send me a new tree for free, but they sent me a bigger starter tree than originally ordered to help make up for the time it will take to get new fruit.

Thanks for the great service and for standing behind your product after so long!

Posted on May 27, 2014, updated November 11, 2014
Posted on April 22, 2014, updated May 27, 2014
I placed an order for 6 fruit trees and 2 raspberries in late march 2014. I was a bit nervous because they charged my credit card within a few days even though my order wasn't sent until 3 weeks later. But its all good. Just about the time my order was going to ship, I realized that I had made a mistake on my order and selected a tree I did not want. I sent them an e-mail explaining that the mistake was entirely my fault, but that I would really appreciate them changing my mistake tree to one I wanted (a Hachiya Persimmon). I got an e-mail back saying my order had already been put together and was in the shipping area to be sent. Nevertheless, the lady who e-mailed me that said she would try to change it for me. I had little hope, but less than 24 hours later she e-mailed me back and said they had been able to pull my order, go get my replacement tree, take out the try I didn't want, repackage the order, and ship it. I am explaining all this detail because I really think it bodes well for the company and their customer service that they went to so much trouble-at absolutely no charge- and all for a mistake that was entirely my own. Many places would have said it was too late, impossible, or at best charge a change order fee. Anyway, as promised, my order was shipped on a Friday and fed ex tried to deliver it the very next day to my door in a different state over 500 miles away. (Fed ex screwed up so I had to wait one more day that was in no way Willis's fault) As for my order....the good news continues. All my trees arrived in very good condition. They were incredibly well packaged....bundled all together, with all roots submerged in the gel stuff most places use which was still very much wet. The roots and gel were all inside plastic, which in turn was tightly wrapped with practically a whole roll of shipping tape, then the whole bundle was placed in a perfectly sized box, with bubble wrap occupying all extra space to prevent too much movement during shipment. The condition of all the large trees was outstanding. They were dormant but starting to wake up-enough that you can tell they are most likely going to bud and leaf out. There were less roots that I'd prefer, but that is fairly common with Bare root shipped trees. The 2 small trees (1-3 feet) and raspberries seemed to be a little more dry that I had hoped, but they were fairly green on a scratch test so hopefully they will be ok. Overall. all the trees appear to be alive and I'm pretty sure they will be ok. I promise to come back here in a few weeks and update this review to let everyone know whether all my plants survived and, if not, how Willis handled the dead ones. But I am confident most if not all will live, and in view of some of the reviews on here I think Willis Orchards deserves the Positive rating I am giving them for everything that has happened so far (as described above). My experience was a very, very good one and if my plants live-and I think they will- then I believe they have just become my favorite fruit tree source.

I have had 2 separate and positive experiences with Willis orchards. My first was that the tree that I had ordered (damson plum) was not a damson plum. After a few quick emails and some pictures that I sent, they determined that it was if fact a different tree (some kind of rare green plum). They immediately rectified the issue and are shipping a new damson plum at no cost.
My second experience was with their general phone number. A very nice lady (I forget her name, Cynthia, maybe) helped me with selecting what the best cherry tree would be for my area. She also gave me the phone number to my local extension office to make sure the tree suggested was best suited for my area.
I plan to order from them again. Great customer service.

Last Fall I ordered 2 Blenheim Apricot trees from Willis Orchard. I ordered 6' tall 1.25" Cal. Trees. After I ordered them, I read all of the negative feedback about Willis Orchard and I got concerned. My Trees arrived in Mid April , and in Wisconsin, We had very brutal winter and snow was still on the ground in April. My Trees arrived well packaged with Gel wrapping around the roots. and there were a lot of buds coming to fruition on the branches upon arrival . The trees were pruned nicely. and I left the trees for two weeks in the gel because the ground was still frozen. In late April, I was able to plant my trees. I used 50% tree & Shrub soil along with 50% native soil. I also used a local garden centers root stimulator fertilizer. It is now Early august and my trees are flourishing. The buds have all turned to leaves and there is easily 12" of new growth on these trees. I do admit that I have watered the trees religiously and sprayed liquid fence liberally on the trees to keep the deer away. I have no reservations about the products nor the service that I received from Willis Orchards. I couldn't be happier with the trees that I have received I would and probably will buy from them again in the future.

Honestly, this order was the most well-packed and high-quality of any garden center order I have ever placed. I ordered 45 bare root trees, 11 bare root grapes, about 60 raspberries/blackberries, and lot more. ALL of it was large and well-rooted, and very well-packed. I was initially afraid to order from them due to reviews on this forum, so when I got such a terrific order, I knew I had better post a positive review. Don't be afraid to order from Willis Orchards!!! They are GREAT!!!

I ordered two saw palmettos from Willis Orchard Company. They sent me an e-mail to confirm the order and another when it was shipped. The plants arrived in good condition. I would order from them again.

Online ordering was extremely easy. It took a while for the order to be shipped but it did specifically say online that it would take up to 14 business days. The tree I received was the correct one that I ordered, however, it was in very poor condition. I contacted "willis" by phone and explained the condition of the tree. I also emailed them a couple photos. They sent me images of another tree in far better condition and shipped it out the same day for free

I order 7 trees, (2x20th century Asians, plum, apple,and persimmon plus 2 walnuts) they arrived very quickly. I must say I was dissapointed when I saw the box and felt how light it was but I got what I ordered and now 2 weeks after planting all seem to be doing very well. Thank You Willis Orchard!
I have read both good and bad and honestly was expecting something to go wrong but so far I'm very happy and will order again.
Don't let the package fool you, they have some sort of jelly around the roots to keep them moist and it is packaged tightly with all the roots together. Anyways it worked.

Received the Garden Annie Dwarf Apricot tree
this morning from Willis Orchards. Beautifully packaged. Immediately removed it from the box and checked it over. Height is the size I ordered and no problem with broken limbs. Appears very healthy with nice root ball. Very pleased with this order.

Over the last 12 years I've ordered trees from several large nurseries and never been satisfied with what I've received. I've spent years raising some tree shipments only to find they weren't what I ordered. Things like bartlet pears that turned out to be bradford pears after eight years. Trees that arrived dead or died soon after sprouting. Two years ago I ordered trees from Willis and with the exception of two small trees that I new weren't adapted to my area all have flourished, more than doubling in size in two years. After reading their return policy I didn't bother about the two trees that didn't make it but the other trees I received were much better than those I have purchased elsewhere.

This is the third time I have ordered from Willis Orchard company. I have been very pleased with the plants received. When I received my latest order I realized that two of the blackberry plants were not the 3-year old plants like I had ordered. I exchanged a few emails and pictures with the staff and they quickly resolved the matter by sending me the correct plants.

Everyone makes small mistakes from time to time, but a truly good company makes their mistakes right - and that is exactly what Willis Orchard company did. Good healthy plants and honest business practice - great company!

Made a small order of bare root trees. Three apples, one crabapple, and one pear tree. All trees arrived in great shape. The roots were packed with moist clay/mud and some type of gel balls and in excellent shape. I was actually surprised at how well the roots looked and the amount of roots on the trees.t The trees were the size advertised and a few even larger. Will definitely order from Willis Orchard again!! Highly recommend.