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My advice to anyone who is unhappy with any org that calls them is to firmly but politely ask to be placed on their do not call list and to get on the national do not call list if they are not already. It is a very effective way of culling out telemarketing calls especially from orgs you have an affiliation with after the fact.
I do not expect too much from the foundation or the free trees but am looking forward to the one of many opitons they offered me for free intro membership trees. I received the options after writing an e-mail to them about my free tree order. There are actually many many more free tree packages than are listed on their web site.
On Jun 29, 2006, csl Jonesborough, TN (Zone 6b) wrote:
In my opinion, these trees are nice for the small amount of $ that you spend. Yes, the trees are small. I have found that they grow better if you start them off in a pot first. Some of them take a long time to start growing, but I have ordered several and I'd say 95% have lived. Overall, a positive experience.
On Jun 11, 2006, pookerella Bellmore, NY (Zone 7a) wrote:
Arbor Day, regardless of the questionable donation fund placements you will read below, is an excellent source for education and also a really great website. Their EMAIL customer service is excellent. Paul Knapp, who answers my unending questions with a great deal of patience, is alone enough for the money for his help in figuring out what to do with these trees and shrubs and with help with plant ID. I'm neutral on their telephone support because I had one good and one bad experience. Unfortunately, the only things I remember is that one was nice and one was very mean and nasty.
I wish I could say that I was pleased with what I received, both the 10 free trees and the numerous ones I paid for, but I certainly was not. About 50% of the trees/shrubs are doing OK. I was shipped my PAID trees in very late fall. I told them I wasn't happy about this and they offered to send them "a little earlier for a $25 fee." I planted them and about 8 of them died (I will say, they did promptly refund my money for the trees and also offered, as an option to my refund, to replace them in the late fall). My 10 free trees were shipped after our ground was frozen (even though I begged them not to send them at that time) so I put them in pots and 6 of them actually sprouted and did better than the ones I paid for that I planted outside late in fall (but 4 did nothing). I got the free trees sent again, believe it or not, in early spring because I complained that it was too cold to dig in fall. I actually wrote to them to say "never mind," but they sent them anyway. The second set was even better than the first, even though they were TEENY. I got the "flowering trees" both times, and the first time, I received ZERO redbud trees (didn't find this out till AFTER they grew). I think I got their Prairie crabapple (in addition to the sargeant's crab that is part of their collection) which isn't a terrible thing, but the redbud was the only tree I REALLY wanted! The golden rain trees were duds in both shipments. The Hawthornes only came in the first set; I didn't get any in the second (yes, more crabapples).
Unless you live in a warm climate, take your 10 free trees, pot them in a greenhouse (it's nice cause they can stay outside with no heat all winter) or basement with a grow light and give them food and attention. You'll have a better shot at getting a tree that will live and thrive. As far as purchasing your trees and shrubs from them? There is a about a 50/50 chance they will die. Pay for the "expedited" shipping (you will literally have to beg them to tell you this exists) and take your chances. If not, there are many, many nurseries where you can purchase these trees and shrubs from that will not give you such a hard time about shipping and you will get more than just a stick with a bare root.
On August 27th, 2006, pookerella added the following:
To answer the post from miulloj, I don't mind the "free trees" being not much to write home about, but how about the ones you pay for? 50% of them did nothing, plus the ones I paid for....I didn't even get the right things! I now have 2 purple leafed plum trees growing where there should be 2 SHRUBS and I am not too happy about it!
On May 19, 2006, Spookycharles Langley, WA (Zone 8b) wrote:
I joined the National Arbor Day Foundation late ’04 and later that winter my ten free trees arrived. Yes they are shipped in a plastic bag but despite the lack of presentation they are kept moist and none of mine were at all damaged by the shipping method, which surely helps to keep the cost down.
Even though a few had questionable roots I went ahead and planted all of them. These trees are seedlings and do of course require extra care to grow into trees. Their small size, however, is to be expected for a dollar a tree including shipping and membership cost. It really is a splendid deal and a fun way to get to try out varieties that one may not be willing to spend the bigger bucks on for a larger specimen.
While they were a bit slow to start all but a few of the trees did begin to grow by early summer. When I confirmed that a few were indeed not going to be coming out of dormancy I contacted Arbor Day inquiring about having replacements sent.
They responded quickly and were exceptionally polite, helpful and more than willing to replace not only the trees that had not come up, but when the shipping for my area came along I received ten additional trees as replacement. They were planted this winter and only the goldrains still show no sign of life, the rest look lovely and the ones from the previous year are already showing dramatic growth.
While I was initially questioning ordering trees from Arbor Day based off how small their free trees were, their customer service in regards to my concerns regarding ‘free’ trees was more than enough to convince me that if there were a problem with my order that they would be more than helpful in correcting it.
I signed up for their hazelnut project program and ordered three paper birches, a Pararifire, a smoke tree and a tulipifera. With that came a free red maple and two forthysias. While still of course not huge trees, the trees that one gets from purchasing from their tree store are notably larger than their free counterparts.
I was expecting a little bag of trees in my mailbox but rather I received a rather large, carefully packed box. All the trees arrived safely and looked wonderful. The free red maple was a beautiful three foot plus specimen with good branching structure which by this time has leafed out as have all the rest.
The only questionable items were the forthysias. One looked fine, but the other I was certain wouldn’t make it. Despite that certainty I planted them both and they both have leafed out fully and are already growing larger.
The above mentioned trees however all arrived very shortly after I had ordered them while the hazelnut project trees were nowhere to be seen nor was the calendar that I was supposed to have received for renewing early. Again I contacted the company and again I was extremely pleased with their responsiveness and quick effort to correct the issue.
While no response was given to the lack of calendar (which I assume they simply ran out of), it turned out that the hazelnuts were a filling mistake which they rectified immediately and I received my hazelnuts a couple of weeks ago. They arrived much smaller than the other trees I ordered, rather the size of the free trees, but from my experience transplanting hazelnuts and dealing with their taproots, I definitely feel much better about the likely survival rate of these small hazelnuts as opposed to if they had sent larger specimens with too short of roots.
If looking for instant landscaping trees, certainly one ought to look elsewhere and expect to pay a great deal more. However if in no hurry or planting for the future on a crunched budget, the Arbor Day Foundation has a wonderful variety of small, healthy trees that are a real joy. I’m exceptionally happy with what I have received from them, their customer service and as a bonus they have a lot of tree related projects that they support. I will certainly order from them again.
On May 14, 2006, oathkeeper5000 Owings Mills, MD wrote:
What I find is that with this company, people order from them expecting huge, bought at the nursery plants, this is not true. I signed up and they sent me an assortment of trees that do well in our area for free. They were small, about a foot or so, but they were alive, that's the good thing, I remember two red-buds had pretty heart shaped leaves. They really are just seedlings, and I had the mistake of planting them where the deer would get them. All the trees in my " tree nursery" where I was letting them grow, were grazed to the ground and no signs of coming back. It's a shame, but they really are trying hard here to help spread planting trees, they just give things that are more high matienence on our parts. I will give them a positive for their efforts, and I reccomend people put the trees in small pots until they are large enough for the landscape.
I had joined around a little over a year ago. I chose the "blossoming trees" consisting of the Hawthorne, Crabapple, Dogwood, Red bud, and Goldenraintrees. What you get is very thin seedlings that couldn't be more than a few months old. (look like 6-8" sticks). Following that you will get a ton of junk mail to purchase even more stuff. Six out of ten of my trees have survived, and now approximately 15 months later I have trees that are from 9" to almost 3' foot high. ( I have good soil, and I mulch, and water) I don't really see the situation as a loss because I do get satisfaction from how well the few trees that I have are doing. Just be aware that you get what you pay for, and this is a company like any other, that has to turn a profit to survive.
On Apr 24, 2006, rainforestJen London United Kingdom wrote:
I have not had personal experience, but have read the comments and done a little research as I'm very concerned where my donation's go to. And I'm concerned about this one.
I did a quick compare. It looks like Arbor Days director earns more salary than the director of the Sierra club, the World Wild Life Federation, and the Humane Society (US, not UK) BUT it earns only about 1/4 of what WWF does. Well see for yourself.
In 2003 Arbor had a revenue of $28,418,604, Sierra club a revenue of $51,814,307 and WWF a Revenue of $105,928,516. Yet the president of NADF earned $302,193.00, as opposed to the President of Sierra Club ($167,083.00) and WWF ($214,542.00). A mere manager at NADF earned $94,246.
The president of the Arbor Day earns more then Sierra Club and WWF, yet the organization brings in revenue less than the others.
On Apr 24, 2006, Uquea Mountain Village, AK wrote:
Having at one time a year or so ago, worked with people in this organization I have to say I saw a lot of envolvement with children. I really liked that. So I too donated.
Now I get bombarded with continual requests for more money. Yikes. How many trees died for all the requests for money I've gotten? That doesn't say much for their cause.
Another thing that bothered me was that I never really saw where else any of the donations went to, other than more of thier own programs. They did do that well, promote thier own programs. But I never saw pictures of trees they planted. I never saw any reclaimed or saved rainforest pictures. The web site seemed very commercial (buy buy buy more and more), maybe I missed it but for an ecologically minded organization, they don't seem to do much.
Like most of us, I received a mail offer to join the National Arbor Day Society. For a $10 donation, I would receive 10 free trees. I mailed my check off and then I read this forum. When my trees arrived, about a month later, I was not surprised to receive 10 little twigs--I had already known what to expect by reading this forum. As promised, I received 2 redbuds, 2 dogwoods, 2 hawthornes, 2 crabapples and a crape myrtle. They were packaged in a rooting gel and, ahthough very tiny, they were alive and the roots appeared healthy. Each tree was identifiable by a paint color (or lack of one) dabbed on the tiny twig. Since I could not immediately plant them, I heeled them in a garden bed and intend to plant next week when it warms up. I am going to follow the instructions and plant them in worked up soil in a garden bed and leave them there for two years before transplanting to their new home. My yard is not yet fully landscaped and in just about two years, I will be ready to create some new beds along the sides of my property. I am hoping that my little twigs will thrive and be ready to move to their permanent home at the same time! Yes, they are very small, but the NADS is a good organization, so if my trees make it, great, if they don't, I will feel that I have simply made a donation to a worthy cause. Actually, I'm not unhappy that they are small--I was not ready to give them a permanent home. I really don't know where I would have planted them if they were larger. I think that with a little planning (like my plan for the new beds in two years) the Arbor Day Society can work for you. If, however, you are looking for nicely sized trees to plant now for gratification in the next year or so, that is not what you will get. These are very young saplings, mere twigs, of approx 12-15 inches and 1/8 to 1/4 in diameter. The crape myrtle is even smaller and I don't believe it will actually grow in zone 5 unless it's a new hardy variety. To summarize, I'm not sorry I joined. I like a good challenge, love to watch things grow and will be delighted if my trees make it and a little sad if they don't. They also give me the opportunity to do a little "dreaming" about my future beds and how I can incorporate my new trees into them!
On April 8th, 2006, ElizabethK added the following:
I wanted to add this comment, but forgot: I have a friend who joined a few years ago. She was offered butterfly bushes and other shrubs for her $10 donation. I am happy to report that they survived and grew in the two years since she received them. She has transplanted them to their permanent homes and last summer they all bloomed and looked beautiful!
On Mar 19, 2006, patmoore49684 Traverse City, MI wrote:
On Aug 30, 2005 I joined the Arbor Day Foundation. I had received an offer to join and receive 10 Colorado Blue Spruce saplings. My wife was looking forward to receiving the trees with great anticipation. Since that time I have received several requests for more donations and offers of a free gift with each offer.
I agree that when you contribute to the foundation you are mainly making a contribution to assist in providing educational materials to others and to assist in providing trees to be planted around the country. Most of the plantings, though, seem to be covered by corporate sponsorships and to be only in the hometowns of these sponsors.
If I had responded to every request for a donation I would have probably donated around a hundred dollars since August and it is only the middle of March.
At this time I still have not received the free Spruce trees.
"Stung once, shame on you; Stung twice shame on me; Stung three times I am a fool." Since I have been stung by the foundation on my first donation I do not feel that I should make anymore donations. The only proof I have that they have used my donation to any good is their newsletter that tells me about the corporate sponsored undertakings about to take place.
By failing to make good on their promise to me they have shown that I cannot rely on the information that they publish.
On Feb 19, 2006, Windy Belleville , IL (Zone 6b) wrote:
I have a number of trees that I got from National Arbor Day. I liked the free trees as a bonus and now after a few years actually have good sized tree to show for the effort of joining.
Last year I ordered several of the smaller sized trees because I am in no hurry to see big trees and benefited by getting a lower price. They are all doing fine as is the free maple they sent with my order.
I don't have any complaints about their products. You get what you pay for. If you want big trees there are plenty to choose from locally at the nurseries.
It is much like growing from seed, you do have to baby them as saplings until they can be set out to grow as the big guys.
Several orders in 2005. Some good and some bad. A few trees I ordered I was pleasantly surprised by. A few were major disappointments. Their ordering and fulfillment system is clearly a disaster given my own experience and that of others on this comment page. I ordered two memberships last spring, one for myself and one for my girlfriend. My free trees came right away and I planted them. I think mostly they are doing fine. My girlfriend's pack, delivered to the same address, for some mysterious reason, was not shipped until fall. I think they will mostly survive too. In the Spring, a few weeks after joining, I ordered 10 oaks. It was still easily cool enough to plant them where I live but they told me it was too late for spring shipping and they would ship them in the fall. In September I ordered some other trees and got them almost right away, planted them fine and they seem to be okay. October came and went, no oaks. November came, Thanksgiving crept up. The day after Thanksgiving, after temperatures had been in the teens for a full week and a foot of snow had fallen here, my oaks showed up at last. I emailed. Reply: "we couldn't ship earlier because of fall heat, but we'll ship you another batch in the spring" (a full year after ordering?). Okay, great, but why did I get all my other trees from them on time? They clearly need some decent software upgrades!
On May 22nd, 2006, jbrockettm changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
Got the white oaks. May 19. In my mailbox. I went to the NADF website. Did I honestly pay $60.00 for these 10 whips??? I've waited a year, and once again they have come LATE. I've already planted over 200 trees this year. They're all fully leafed out. So now I've got these ten tardy whips to deal with and given my experience, it's not worth bothering to plant them, they just won't live.
As for the other trees I've gotten from NADF. None of my girlfriend's 10 free trees made it through the winter. Of 40 seedlings overall that I got last year from this decrepit organization, 1 is still alive. Never again!
On Jan 21, 2006, WigglyPaw Hastings, MI (Zone 5b) wrote:
I joined Arbor Day as a contribution. I read a comment from years ago for people to quit whining about the "free" trees and stuff. Hear Hear!
Arbor Day is wonderful. The programs that they support and train for around the United States are quite the lifeblood of america.
Ja, I am a "tree hugger" and proud to be one!
PS I don't mind if the stems they ship grow or don't grow. The little free things are fine, and they are sweet for attempting to send some gifts. I am happy and thankful for this
company and their attributes. Please give them a break and support them, not berate them.
I have been a member of this organization for better than 10 years now and feel very positive towards it. The free trees I have recieved have always been twigs - some better than others but always twigs(small bareroot stock). Please keep in mind that this is not a gardening supplier or business but an educational charity - realistically, what do you expect for a
$15 donation - Stop whinning.
I just thought I would relate my experience. I got the 10 trees and yes they were what appeared to be twigs. I put them in the ground just like I was supposed to do and they grew inspite of me. I watched a rabbit bite three of the twigs off even with the ground and they still came back and grew a couple feet before winter came. Its now winter and the 10 "twigs" now range from 2 feet to 6 foot tall. Arbor Day is alright with me and I'm hard to please. You just have to take care of the little guys!
I was terribly disappointed with the "free" trees that I got with my donation to the company. I am very glad I decided not to place an order until I saw the health of the "free" trees.
Half of them were dead when I got them, the other half did not live. When I received them they were a slimy mess. The paint that they used to tell me what type of tree they were was worn off and it was very hard to tell them apart. They were about 8 inches long with very little root system-most of them you couldn't tell the top of the tree from the root!
I will not buy here ever again.
Oh, dear--this company proved to be my own personal disappointment AND humiliation! I joined....being a huge gardener and I liked their premise. My "free" trees arrived in horrid condition........moldy, juicy rotting sticks in a plastic bag. When I wrote them to say the sign-up trees were a dreadful representation of their organization, and that I'd like the trees reshipped in better condition, they kicked me out of the organization!! =0 I received a refund of my fee with a letter saying they didn't desire to retain my membership!
Hmmph and good riddance.....but gee, I'm not the party who dealt in rot! I prefer green in my garden.......
On May 26, 2005, randbpeterson Morrison, CO wrote:
Order trees for Fall 2004 shipping. When ordering explained that I was in the foothills in Colorado and if trees were shipped after 2nd week of November ground would be frozen. I called and emailed when I did not receive any trees by 11/15. They were waiting for a hard freeze in Neb. before shipping. I inquired about shipping in Spring since we were already getting hard freezes. They insisted that trees would be fine, shipped 11/25. Planted all trees on Thanksgiving day, next day had a big snow and freezing weather, by Spring everything was dead. They would replace for 1/2 price and shipping. I WILL NEVER DEAL WITH THEM AGAIN.
On Apr 24, 2005, cchiovitti Lochbuie, CO (Zone 5b) wrote:
I haven't recieved my 10 "free" trees yet, but I did recieve the several that I ordered. They were actually a bit larger than I expected, and healthy looking. Oddly enough, the largest and healthiest tree I got was the "free bonus" red maple. 2 free Forsythia's they included are little more than soft wood cuttings with marginal roots, but they were free so if they grow, that's a bonus. All trees were at least as big, if not a bit larger, than the catalog descriptions and were packed well with plenty of moisture gel surrounding the roots.
I just got the membership trees. They are indeed small. But i think because I read this forum (After I placed an order for some pear trees and the membership). My expectations were not high to start with. With that said, i was surprised to see that the little trees actually did not look as bad as I thought. I am a novice in tree planting, but these actually look like what I have been reading from various sources viable trees. Of course, i just planted them so who knows how they are going to turn out. I have to say, it is difficult to id them even with the paint key. But i guess because i am treating this as a learning process and a donation, any surviving trees would be bonus.
I received my pear trees a week earlier (with a free maple) THey looked ok at first. They were bigger than i thought they might be (but according to the published sized). However, 1 of them does not have a very good form, i actually think it was cut/pruned/ prepared incorrectly. One of them has a big gash on the main trunk. I told the foundation and they have agreed to replace both trees for me. I planted them anyway, so lets see what would happend. The customer service was very helpful and prompt with reply. I just felt like i should speak up for them. THen again, i still have not seen the replacement nor withstand a TExas Summer with the trees i got from them so...stay tuned...
I do have to say, they do take a long time...I place the order for the membership trees around March 20 or so, and the pear trees 3 days there after. Around that time, the weather was perfect here in texas, not too cold, not too hot, plenty of rain and plenty of sun...I did not know it would take about 1 month for them to deliver the trees because now it is already getting a little hot and not as much rain...I think I might have missed the best time to plant...but Like I said, the overall expereince has thus far been pleasant...we shall see...
On Mar 18, 2005, CathysFlaRoses Lake Worth, FL wrote:
After reading all the neg. on the foundation I was very worried about the order I placed. I have to say the trees are just as described and very much alive. I am glad to support the foundation and am very happy with my purchase.
I purchased a membership and also ordered a dozen dwarf Montmorency cherry trees which were about 4ft. tall when I received them. I potted the trees as soon as they arrived @ a month ago. The nail scratch showed green bark. I've watered them once a week and checked them yesterday and leaves are breaking out of the buds. The foundation will replace any that don't grow for half price, but at this point it looks like they delivered good quality trees. If they don't live, it will not be the foundation's fault. I'm very pleased with the quality of the trees I received and especially the price. I'm trying to grow them in upper zone 8, so it's a gamble to begin with. I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again.
I wish I had had seen this web site before I spent my money. The ten "trees" came in a bag, the kind your newspaper comes in, and were all twist-tied together without the first label. Since the Goldenraintree is poisonous and I have horses, I had no choice but to throw them all away. I also ordered two Japanese Maples. There was virtually no roots on these "trees" so I don't know what my chances of keeping them alive are.
I have recieved many little seedlings - these are an incentive to give to a worthy cause. Granted, most did die from neglect. Even when they live, it takes good pruning to get these little guys to grow into shapely trees.
I had the most success when I planted the seedlings in one gallon pots, grow them out for a year or so, then plant the trees in the fall. My redbuds spent some time in one gallon pots, then spent the summer in the vegetable garden where they recieved frequent waterings. In the fall I pruned them as I moved them to the front yard. I have nice, healthy hazelnuts and redbuds doing well in my front yard from the Arbor Day Foundation.
If you wish to give to a good cause and try new trees, this is fun. If you need shade and trees in your yard ASAP, buy trees in three gallon or larger containers at your local nursery. The trees will be better shaped, acclimated to your environment, and larger. Then, after planting your tree, send a check to Arbor Day because it is a worthwhile organization.
On Jan 30, 2005, autremike Ludlow, MA (Zone 5b) wrote:
I have had mixed experiences with the National Arbor Day Foundation through the years. After seven or so years of donating and getting free trees, I have some nice trees to show for it, which represent but a small fraction of those originally recieved.
A couple of years ago, I decided to participate in the hazelnut project. I recieved a few trees in the late fall, carefully planted the small bareroot specimens in prepared garden soil near my newly grafted apples, where I hoped to coddle them until they grew larger in a year or two. None made it through the winter, so I contacted them. A nice response came back saying that they would send some new ones. These arrived in plugs and were fully leafed out when they arrived. Unfortunately, their leaves were mostly falling off. I promptly potted and watered them and placed them into the shade. Only one lasted for two weeks before joining the others that died.
A similar story could be said for each year.
I believe that if anything is worth doing, is worth doing right. With all of the time and effort spent sending trees, they should arrive to grow, not die.
Are the free plants the only reason to donate? No.
Are they a worthy cause? I believe so.
Will I order trees from them again? Unlikely, unless the survival rate increases.
Be prepared for disappointment here, i ordered over 200 dollars worth of trees and had 2 live. I called and emailed them and I received my money back on my credit card, but some of the stuff they sent was either the wrong tree, totally dried up dead (the pinch test revealed nothing but dried tissue) and one of the trees smelled like sewage--it was actually rotten. I missed two years of growing seasons waiting to see if the trees would pull out of it, but they did not. Many of the trees will NOT grow in the zones they advertise them as. Further, they inundate you with junk mail when your membership expires, and the ten free trees are not worth the membership in the first place. I could grow trees from seed and have better luck and better looking trees. The free red maples advertised are more like a free stick to play fetch with the dog with. To do such terrible business under the guise of being a non-profit organization makes me ill, every time i see a "tree city usa" sign i cringe. The founder of Arbor Day is rolling over in his grave--straighten up!
On Jan 17, 2005, MitchF Lindsay, OK (Zone 7a) wrote:
Good deals. Not the best packed. They all looked really good but still too early to see if they are going to come out. You have to order from the website to get real trees the free trees are junk. Pay a little and get some good trees!
On January 28th, 2005, 75154 added the following:
With the newest rains I can start to see leaf buds on the trees! Thay are growing so far will update if there are any problems with them. So far so good. On August 11th, 2005, 75154 changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
Some lived in our summer heat but some failed. They are sending me out new trees for the ones that died at no cost to me (great service). But so many are so small the only good thing of buying from them is the cost are really low for most trees. I will fill out the rest of the yard in trees already here local. On June 29th, 2006, MitchF changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
The replacement trees new had a chance - I really think they sent the smallest ones they could and yikes just terrible. I will not be ordering again - ever.
I joined and received ten free educational seedlings in the mail. They were sent by bulk mail since it's financially impossible to send free things by UPS or Priortity Mail. I wanted to learn about growing bare-root trees before I placed a big order and killed them all. Well, I put the trees in pots and fertilized them and kept them indoors over winter because I didn't want them to freeze. They all died and I emailed the company, furious. The company informed me that planting instructions were contained with the trees and that I would have had success if I would have bothered to read them. They sent me another package and most of them grew. I then ordered from their catalog and had good success because I ordered in February and received my trees in April. The customer service rep advised me to order early because as a non-profit foundation they don't have the quick turnaround like the more expensive commercial bigboys.
If you're ordering late or expect something for nothing then you should probably go elsewhere.
I got the membership with the 10 trees, all of which came tiny and in questionable health, however all of them are doing great! They look truly healthy and happy. The reason I am neutral here is that I ordered 45 privet plants, and a PG hydrangea. The PG is also doing great, but most of the privet died. However, I wrote back to them, told them what I had done, and they sent me a new shipment. Most of that is doing just fine (I may have lost 3 or 4, but at .85 each, it was a good deal. But also, I joined through the mail, responding to some paperwork that didn't say anything about a 6 month membership. So I recently got a renewal notice, however, I had only joined 4 months previously. So once again, I wrote to them and explained the situation and they just re-upped my membership. It took some runaround, but out of it, I have some pretty nice looking, cheap, while small plants. I would order from them again for sure.
On Jun 8, 2004, mad4roses Georgetown, TX (Zone 8a) wrote:
It's disappointing to have to give the National Arbor Day Foundation a bad review, but it's even more disappointing that this organization does business the way it does and then hides behind it's perceived image as some kind of wonderful, environmentally conscious mission-oriented group.
Several years ago I went for the ten free trees. They took almost a year to send them. I had completely forgotten about them. They arrived in the middle of summer. When they showed up several were just twigs with no roots and half were not labeled. I didn't know what many of them were. They were supposed to be marked with a swatch of paint that matched a printed list and only four or five of the trees had a swatch of color on the stem. I planted those that had some roots and the two bonus forsythias that came with the package. All of the trees died, one forsythia grew - very disappointing. I was also deluged with junk mail from them and other gardening outfits afterward.
At one point they asked me to try "Rain Forest Coffee." I went for this offer. Months and months went by with no coffee. I would send email with no replies. I finally looked up their phone number one day and called. I was told there was a problem with a shipment and they had to reject it and they had fallen behind on orders. I was told to be patient in a somewhat scolding way. I told them I was no longer interested and to please cancel the order. They said they would. About a month later, the coffee shows up with an invoice. I called and explained I did not want the coffee and had cancelled the order. I was given an address to return the coffee and told to ignore the bill. I sent the coffee back as they instructed. About a month after this I began receiving dunning letters for the coffee. I ignored the first couple I received, but when they kept coming and the wording of the letters intensified, I called again. They claimed they had never received the coffee I had returned at my own expense. The gentleman on the phone was quite condescending and arrogant. I was upset and asked them to cancel my membership at that time and quit sending me mail. They did neither and I received "please renew your membership" mailings from them for a long time.
Two years later, I was looking for a Royal Purple Smoke Tree without much luck. I searched for suppliers on the Internet, and National Arbor Day popped up. I continued to search elsewhere, remembering my past experiences with them, and couldn't find it in stock anywhere else. I went back to the NADF website to check the price. It was cheap and I figured it wouldn't matter much if they screwed it up again, so against my better judgement, I ordered the tree, paying the non-member price because I did not wish to sign up again. This time, the tree showed up in a fairly decent amount of time. It was small, but I think I had paid about $12.00 total including shipping. I *was* irritated that they had included another membership despite the fact that I had not taken the member discount.
I planted the tree. It grew (slowly) but it's not a Royal Purple Smoke Tree. I believe it's a Redbud tree. I'm not sure though, because it has never flowered. This is the start of its third year. When I received it, it was a six-inch long twig. The trunk is now about pencil thick and it's a little over five feet tall. It has six branches ranging from about a foot and a half long at the top of the tree, to six inches long about two thirds of the way up the tree. It has round green leaves (not the dark maroonish purple leaves of the smoke tree.) The leaves look just like the leaves on the many Redbud trees in the neighborhood.
I wouldn't do business with them again under any circumstances. They would probably do much better to stick with their educational and other programs and stop the sloppy and mismanaged attempts at being a vendor. It sure doesn't do anything for their reputation.
On Jun 7, 2004, Heatherweh Fredericksburg, VA wrote:
I was happy to be able to give to a good cause and get ten free trees from the deal, but my enthusiasm waned when I never received my trees. I did get a catalogue and proceeded to actually place an order, which was received in bad shape. We got the package in late April and immediately placed the trees (well, sticks would be more acurate) into a pail of water. We have a lot of gardening experience, but we were unable to save any of the trees or bushes I had ordered. I believe they were all dead from the start. I tried to scratch the bark, but none of the trees appeared wick at all. I still have some sad little sticks protruding from the ground, but they haven't showed any signs of life. I e-mailed the company about my ten free trees and they replied within a few days saying that they will ship them in the fall now. Sigh. Overall, a very big dissapointment.
We all need to learn that we can't get suckered in by sales pitches....even from organizations operating under the guise of being 'environmentally concerned'.
On Apr 29, 2004, giboosi_alttara Ridgefield, CT wrote:
I ordered 8 trees, with which I got a bonus red maple, and 2 bonus forsythia. I also received the "ten free flowering trees!" with membership. The free trees were shipped in early March (we still had snow on the ground) in nothing more than a plastic bag with an address label on it. The others were shipped at the same time, priority, but the only things to survive were the forsythia. Nothing else even broke dormancy. They are all quite dead. Not surprising, since they were so tiny. I have four month old seedlings bigger than the "trees" I received. (Yes, tree seedlings)
So, basically I spent $40 and a good chunk of my time to plant two 9" tall forsythia starts, which I could well have gotten for free by asking a neighbor for a branch, sticking it in the ground and watering. I'd have gotten bigger plants to start with, too!
On May 5th, 2004, giboosi_alttara added the following:
I emailed the company a week ago, and never even got a reply. Everything but the forsythia is still dead. Heh.
On Apr 20, 2004, nmartens Pleasant Prairie, WI wrote:
I've been a member of the NADF for several years. Yes, the membership trees are small, seedlings to be precise. But they do tell you this and they tell you to baby them for the first 2 years. Most of the decidious seedlings have started for me but you have to give them tender loving care. Another tip is to have them send you what ever trees you order for spring time delivery. I say this because one year I ordered several of their nursery trees (which are larger than the membership trees) for fall delivery. We had an extremely cold fall and almost no snow cover during the winter. By the time I got the trees the ground was starting to freeze. I planted them anyways but none survived. Roots need a certain amount of warmth to grow. So, I ordered another batch to arrive in the spring and all of those are growing nicely. Just recently I received an order of nursery trees with a free red maple thrown in. One of the trees, a Kousa dogwood, was a DOA. I called NADF and they will be sending me a replacement. The man I spoke to was polite and gave me satisfactory service. So I can't complain. Sure, I can go to my local nursery and spend alot more on larger potted trees but it's fun getting baby trees to grow and it's for a good cause. That's why I still order from them. I'm giving them a positive rating because they promote programs to educate kids and adults on the importance of planting and preserving trees and forests.
This is the worst company in the business for plants and they never ship UPS like they say and the prices are horrible as well as the quality. Fortunately I got all of my money back. The customer service is also sub standard and the money goes to the peoples pay checks to run the company and not to where it should.
I love the idea of saving the rain forests, habitat protection, ecological balance, etc.
But you'd think people so concerned about trees would ship their bareroot trees a better way!
Mine were in a clear plastic pouch that the P.O. 'lost' for 4 days. They sat in a streetside postal bin the entire time. Some were only a few inches tall. None survived.
I wouldn't order from them again. I don't feel they 'practice' what they preach - and everyone knows how mail carriers damage and misshandle mail. There has got to be a safer way to ship and protect live plants!
I just recieved my nursery order from NADF on Friday and was greatly disappointed. I knew the trees would be small but the packaging was terrible. The trees were in a box twice as tall as they were which left a lot of room for movement. They were all bundled together and the bundle was not taped or otherwise secured inside the box. I can't put the blame on UPS because the box was flimsy and there was no information on the box telling UPS to keep the box upright or that there were live trees inside. Consequently, half the trees had broken leaders. When I called to report the situation customer service offered to replace the broken trees, but I explanined that I didn't want to do business with a company that packs live trees in such a shoddy manner. The representative offered to reimburse my credit card and I accepted. This is the only reason I'm giving them a neutral as opposed to a negative.
I haven't gotten my 10 'free' trees yet but I did notice that their booklet and the website is very clear that these are 'babies' and need to be potted for at least a year, or at least put in a protected area. These are not ready to go into the wild open spaces. So don't be so discouraged about the little 'whips'. They're free!
On April 6th, 2004, Frostette changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
I received my ten free trees yesterday. Most are very small but that's okay because I plan to put them in pots and even keep them in the house next winter. My problem is with the tree I bought--apple tree--and my free 3-4' maple tree. Now for this height I expect branches. Nope, just sticks, both of them. I wanted to see the difference between my $36 Stark supreme apple tree and a cheap $8 mail order tree. Not even in the same class. I do regret this order and won't do it again. I could've bought a local 5' tree with branches and leaves in a pot for about $15!!
