The scoop on 'Nature Hills Nursery'

Company Profile   Nature Hills Nursery Mailing Address: 3334 North 88th Plaza Omaha, Nebraska 68134 (United States) Phone: 1-888-864-7663 Fax: 1-866-550-9556 Catalog Order Page: Hyperlink Paper Catalog Cost: Free » E-Mail them » Visit their website Recent reviews: Past month Past 6 Months Past 12 Months Positive 1 15 27 Neutral 0 0 0 Negative 0 14 17 This company offers a variety of plants. This company specializes in: Plants: Ornamental Trees and Shrubs Plants: Perennial Flowers Other helpful information: Accepts retail and wholesale orders Gift certificates or vouchers are available Member of Mailorder Gardening Association

Feedback History and Summary   124 positives 11 neutrals 56 negatives

Comments:

Rating Author Content Positive angelletta Colona, IL (1 review) October 29, 2009 Hi, I ordered a Tinkerbelle Lilac plant and it arrived in great condition-I couldn't believe how large & healthy it was. It was also packed really well. These people take care to send healthy plants and make sure they are packed to keep them that way, plus when you open them they are in excellent condition. I can't wait till it blooms....we are expecting an early winter, so I hope it makes it through-I will make sure & mulch it well! Anyway, I was very happy with my plant and will no doubt order more from this company! Positive erynsgram Monroe, MI (1 review) October 13, 2009 I received my purple sandcherry bush within four days of shipping (Nebraska to Michigan). It arrived in perfect condition and is completely healthy. I am very impressed with the way this plant has been taken of. I have ordered products from other companies, but none have arrived in this good of shape. I called in my order and the person I spoke to was extremely helpful and very informative. Would definitely order form Nature Hills again. Thanks a million. JW-Michigan Positive gailflei Shutesbury, MA (1 review) September 28, 2009 My 4 creeping Cotoneaster plants arrived here in very good order -- the plants are healthy and hearty, and the packaging was most excellent! This is my first purchase from NatureHills but I'm sure not the last!! Gail Negative Bargod Whitman, MA (1 review) September 22, 2009 We were suppose to recive a dormant tree but what we received was a brittle dead stick. We sent an email and were told no refund or replacement without additional cost. A second email to the company owner went unanswered. It's too bad there are so many negative comments here that are treated like what people are saying are unreasonable expectations. It seems that each response from Nature Hills in regard to negative feedback is the same canned answer. I looked on the Better Business Bureau site and they have multiple complaints about people receiving dead items. The findings always end in their favor due of their guarantee. I had a family member send me a tree and it came in the mail dead. Not dormant, dead. The answer we got back was the guarantee copied and pasted in an email. The similar story we got from most negative feedback on this site. They also mentioned "Our trees are rigorously inspected for height, weight, coloration, pliability and root structure before they are sent out". In another response they said “Due to the volumes that we do, orders are sent to packaging by the hundreds”. It sounds to me like there’s plenty of room for human error. I’m quite certain they have more success stories with what they do. No doubt they are still getting people to buy from them online. Where they lack is putting themselves in the consumer’s shoes. If you order something and it arrives dead and then never comes back to life you should be allowed to get your money back. You should at the very least be afforded a replacement. Hiding behind a terms and conditions paragraph with no flexibility is not much of a customer service model. In a day when we’re all trying to save money this doesn’t fly. It’s their terms and conditions so they can choose to do what they want. I wished the person who sent us our tree read this site first. It seems to me it’s a good place to shop as long as you get a live product when it arrives. All I can do now is make sure I let everyone I know what happened and be sure none of them ever shop there. If you feel lucky go ahead and order from them. Just be darn sure your expectations are set in the event you receive a live tree. You will find yourself feeling like someone who's been duped. Company representative comment on September 22, 2009: On Sep 22, 2009 4:59 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: Bargod, We certainly apologize that you had a failure with your order and that you feel that we always responded with "canned answers." There have been a few instances (but only a few instances) where responses are reused. This only happens if the rebuttal fits the comments of multiple posts. We do review each case when issues arise. As you may have read in our terms and conditions, and in other rebuttals on Garden Watchdog, the trees that we ship are bareroot and will arrive dormant. They are dug in the early spring before any buds sprout and they are kept in cold storage until they are shipped. This ensures that the material remains dormant until it arrives. The inspection process (weight, coloration, root structure, etc.) allows us to verify the viability of the product, even in its dormant state. If product arrives damaged from transit, or there are any other issues with it when it arrives, we ask to be notified within 48 hours so that a claim can be initiated. If you feel that you notified us right away of an issue and something was overlooked, we would be more than happy to review the notes on the order. Just e-mail us at info@naturehills.com with the name used for the billing information and reference this post in the e-mail. You also referenced the line in our terms about the volumes of orders that we ship. We do package and ship hundreds of trees per day during prime planting times, and we have shipped hundreds of thousands of trees over the years. We pride ourselves on the quality of our material and the packaging that it receives. If a mistake is made, and sometimes they do occur, we will resolve the situation (again if we are notified in a timely manor to do so). We do try to put ourselves in the shoes of the consumer, and that is why we have constructed the replacement policy that we offer. When transplanting live material, there is always the risk of failure. There are many outside factors (such as temperature, weather conditions, soil types, levels of nutrients in the soil, plant disease, insect, and animals just to name a few) that can have a negative impact on the result of the transplant. Even in perfect conditions, there is a risk of loss when you uproot a tree and try to plant it in a new environment. This is why our replacement policy covers you no matter what. Any failed item can be replaced for half price plus shipping and handling in the first year. This way your are covered if it doesn't take or even if you accidentally run it over with your lawn mower. This information is stated in our terms and conditions that are clearly posted on the website and stated again in the check out process. We do not hide these terms and conditions. We encourage our customers to read them carefully before they agree to them when placing the order. Of course, in this instance, the terms would have been agreed upon by the person that purchased the gift for you. Being the recipient of the gift, you may not have been aware of our policies. Again, if you feel that we have missed something and that we need to review this case, e-mail info@naturehills.com and we will look into it. Nature Hills Positive Slogs16 Glendale, AZ (1 review) September 18, 2009 I just recieved my 3 gallon Boxwood from you folks at Nature HIlls. I just wanted to let you know it arrived in great shape and is bigger than I expected. Thanks for the great looking plant. Mark Positive Mickey2181 Livingston, NJ (3 reviews) September 17, 2009 Since May of 2009 I have ordered many plants from Nature Hills. I must say the potted plants that come from them always look very fresh and vibrant, and perform very well in the garden. I ordered a Darts Red spirea from them. It came bare root and looked dry and dead. I stuck it into a planting bed that I had just prepared because I had the space at the moment and didn't have anything else to plant there. When I decided I needed the space I went to pull a seemingly dead spirea out of the ground only to notice that it is full of beautiful light green leaves. It has been blooming for the last three months nonstop and looks beautiful. I also ordered a bare root white oak tree, which took almost four months to come out of dormancy. I figured I will leave it until next year to see what happens, and was very pleasantly surprised to see lots of leaves on it a couple of weeks ago. Other bare root trees like the dogwoods and crape myrtles did great, but the two linden trees and the golden rain tree did not ever make it out of dormancy and finally died. So overall, the experience with Nature Hills has been great. The plants that did not survive, they replaced promptly, and most plants are doing great. Not to mention the fact that they carry some really unique and beautiful plants. Thank you. Negative deadtrees Dallas, TX (1 review) September 04, 2009 I was interested in buying a mayhaw tree and found Nature Hills to be one of the few sources. Online reviews sounded encouraging but based on my experience I would have to give them a definite negative rating. They sent me a very small dormant, bare root specimen that looked to be fried-dried. I followed the planting instructions and also installed drip irrigation for it. When it failed to show any signs of life they reluctantly sent me another one. It also had very fine branches that also seemed freezer burned. It was planted immediately after UPS rang my doorbell with the delivery. Again no signs of life after many months of waiting. Nature Hills has tried to convince my that it might take up to ONE YEAR for it to break dormancy! Talk about bogus! Today when I spoke with them their only consolation was to offer me a half-price replacement with additional shipping and handling. What a racket! I wish I had discovered this forum before wasting my money. I am wondering if they intentionally string you along so that it will be too late to have any recourse with your credit card company as well. I now agree with others who have suggested to only buy locally. I may not be able to find the species I am looking for but at least I can choose a live tree not a DEAD one! Company representative comment on September 08, 2009: On Sep 8, 2009 8:42 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We are certainly sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with Nature Hills. Our trees are shipped dormant, and will not have any leaves or buds on them when they first arrive. They are kept in a cold humid storage at 38 degrees to ensure that they remain dormant until they are shipped. The trees are never frozen through the process, but will look like a tree will in the winter time (no leaves, buds, etc.). These seedlings can be small at the age and height that we ship them, depending on the species. For material shipped in the spring, the trees should start to leaf and bud within the first 90 days (often this happens within the first few weeks it is planted). We apologize if there was a miscommunication and you thought it could take a year to leaf out, as that is not the case. From your description, it sounds like there was an issue with the first mayhaw tree when it arrived and we replaced it for you. If there is a problem with the item on arrival, caused by either the packaging or the shipping, we will certainly replace the item at our cost (as we did with the original shipment). We just ask that you notify us of the problem right away so it can be resolved. If your order arrives without damage, our standard policy is that we replace failed items in the first year for half the current selling price plus shipping and handling. This is stated in the terms and conditions when you order, and we highly recommend all of our customers read these terms in full before agreeing to them. If you feel that the second tree that was sent was damaged due to the shipment, we would be more than happy to take another look at your account. Just e-mail info@naturehills.com with your name and mention this post in the e-mail. We can review the information on your account and see if anything was missed. Thank you, Nature Hills Negative Rawmodel Alexandria, MN (3 reviews) August 21, 2009 I ordered lots of gooseberries and currants, along with 2 Ranier Cherries and 2 Plum Varieties. The trees are all dead...checked the bottom for any green and it was all brown. They have only been in the ground for two months, and I put them in some really good soil and mulched them well for moisture. They source their fruit trees from Dave Wilson's nursery in California, and Ive had bad luck with many of their trees (VERY unhardy...despite the zone recommendations. I will simply try my best to avoid buy bare root trees from ANYONE now. Willis Orchards is the same...90% of my plants from them did not make it, while 95% of the plants I bought locally did. I would recommend Natures Calling for the gooseberries and currants, but I would never buy trees from them again. And the return policy doesnt even make you want to return them. Company representative comment on August 21, 2009: On Aug 21, 2009 11:17 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We are sorry to hear that you had issues with your order from Nature Hills. Our fruit trees are grown by Dave Wilson Nursery. We have shipped hundreds of thousands of fruit trees and feel that their trees are among the best grown in the United States. Their material has proven to be very successful when transplanted. We also take pride in the quality of our gooseberry and currants, as well as all of our small fruit offerings. Failure is always a possibility when transplanting, however 90% failure rate of all bareroot material planted is definitely excessive. This would lead one to believe that there are some other outside factors that are causing such a high loss of failure. Regardless, we do offer a one year replacement policy. Any failed item (or items) can be replaced, without question, for half price plus shipping and handling (as stated in our terms and conditions). We could certainly set up an order for next spring if you want to try again. Thanks, Nature Hills Negative jdeck Bethesda, MD (1 review) August 13, 2009 I bought three trees (~$100 with s/h). All arrived dead as doornails and stayed that way - no life whatsoever even after six weeks in the ground with lots of tlc. All nature hills will do is sell me three new trees at 1/2 price plus more s/h. no way they are getting more of my money. WHAT A TOTAL RIPOFF! order from somewhere else! Company representative comment on August 14, 2009: On Aug 14, 2009 8:33 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: Nature Hills sells bareroot trees and they are shipped dormant. The material is thoroughly inspected before it is shipped. We check the height, weight, coloration, root structure, and pliability of each tree that is shipped to ensure that viable material is shipped. Unfortunately, when working with live plant material there is a risk of loss. Outside factors such as soil types, nutrient and pH levels of the soil, local climate, temperature conditions, and amount of water absorbed can cause items to fail. Failure can be also be caused by insects, disease, local wild life, or an act of nature (i.e. a heavy wind storm). Failure can also simply be caused by the plant/tree's inability to survive shock of transplant. That is why we offer a one-year, no questions asked, replacement policy. It is stated in the terms and condition when an order is place that any failed item can be replaced within the first year for half the current selling price of the item, plus the shipping and handling. We are upfront about this policy, and these terms must be agreed to when an order is placed. We strongly encourage every customer to read these terms and conditions, in full, before they accept the terms and place their order. Nature Hills Negative daveifdjd Bethany, MO (1 review) August 10, 2009 Ordered a Sycamore tree, shipped dormant, but arrived dead, after 2 months in moist new potting soil, nothing. Company will not stand behind it, their policy is to give half off another tree if it dies within one year. My argument is the tree was never alive, they do not care, Buyer beware, They will sell you a dead tree then offer you another for half price. not much of a deal to me. Company representative comment on August 11, 2009: On Aug 11, 2009 12:45 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: Nature Hills sells bareroot trees and they are shipped dormant. The material is thoroughly inspected before it is shipped. We check the height, weight, coloration, root structure, and pliability of each tree that is shipped to ensure that viable material is shipped. Unfortunately, when working with live plant material there is a risk of loss. Outside factors such as soil types, nutrient and pH levels of the soil, local climate, temperature conditions, and amount of water absorbed can cause items to fail. Failure can be also be caused by insects, disease, local wild life, or an act of nature (i.e. a heavy wind storm). Failure can also simply be caused by the plant/tree's inability to survive shock of transplant. That is why we offer a one-year, no questions asked, replacement policy. It is stated in the terms and condition when an order is place that any failed item can be replaced within the first year for half the current selling price of the item, plus the shipping and handling. We are upfront about this policy, and these terms must be agreed to when an order is placed. We strongly encourage every customer to read these terms and conditions, in full, before they accept the terms and place their order. Nature Hills Positive hunter72163 Springfield, IL (1 review) July 23, 2009 Well at first i was wondering what a stick was going to do so i waited.Then there was life i brought a hazelnut tree the stick its self is dead but the tree has new life at the bottom . so i know it is alive and happy. just want to say thanks. And mybe one day my little hazelnut tree will make me happy planting it.with lots of hazelnuts Negative gtaylward Milton, VT (1 review) July 17, 2009 buyer beware... I, too, ordered trees from Nature Hills Nursery last fall 2008. 1 Black Cherry and 1 Hazelnut. They arrived this May 2009, bare-rooted, but as expected. After planting them in amended soil and watering them diligently, the black Cherry showed no sighs of life and is nothing but a stick of dried out wood (aka dead). The Hazelnut just sprouted leaves at the root base (the rest of the 3-4ft "tree" is a stick of dead wood) hardly the plant I purchased. I contact Nature Hills Nursery via email and was informed of their replacement policy -paraphrasing here- pay us again (1/2 price, plus shipping) and we'll send you replacements. I've had good luck with bare-root stock from other suppliers - but will not use Nature Hills again. I recommend you find a vendor with 1-year full-replacement guarantee. Company representative comment on July 20, 2009: On Jul 20, 2009 1:06 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We definitely dislike hearing about situations when our products do not survive the transplant, but unfortunately it is always a risk when working with live plant material. That is why we offer a replacement policy. We are upfront about the replacement policy, as it is stated (in detail) in the terms and conditions that must be agreed upon before an order can be placed. When unforeseen circumstances occur, we do have the ability to replace failed items at half price plus the shipping and handling. This is a no questions asked policy, so items can be replaced regardless of the circumstance (as is not always the case with other on-line companies). We do recommend that the customer reads these terms and conditions in their entirety before submitting an order. That way everyone is on the same page and there are no surprises later on. Thanks, Nature Hills Negative Windmills Kernersville, NC (1 review) July 14, 2009 I ordered 8 trees from Nature Hills 2 months ago. 2 Japanese Red maples, 2 sourwoods, a tulip poplar, a weeping cherry, a weeping willow, and a red maple. Both the japanese red maples were completely DOA, Everything else was hard to tell as they are just sticks bound together with twine. I went ahead and put everything in the ground anyway and waited to see. I had my doubts, especially since one of the jap maples was split from root to nearly halfway up the stem. To this day the Jap maples have not done anything, just sticks in the ground. One sourwood has put out a couple of shoots near the bottom, the other has not - just a stick in the ground. The tulip poplar also put out a shoot from the bottom, near the crown, the rest of the "stick" is dead. The weeping willow, weeping cherry, and red maple have put out some foliage, but they seem pretty sickly. I called customer service shortly after my order arrived and expressed my concern for their health, especially for the jap maple split down the middle. The lady I spoke to assured me that they would grow in time, they are just dormant, etc. So I took the benefit of the doubt and put them in the ground. nearly 2 months later, I have the results above - 8 trees, all of them either dead or very sick. So I called customer service again and told them that I am calling back to report that I wanted a refund or replacement. I was then informed that they do not issue refunds, and that if I wanted a replacement I would have to pay half price for all of them, and I would not get them until next year in the spring. I asked if they would ship in the fall, and they told me no, since I had to have my entire order shipped again to me and they would not replace one tree at a time. I asked them that if they could not replace my order, then they should issue a refund, and they said it was not their policy. I am considering disputing this with my credit card company, since they took my money and gave me a faulty product, and will not do right by its customers. Seeing from this list that I am not the only one who is recieving dead or nearly-dead trees from this company, and not being offered a refund or a no-cost replacement, it seems as though this is not just a one-time fluke. it's hard also to see how one could ship 8 trees all in this condition - I would expect 1 or 2 not to thrive, but all 8? Based on this experience I will never buy from Nature Hills again. Very disappinted. Company representative comment on July 14, 2009: On Jul 14, 2009 9:47 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: The trees that are listed above (the Weeping Willow, Weeping Cherry, Red Maple, Sourwood, Japanese Red Maple and the Tulip Poplar) are all shipped bareroot and would arrive between 3 and 4 feet tall. Bareroot material is dug in the early spring and they are kept in a cooling facility (kept at 38 degrees) to keep it from leafing out until it is shipped. The species mentioned would arrive with little to no branching at the time that they are shipped, which can make them appear like a "stick." They are inspected for height, weight, coloration, root structure, and pliability before they are shipped to ensure that viable material is sent. We do ship in the spring, and that shipping has concluded as it is too warm to transplant bareroot material this time of year. With that being said, it sounds like there may have been some inconsistencies with the customer service that you received. For that, we would like to apologize. In regards to the split in the Japanese Red Maple when it arrived, it should have been treated as a damage claim if we were notified right away. This item should have been reshipped right away. At this time, the fall would be the earliest time that we could ship you another one. The other inconsistency is that we can sent up an order with fall and spring items. The material would ship to you at the next available time, even if some items went in the fall and others went in the spring. We would be more that happy to discuss the option with you if you would like to e-mail us at info@naturehills.com with your contact information. Finally, there is concern about a loss of 8 trees. The species that you have mentioned are fairly easy to transplant and we haven't had any issues with those variety of trees. You said that the leaves looked sickly on the Weeping Cherry, Weeping Willow, and the Red Maple. There really isn't a way that a tree could be faulty or sickly when it is shipped dormant. If there is an issue with the leaves on the trees, then it would be an environmental factor. You might want to consult your county extension service to see if they have any thoughts. Loosing 5 out of 8 trees is a significant rate of loss, there might have been an issue in the area that they were planting that caused the issue. We do offer the 1/2 off replacement policy, but you will probably want to assess the area before attempting another transplant. Thanks, Nature Hills Negative nallowranch Bismarck, ND (1 review) July 13, 2009 I ordered four trees from Nature Hills in May. The first one I got was bent at a rather odd angle in the box and ended up to be dead except for some growth that eventually came back from the bottom near the roots. I sent an email explaining the problem with the tree and got no reply at all. I called them today and the man told me I would have to pay for half of the cost of the tree and shipping and handling. I was amazed that I am going to have to pay for replacement of a nearly dead tree which was that way when I got it. I have never heard of such a customer policy. I ,too, wished I had read more carefully on their replacement policy before I ordered anything from this company. I would highly recommend that NO ONE ORDER A THING from NATURE HILLS!!!!!!!!! What a way to run a company. I am disgusted with this company and want to alert other people not to waste their money or time on them. Company representative comment on July 14, 2009: On Jul 14, 2009 8:50 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: The trees that are shipped from Nature Hills are bareroot, and they will arrive completely dormant. We inspect the trees thoroughly before they are shipped for weight, height, coloration, root structure, and pliability to be sure that viable material is shipped. However, when working with live plant material, there is always a possibility of the plant or tree not taking to the transplant. That is why we offer the 1 year replacement policy. We certainly apologize if there was damage to the tree when it arrived. If a product arrives damaged, we ask that you notify us within 48 hours so that we can set up a damage claim. If we are not contacted within that time frame, we assume everything arrived safely and the standard replacement policy comes into play. We also apologize that you didn't receive a response to your e-mail. We do typically reply to e-mails within 24 hours of receiving them. It may have been an issue where the e-mail never made it to us. Thanks, Nature Hills Negative jbbrealtor Rigby, ID (1 review) July 02, 2009 Hello Like most on here I wish I would of found this site before I purchased from Nature Hills. Every negative comment is excatly how I feel. Here is my story. I purchased online 15 raspberry plants and 3 apple trees. What I didn't realize is that it would take 2 months to ship. It never once told me that it wouldn't ship right away. I finally had to call and find out what was going on. I was ok with that. Next, we finally got them planted as per the instructions. Now we have noticed that some of them aren't alive. I would like to know how you are supposed to know that they are DOA? They come as just sticks anyway. It is not like they have leaves on them. But 5 of the 15 didn't live. Also when we recieved the apple trees, one of them didn't even have roots on it. Giving the benifit of the doubt we planted it anyway. Now two months later the apple tree has just barely started to show signs of life and 5 of the raspberries are dead. So I called the customer service number with no answer. So I finally called back again and got a fine lady on the other end. (I say that very sarcasticly) I explained the situation and she explained that we had to pay to get the replacements. I guess I should of read better. That is my fault. But I would never purchase from them again. But after explaining to her that it seems to me that their policies only benifit them she said she was not going to argue with me. (I was just stating my opionion and never raised my voice once) And then it came.... SHE HUNG UP ON ME..... I would never order from them again. They seem to be running a scam. I am going to start up a online nursery and make people pay for dead plants. Seems like a great idea. I do not reccommend this company to anyone. Unless you want to end up paying 1 1/2+ times for your plants. Cause that is what it boils down to here. Company representative comment on July 06, 2009: On Jul 6, 2009 3:17 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We certainly apologize for the way you were treated. Our customer service representatives do reserve the right to hang up the phone if the customer is vulgar, but should not hang up if you were simply asking a question. We would be more than happy to review the situation and would appreciate the opportunity to try and correct the situation. If you could e-mail us directly at info@naturehills.com with your name (and a mention of the post above), we will do our best to correct the situation. Our sincerest apologies, Nature Hills Positive Blackwill Bakersfield, CA (1 review) June 30, 2009 Just received a Himrod grape vine and Concord Seedless grape vine from Nature Hills. Both arrived in great condition with plenty of foliage. They have been in the soil for about 4 days now, and new growth is abundant on both. The only additional information I would request when ordering is the age of the vines at shipping time. They appear to be 1 year old vines, but there is no information to confirm it. Positive ppH Newport, VA (1 review) June 29, 2009 My order was filled virtually immediately with quality trees which were packaged impeccably. Perfect product and perfect presentation Positive bengalbaby1 Sweet Home, OR (1 review) June 16, 2009 I ordered concord grape bare root plants because you cannot get them in Oregon. They arrive on time, already budding with very nice roots. They are doing absolutly great and will buy more fo my plant needs from this company ! I was very pleased with everything and the people were very helpful ! Thank you ! Pam Positive kringle Mapleton, ME (1 review) June 11, 2009 I recieved my cranberry bushes yesterday, and I would like to tell you how VERY impressed I am with the plants. I just couldn't get over the healthy and large plants I recieved. Blown away would be the way to describe it. Thanks so much for having such wonderful plants and I can promise I will buy more from your company! I WILL be buying from this company from now on. I would rate this company A+++++++++++++ Alice Keiser Positive Rachelalexandra Lexington, KY (1 review) June 09, 2009 I recently ordered from Nature Hills for the first time. My shipment of two hibuscus arrived a few days ago, approximately a week after ordering. The plants were expertly packed and very healthy--they are already sprouting new growth. I will certainly use Nature Hills again! Positive minuspa Saint Joseph, MI (2 reviews) June 08, 2009 I first ordered from them in 2008 in August regarding a sale on the Halcyon Hosta that I saw on line. It came in great shape, packaged well, and is doing remarkably well in my garden. This year, in May, I ordered a All the Rage rose bush bare root. Kind of feeling unsure about a bare root order, I ordered it anyways. The representative I talked to was great and I received it within a week from the time I placed the ordered. It comes to you in a plastic sleeve, moist with mulch around the root system. I prepped the roots as instructed. The main stalk is starting to come green green, so this has to mean that it is finally taking stock to the ground and growing. Our weather here in SW Michigan has been a yo yo of sorts...cool in the 50's and then warm in the high 70's low 80's, so I think it will do a lot better once the weather gets warmer. I have fertized it with Rose food, so only time will tell. I have no complaints regarding this company and have always had great service with them. Upon the shipment of both plants that I have ordered through them, I was always notified via e-mail as to when it was shipped and when I could expect to receive them. I always look to them first, when I am looking for a specific plant and only go with another nursery on line if they do not carry it. Positive bigtrainwreck Ankeny, IA (1 review) June 06, 2009 I have just read some of the posts about Nature Hills. I almost feel as if I ordered from a totally different company. I had originally intended to post about the fine customer service I received when a package that was damaged in shipment, but now I feel I need to relate my long experience with Nature Hills. In 2005 I ordered an Autumn Blaze red maple which is now growing very nicely in my front yard. In 2006 I ordered 8 burning bushes that now are about 3 to 4 feet tall. I ordered these bushes when they went on sale in July. They were bareroot and all of them lived, mainly thanks to the excellent planting and care advice given to me by Nature Hills. In 2007 I ordered some yews to place under my front window and they arrived in great shape also. In 2008 I ordered some perennials. These came in 4 inch pots and were packed in such a way that even though the box was slightly crushed, the plants were secure and in good shape. This year I ordered some organic tomato plants. They were gorgeous, except for one of the boxes that was destroyed in shipping. I called customer service and they took care of everything promptly and courteously. All in all, I am very happy with Nature Hills. Positive fcastle09 Chapel Hill, NC (1 review) June 05, 2009 I just received my hydrangea from Nature Hills and I can't wait to get it in. This honestly has got to be some of the best stock from any mail order / internet plant business I've ever dealt with. I found this company last year when I was looking for a unique tree for my front yard, btw check out the weeping redbud if you haven't seen it, and have made several orders since. Everything has always been sent at the right time for planting and packaged neatly. And their service is decent. You do have to pay half for replacements, but it is stated point blank when you order. Not to mention their prices are reasonable unlike some places where you feel like you paid for your "free" replacement before you receive your order. For as many things as I have got, I've only had one thing go bad. I have been impressed with their bareroot and potted stock so far. I would recommend them. Negative pyellman Earlysville, VA (1 review) June 04, 2009 This is a company with a serious customer service problem. I ordered 5 dogwoods, 2 pink, 2 white, one lavender (Kousa). The first two came fairly quickly (>2 weeks?), and I got them in the ground, with extreme care and preparation, right away. I'm in VA, state tree the Dogwood, and this spring conditions were nothing short of ideal. When the last tree still had not arrived about three weeks later, I went up to the website in the morning, and confirmed that the status was still "not shipped". Later that day I called and inquired with perfect politeness and absolutely no rancor, about the order status of the final tree. The woman with whom I spoke seemed positively annoyed by my query, and when we both looked at the website the status had indeed changed to "shipped". I apologized cheerfully but this did not improve the customer service representative's attitude. About 40 days after the first trees had arrived and been planted, it became clear that one of the Pink Dogwoods was DOA; all the other trees, including the late arrival, were coming along very nicely. I know well this is how it goes with trees, especially mail order bare stock, and figured it would be pretty routine to get a replacement. No such luck. I really wanted to get the replacement as soon as possible so that I could get the tree in before the days turned too hot. I emailed the address provided on the website for replacement requests, and heard nothing back for over a week. Finally, I went ahead and called customer service. I believe I once again got the lady from the previous call. What I expected to be a routine business transaction turned into quite an unpleasant experience. Rather than spending our time discussing arrangements for a replacement, I was forced into a circular argument about whether or not the tree was actually dead. Think about it -- someone nearly a whole continent away from the tree was disputing the opinion of the person literally standing next to the tree! At one point, when I tried to refocus the conversation on the business at hand as she was expressing her opinion about the health of the tree for the third time, she told me to "stop talking and listen". In replies (most of which are just boilerplate) to complaints on this forum Nature Hills representative(s) state that Nature Hills has a "no questions asked" replacement policy (notice, though, how the rep. at one point qualifies this "policy" with language about not requiring a picture or "submitting a claim" -- whatever that means). I can affirm from personal experience that this is absolutely false -- I was asked questions until I finally put my foot down! Keep in mind that Nature Hills "replacement policy" requires you to pay half price for the replacement tree in addition to shipping and handling. So, for my replacement, I would have been paying a total of about $23, versus about $35 for a brand new order -- not exactly a bargain, considering the first tree was a total loss! Anyway, I finally got my request (and payment information) for the replacement processed. Remember, I was now in a race against time to get this tree into the ground before hot summer conditions set in. Over two weeks after submitting my replacement request, by which time I was beginning to wonder when my tree was going to arrive, I received an email informing me that Pink Flowering Dogwoods were now out of stock, and offering me the waiting till the fall, or the next spring. It seems to me that if you cannot replace a faulty product you are obliged to offer a refund, but I'm sure Nature Hills has language somewhere that frees them from this basic common sense customer service obligation. I replied with a message expressing my displeasure, to which I have not received a response. What we have here is one of those companies that only take customer satisfaction seriously when complaints reach a public forum like this one, so if you need to vent, this is really your only option. I too wish I had found this forum before ordering from Nature Hills Nursery. Nature Hills reps on this forum repeatedly state the following: "We have to work within the terms and conditions that were agreed to upon at the time of the order." My advice to prospective customers: Work within the terms and conditions of another company. I've written of the cost of dead tree and am looking locally for a replacement that I can get in the ground as soon as possible. And yes, the tree is still dead. PS -- to the person whose Green Giant Arborvitae from Nature Hills didn't do well - I ordered thirty 12' bare root Green Giants, five 12" Wintergreens, and five 6" Fraser Firs from Musser Forests and EVERY SINGLE ONE is doing great! Company representative comment on June 04, 2009: On Jun 4, 2009 5:05 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We would like to sincerely apologize. We try to speedily respond to e-mails and were unable to do so in this case. It sounds like the biggest issue was the customer service call that you placed. This is certainly not how we strive to conduct ourselves at Nature Hills and this issue will certainly be addressed internally. The replacement process should be smooth, and it was anything but in the case. We would like the opportunity to try and make this right. If you could please e-mail us your name to info@naturehills.com, we will try and amend the situation as best we can (given the trouble you have already been through). Again we apologize for the inconvenience you experienced. Nature Hills Nursery Positive PPrkr13 Norfolk, NE (1 review) June 02, 2009 I've ordered bare roots from this company twice and have not had any problems. It seems a few of the negative comments were more geared towards unfamiliarity with bare roots or an expectation of receiving small trees. As far as their customer service, I called once for a question regarding handling time as I would be going out of town and the gentleman who answered was polite and professional. All in all, I have had good experiences with them. Daniel Salazar Negative lporiet Rochester, MI (1 review) May 29, 2009 Nature Hills Nursery - Shipments Dead on Arrival (TWICE) I am a farmer with a large vegetable and cash crop operation in Michigan and have been farming for over 30 years. I was looking to diversify my farm woodlot with a fifty American sycamore trees. I decided to order trees from Nature Hills Nursery early in 2008. The entire shipment showed up on my farm dead on arrival. The trees had no roots and arrived bone dry. Nature Hills literature found in the boxes advised the customer to plant them anyway as according to Nature Hills their trees arrive dormant and you need to plant them as is. My orchard has automatic irrigation with injects water directly into the roots. These Nature Hills Nursery sycamores were watered and never came out of the so called "dormancy". Nature Hills representative agreed to replace the entire shipment as long as my farm operation paid for the shipping cost - I agreed to this additional cost. The trees arrived two weeks ago (May 2009) again bone dry with very little roots. They were all promptly planted in highly fertile soil and set up with automatic irrigation. I was only able to revive about half of them. I called them back today for their advice and they told me that Nature Hills Nursery has a "ONE TIME REPLACEMENT POLICY". I offered to pay the shipping for a third shipment - the manager WOULD NOT do anything to help me. As an highly experienced farmer who has transplanted thousands of vegetable plants and trees, worked with major live plant suppliers, I would not recommend Nature Hills Nursery products to anyone. Their delivered product have poor quality (bare roots, roots that have been trimmed, roots that are dry with no soil) and their warranty is very poor (you must pay for the shipping of replacement products and they only replace dead products once. Company representative comment on May 30, 2009: On May 30, 2009 9:54 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: Our trees are rigorously inspected for height, weight, coloration, pliability and root structure before they are sent out. This ensures that viable material is shipped to our customers. It is recommended for bareroot material to be planted within 48 hours of arrival. We do include a note when we ship the product that bareroot material is shipped dormant for those who may not have worked with bareroot material before. As we state in our terms and conditions, if there is an issue with your order upon arrival you must notify us of the issue with 48 hours of it arriving. We would then asses the situation and act accordingly. If you did not notify us right away, then we would not have known that there was a problem with your order. Because there is a risk of loss any time you work with live plant material, we offer a replacement policy. It is stated at the time that you order that it is a one time replacement. We apologize if you didn't see that when you ordered, but we do have to abide by the agreement that we set when the order was placed. Thanks, Nature Hills Negative sandpoms Holmen, WI (6 reviews) May 29, 2009 Ordered 4 maples. The shipping was $9.95 for the whole order so I thought this was a good value. I didn't look carefully at the symbol that these were bare root. I don't think they make it clear. They were shipped in 2 boxes. 3 trees were okay sized, but hard to tell it they are alive or not. The 4th tree that was supposed to be 3 feet tall is barely 1 foot and I at first missed it as it was so tiny and it was packaged in plastic with another normal sized tree. The roots were dry. It is less than the thickness of a pencil or straw...a tiny twig. I first called and left a message to customer service that it was missing. They never called back. I called again to tell them it is here after all, but to complain of the size and ask for a refund or replacement. Haven't heard back. Not a good value at all. Disappointing! On May 29th, 2009, sandpoms added the following: They called back and apoligized for shipping the wrong size and are sending a new one at no additional fee. They said it will be here next week. Company representative comment on May 30, 2009: On May 30, 2009 9:46 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: Sorry that there was a delay in getting back to you from your first call. We hope everything is satisfactory for you now. Please let us know if there is anymore we can do. Thanks, Nature Hills Negative rlpalbion Fernley, NV (1 review) May 29, 2009 BEWARE!!!! I will do business elsewhere next time around and wish I would have found this link prior to placing my order with Nature Hills. Their communication is HORRIBLE. Don't expect to ever hear back from these people once they take your money. I ordered 2 bare root lilac bushes. I realize these were bare root plants but 90 days is way too long to see if something will come out of dormancy. We are already into the peak of our summer here. Come to find out, after much research on bare root plants, they DO NOT ship their plants correctly which could possibly be a good reason as to why so many people have bare root failures with this company. I feel that the amount of money I spent on shipping that they would have been properly packaged, instead, I received 2 bushes shoved into a cardboard box that spent a week in transit. I think this company makes all of its money on its policies......1/2 the price of the plant and you pay S&H. Total ripoff. If I do ever receive a response from this company I will not bother wasting any more of my money with them. Could anyone suggest a quality company to order plants from? Company representative comment on May 29, 2009: On May 29, 2009 2:30 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: Nature Hills ships hundreds of thousands of plants and we package each order with care. If there was an issue with the packaging or the the plants arrived damaged we would certainly take care of the issue. Have you contacted our customer service department? Please let us know and we will look into the situation. We have the 1/2 off replacement if there is failure in the first year, but if it arrived damaged we would cover the replacement. We just ask that you notify us within 48 hours of the issue, as per our terms and conditions. Just let us know and we will see if we can get this issue resolved. Thanks, Nature Hills Negative esteve59 Annapolis, MD (23 reviews) May 28, 2009 IT is pretty obvious that this is a poorly run company with an average of 50% negative feedback.I would not have ordered if I could have found my items somewhere else...so I took a chance..despite the feedback. I ordered two willow oak trees on 07/08/08 expecting to recieve them immediatly..BUT I did not read the fine print which said they would not ship till fall....I recieved them in December.DEAD. they never leaved out... The warranty is 50% of price plus shipping,,,,why should I take the chance to pay for more dead trees.... Company representative comment on May 28, 2009: On May 28, 2009 5:25 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We certainly apologize that you have had an issue with your order. We try to post our shipping times in several places to make it appearent when your order will ship. After the first week of July, it is generally too had to transplant in most areas of the country. At that point last year, it just wasn't safe to ship material. With that being said, if there was an issue with the order upon arrival, then we need to look closer at the situation. If you could please e-mail us at info@naturehills.com. Please include the first and last name used for the billing information and reference this post in the e-mail, we will review the situation and see if there is anymore we can do. Most of the positive reviews we receive on this sight are about the quality of our products. Please give us a chance to review this. Thanks, Nature Hills Positive kbartelsrp Wauneta, NE (1 review) May 25, 2009 I recently received an order of 4 crabapple trees, 5 elm trees, and 2 hibiscus plants. I ordered these from Nature Hills after I was unable to find what I wanted locally. I have planted bare root trees many times so I was prepared for the rather sorry looking appearance compared to the large leafed out trees you buy at a nursery. However, I planted the trees and within a week they are all beginning to leaf out. . The hibiscus were shipped from California and were nice looking plants. I planted them and they settled in nicely and are starting to put out new leaves. It would have been nice to have a planting guide with the shipment. Being an experience gardener I managed okay, but someone planting bare root stock for the first time, might have had questions. I will order from Nature Hills again. They have a nice selection of stock, their prices are competitive, and the shipping rates were reasonable. Positive 7msellers Cuba, MO (2 reviews) May 24, 2009 I ordered four emerald arborvitae for a privacy screen. I changed my mind because I wanted a faster growing tree. Nature Hills changed the order to four Thuja Giants with no futzing around. I emailed them, the order was changed by an answering email, and all was well. I changed my mind AGAIN, and this time there WAS a problem, something about the computer only being able to handle one change to an order. But the customer service representative, Bryan, worked very hard to make it possible to get what I wanted. The Giants were going to be too big, and I wanted Technys instead. There was a difference in price, which was handled quickly and simply. The four Technys arrived in terrific shape -- in spite of having been "delayed" in transit, I assume by UPS, but I don't know -- and I have every hope and expectation that they will continue to be healthy. Positive Bec_No_Va DC metro, VA (Zone 7a) (33 reviews) May 20, 2009 So far so good, had trouble finding a specific rose bush and NH had it in stock - received today and if the size is anything to go by it looks like I'll be happy with my purchase Positive clumsygrdner Lexington, KY (2 reviews) May 20, 2009 I bought the Weeping Redbud tree, 'Covey', aka "Lavendar Twist". Also, a Montmorency Sour Cherry Tree. Customer service was outstanding! Though may I suggest that you put a map on your site depicting shipping schedules? That would probably save you a lot of calls. Trees arrived in good condition, planted the same day as arrival. Redbud took a while to "wake-up" from dormancy, but is now fully leafed out, cherry tree is also doing very well. I have a small yard so this will probably be my last tree purchases. I'm so glad it turned out so well! Thank you very much! Negative DHABS44 Walden, NY (1 review) May 18, 2009 When I ordered $183. worth of trees over phone I was advised of their no hassle guarantee, of 13 trees 4 outright failed,and 1 was D.O.A, it happen to be a $38.00 Cimaron ash, one of two. After planting it in rich soil, with planting soil in hope it would survive. when Spring broke it was outright dead, while the others were budding, the other 5 did not survive. I called N.Hills Whomever I spoke with, told me to give it another month then e-mail photos of dead trees. Even after giving a few more weeks hoping for a sign of survival, it was obvious the trees failed. when I called back I was told I can only re-order at 1/2 price plus S+H. They refuse to give even a 1/2 credit on the failed trees. Bottom line N.H. is a Rip off. If You order from them Its Buyer Beware, Never Again from N.H. Managing Supervisor is Bryan, and very quick to throw out their buyagain 1/2 price policy. Some no quibble. Company representative comment on May 22, 2009: On May 22, 2009 5:05 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We do have a policy to replace failed items in the first year, no questions asked, for half price plus shipping and handling. With bareroot material, we do need to wait to make sure that the plants have enough time to break dormancy (this can take 60 days or more). They might have had you do that if there was questions about the plant prior to the 60 days. If you had issues with a tree when it arrived and it was reported within the appropriate time, we can certainly revisit the issue. If you would like us to investigate it further, please send us an e-mail to info@naturehills.com Thanks, Nature Hills Nursery Positive CMoxon Urbandale, IA (Zone 5a) (7 reviews) May 03, 2009 I made a large order of fruit trees from Nature Hills last fall. I recently received my trees and everything is correct in my order. I ordered plums, cherries, peaches, pluots, apricots, aprium, and a pear and an apple. The trees all look relatively good. They are not the best I have seen in terms of their roots (some could have been taken out with more roots attached) but they are certainly not the worst I have seen either. I have planted everything and am watering well, so we shall see how it goes over the season. One reason I ordered from Nature Hills was because they had some varieties I could not find elsewhere, so I am pleased to have those for my orchard. So overall, I am pleased with the order and it was fulfilled as I expected. If I experience problems with these trees over the season, I will update my experience here. Positive 6larkspur Blacksburg, VA (1 review) May 02, 2009 Nature Hills, I am so happy with the lilac bush that arrived from you a few days ago. It was packed beautifully, instructions were clear, and the plant size was perfect. Not usually planting bushes bare root, I followed the instructions carefully and guess what? Tonight I notice it is already leafing out and looking like it was in a five gallon bucket when it arrived. I am so pleased. The weather and temperatures have also been perfect for a newly planted bush. I am looking forward to its progress as it grows and matures. This was my first order from you and I am looking forward to working with you in the future. Kindest personal regards, Mrs. Nelson Virginia Positive gmccoy Brentwood, TN (1 review) May 01, 2009 My order of viburums arrived in excellent condition and I thought they were great plants for a good price. Very hard to find tree peopy, rockii also a very good price. Will definitely order from Nature Hills again. The careful packaging demonstrates to me the company's attitude toward the customer. GA, Brentwood, Tennessee Positive drjeanne315 Oceanside, NY (1 review) May 01, 2009 Ordered 3 akebia vines, and was delighted when they arrived. The plants were quite large, and the ingenious packaging kept them from receiving any damage. Definitely would order from them again, and wish I had discovered them sooner! Positive madamdeathstare Owens Cross Roads, AL (5 reviews) April 22, 2009 I ordered some hydrangeas and a 'Black Lace' elderberry from Nature Hills. The hydrangeas are nice and healthy. The elderberry was dried up as the pot had cracked. I contacted Nature Hills that evening and a gentleman named Bryan responded very early the next morning. He was concerned about the order and helpful with advice on how to care for the elderberry - the plant is looking healthy now after following his advice. Negative ciws14 Wanatah, IN (1 review) April 21, 2009 I purchased (25) 1 foot bare root Green Giant Arborvitae and all but (1) died within a month. I emailed the company and got a run-around the "terms and conditions". Instead of standing behind the plants they sell, they want me to pay half of the cost of the plants again plus S & H. What a joke. I will never buy from them again. Recently we also found that a cherry tree we purchased with the Thuja's has died as well. They will not see my money again. Buyer beware!!! Company representative comment on April 22, 2009: On Apr 22, 2009 10:02 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with: We certainly apologize if you feel that you were given "the run-around." We do have to abide by the terms and conditions that were agreed upon when the order was placed. If this was a case of damage and it was reported to us, we might have other options for you. Because there is always a risk that a plant or tree will not take after being transplanted, we do offer a blanket replacement policy. Failed items can be replaced within the first year, no questions asked, for half the price paid plus the shipping and handling. That way you are covered no matter what happens to the plant or tree. Our fruit trees and our Arborvitaes ship from different centers, so it seems unlikely that there would have been damages to both shipments (although stranger things have happened). We ship hundreds of thousands of plants per year, thousands of which are the Arborvitaes. We just haven't experienced a loss of this magnitude with those trees. A loss of that size could have been caused by other underlying factors such as weather, soil, insects, etc. It may be beneficial to have a soil test preformed in the area, or to consult your local county extension office. We would be happy to discuss the issue further to try and determine the cause, if you like. If you feel this was a case of damage during shipping, certainly let us know if you would like us to revisit that issue as well. Thanks, Nature Hills

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