The scoop on 'Greenwood Nursery'

Company Profile   Greenwood Nursery Mailing Address: 636 Myers Cove Road McMinnville, Tennessee 37110-6930 (United States) Phone: 1-800-426-0958 » E-Mail them » Visit their website Recent reviews: Past month Past 6 Months Past 12 Months Positive 1 2 9 Neutral 0 0 0 Negative 0 2 5 This company offers a variety of plants. This company specializes in: Plants: Ornamental Trees and Shrubs Plants: Perennial Flowers

Feedback History and Summary   126 positives 7 neutrals 22 negatives

Comments:

Rating Author Content Positive PennHills Mary Esther, FL (1 review) November 30, 2009 I recently ordered Creeping Phlox from Greenwood. Their service was excellent in every way. The plants (15) were healthy and in excellent condition. And they were packed with extreme care. I ordered them on a Thursday, and received them the following week. I would not hesitate to order from this nursery in the future. Negative meilei Rochester, NY (5 reviews) November 07, 2009 I was very disappointed with my experience with this company. I paid $24.95(well, they did give me 10% discount) plus shipping fee $13.95 for a tree form Forsythia. This is what they describe on the website : "Size at time of shipping: 4 year old transplants, four to six foot husky tree-form, professionally trimmed and trained." I was confused when I got my order. Indeed It is a Tree form (If they define a single twig with some roots called a tree) 4 year old? I don't think so. Look at how big my forsythia bush can grow after 1 year. I was not convinced by such a thin twig I got at all. I sent them an email asking for an answer. Never replied. I think I learned my lesson and will never buy from them again. Negative go2lightspeed Chapel Hill, NC (1 review) July 31, 2009 I ordered 3 Cherry trees on the "Clearance Page" That's my first mistake. That's essentially where they unload all their dead junk because it is not guaranteed. I paid $60 for the order. They arrived a week later and I planted them that day following their instructions. When they arrived they were wrapped in plastic and had semi-damp shredded paper around the roots. The trees had NO branches whatsoever. Only a few pathetic looking buds. They looked dead. I watered them every few days and we had plenty of rain, as well. 6 weeks later, they're still dead. Brenda claims they're dormant. No, they're dead. I scratched off some bark near the base and there is nothing green. I will NEVER order ANYTHING from them again. Don't waste your money! Positive angie4n6 Largo, FL (1 review) July 13, 2009 In May, I received in the mail my Pink Velour Crape Myrtle tree from Greenwood Nursryl. My friends thought I was crazy for ordering a tree via the mail, but now they can't believe it. It has grown so much in just a few short months and it has already bloomed the most beautiful pink flowers. I can't believe how bright and full the blooms are for such a small tree that is still growing. I will definitly order from Greenwood Nursery again and I have already recommended your nursery to my friends. Thank you so much for bringing me such joy as I sit at my dining room table and look at my beautiful flowering tree. Angela , Largo , Florida Positive jim1961 (3 reviews) June 20, 2009 I have ordered a few times from Greenwood Nursury. The plants arrived in a timely manner and very well packaged. Everything I have purchased has grown fine without any problems. They have always answered my questions by e-mail. I give them a thumbs up! On July 11th, 2009, jim1961 added the following: Some of there plants arrive dormant, (no leaves), give them time to leaf out. Follow planting directions. I received a few tree formed Hibiscus. One of them I decided not to plant. I left it down the cellar of my home and forget about it. More than a month later I had to go down the cellar for something and there it was all leafed out. LOL...This tells you they package things well...LOL Positive GARDENERNC Beulaville, NC (1 review) June 19, 2009 I find Greenwood extremely customer friendly. I've ordered several times in the past 12 months and everything arrived just as advertised -- healthy! I did have 1 plant (of 3) not make it and Brenda couldn't have been any nicer about a replacement. Response time is unbelievably quick. I'm sure I'll order through them again. Negative dalemanpsalm Kansas City, MO (1 review) June 05, 2009 Last week I ordered 5 Hibiscus Ardens "Rose of Sharon" plants from Greenwood's Clearance page. (Order number: 1306846) With shipping they came out to about $10 each, which I thought was pretty good since the pics of the plants on the website show a beautiful bare root plant with leaves and TONS of roots and well over 2+ feet tall. LINK to Page: http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HIB SH A... As well Greenwood Nursery proudly states: "Plants are shipped blooming size. Not to be confused with single stemmed inexpensive shrubs from other suppliers. These plants are FIELD GROWN HUSKY TRANSPLANTS 2 - 4 FEET IN HEIGHT WITH 3 - 5 CANES. " Well, they DO have 3 to 5 canes each... and about 3 to 5 small broken roots to go with them! As well, I measured what was sent to me and the TALLEST plant is NOT 2 feet, more like 18 inches, much less 4 feet tall and the shortest is around 9 inches tall!!!... As well, there is ABSOLUTELY NO GREEN GROWTH anywhere around these plants!!! AND they were twisted into a "C" shape to fit into the box!.... and they say they are shipped "Blooming size"??? are you kidding? This pile of lifeless sticks as NEVER bloomed! NOT HAPPY!!! To add insult to injury, Greenwood's website states: "Light requirements: Full Sun, Partial Sun and shade" However after planting these plants (first time I've ever worked with Rose of Sharon) in a shady-ish area I find on the web that they really only grow well or bloom in FULL SUN!!! AAARRRGGGG!!!! I feel like just ripping them out of the ground and throwing them in the trash! Where my $50 now is!!! Of course as with a couple of other posters about Greenwood the disclaimer at the bottom of the page pretty much allows them to commit armed robbery... "All plants are sold and shipped in excellent condition but because of the deeply discounted price no further guarantees or discounts will apply. While supplies last! " I will however NOT be ordering from Greenwood again and will warn others to not order from them as well... So, I hope scamming me out of my $50 was worth it Greenwood?!!! Company representative comment on June 12, 2009: On Jun 12, 2009 4:05 PM, Greenwood Nursery responded with: Greenwood received an email from our customer the next day. We do not know if she will change her standing, but below is her email to us. We have removed her email address and last name for privacy. From: Shannon Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 2:07 AM To: brenda@greenwoodnursery.com Subject: RE: My posting on Dave's Garden Hello again, Upon reviewing my charges for the plants you shipped I have noticed that you in fact further discounted the price of the items to reflect the fact that they did not meet the size/quality described. As such, I have contacted Dave's Garden to retract my previous review as I feel what was charged was fair and equitable. If I had known previously that I had been charged only part of the cost I expected I would not have posted what I did or been dissatisfied. Shannon Positive ndps99 Holyoke, MA (9 reviews) May 15, 2009 I have a rather large residential development project going on. I have been "working with" Greenwood since this past winter in preparing for further development. I had several questions as well as additions to my original order. Each question was answered in a very timely way and each change order was acknowledged with the invoice sent me via e-mail for my review and approval. Ultimately, several plantings -- approximately 35 -- from another source did not survive the winter, nor do I think they were ever capable of doing so. I turned to Greenwood for replacements which made even more change-orders. I was treated like a king each time. I gave a specific shipping date which was approved. However, I then changed my personal schedule and slated a vacation away (from which location I now type) beginning at the end of the week the Greenwood order was slated to arrive. When I realized this, I panicked and thought perhaps I'd have a shipment of plantings on my porch, rotting, for the better part of two weeks. But the good folks at Greenwood assured me they could ship a bit earlier and they did. The shipment arrived the Tuesday prior to leaving and all looked very very good. I was able to get everything into the ground and have a few days of tending to them myself before leaving and putting everything into the hands of my very experienced gardener/handyman. Since I am traveling, I don't have access to my full history of e-mail. But I would love to specify at least two ladies at Greenwood who were especially helpful. I know that I run the risk of forgetting someone else who was helpful, but I include them in my best of intentions, even if left unnamed. Indy answered spacing and size questions regarding some lilacs. Her response -- which was speedy -- made it possible for me to fill-in a missing part of my plans. Her response allowed me to continue on with my plans. Brenda -- who should be now known as Saint Brenda, Patroness of Panicked and Fickle Gardeners -- is the one who handled my ever-changing order and shipping dates. I highly recommend these folks to you! Negative frweaver Mableton, GA (2 reviews) May 07, 2009 I ordered three kousa dogwoods from Greenwood Nursery, and planted the bareroot dormant trees upon arrival. While the roots did not look great, I have had good experiences with bareroot plants from other sources and planted the trees. After about six weeks I noted no budding or signs of life. When I emailed Brenda at Greenwood, I received the following response: "Normally it does take a new transplant anywhere between 6-8 weeks to bud/leaf out. The dogwoods you purchased in February were on the members value page and I apologize but it is stated on each sale page, “All plants are sold and shipped in excellent condition but because of the discount in price no other guarantee will apply”. I will note your order with your below email and give the plants a little longer to bud/ leaf out." I admit that I had not seen the disclaimer, and that was my error. However, when the sticks did not come out of dormancy, I contacted Brenda again, because I could not believe the company would use such a policy to unload dead plants. I was wrong, as Brenda quickly pointed out by claiming the plants had been sent in "viable" condition and that Greeenwood would do nothing. I have ordered plants extensively by mail and, maybe I have just been lucky, but I have always had good experiences except with Greenwood. I had ordered from them only once before, several years ago, and received forsythia plants that all either never left dormancy or quickly died. I had been singularly unimpressed with their service at the time, but decided to give them another chance. I will not order from Greenwood again, and will actively warn others not to throw their money away. Negative LotsaNuts Oviedo, FL (3 reviews) May 07, 2009 In January I ordered six Apache and six Arapaho blackberry plants from Greenwood. They shipped them to me the first week in March, and I planted them on the evening they arrived in a bed that I had prepared in the interim. Several of the plants sprouted new growth within a couple of weeks, a few took over a month before showing growth, and three have never shown any sign of life. Also this season I ordered two more varieties of blackberries that Greenwood does not carry -- three Navaho from a second nursery and six Ouachita from a third. These were planted about a month before and a month after the ones from Greenwood respectively. The plants from both of the other nurseries had significantly larger root systems, and every plant from these nurseries has successfully leafed out since I planted them. At this point, I don't believe that the three holdouts from Greenwood will ever emerge from dormancy. I contacted Brenda at Greenwood nursery and asked what could be done to resolve the situation. She replied asking for photos of the plants, a description of the planting bed and watering scheme. She also pointed out: "the guarantee which you will find at the bottom of any of our web pages", and provided a URL. I sent her the following description: > All 12 plants were set in a bed about 20' long, mulched > with about 1-1.5" of pine bark and had a drip hose run > under the mulch. That hose was on an automatic timer set > to water whole row (also my blueberry bed -- not that > it matters) for 30 minutes every other day. The soil > drains quite well being composed of a good bit of sand, > but with a reasonable amount of organics tilled in. I also said in my reply that if the guarantee that she was referring to was the one whereby I must pay an additional 50% of the purchase price plus shipping to receive three replacement plants, that I would not be making use of it. Had these plants been obviously living when I received them, and then died on my watch, that's one thing. However, as dormant bare-root blackberries, there was no way for me to tell at the time of receipt if they were viable. They have never shown any sign of life and have been treated in the exact same fashion as the nine plants from Greenwood (and the three Navaho from a different nursery) which *did* leaf out successfully. A quarter of the blackberry plants from Greenwood is not an acceptable loss rate -- especially when the others had 100% success. I followed through and sent Brenda photos of the lifeless plants and two shots of my planting bed. The photo of the one arapaho was notable in that it was a lifeless twig midway between two others that had leafed out quite well. Brenda's second reply was a partial rehash of her first one: "Below is a link to our guarantee, which you will find at the bottom of any of our web pages. If you decide you would like to proceed with the replacements, just drop me an email and I will get the order set up for you." Obviously the email is indicating that this is the best I'll get from them. My problem with this is as follows. With essentially **any** plant that is shipped bare-root while dormant, there is no way to know at the time of receipt whether the plant is viable or not. By the letter of their guarantee, if you do not refuse the order at the time of receipt, then if the plant never takes, you're on the hook to pay another 50% of the purchase price in the hope that the replacement will be better than the original. The personal guarantee that I can provide is that I will never be 100% satisfied with that deal. I'll also note that in a review below from April 30, 2008, a customer indicated that they had some plants that never emerged from dormancy and created a positive review because Greenwood replaced them without argument. A Greenwood rep replied with a self-congratulatory note about playing fair and owning up to their mistakes. I won't be giving Greenwood any money for replacements, or for any future purchases. If and when I replace these plants, it will be with ones I order from one of the other two nurseries that provided me with better stock. Given the overwhelming (nearly unbelievable in fact) ratio of Positives to Negatives on this site, I expected better of them. Unlike some other reviewers on this board, I will *not* be changing this rating to positive no matter what Greenwood does from this point on. If it takes pointing out their flaws in a public forum to make them act responsibly, then this is not acceptable behavior and I won't reward it. My customer experience has been extremely negative and nothing that they do at this point will change that. Positive 3goldens Lexington, TN (1 review) April 28, 2009 Yesterday I placed my first order with Greenwood Nursery, so far my experience has been GREAT. They allowed me to add on to my existing order at the last minute and the tranaction went smoothly. I cannot brag enough about the customer service they provided me with, their communication is OUTSTANDING. I'm looking forward to receiving my order and I will report back. If the items I purchased are anything like their customer service, I'm sure I will be completely satisifed. Greenwood Nursery./Brenda......thank you for making my first experience with your company and positive one! Positive Patt52 Rydal, GA (Zone 7b) (8 reviews) March 25, 2009 I just received my first order from Greenwood Nursery and I'm very pleased and happy with their products and service. Everything looks great! I couldn't believe the size of my Magnolia Jane which arrived with several buds and very healthy looking. The Lilac Tree was also big in size. The Mock Orange and the Knockout Rose also looks great.Now if the weather will cooperate with us in the next few days, we can get them in the ground. I would also like to add that Brenda was so nice and helpful everytime I communicated with her! If your looking for healthy plants and trees, then you need to be buying from Greenwood Nursery! Thanks so much!!!!!!!!! PT Positive plantgnome Coram, NY (26 reviews) February 25, 2009 I ordered a chickasaw crape myrtle, 3 majorca pink rosemarys and a kousa dogwood and just received them packaged very well, all have buds and look healthy. Very satisfied with the condition and fast shipping. Will report back after they have been planted for a while and show growth. Pleasant to deal with. Have other plants on order with them, I am confident they will all come healthy after seeing this order which is the first i have received from this company. A+ On March 23rd, 2009, plantgnome added the following: 3/23 I am now awaiting another order from Greenwood, which are specials for the month of March, great sale prices, and allow add ons to existing orders even at the last minute. Can't wait for this order as I ordered a Black Lace shrub and some ornamental grasses and butterfly plants. The other items above noted that I already got are flourishing even with our cold snaps. Will order more in the future. A++ On May 15th, 2009, plantgnome changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following: i am changing my rating as the other people who purchased during their member sales in February. These people are supposed to be in the nursery business. they know better than ordinary people what plants won't make it being planted in the winter months. I got the same bs that others got with the "not guaranteed" . Only in my case they made me take photos and email them with an explanation of the care I took of them. After all that, they refuse to replace. Why did they bother me with all the fuss of photos. They also know where your zone is and the weather. I should have been told not to order that shrub at this time. I will not order from them again due to their putting me out and giving me false hope and making me taking photos for no reason. Tons of other online nurseries who take the time to not ship something at the wrong time. Don't waste your money. On May 15th, 2009, plantgnome changed the rating from neutral to positive and added the following: I'm changing back to positive as they offered me a credit for the lost plant. Positive vegas13 Silver Springs, FL (1 review) February 11, 2009 I had ordered the HydrangeaForever Pink plant from Greenwood Nursery.When i have recieved it by UPS it was in great shape. No soil all over the inside of the box like other nursery. They have shrink wrap it tightly to keep it all toghther. When i took it out of the box it was in perfect shape and has nice new leaves comeing out of it. Keep up the good work Greenwood nursery i give you a 10. Positive AndersonBob New Palestine, IN (1 review) December 07, 2008 I received my order promptly, packed very well, and the plant was received in excellent condition. The potting mix was fairly dry, but, the root structure looked very good. Thanks for a good experience with my first order! Positive Trinket56 Madison, AL (1 review) December 04, 2008 I had ordered a pack of five Service Berry bushes from this wonderful company. Instead, I received only four. I wrote to let them know of the error. Instead of the one bush I expected, they sent me a complete new order of five. I was astounded. I offered to pay for the extra four, but they would not let me. I am totally impressed and look forward to doing more business with Greenwood Nursery in the future. Oh yes!!!! Both orders arrived in marvelous condition, the packaging was amazing. All the bushes are planted and I anticipate a wonderful season next year. Thanks Greenwood. Y'all are keepers. God bless you and yours. Positive tbva Falls Church, VA (1 review) October 30, 2008 I purchased two dwarf crape myrtle shrubs in Spring 2006. "Velma's Royal Delight". They are outstanding. They keep their dwarf nature and bloom a little more each year with maturation. The folks at Greenwood could not be more helpful. I called in Spring '07 because they looked dead. I was told to be patient, indeed they are the last shrub in my yard to spring into Spring. Who would know? Greenwood knew. I understand these crape myrtles need TLC in my zone but Greenwood let me know the risks before I bought them. I would not hesitate to buy any plant from them or ask for their guidance in selection of plants for particular zone, placement, variety. Positive kellysmith Allentown, NJ (1 review) October 29, 2008 This is my first experience with Greenwood and I was more than pleased at the quality of the shrubs I ordered, the size for the price, and most of all, how well they were packaged. After working in the greenhouse business for 10 years, I have had lots of experience with poor packaging, resulting in damaged merchandise. My local grower couldn't supply my order til spring. Greenwood shipped quickly and they were helpful both on-line and by phone. E-mails were responded to almost immediately. Will be ordering in the future for sure. Positive bhartman Cuyahoga Falls, OH (1 review) October 24, 2008 I have ordered twice now from Greenwood. I love the value, quality and the extrodinary packaging/shipping of the items. All plants have been better than anything I could buy from the local stores. I only buy plants from the best now! Greenwood is the only place to go! I highly recommend it to everyone and anyone! Thanks Greenwood for bringing my love of plants back to life! Positive wisemom Glastonbury, CT (2 reviews) October 22, 2008 I ordered 100 ajuga seedlings (they are technically cuttings) to replace the bald spots on my lawn under a tree. They came promptly and carefully packed. The took better than I expected in hard soil with lots of tree roots and doubled in size in a matter of weeks. Positive YORG Summerville, SC (1 review) October 20, 2008 After ordering 3 "Lady In Red" hydrangea from Greenwood, I received them earlier than promised and in splendid condition. The gallon sized pots were well shrink-wrapped so no soil escaped and the roots were undisturbed. The plants were 2-3 feet tall, fully leafed out, multi-stemmed and very sturdy with no detectable insects. But best of all was the beautiful way all three were packed on their sides cradled in tons of shredded paper (which will go into the compost bin) in one big box. Anything short of crushing the whole box and those plants would have stayed safe. Great shipping job. Positive cornerlot Crete, NE (1 review) September 22, 2008 I have a large lot and to say the landscape was in neglect when we moved in is an understatement. In order to address as many areas as possible and fast, I set out to find good plants at great prices. I found Greenwood. I have ordered two or three times now and could not be happier with the plants. They have arrived in good shape and have perfomed wonderfully. I am proud to say I have not lost one plant yet and the latest order looks to be successful as well. Thank you, Greenwood. I already have my wish list for Spring! Positive Jrallo Bolingbrook, IL (1 review) September 19, 2008 I am always a little weary buying anything for my garden that I cannot touch, feel and inspect myself. That being said, I gave it a shot because the prices were great and my local nursery was not getting Winter Gem boxwood until spring, and I didn't want to wait that long, and also didn't like the selection at my local home depot & Lowe's. Their guarantee and free shipping were also a plus. I placed my order, and held my breath! I received my shipment e-mail and received my order the next day (though I am told my area is typically a 2 day shipping, UPS got it on the truck a day early - yay!) I was absolutely AMAZED when I opened my box!!! Not a single leaf had dropped off, shook off, or branch broken!! The pots were shrink wrapped and soil perfectly damp, and contained until I unwrapped them. Beautiful root system on the shrubs,... though not root bound. My e-mails were promptly addressed (within 30 minutes) with courteous replies and helpful information, kudos to Brenda for bringing back my confidence in the term 'customer service', which seems to be all but lost in this country. I will DEFINITELY purchase from Greenwood again... I'm 'sold'. Company representative comment on October 07, 2008: On Oct 7, 2008 11:26 AM, Greenwood Nursery added: It has been quite awhile since I have checked in to the WatchDog page since Fall shipping is upon us. I will try to get better at that! Thank you for your comments! I made sure that Brenda received her Kudos! During our heavy shipping times, sometimes we slip behind on our email since there are so many, but Brenda really works hard to keep our customer happy! We changed the way we packaged this year and it really seems to cushon the plants better. I am proud to know that they arrived to you in great condition! Happy Gardening to you!! Positive Yellowshock Hobart, IN (1 review) September 15, 2008 We ordered 10 knock out roses online. The ordering page was somewhat unclear in that it would show a continue button when assembling your order and when you pressed that it completed the order. This is not what we initially wanted, we just wanted to look at the all in price etc before making a final decision. When emailing with the company they seemed very responsive (even though we were quite suspicious and angry about the event) and they remained calm and professional. Anyways, we decided to coninue with the order and received it via UPS after about 2 weeks after ordering. The 10 1 gallon roses came well wrapped in a box and were in good shape. No more flowers, that is to be expected, but within days after planting we could see that all 10 took hold. Also, the root system seemed solid. We give this a hopeful and careful POSITIVE as knock out roses are like weeds so they better be OK, but the company was responsive to my many emails and the plants were fine. We ordered again and will let you know how that goes. Positive davis1676 Disputanta, VA (Zone 7a) (20 reviews) September 13, 2008 Despite some negative comments left here, I decided to place an order on some end of the season sale items. I purchased a double knockout rose & a bi-color buddleia. the packaging couldn't have been better. Both shrubs came with plenty of greenery left & a beautiful root ball, yet those babies could not have budged in their box. My buddleia had blooms the next day, beautiful raspberry blooms with a gold throat! Awesome. Only 2 days later, the rose has some new growth showing. Very healthy plants. While they are not inexpensive, their sale prices are do-able for me (hint: join the email list). I got top rate plants for less than a Loews store price. I will continue to order, especially during their sale days. Thanks so much Greenwood Nursery. Positive TuddyE Georgetown, KY (Zone 6a) (48 reviews) September 11, 2008 I have been ordering from this company for a few years now, and have been happy with the service and the products. The once or twice I have not been happy with the way something looked upon arrival, I e-mailed and got a quick response- always getting credit or a replacement. I must admit some of their prices are a bit higher than others, but then again their pot sizes are bigger too. I always check them out when I get an e-mail or when looking for something a little different. I may not always buy from them for everything, but I feel safe when I do. Jackie from KY Positive billrandour McDonald, PA (1 review) July 17, 2008 Cheryl Jones was execeptional. I called her on Monday to order a plant that several other companies wouldn't ship until fall. I received the plant 2 days later. And what a plant. I have ordered this plant from other nurseries and yours was 30 times larger and in great condition. I will recommend your company to all of my gardening friends. Thanks, again, for outstanding service and products. Bill Randour 308 Sixth St. McDonald PA 15057 Negative awmspot Reidsville, NC (2 reviews) June 23, 2008 Received 25 barberry plants last fall. NONE survived the winter. Rep said send pictures and replacements would be considered. I sent the request and pictures. Two weeks later I sent e-mail inquiry. No reply received. Positive pdevoe Hubbell, MI (1 review) June 11, 2008 I ordered 12 lirope from greenwood nursery, they arrived yesterday. The packing was wonderful and the plants are superb. I would recommend them to all of my customers. I am in the greenhouse business. Positive HarrisMM Franklin, TN (1 review) June 08, 2008 Our plants arrived on a Friday afternoon and we planted them the following morning. First of all, whoever packed these plants is a true ARTIST! Everything was perfectly wrapped and coddled to prevent any possibility of damage in transit. A real work of art by someone who obviously cares. When we saw the plants, we were amazed. We are used to seeing tired, droopy, depressed-looking plants outside of garden centers. The plants we received were bright, fresh and very healthy. After looking at the online Planting Tips, we planted them all and they look great. Negative healsing New York, NY (Zone 7a) (7 reviews) June 05, 2008 In June of last year I ordered 10 Cinnamon fern from Greenwood at a price that I thought was too good to be true. I was right it was too good to be true! The bareroot fern arrived and appeared to be very old (black no signs of life) but I planted them anyway in rich well textured highly organic soil. In the following months only one of the 10 fern grew and that one a year later is still struggling for life, one frond at 4" high. I assume that when a person orders fern from an online nursery that is because what they actually want is living fern. Should I not expect a live plant even for a great sale price? I will not buy anything bareroot online again at any price and I will certainly not buy anything from Greenwood Nurseries again. I post this message on behalf of other unsuspecting customers who simply can't resist the price of the fern. Company representative comment on June 17, 2008: On Jun 17, 2008 3:34 PM, Greenwood Nursery added: After much searching for this customer in our database, we cannot narrow it down to just one person that might be listed as “Healsing”. If he/she would like to contact me personally, I will be happy to try to work with them to clear up any hard feelings. lori@greenwoodnursery.com I can address the issue at hand right now. This is the link to our guarantee page. http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/11587 If you will notice there is a section that states: PLEASE NOTE: Our guarantee is void when customer orders plants not listed for their growing zone or requests shipping outside our recommended shipping times. Planting instructions are provided for our customers. failure to follow these recommended instructions voids our guarantee. If you will notice, this customer ordered Bare Root material in June. June is a VERY hot month for planting as well as shipping. All sale prices are on end of season stock. If the customer would like to purchase these items, the customer is aware that transportation to various areas of our country may take a few days. This is why they are on sale. This fall, when we have new stock on hand, it will revert back to original pricing. Heat stress will wilt leaves on almost every plant, unless it is completely dormant. It may not kill the plant but leave it very stressed for that growing season. This is a factor the customer will weigh in on their decision to buy the plant material or not. As for the Bare Root vs. the Container issue, that is up to the customer in most cases, with the exception of the west coast states. Their Dept. of Agriculture requires ALL plant material to be brought in as bare root material. This is point-blank, no exceptions. (Since we really don’t want to face federal fines, we tend to follow the rules, on this one particularly.) Container and bare root are both cared for the same way. We place a moisture retention gel on the bare root material and wrap it so that the moisture cannot leak out. If anyone has questions on plant material or shipping or growing, don’t hesitate to call or email us. There is a combined 40+ years of nursery experience in this little office itself and if we can’t figure it out, we will work to find out the right answer for you. And if you are “Healsing”, please contact me personally. Lori Boyd Positive dawnnelson Milford, MI (1 review) May 31, 2008 Thank you for my 5 beautiful Yoshino Cherry trees. They were packed well, arrived when you said they would and have been robust from the day they arrived. We planted them 2 weeks ago and already they are blooming. Positive Takela Clarksville, MD (4 reviews) May 30, 2008 Last fall I ordered a Redbud Lavender Twist. It did not arrive until this month (which I was told upfront). The plant arrived expertly packed and was 4 feet as advertised. I planted it, it has leafed out and is looking very happy. I will use this company again. Positive joeytries Tulsa, OK (1 review) May 29, 2008 After initial email questions I had - including advice on plants that would fulfill my needs - were quickly and thoroughly answered by the owners, I took the plunge and ordered 15 plants! Never before have I been so pleased and satisfied with the packing, healthy condition, and size of any catalog or internet order! In less than 2 weeks since receipt, my new bushes were doing great. And better yet, I don't have to use a magnifying glass to locate them in my landscape - no wonder I'm so excited to have found Greenwood Nursery. Past experiences with other companies have been marginal, at best. And I've tired of later calling to report of failures. It's fine to offer guarantees on stock but, as a customer who'd rather not spend additional time awaiting replacements AND the delayed growth of item(s) ordered, I much prefer dealing with a company that does it right the first time and delivers what it promised. For time and money well-spent, I'll return to Greenwood for any future needs! Positive robinglenn El Reno, OK (1 review) May 29, 2008 I received the healthiest, most well-packaged and most mature ornamental grasses of any company I have ordered from over my 25+ years of gardening. Positive chiefjps Dover, DE (7 reviews) May 26, 2008 I have been ordering trees and plants from Greenwood for three years now, and have always been very pleased with the quality of merchandise received. They are reasonably priced with fast shipping and always well packed. Highly recommended. Company representative comment on May 30, 2008: On May 30, 2008 8:49 AM, Greenwood Nursery added: Woweee a 3peat!! I am glad that we can provide you the comfort of knowing that we love, care for and handle our stock so that when you get it, you are happy to plant it. We look forward to hearing from you again! Happy Gardening!! Positive fluffysquirrel Sicklerville, NJ (4 reviews) May 22, 2008 I just made my very first purchase with Greenwood Nursery and it was great. Barbara was very helpful and saw to it that I recieved my Hopi Crape Myrtle in a swift manner. It was packaged with care and very stately and healthy, I must say. I planted it right away and it's stunning for its size. I am looking forward to watching it thrive. This was a very nice experience, the customer service was top notch and I will be back. Positive wendywarde Santa Fe, NM (1 review) May 20, 2008 I received my Akebono Cherry and Flowering Bradford Pear Trees. They came in excellent condition are healthy and budding. I have referred many relatives and co-workers to your nursery. Positive ConGar (10 reviews) May 16, 2008 So, I've waited and waited (ordered in mid-January, it is now mid-May), and I don't have what I ordered. On the plus side, and the reason this is neutral over negative is because I can't find any evidence that I've been charged for what I ordered and haven't got - this will turn negative if that changes. I also tried emailing before coming here - over a week ago (longer probably) I sent an email to brenda@greenwoodnursery.com asking about my "order" - I never got a reply. I ordered from the website, and despite the fact that I didn't get an email regarding my order (unusual) nor did I get an order number, I was willing to wait and see. So far one of the few emails I've gotten from Greenwood was a confirmation that I had registered on the site, and I had to hurry if I wanted the 10% discount. I placed my order for Wintercreeper, Purple (12) POTTED plants, Creeping Red Thyme 4" pots 3 plants, Fern Burgundy Lace GALLON ( 1 ) the day after I registered. The other few emails (three, I think) were wanting me to join a mailing list of some sort. I really wanted these plants, and was willing to pay more because Greenwood shipped live plants. But what is actually most upsetting to me here is that I chose Greenwood based on one fact and one fact only - they had a good reputation on this site. I've ordered (and had GOOD results) from companies that have a less than positive rep on this site, but the one company I try ordering from that has a good rep here is the one company I have crap results with. Weird. I would just try placing my order again, but worry that if I did place a second order somehow my first order would be found or finally shipped. Well, that and they've effectively gyped me out of the ten percent new members discount at this point. On May 23rd, 2008, ConGar added the following: Okay, so totally ignore the above. The problem with getting my order here was not in any way Greenwoods fault, nor was it my own. Lets just say there was a problem that I couldn't have seen coming with the CC I tried to use. At the time I placed my order there was no problem with said card, but between the time of placing the original order and posting my review a problem came up. Yes, the problem was there when I posted my review, but at that time I didn't know about it. So, anyway after posting the above, I got a call from the CC company, and went through all the jazz that goes along with that. About a week after that I started thinking about resubmitting my order with Greenwood since I suspected the CC problem was the reason I hadn't got my order from Greenwood in the first place. So I got their number (which is toll free, had I known that I would have called rather than sending an email in the first place) and wrote down what I wanted and called today. Why not just order from the website again? Well, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't actually be doubling my order. I also mentioned that I tried emailing Greenwood. Well, after reordering today... I'm not saying they did or did not try to reply to my original email - I don't know. However, it is possible (likely even) that they did and their email got lost in the mountain of SPAM mail I get daily, because I was looking for something from Greenwood, not a specific person. (I tend to check senders rather than subject lines.) So, it may have been that they did try to respond but since I was looking for something from (or along the lines of) service(at)Greenwood that I deleted their reply email unopened. Anyway, for now I'm leaving this neutral since I don't have my order yet, but I thought I would be fair to Greenwood and come back to give a brief explanation of what had happened since it wasn't Greenwoods fault. Hopefully, when the plants arrive they will be in good shape and I can change this to a complete positive. On June 5th, 2008, ConGar changed the rating from neutral to positive and added the following: Well, I arrived home from work today to find a box blocking my gate... Actually, there was two, but only one is relevant here. So, lets start with the best looking item - the fern is looking good. It's also in a big pot, so it should actually be okay until I can do something else with it. You see, when I called and placed my order I was told second week of June, so I wasn't quite ready. That is not a gripe, just a fact. What's even funnier is that I got the package before I got the email saying it had shipped so I really wasn't expecting it to arrive today. (That isn't Greenwoods fault, but mine because I only check email once a day.) Anyway, I suppose I should say that nothing in the order looked bad, just small. In one case (the thyme) very small. I'm thinking it might be a good idea for me to put them in a slightly larger container to allow them to get a little bigger before I put them in the garden, but they seem alive and healthy so maybe if I can just baby them a bit they'll do well. The Purple Winter Creeper is what surprised me most. Those are in very small containers, I'm certain there's barely enough room for the root of one let alone two, and it seems that there are two in each container, which means I need to get them transplanted ASAP. However, the plants themselves are quite large, at least half are very ready to go/grow. The other half also looks nice and healthy - I was just mostly surprised by the small containers. To give you an idea, the containers for the PWC are actually smaller than the containers for the thyme. Still since the plants themselves look healthy I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for the best. I really hope the PWC does well, because this is the second year I've tried with it. First year was with dormant stock (from another company) and I never could get even one of those to break dormancy, so hopefully live plants will serve me better. Finally, I should admit that I did a quick count of the PWC to see if all twelve plants were there, and I admit they seem to be, otherwise I would have held off on posting this until tomorrow when I'll get the pots to repot them. Since they are so close together I won't be sure of the count until I repot them. Positive donba27 Adairsville, GA (4 reviews) May 16, 2008 This is the first year that I have made plant purchases over the internet. I tested the market making purchases from a number of Nurseries, Eburgess, Honeycreek, and Direct Gardening as well as yours. The first thing that I noticed was that your prices are higher than the others. When I compared the products that I received from all the nurseries, I can understand why there is a price difference. The plants I received from the others were smaller than what was promised, some were dead, and some were missing item. The ground cover was so small it was difficult to find in the bag. Their shipments were poorly packaged which accounted for some of the poor conditions of the plants. Some of the packages took well over a week to get here and they are not much further away from me than you are. Both of the shipments I received from you were professionally packaged, and arrived very fast. The hybrid Poplars were all larger than I expected and some larger than what you advertised. The second order was Yashino Cherry trees and Pink Flowering Almond. This order was also professionally packed, delivered very fast, and contained plants larger and in better condition than I expected. I guess the results of my testing of the market is simply "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR" Next spring when we get ready to plant, I will not be fooled by cheaper advertised prices. You are now the only mail order Nursery for us. Thanks

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