Comments regarding Great Garden Plants

I just received my first order from Great Garden Plants. All I can say is that I am one happy customer. First, the customer service is excellent. They are willing to work with the customer and was kind enough to adjust my bill to match their on-line price reduction that happened after my initial order was placed. Second, I can't believe the size of the shrubs I received. One of my items was a "Limelight" hydrangea which I had also placed an on-line order with another GW Top 30 nursery. The size of plant from GGP is at least 3 times larger, and for the same price! My Bloomerang lilac and Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea, which were on sale, are at least a foot tall and quite bushy. I am extremely pleased with this order and I expect myself to be a repeat customer with GGP.

I had Great experience with Great Gardens, and this was my first time ordering from them. My order for Beauty of the Moscow lilac and Zepherine climbing rose arrived healthy, well packed and included bonus matchstick mums, that are quite tall flowers and yet they all survived shipping, not a limb was broken...the order shipping time was accommodated to my needs, the plants were well packed in individual cartoons and then in box, and the folks were very helpful when I needed to ask some questions. People get upset that sometimes order arrives misshaped. I would note that in my years of shopping online for material goods I have seen the best of the packages being busted- it simply comes down to who and how handles it during transit. Ordering live plants over the mail always has risk. I am very pleased with Great Garden Plants. My lilac bush is already looking good in its spot, the mums were planted yesterday and covered with row cover for a few days for better acclimatization and I am yet to plant rose bush...thank you, Chris and Mary, for making my garden prettier!

Posted on September 11, 2012, updated September 13, 2012
My order 74907A
My great granddaughter was so excited waiting for her plants: A knock out rose, Clematis paniculata and clematis rosemoor. It was a $57.00 order which is not much compared to some here but still....
I'd call it false advertisement. Description of plants: very VERY small plants and the clematis rosemoor dead.
The knock out rose a joke. It was a tiny plant in a 2 qt bucket and its going to take years for it to grow to a point where it well be noticed at all. (if and when)
I wrote great garden plants several times but to no avail.
I ended up going to Lowes and buying a big knock out rose for the same price and a couple of other plants. Save you money folks. This place is a not on the up and up.

"On Sep 11, 2012 10:02 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Greetings!
I'm so sorry to hear of your recent experience with our products. I regret we were unable to find any information in file that you had contacted us - so Heidi is calling you today to resolve this issue with you TODAY! Your satisfaction is very important to us and we do take pride in the quality of our plants. We look forward to talking with you and resolving any issues regarding your recent purchase.
Have a great day!
Mary
"

I puchased twice from them this year and both times I was suppose to get a free Matchstick Mum with my order. I did not recieve it with either order and just figured it would be closer to fall. I contacted them to see when it would ship and Megan replied "In regards to orders #121840229 and 19900829. When these orders were shipped out the Free Mum Matchsticks did not pass quality control. Chris and Mary upgraded all orders by adding a Free Pink Lemonade Tree to the orders; taking the place of the Free Mum"

I emailed her back and asked what a pink lemonade tree was and I did not recieve anything extra her reply was
"In regards to orders #121840229 and 19900829. I apologize that you did not receive the upgraded plant, at this time since the order was shipped in July I am unable to just send out the Free Mum. I am though able to add a Free Mum to a new order and have it shipped out at that time."
They should not advertise free if they don't want to send free.




.

"On Sep 6, 2012 2:36 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Hello,
I do regret we did certainly have a crop issue with a free MUM Matchstick that we were giving away with orders earlier this year. On the rare occasion of this happening, we try substitute an item that is of equal or great value than the free item we are offering.

In checking our records, we did upgrade to a more expensive free plant, namely Blueberry Pink Lemonade as a replacement for the Mum Matchstick which at that time was currently unavailable. This was sent to you at no charge with one of your orders. If I am in error on this information, please let me know.

Your satisfaction is important to us and we do our best to resolve any issues.
Sincerely,
Mary
"

I had the same experience as most of the negative responses, very small and under developed. Nothing like advertised or the video of Chris shaking the plant in a pot to show how strong and developed the plants are. When I took the plants out of the pots there were no visible roots, even after digging into the soil there were barely any roots.

Bottom line, our $444 purchase came in two shipments separated by a month or more and part of the order was canceled because of "crop failure"... I planted what I received, when most of them failed I went to my local Home Depot and purchased less than $200 worth of plants (same coverage), all of which survived and are doing well, giving nice flowers and growth.

I did get a refund on what was cancelled and part of the last shipment, but was that sufficient for my efforts to plant and save these undersized seedlings or time lost?

No. I would have saved time and money shopping locally.

I just received the six hostas I ordered and am so pleased I needed to let you know.  I am very impressed with the packaging of the plants.  The individual cardboard containers, the plastic bags that the pots were in...all arrived without any sign of the long trip!  The leaves weren't wilted or damaged and the plants are a good size...just as the video described them.  

I know this company has had some mixed reviews out there and I was honestly a bit concerned about taking the risk and purchasing from them, but I can say, the plants are perfect!

The only thing I was surprised with was that I ordered them on June 8th and had a FedEx ship date of June 18th...longer than I expected but if waiting a bit longer to get a better plant, packed well..then I'll wait.

The size of their plants are misrepresented. Attempts at secure packaging was there but several plants still arrived outside of their containers. Some that managed to stay in their containers were dry while others were moist (of same plant type). When I called to report the arrival situation - I had to provide pictures and file a claim with the shipping company. I held on to hope because they were all perennials and I had their guarantee to fall back on. Several plants passed away and the reship had to be delayed because of our summer’s heat. Greatgardenplants never told me that the reshipped plants would then be the final part of their guarantee. Several of the reshipped products also arrived outside the containers, some dry and some wet and only one of the three Echinacea survived the transport. Again I held on to hope because they were perennials and I thought I still had the guarantee. After spring I noticed several of the plants were not showing signs of survival. We had a very mild winter. In March I contacted them to announce the sad reality. They told me to take pictures and then wait 3-4 week to see if things improved. I did. I was then told to take more pictures and email them in so my claim could be processed. When it was all said and done they wouldn’t reship the Echinacea plants again nor offer a refund on those. Also I was told that I couldn’t exchange the value of the other lost plants towards hardier plants. I did receive a partial refund but with all the time invested it doesn’t balance.

Shipping date delayed 2 or 3 times. Roots of most plants received are only moderately established, so some plants didn't make it. Bad value for the price. Advise purchasing elsewhere. Stick with Watchdog top-rated sellers.

"On Jun 6, 2012 8:17 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Hello
Read your post and would like to know more about your recent experience. Please drop me a line at your convenience at mary@greatgardenplants.com so we can have a better understanding of the nature of the problem
We want you to be 100% delighted and if not, we'll refund or replace any plants that you have an issue with.
Thank you for your time."

I ordered a Meyer Lemon tree and was truly impressed. It was large and healthy. I would certainly buy from them again.

I ordered numerous plants back in February for April shipment, after reading the review on the watchdog. The plants were all a generous, healthy size for mail-order plants. Packaging was excellent. One item was on backorder- I received an email explaining why 2 weeks prior to shipment of the rest of the order, and received exactly when promised 2 weeks after the original shipment. Very pleased with my order. For those not happy with the plant sizes they received, my assumption is that they are new to mail-order plants and were maybe used to the sizes that you would expect at your local nursery. BTW, it's now May, with a very hot spring, and EVERY plant has survived.

After reviewing Chris's videos at Great Garden Plants for about 2 months and reading their reviews on this site, I finally took the online plant buying plunge. My first order was $730, which I felt was a substantial order.

The size of their plants are GROSSLY misrepresented on their videos. Most of the plants I receive were tiny compared to what they claim they send. Some of the Heurcheras are a down right joke. Also a Japanese Maple was basically a 18" stick with barely visable green leaves. The only thing half way acceptable was creeping jenny ground cover and how can you get that wrong.

I called and complained and the lady was very rude. I wanted to send some of them back. However, after learning about the 10% restocking fee and figuring the cost of shipping charges, it was not worth it. I explained the plants were very small and insubstantial - nothing like their vidoes. She started arguing with me and said they didn't send plants out that weren't a certain size. I sent her pictures but have not heard back.

I did receive all but a Limelight Hydrangea on time. However, when I did get it, it was the smallest Hydrangea yet!

After my experience with this company, I am wondering if some of their positive feedbacks are legit. I will never again buy a plant online. I was hoping I could post my pictures online here for all to see but doesn't look like I can.

"On May 7, 2012 10:14 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Dear Faithstep,
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. I truly want to know more! We are stickler's for quality and want to resolve this immediately with you. Would you be so kind to email me at mary@greatgardenplants.com along with your Name and phone #.
Our plants have been getting fuller and fuller on top as they are breaking out of dormancy - you'll find well established roots systems - which is the key to your garden success.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Mary
"

I received my plants today. Pretty quick shipping, very pleasing!

Ordered several "2 gallon" hydrangeas for my mom, sister in law and mother in law-
Sadly they were not near as big as their ad & website boldly boasts. Got free matchsticks but they were pretty much dead. They had brown spots on what was left of any leaves... I ordered the 'deal of the day', a Cityline Paris Hydrangea, my husband threw it away before i even got home because it looked so bad. I tried to get it out of the dumpster to have a look but it was too far down. It must've looked pretty bad for my not gardening husband to notice it was not plantable.

Other than that, none of the plants were in even a gallon size pot and they were all very, very skimpy and limp upon arrival. I emailed Chris & Mary, I guess they are the owners. Their ad says they stand behind their plants but I have not heard from either one of them nor anyone else at Great Garden Plants!!!
I am totally disappointed. That was my first & last attempt at online plant ordering. Sadly, I've seen better looking plants at Wal~Mart.

"On May 4, 2012 8:58 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Dear Katy,
Wow, I was really surprised to read your email and would love to learn more since I just talked to a customer about how beautiful the Hydrangeas looked this year. (we grow them in a 2 quart pot - not a gallon) I checked my spam folder and did not see an email from you.
Certainly, we stand behind our Risk Free Guarantee and want to make the situation right with you - whatever it takes. I will try to contact you today to resolve this. Mary"

Good selection and they have good customer service. I have purchased many Hydrangeas and Echinaceas from them over the past few years and everything is doing great. Really good specials too. I will buy from them every year.

I bought plants from several on-line companies this spring for my new house. Great Garden Plants' prices are competitive, though not the cheapest. When my first order arrived, I was surprised by the over-sized box. Inside were individual cardboard tubes for each quart-sized container. When I slid a Hosta Great Expectations out of its tube, the yellow and blue-green leaves sprang out like a magic trick. I actually said, "Wow!" I've ordered from them twice more, and the plants ship during the week selected on the web-site. I particularly liked the beautiful condition and color of the Dicentra Burning Hearts (blooms intact), and the large, healthy Pink Lemonade Blueberry plant (the stem is 3/8" thick!). My last order included a Brilliance fern that, a day after planting, has settled to nearly two feet wide, and has new fronds unfurling. I highly recommend Great Garden Plants for its large, high-quality plants and outstanding shipping methods.

I ordered Hellebores and Heucheras, my order was mailed in a timely manner and the plants arrived healthy and were well packaged, I did not receive my bonus plants, though. Will order from Great Garden Plants again.

I ordered a Digitalis (foxglove) and got a free mum with my purchase. I was surprised when I got the package how small both plants were. Additionally, BOTH plants were covered in aphids. I sent them an email and they requested photos. I provided the photos and have been told that I will be receiving a refund. Customer service was prompt and polite via email. I don't know if I will order from them again or not.

Plants arrived as ordered - large and healthy.

I ordered nearly $600 worth of plants. When I received the plants, I immediately opened the box and was surprised at the not so great condition of the plants. Because of their condition, I planted all of them that same day. Within a week, it became clear that a number of the plants would not survive. Nearly 2/3 of my order died during this season and the remaining plants do not give me a lot of confidence that they will survive.

I just received my Black Lace Elderberry in great condition. I know the leaves are probably lighter than normal because of it being shipped. Hopefully, they will get the dark color I've seen in photos. I was pleasantly surprised at how large my plant is! I am very impressed with the way my plant was packaged.

My Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea I ordered this Spring is also doing very well. Thank you for sending such quality plants. I couldn't find any of these locally. The plants I received look as good as if I did get them locally, however!

Posted on August 1, 2011, updated September 9, 2011
Not pleased with my purchase of hydrangeas at all. Three of the plants were what I consider to be bare root in a pot. One of those the root system had been exposed and I'm fairly certain won't survive. Two citylines did arrive plant like but even putting the two together wouldn't be worth the price of one. The snow queen is a few stems with hardly any leaf growth. Granted it has been hot but the plants are not worth the price. I always check the watch dog before buying and at that time July 13th the reviews were good.
The plants weren't worth half the prices I paid and were surely not something I would have bought if I saw them in person. Sorely disappointed. I made them aware of my disappointment and was told they would come back if I wait three weeks.

Posted on June 25, 2011, updated July 24, 2011
I bought a lilac and a hydrangea from them. The plants arrived packed well and in good condition. The red lilac I bought was actually bigger and better looking than a lilac I had purchased earlier in the season for a lot more money from a lilac grower.
I'd buy from them again.

Posted on July 20, 2011, updated July 22, 2011
Posted on July 14, 2011, updated July 20, 2011
Posted on July 14, 2011, updated July 14, 2011
I ordered from this company for the first time back in May. I diligently researched them here at Dave's Garden (what would we do without it?!!) and was willing to overlook the few negative comments because most folks were delighted with their orders. The trouble began with the delivery of my order... the big box arrived and contained only 2 of the dozen or so plants. I called to ask about the rest and was told that they had all been shipped out. To make a very long story short, the second set of boxes arrived about a week later and I was really shocked. The three "Endless Summer" hydrangea plants were wilted and parched, with a number of yellow and torn off leaves. Two other hydrangeas arrived with no leaves at all, but a few white buds! The free "bonus" plants never arrived at all. I felt that a mistake had been made. I called the company to tell them about the problem and even sent photos of the sickly plants. The reception was not pleasant, and the best I got after negotiating with them was a partial refund for some of the worst looking plants... I didn't get an email response and had to call. I received no apologies, no care at all, and actually, I don't think the woman to whom I spoke believed me. Moral of the story: prices that look too good to be true really are too good to be true. Best of luck to you with these people if you want to try them out, but I'm sticking to my tried-and-true sources because I want a great garden guaranteed!

I recently ordered two coneflowers from Great Garden Plants (my first time doing business with them). One cultivar was on backorder - so I had to wait a week or two longer for them both to be sent at the same time. This wasn't a problem for me at all. They arrived in great condition...healthy and with buds! Thank you!

This is my second order from this company. I am so impressed with the quality of the plants and the care they take in packaging them. I was also very pleased with the help I got from Mary when I talked to her in person. She was so helpful and it was nice to be able to have human interaction with a knowledgeable person rather than someone only capable of reading something from a computer.

I ordered 42 Green Thuja giant plants from this company.

These people were excellent from start to finish. The CS rep was Extremely helpful prior to me placing the order and answering all my questions.

The plants shipped on the date they told me it would, via FEDEX. They arrived in 7 boxes, packed with excellent care, arrived very healthy and green from MI to NY.

I have had NO troubles with these folks and would definately order from again. everything was as stated and sent off with care.

Hi, I'm ruby 3.3 from Jasper, Al. and I'm VERY pleased with Great Garden Plants.Only two things scared me a little about my order. The first was, they emailed me to tell me that my order would be late, but I liked that they took the time to email me to explain. The second was, I ran out of money on the card I used to order my plants, but I emailed them to explan and they were patient with me.They didn't instantly take the money from my card until they got my order ready. I liked that, but it was my own fault that I didn't prepare better. I liked that they emailed me every time something was happening about my order.We comunicated [ nicely, patiently, and professionly ] and that is what is needed when you are doing some kind of business, no matter how big or small. My plants were/are green and healthy, well packed, 99% of the dirt was still in the three little pots and still moist, the plants were staked with little canes and everything was just green, healthy, and in order. AND, the UPS driver was actually holding the box upright. The plants got here even a little earlier than I figured, after we both got our end of the deal straightened out. I like em.

Posted on May 12, 2011, updated May 17, 2011
Posted on May 3, 2008, updated May 12, 2011
I have had the same problem. I placed an order in mid March. My order stated that it would ship April 21st. Not here. I called and left a message. Chris called back stating it would ship April 28th. Not here. No email no way of tracking order. I called again and left a message and them emailed them. I am still waiting. I told them if it is not shipped by May 5th cancel my order.

This is the first time I have order plants on-line and I was a bit apprehensive but the experience was all positive. I ordered 6 Thuja Green Giant trees on March 26th with shipment scheduled for April 11th (a Monday). They shipped on the 11th and where delivered on Thursday, the 14th. The packaging was excellent. The soil was moist with no spillage. I ordered the 1 gallon size. The foilage was green and fairly lush and the size was exactly as indicated on the web site (between 30 and 36 inches measured from top of rootball). It is now about a month since I planted the trees and they are still looking very good. Our soil is very sandy, we get little rain and the winds have been blustery recently but the trees seem to be taking it all well so far. We enhanced the soil and are fertilizing and irrigating. Very pleased and would order from them again.

I'm very disappointed with Great Garden Plants customer service, which is sad, because I have had great luck with their plants over the last several years. They tried to charge my cc twice two separate times, and never released my order. The Customer Service rep I spoke with was unapologetic, rude, and insisted that my CC was declined, even though my CC company confirmed in writing that on both occasions the error was made on the vendor side. They've lost my business for good.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered the Great Garden Plants web page while searching for hellebores and ordered eight (8) plants. I requested an April 11, ship date and the order shipped as scheduled. Upon receipt of the order I was amazed at the quality of the plants - all were healthy and the sizes were as advertised. The plants were clearly labeled as to type & color. It was apparent they were careful to package the plants to stabilize them during shipping. I had the opportunity to contact the company after placing the order to add an item. I left a message and they returned my call within a couple of hours which I found acceptable. I will not hesitate to order from Green garden Plants again.

I ordered plants last year, and due to our hard Winter, two did not survive. I was in doubt about another one. I called them yesterday, which was a Sunday, left a message and also sent an email. Within a hour or so, they called me back, and I explained the problem. They said they would replace the two that had died, and if the other one did not survive, they would replace it also. They were VERY nice and courteous, more so than a lot of other ones I have had a die off, and had to call about. Prompt with the call back, which I appreciated, being as it was a Sunday. The plants that I ordered last year, were very nice and healthy. The day lily that was free, did come in a plastic bag, but was very nice. Big and healthy!

09/06/2010 I just ordered from this company for the first time. My order #37108. Upon receiving the plants I opened the box right away and was shocked. The size of the pots were tiny and 10 out of 11 plants were looking sick with yellow and torn off leaves.The free offered white lily was not even placed in a pot -open roots were placed in a plastic bag. I felt tricked. For the money I paid I could go to the closest nursery and buy large and healthy plants. I called the company to hear:"We are sorry". The company probably bases their business on one time customers.

I have ordered several times from the Great Garden plants company. All 5 of the Thuja Green Giant plants were big and healthy. I was able to divide some of the Green Giant plants and made total of 10 plants from the initial 5 due to the size of the plants received. I also ordered 7 double knock out roses and 3 Asters. The knock out roses were a bit small, but the price was excellent for the size of the plants. All plants took off quickly, within one month, they were all heavy blooming and getting quite large. I was able to divide all the asters from the initial 3 plants to become 9 plants due to the size of the plants.
I have experiences with many online/mail order nurseries. The Great garden plants company is one of the best. Although, some of the prices you see online seem to be high without viewing the actual plants, however, with the quality and the size of the plants you will receive, the price is in fact really reasonable.

Posted on May 11, 2010, updated May 27, 2010
I have not received my order yet (just placed it yesterday) but have already had a good experience with this company. I could not find any shipping information on my order, so sent them an email. I got a response back within minutes! I will update my review as soon as I receive my plants. So far, so good!

Plants arrived as ordered - large and healthy.

Posted on April 15, 2010, updated May 8, 2010
I ordered a japanese maple, a butterfly bush, and several coneflowers. All were packed exceedingly well, and arrived healthy. The order came with a free Joan Senior daylily. I was quite surprised at how large the roots were, but was a little disappointed with the size of the japanese maple. It was quite small for the price. All in all, I was pleased with the quality of the plants,and will purchase from them again.

I received my first order from Great Garden Plants today, and am thrilled with the results. The Hosta Sagaes and Helleborus are all very large and healthy...the largest I've ever seen for a comparable price from any mail order nursery. I was also impressed with their eco-friendly method of packing that ensures the plants arrive with no damage to leaves and stems but minimizes packing materials and waste. And no styrofoam peants! And the free day lily was a nice touch :) I will definitely order from them again.

Received one of my two orders from this company, and I am very pleased. The 6 Green Giant Thujas I ordered were beautiful, healthy plants, the largest I have ever received through the mail.

The Viburnum Burkwoodi Mohawk (Korean Spice Bush) was shipped in a separate box and unfortunately the shipping sticks were forgotten. The bush was a nice size and also very healthy looking, but due to lack of protection, most of the branches were broken. I called customer service and a replacement is on the way.

I would recommend this company, and am looking forward to seeing my second order, which will be mostly flowering plants. Dealing with this company's Customer Service was a pleasant experience. They couldn't have been any more helpful and understanding.

I had ordered Hellebores in January for Spring delivery. I had been told of the ship date and to my dismay got called out of town the Friday before the Monday ship date. I was able to reach them and Great Garden Plants postponed shipping my potted plants one week per my request. The plants arrived in great shape and are doing nicely. My most recent order of Caryopteris and Echinicea has once again arrived with healthy and big plants. Don't hesitate to order from this company.