Comments regarding National Arbor Day Foundation

I have gardened in western VA for over thirty years. I grow vegetables, fruits and flowers. I am educated. I read and research. I signed up for the free trees with this organization. It is very cold here now and the trees have not been delivered. I looked on their website to see when they planned on shipping. This organization (who deals in plant material!) has me listed in the wrong ag zone. I emailed them. The reply was that I am wrong about what zone I live and have lived in for all these years. The map they use for shipping is incorrect - at least for where I live. Yet they refuse to accept that fact. Do not fall for the free trees. I consider this organization a scam. Even if they sent the trees now, it is too cold to plant here.

Got a silly survey from the Arbor Day Foundation and was about to send them money. I found this place first and then discovered that Charity Navigator also had an entry for them. Looked at salaries for their top five positions and decided that in addition to the problems that so many people have had with their orders, salary was enough to make me decide against sending them money. I'm not contributing to these people's ridiculous salaries. I've considered starting my own charity though.
MATT HARRIS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
$393,781
DAN LAMBE, PRESIDENT
$260,652
WOODROW NELSON, VP MARKETING COMMUNICATION
$208,243
KAREN HOUSER, VP SYSTEMS
$185,408
BRITT EHLERS, SECRETARY
$172,968

I ordered trees for our school and was promised delivery for Arbor Day. Arbor Day was approaching and there was no delivery. When I contacted them they said there was a delay and shipping wouldn't occure until 17 days after. The school year would be close to over by then. I told them this was not acceptable. They pretty much said "Tough Luck". I contacted them via email and told them I wanted them immediately. I got the run around. I called and said I wanted a refund. They still wanted to charge me shipping even though the trees were never shipped. Do not do business with these crooks. There are better places to get trees from with better customer service. They refuse to let you talk to a supervisor. They refuse to follow the law. So... I'm taking them to court just to cost them the added expenses. NEVER do business with this place.

I got a tree survey in the mail and filled it out online. I got my 12 free sapling the other day. They had very healthy roots and are in pots for now. I know they said to go straight to ground but where they are going they are building a new house by that area and I'm not risking them getting damaged by the construction guys. They are in big grower pots and checked on daily for what ever needs they need. They even color coded the saplings so I knew what trees are what. Im happy so far and everyone is thriving. I hope at least half of them make it and if all do then huge win.

I never received the free trees as promised--what a let-down.
I wonder how they decide who gets them and who doesn't?

I am just appalled at the amount of paper this organization -- of ALL organizations -- sends out. I got yet another mailing today with a phony "tree survey" that came in a big paper envelope with five sheets of oversized paper. Hey Arbor Day people, how about you save a million trees by NOT sending out these ridiculous 1970's-style mailings? Maybe the Arbor Day Foundation was a good group once upon a time, but they are antiquated hypocrites now.

I made the mistake of ordering 15 trees from their catalog BEFORE I received my 10 free "trees" as part of my "membership". I did search for arborday.org on this site, but I didn't realize it was "National Arbor Day Foundation", so I didn't find all the negative reviews.

Anyhow, my 10 free "trees" finally arrived in late June, in zone 5b, when they should have been in the ground by late April. And, they are 10" long twigs which are about 1/8th the diameter of a pencil. Needless to say, the twigs have done NOTHING since planting, nor do I expect them to do anything.

The 15 trees I ordered arrived a few days after the free "trees", and I was immediately dismayed. They were packed horribly and while the box was in perfect shape on the outside, the trees inside were very dinged up. Not surprising considering they were bundled all in one bag and the roots were all tangled together.

So far the witch hazel and forsythia are doing great. That's about it. The two azaleas and one lilac had some dried up leaves on them but they fell off while I was trying to gently separate each plant from the jumbled mess. NOTHING else has shown any signs of budding.

So...I'm out about $170 for 25 "trees" and all I've got is a witch hazel and a forsythia. There is zero point in complaining about the condition of the plants since no one ever answered my numerous emails about why my orders still had not shipped by May 31st, which was the last shipping date listed for my zone.

I will NEVER buy from arborday.org again.

This company is not a charity or an educational foundation. It is nothing short of a SCAM! They constantly bombard "members" with mailings that a professional con-artist must create. But the worst aspect of this so-called nursery is the horrible quality of their stock. Time after time we were sent the smallest trees imaginable, some devoid of life upon arrival. Out of 15 cedars ($4 for a 1/2 foot whip...are you kidding?), NOT ONE survived! Then the replacements they sent were just as puny, and guess what--NOT ONE survived! We will never ever do business with this fraudulent imitation of a nursery. Do yourself a favor and stay away.

I was so scared to order due to all of the reviews here and on other pages, however I placed one order for the fall delivery and everything ce in promptly. Even the free trees which they mailed priority came in the 23rd of December. Potted order came in earlier than their bare root. Every single plant and tree survived. I am in Florida so that may be why since it's a bit warmer. Definitely ordering from them again.

Very similar experiences to other negative reviews shown here and elsewhere. Quite the hassle in getting the trees delivered. The trees that I obtained (I hope they are actually the varieties I purchased) were small compared to what I can obtain from my local nurseries. Cheaper yes, but it is the cost of caring for young trees that is the bulk of the cost anyway; so, it is important to start with good stock. The member 'trees'...LOL were tiny seedlings. None of the items shipped within the specified time window. Phone reps, although courteous, were clueless as to the status of the orders. The items did appear alive and I will see how they do in the spring and will post a followup if they break bud and if grow with any vigor. Nevertheless, after my experience, I will never purchase any trees from NADF again. I would rather take my business to local nurserymen anyway since they are usually paying attention to adaptability/success of various species and cultivars and have a more vested interest in insuring quality.
The Arbor Day Foundation's goals and mission statement of promoting tree planting appear to be there only primary positive attributes; basically selling a good meme. It appears that the nursery stock they sell and provide for free is second or even third fiddle to 'collecting donations', money needed to pay the execs who run the racket.

Similar experiences. Three dead orders. Zero live. Good customer service, promising to replace. OK replacements but on their timeline. I had called and said higher altitudes would see frozen ground by delivery time. Too bad. "Put them in your garage." Now one delivery is AWOL. Not worth the cheap prices. I think I'm done with the extra effort it takes.

As a dilettante gardener I do not expect a 100% survival rate for online-ordered plants. However, my experience from two orders with the arborday foundation is appalling: out of 18 plants/8 varieties, only 3 plants have survived at the 6-month mark despite following the planting and care instructions step-by-step precisely.
From this experience, I will definitely check Dave's garden reviews before my next online order.

I expected so much more from the likes of "the Arbor Day Foundation" instead of a worthless membership and waste of my time and money. I have never, ever had such a bad experience as this one, and I've dealt with the likes of Aaron's Nursery. I received not one, but two orders of dead Burbank plum trees. Now, I've lost a year of my life/one growing season due to this severe lack of quality control on the Arbor Day Foundation's part.

I have bought and planted thousands of trees on my land. Literally. I have bought from nurseries nationwide. Reputable ones, and even one sketchy one. But always, the trees have lived, or at least only a few died, and that over many years.

But the Arbor Day Foundation, an organization I thought would be professional and competent, one that presents a pristine, nature-loving image, let me down. In so many ways. Let me share my opinions.

1. Unreliable tree descriptions, particularly as to zone compatibility. I definitely was too trusting here; I should have researched sooner. Two examples: Sargent cherry is listed as a zone 4 tree. Yet, my research now shows it is not reliable in zone 4 except for named cultivars selected after successfully growing in that zone. The same goes for the Eastern Redbud which, except for a few proven named cultivars, also cannot survive zone 4 winters. So the unnamed seedlings I got have very little chance of surviving a test winter like the one we had this last season. If they ever break bud, that is.

2. Free trees incomplete. They only shipped two of the promised three free trees.

3. Incomplete order. I was shorted a tree I ordered.

4. Late ship date. The trees came around May 15. That means that they've probably been sitting in a warehouse in Nebraska for two months. Hence, problem #5.

5. Low survival rate. All five of the Eastern Hemlock trees I received quickly dropped their needles and died, and that despite rain every other day since I planted. Except for three oak trees, only one of the twelve other trees I received has broken bud. I'm not hopeful about the others, which show no signs of life. In fact, one is bone-dry dead.

6. Instant junk mail from unheard-of, schlocky garden catalogs. Since I've ordered from no other place this year, the conclusion as to the source of my address is obvious. The junk mail hasn't been overwhelming, but it is disgusting.

7. Unacceptable "Instant charge" policy. The Foundation charges your card at the time of the order, not when it is shipped. I should have seen trouble on the way when I placed the order and was informed of that policy. I suspect they had too many cardholder disputes from upset customers who had similar experiences to mine, and so finessed it by getting the money well in advance of shipment.

That's a pretty hefty problem list for one company. Not problems I will ever have again, of course. The experience certainly put a dent in my idealism about at least one do-good environmental organization -- a type of organization I'm otherwise prone to support.

Unfortunately I didn't come here before ordering as I have for other companies. I guess I thought that because it was a non-profit and nationally recognized I didn't need to worry.

I placed two separate orders for bare root dormant trees/shrubs this spring. Only one of the redbuds leafed out and then the leaves fell off. The free forsythias did leaf out nicely, though.

I also ordered elderberries, which leafed out, only to be what I think are Rose of Sharon instead, which will have to be pulled out because I am landscaping an area of our property with only natives to keep it natural. I am just going to consider my purchases a donation and move on.

Extremely disappointed.

I sent in money plus a small donation to receive a membership and the ten free flowering trees plus one red maple, approximately 6 or 7 months ago. When I didn’t receive my trees I contacted them via email. They said I only donated 6 dollars. I have scanned 6 to 7 months of bank statement and can’t find anything, which means I payed via cash. Each time I try and explain this they just tell me to contact my bank. The thing is, I already received a membership number, the tree book, and the chosen free gift of personalized address labels when you send in your money for the membership/10 free tree deal. I tried to explain this also in multiple emails, to no avail.

I should have taken these reviews into consideration before I ordered. This organization is a big scam, or at the very least a mis-managed organization.

Instead of owning up to their mistake and satisfying the customer by sending what I paid for, they were indignant. Now, they lose hundreds of dollars of my business and support and will receive a bad review on every site I can find.

I have purchased trees from the Arbor Day Foundation several times. The trees always arrived in good condition and as advertised. (That is, dormant, first-year plants approximately 12" tall.) I got what I considered a reasonable survival rate for trees that young. (60% after 3 years with no special care) These are infant trees. Older trees have a better survival rate and you get a larger tree faster, but you pay for the years of nursery care.
On the occasions I had reason to contact them, the response was prompt, polite, and reasonable.
I will deal with them again when I want what they have to offer.
As a charity, I think they do a pretty good job of promoting their primary agenda -- getting people to plant trees and raising awareness of the importance of trees to human survival and quality of life.

Posted on December 26, 2017, updated October 10, 2018
I ordered a dwart Stayman Winesap apple tree from Arbor Day in 2010. The tree languised, but finally produced fruit in 2017. The apples were yellow!

I could give the Arbor Day Foundation the benefit of the doubt, but the "free" tree they allowed me to order, a red maple, wasn't a red maple.

They went oh for two in filling my order, which tells me they really don't care. I now view the Arbor Day charity as a ripoff.

I recently purchased two azalea bushes, when they arrived I was shocked at how small they were, and one was in such poor condition it didn't survive. I am very disappointed, because 6for a few dollars more I was able to purchase much larger and healthier plants from Home Depot. I'll never purchase shrubs from National Arbor Day again. However, I will buy trees as they are of a nice enough size and have enough roots that with some TLC they do fine and thrive.

As my friends know it takes a lot to push me to this point. Arbor Day Society customer service is TERRIBLE!! I bought more than 50 trees from them in September. They waited to ship the small small trees until December. Way too late to plant. Not long enough to have them adjust. Their first suggestion you should have put them in pots and kept them inside. Second conclusion I must have soaked them in water too long. No Einstein it was too cold. Fall planting occurs in September and October. Maybe early November. I planted most in my raised bed gardens and they are dead. I even provided them with pictures. I have been a long time customer but no more! Small plants, disregard for proper shipping times , and TERRIBLE customer service. Not even the free trees lived. #arbordaysmalltreespoorcustomerservice

I placed two orders last fall. The first contained trees with insufficient root structure for planting. The second wasn't shipped because the NADF could not correctly place my zip code in the proper zone, which is pretty egregious for a national mail order company of trees. I did not get a satisfactory response when I called and followed up with an email. I have received no response to my email. I have canceled my outstanding order and will not be ordering again.Nor will I sign up as a member again, despite the multiple opportunities to do so.

This company uses the same scam MO as the "Name a Star After Someome" scam does. Meaning this: this business' angle Is that it tries to come off as being somehow "official".

I received their survey in the mail, complete with such pertinent questions as:
"Have you ever climbed a tree?"
"When you were a kid, did you ever play in a tree?"
Even the question "Do you think the Hemlock should be the official state tree of Pennsylvania?" is ridiculous because, do you believe that the guy who started this buisness cares one way or the other? Does any of this do anything to protect trees?

In fact the whole "survey" is just filled with meaningless questions that do nothing other than to make the recipient believe they are providing important information to some "official" organization. And after all, I was specifically chosen! I was one of the few percent! Think about it, they could not possibly send this "survey" out every household in the country, so YES it's true, that only a small percent received this spam.

And let's not forget the "FREE" GIFTS (that you receive if you "donate" money to this buisness). Sure ill send you some seedlings too, if you "donate" $10, $15, $25, $50, __$more. I will also name a star after you for an additional $50.

Ordered 5 pine trees and received a free maple as well. The Arbor Day Foundation ships trees on their timeline, supposedly the best time to plant for your area. Well, my trees arrived the first week of December, which here in northwest Florida is a *terrible* time to plant, as we regularly have hard freezes throughout the winter. I thought this was insane, but they give customers no choice in delivery time. I had no choice but to plant them, as they arrived as bare root *twigs* (which was disappointing as well. I expected a little more for my money than 10-inch bare root twigs). Two days after we planted them, sure enough, we were hit with a cold spell that plunged nighttime temps down into the teens for several nights. We covered each twig with a bucket and blankets, but every single one of the pine twigs died. Only the maple twig survived, but it went on to die the following summer, for absolutely no reason at all. So we had nothing left to show for our order and expense. We called when the pine trees died and asked to be sent more trees, since there was a guarantee they would live. They required us to dig up and return the dead twigs first! Which we declined to do, as that would've been more expense on our part. So the guarantee is basically worthless. The trees ship out at terrible planting times, and they arrive as bare root twigs. I am someone who can plant *anything* and it end up growing and thriving, but every single one of their trees died on me within the first weeks or months.

I ordered a sargent crabapple tree from Arbor Day. I planted it this spring. It's dead. I won't order from this company again. I didn't like how it was packaged. It never grew into anything more than an ugly little dead twig.

I have purchased membership with NADF for several years because I believe in their mission; however, I will not be renewing because the quality of the last few orders has been very poor.

They state that they guarantee delivery of healthy trees. My first order for 2016 was the 10 free trees and 8 redbuds are still alive. The second order included a variety of trees that I purchased: maple, magnolia, beech, sourwood, and aspen and 3/5 are still alive.

In 2017 I ordered another batch of 10 trees: oaks, viburnums, crabapple, tulip, hawthorn, spruce, viburnum, dogwood, and river birch. All of these were dead on arrival except one of the viburnums.

Finally I ordered hazelnuts in March and only one tree is alive.
All trees were planted correctly the day I received them.
Meanwhile they continue to solicit me with offers to order stock. I plan on writing them and asking them to remove me from their lists.

As with most people's reviews, I got 10 sticks in the dead of winter, so I don't really expect them to survive. However, I did some research online and both charitywatch and the better business bureau's give.org give the arbor day foundation positive ratings for being legit. It's unfortunate that they don't do a better job, because I'd love to order more of the trees that they offer, but after my experience, I will never order again for them, nor will I become a member.

I joined this cause a few years back, and haven't renewed for the following reasons:

The ten trees they sent were merely twigs, bare root, and some of them had hardly any root, at all. I don't have great luck with bare root anything, and it may just be me. Still, I planted them, and nothing survived.

I would have been willing to try again, except for the fact that AFTER I had joined and paid my membership fee, they continued to send me various additional solicitations for membership -- as though they were totally UNaware that I had already joined.

I finally called the number they had provided and asked the very arrogant man whom I got on the phone why I was still getting solicitations to join when I was already a member.

He wouldn't give me a straight answer.

To this day, I have no idea why they did that. The man wouldn't give me a CLEAR answer to my question.

I don't do business with people who won't give me straight answers to legitimate questions when I have a right to know those answers.

I'm still supportive of planting trees, and indeed we have planted several on our property, which we acquired as seedlings (with roots and needles already on them) from our University Extension's forestry classes department.

I'm a stickler for open, honest and upfront communication. When I can't get that, it always raises a red flag.

I'm not saying this is a bad organization -- just one I no longer wish to deal with.

Been a member since 1998. Believe in their tree planting cause. Most of what we ordered from them has not overwintered. Recommended they send items during dormancy in spring. Also do not send when ground is frozen. Not one request was tailored. We know how to plant, and plant same day (except when the ground was frozen). As my PhD ag bro said, it is the stock.

The trees and shrubs from this outfit are better referred to as "rooted cuttings". For what you get, the prices are high. Places like Musser Forests sell better quality trees and shrubs at a much better price. I ordered river birch, red maples and forsythia from Arborday last fall. They were well packed. A few of the red maples survived, none of the river birch made it and the forsythia made it but with significant die-back. I have planted hundreds of trees and shrubs from various sources for decades. In all those plantings, I have never had a single plant fail - until I put in those from Arborday.

I became a member and also purchased a dozen trees. They have not shipped the ten trees that come with membership yet, though they keep promising to. They just can't get order of a dozen trees right. They sent four, I complained. They sent one more. Every time they send all of these free trees (junk). Just send the trees I ordered and paid for. No need to send part orders or free junk trees. I would think counting trees would be an integral part of business. By the way, nothing has survived.

I would never waste my time again. For a few dollars more I can buy a one gallon tree locally, and they live.

I started ordering from this company this year (2016) and have thus far received two orders from them - though one was their "10 free tree" thing. I have to say that over all, I'm pleased with my experiences with them and will likely order from them again.

The ten free baby trees I received were the flowering tree bunch (crabapple, flowering dogwood, Eastern redbud, hawthorn, and two extra crapemyrtles) I've potted all of them in a mixture of plain old garden dirt and aged manure and all are flourishing except two (one dogwood and one redbud) which I consider to be very good odds, as the two babies still lacking any signs of life are a little more delicate than some of the other types. I'll give them a few more weeks and see if they come around.

The second time I ordered from them, I got two apple trees, one butternut, one Rose of Sharon, and also received the free red maple and two free forsythias as part of their ordering promotional deal. All arrived healthy and are doing well (one apple tree was almost six feet tall!) I'm waiting for them to wake up from dormancy but all have the telltale green beneath their bark. The maple has been sitting in a bucket of water for the past several days and is already budding out with leaves. I have high hopes for these plants.

In 2015 my mother and I got the "free" 10 trees for joining the Arbor Day Foundation. I'd read the reviews that stated members had gotten "sticks" so I was prepared to get sticks.

I did receive bareroot trees, which were all alive, and basically looked like sticks. I dusted each with mycorrhizal fungi and potted them up in several plastic pots with good soil, compost, and I think aged horse manure. The little guys took off, grew over the summer, and all did well.

Fast forward to spring 2016. Three or four didn't survive (or at least didn't pass the scratch test) but the rest have buds and very well developed root systems. Since I still don't have homes for them yet, I've repotted them into larger pots, again giving them a good sprinkling of mycorrhizal fungi. I've potted the "dead" ones as well, just in case. They'll probably stay in pots this year, since they are still on the small side, an easy to mow height, and also seem like they'd be interesting to deer and bunnies.

I ordered several red maple trees from Arbor Day in 2014. When the leaves developed in spring 2015, ALL of them were silver maples. I don't want silver maples, so I emailed customer service with pics of the leaves and they sent replacement "red maples" this winter. The leaves are now developing, and guess what? They're all silver maples! I've gotten oaks, elm, and sourwood trees from them with no problem. But they can't seem to pull off maple identification. They'll get no more money or support from me.

I've ordered from this organization twice, and never received one tree. They promised, for two years, to correct the mistake in the next season, and never did, even with repeated phone calls and e-mails. My sister had the same experience. I will not be trying again, ever.

I ordered a weeping willow, a peach tree, 90 privets, and received the ten free trees. Also, I was given a second weeping willow and two forsythia bushes for free. When we received our trees, they were packed perfectly in moist wrapping protecting healthy bare roots. The peach tree was surprisingly tall and healthy, as was everything else we bought. The peach tree was exceptional, though. We received our trees at the end of March 2015 in Northwest Ohio and ended up not planting until April and May (and some even in August!). We kept our trees in buckets outside and they continued to flourish. We had no reason to wait except for life and laziness. As terrible as we initially treated the trees and bushes, they all thrived and we never lost ANY. I do not understand the bad rap this company receives, specifically regarding the ten free trees. Of course they are going to be small! They are healthy and FREE. This company is a non profit. Ease up and stop expecting giant, lush trees for cheap or free. We are dealing with live plants and people need to keep this in mind. Even the most popular nurseries have bad plants. It happens. They have excellent customer service and great plants.

We put in an order in early October and also became members. I was a little concerned about what might or might not arrive based on the feedback I've seen. But I was pleasantly suprised! We ordered 2 Sweetgum trees, 2 hydrangeas, 3 north privets, 2 beauty bushes and we received the free red maple. We also got the 10 free flowering trees for becoming members. They are white dogwoods and American redbuds.

First we received the 10 free trees. They accidentally gave us an extra dogwood. When I opened the package I smelled the smell I had read about but the plants looked healthy and passed the scratch test.

A few days later we got the main package. I had high hopes after seeing the condition of the free trees and WOW. The free red maple was described as having a shipping height of 3-4' but it is more like 5-6' not including roots. It was slightly bent over in the box it's so big! And it was free! I can't get over that. It has one secondary branch along with the main trunk and plenty of little buds. I didn't even scratch test the trees in this order because they all have lots little buds on them and look great! The sweetgum trees have lots of little branches and plenty of buds. I can't wait to see them all come alive in spring!

Overall I was very happy with my order and we paid around $60 with membership fees and all. Not too shabby if you ask me! I'm planning on raising some of the free membership trees and selling them so they will probably pay for themselves eventually. I will definitely be ordering from them again and would recommend.

Posted on December 3, 2015, updated December 15, 2015
Back in August 2015, I paid the membership to get the 10 free trees AND I made the mistake of ordering 2 forsythia, a Japanese maple & 6 hydrangea. Now it is December 3rd & I am being told my order has been moved to the Spring shipping schedule. They only told me this because I CALLED THE ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION. They did not reach out to tell me there was a delay in my order at all. I have cancelled the order & have informed them I will never renew a membership. They have said, however, I should get my "10 free trees by December 8th" I'm not going to hold my breath on that one either.

Posted on January 16, 2009, updated September 14, 2015
What do you expect for 10 bucks. Over the years its been kind of a hobby for me to see if the sticks will grow into anything. After ordering 40 flowering "sticks" (the last order was 5 years ago) I have 3 Washington Hawthorns and 2 crabapples. Lets see, thats 1 out of 8 that make it to waist height in 10 years. Thats $8 per tree. Still a good bargain? I wouldn't waist my time.
I've had over 85% success rate with better bargains at other tree sources.
If you want a challenge, order from NADF. If you want trees, go somewhere else.

Posted on May 5, 2015, updated July 14, 2015
Like several of the recent posts, I read these comments after already ordering 10 shrubs (3 forsythia, 4 mock orange, 3 red twig dogwood) and 2 trees (autumn flowering cherry and red maple) from the Arbor Day Foundation and boy was I rattled! Based on some of what I read, I guessed that many people had unrealistic expectations of what they were ordering, but nevertheless I was concerned I had wasted my money.

I must say, though, that what I received in the mail entirely lived up to (or exceeded) my expectation. For starters, the plants arrived promptly within a week of ordering, which was better than what I expected. With almost all of the plants I ordered being under 10 dollars (3 of them were entirely free - 2 forsythias and a red maple), I knew that all would be young saplings - essentially small sticks with roots. I mean, come on people, you get what you pay for! I've got other big beautiful trees in my yard that I ordered from a local nursery and for 4 good sized trees, it cost over $800. Keep expectations in check and you may be pleasantly surprised. Both trees (sticks) were impressively large to me - about 3 ft in length. The smallest shrubs were the 2 free forsythias that were about 12" tall, all others were between 2 and 3 ft tall.

Since many reviewers reported plants DOA, I gave all of mine a quick scratch test and all were living. Only one was questionable that had some dead branches (the forsythia I paid for), but the base was still living - will update later what did and didn't survive. I followed the instructions to the letter and soaked them in water around 5 hours. I planted all of them the same day and I'm excited to say that ONE DAY LATER I already noticed small signs of new growth on a few. These are baby plants - so I intend to baby them, as should anyone ordering. Keep to a watering schedule so they aren't dried out and be sure the location chosen for planting is appropriate.

I felt I needed to post this to help outweigh all the negative comments. Again - I will be happy to update in the future to let you know the outcome of my purchases, but so far so good. I have other friends that have ordered trees through the Arbor Day Foundation and none have had anything negative to say. One friend drove me past the 3 trees she planted 3 years ago and all were healthy and thriving.

Happy planting!