Comments regarding Musser Forests, Inc.

My plant were sort of healthy...the problem is they grow everything too close together and a 2ft plant does not have any branches.Basically just a 2ft stick with a couple of leaves on top....
Your classic Charlie Brown tree.

I ordered a total of 25 bare root tree seedlings for Fall planting this year. The seedlings arrived in good condition, although the Balsam Firs were definitely on the small side.
My complaint is regarding shipping notification: there is none. I travel for a living, and left early in the morning for three days on the day the seedlings arrived unannounced. A simple email notification of shipment with an estimated arrival date would be helpful and pretty easy to do, instead of the vague shipping date of "Proper time for my area" on the order confirmation.
I will probably order from another company next time so I am not surprised again.

I ordered ten bald cypress trees from Musser this spring, following the advice of a professional nurseryman. I made the mistake of ordering the larger plants (4 year, 3-5 ft.) - these arrived bareroot as expected, but these plants had already developed long taproots which were ruthlessly chopped off on digging, leaving no more than ten inches of root. Musser shipped eleven plants, and these were well-packaged with moist roots upon arrival. I planted these immediately in 3 or 5 gal. containers and kept them well-watered all summer. By late September, I had just four plants worth planting out into the landscape - in effect, these were rooted "cuttings" with new roots sprouting from the severed taproots. Two more had died to the ground but resprouted and were under ten inches tall - they may be salvageable for next season. The rest have not broken dormancy at all and were discarded. Am I disappointed? Perhaps yes, but the prices charged by Musser are so reasonable that I can hardly complain. I have not contacted the company as I don't really want to repeat the experience with larger plants. I would definitely recommend ordering smaller bald cypress stock from them which might be dug with more root.

I've been ordering from these folks for about 7 years, twice a year, since we have a large/barren lot that we are attempting to resurrect. Usually their bareroot arrives moist, and the potted are invariably in good shape, size is always generous to what is promised. One ongoing problem is that often I have to call to ensure that my order actually gets shipped - one year it was it was end-November and snowing when the order arrived! This spring's order was disappointing; the bareroot were dried out and many didn't survive (these are hardy standbys such as Lynnwood Gold and Rosa Rugosa), I had to contact regarding incorrect/missed items, and there were mislabelled items.

Ordered from Musser for the first time this year with mixed results. The container grown trees and shrubs were great and are growing as expected. However, the " 2-3 year old
seedlings" were miniscule, dried out, and despite intensive care, promptly died. I don't understand why a company that sends out quality product would send such an embarrassingly poor product along with it.

I was going to rate this a negative but to be fair I have only had the trees a few days and did not end up contacting the company for a refund.

I ordered the white birch and received 6 rather than 5 trees. 3 had crunchy leaves, two had very pale almost white leaves due to a lack of light and one very small one had no sign of growth. I've planted them in pots and am watching them carefully. It looks like two may pull through, too early to tell if the other 4 will make it.

I worked at this company in the 70's before I left for college. In my opinion they have not changed that much in that they use those folks who earn minimum wage. (Nothing against the employees) I was personally treated as a second class citizen; watered down like cattle, yelled at, etc. (If I knew then what I know now.....) My vehicle broke down in front of their store a few years ago and they would not even let me use their phone! I have ordered trees from them, which in bulk are a pretty good buy-but I live nearby and can pick them up. I think they charge a bit over most though for trees and flowers at the store.

Last spring we ordered several dogwood, sourwood, and osage orange trees, as well as some crownvetch. All of the trees arrived in standard "stick" form. We planted some and gave others away to friends. With good light, water, and fertilizer, only two dogwood and two sourwood trees showed minimal leafing. Nothing else greened up at all. The only reason that this is not a negative is that we did not attempt to contact the company to see whether they would replace or refund the entire order.

I ordered two trees to try this company out. I was not able to find these locally so I didn't have much of a choice. I was happy to see that they will ship a wide selection of hard to find natives year round.

A couple of things bothered me though.
The web site advertised the trees would be 1'-4'.I ordered by phone, and since I think there is a big difference in a 1' tree VS a 4' tree in terms of when I would plant it and IF I would plant it. So I ordered by phone and asked the salesperson about how big they are. She said about 3 feet.

I neglected to ask how big a "plastic pot" is though! And since it says nowhere on their site I assumed it would be 1 gallon. Maybe 3 gallon pot if it really was 3 feet tall.

But I couldn't figure out how they could stay in business shipping out trees for $5 a piece in a 1-3 gallon pot and charge only $5.50 for shipping.

Well, I can't say I was all that suprised to find out the plastic pot is TINY! About the size of a soda can.

And I was disappointed that the trees were less than the advertised size, much less than the "about 3 feet" I was told by phone. The tallest of the trees is about 10".

I may have still ordered anyway seeing as how for the low cost, and not being able to get them within 8 hours drive from here, it wasn't such a bad deal, however I will likely have to find something else to plant where I had planned on putting these. And I hope these survive. I doubt I would survive 3 days strapped in a box with no sun, air or water.

The packaging was good and the order was shipped when promised.

I ordered several things about three years ago and half my stock died the first season. Company rules seem strict on replacements - but the prices are so cheap you don't feel that bad when some die. They have a large selection of trees and I recommend them to someone with a large property looking to reforest - but not to the average homeowner with 1/4 acre lot.

I did order last year. Plants looked good but I have lost several. The order did include extras, which partially made up for the loss. I will be ordering again and will compare survival rates

This company mainly specializes in trees, shrubs and ground covers. They have been around for a long time I remember seeing their ads in Organic Gardening years ago.