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On Jun 2, 2009, kentuckywoman2 Louisville, KY wrote:
Last spring I gave a $10 contribution for which I was to receive 10 flowering trees and 1 crapemyrtle. I expected the trees to be shipping in the spring or early summer, but by NOVEMBER I still had not received my trees. I called and got no response to my inquiry of "Where are my trees?", so I emailed and finally got a response. However, the response was that since I was in hardiness zone 7, the trees would be shipped in December! First of all, I'm in hardiness zone 6, NOT 7. When I alerted the Arbor Day Foundation to that, they said that they were the ONLY organization to "update" the hardiness zones, and now I was in Zone 7. Then, the customer service gal, Carla, proceeded to tell ME what my weather is like here in Kentucky! I finally escalated the call to speak to her supervisor, who shipped me my trees around the end of November. Unfortunately, we had already had a couple of freezes and since our soil is mainly clay, I had a very difficult time trying to dig deep enough to plant the "twigs" they sent me. Needless to say, THEY ALL DIED. I recently requested a replacement shipment and was told, by the same Carla, that my replacement trees would be shipped in Spring of 2010, unless I wanted them to be shipped in Fall 2009! Unacceptable! Again, the last time they shipped in "Fall", it was actually way past Fall and into Winter. Again, I informed them that their zones were not correct, according to our weather patterns, and again, this Carla proceeded to tell ME what our weather here in Kentucky is like! Finally, I requested a refund of my $10 and I'm now told it will take about 3-4 weeks. At least that's faster than they ship their "twigs." I have been a member since 2003 and this Carla person was the last straw. She's rude and arrogant and if she's the best they can do to represent their customer service department, then they have a real problem. In any case, I'll do my tree and shrub buying from a local nursery. I'll not do business with the Arbor Day Foundation again. They are clueless. Absolutely clueless.
I gave a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation over three months ago with the promise from them that I would received 8 free trees and a lilac bush. I have yet to recieve them. I don't expect to receive something in return for a donation but I do expect an organization to honor its promises and to remit promised goods. I cannot respect a company that uses a bait and switch tactic to suck donations out of people. I can respect a company that does simply ask for a donation and doesn't promise anything to me personally in return, and I can donate to those organizations. All I have received from ADF is more solicitations for money and more (empty I'm sure) promises of goods. As a company, I mean organization, that seems very commercially interested, this is very poor business practice as I will never buy a plant from them and will talk anyone out of it who threatens to do so.
To make things worse, I have been trying to email them about my complaint for over a week now and their website is broken and supposedly being repaired. It makes them seem to be hiding from the complaints.
I have little faith at this point that they are interested in anything that has to do with improving the earth. I am sure the only thing they are interested in is taking as much money as they can get their hands on. And they do not care how unethical their methods are to obtain it.
I sent $20 and got 10 twigs, 7 of which had a hair root on each, and 3 with no roots and the size of a pencil. The seven with the roots were about the same size as a pencil. Of the seven planted a month ago 4 are showing some very small growth on them. I pulled the rest out and their roots had not gained any hairs so I threw them away. I should be dead by the time they are full grown trees. I feel dupped. I could have gone to a tree nursery and got a better deal. I will not order any more trees from this organization, and would advise anyone else not to unless they want to give a donation to an organization that is deceptive about what they really send you.
On Jan 16, 2009, yardener Greenfield, OH (Zone 6a) wrote:
What do you expect for 10 bucks. Over the years its been kind of a hobby for me to see if the sticks will grow into anything. After ordering 40 flowering "sticks" (the last order was 5 years ago) I have 3 Washington Hawthorns and 2 crabapples. Lets see, thats 1 out of 8 that make it to waist height in 10 years. Thats $8 per tree. Still a good bargain? I wouldn't waist my time.
I've had over 85% success rate with better bargains at other tree sources.
If you want a challenge, order from NADF. If you want trees, go somewhere else.
On Jan 10, 2009, GideonOrchards Springboro, PA wrote:
NADF is the bad result of trying to mix business and charity.
I've ordered from them a couple times over the years.
Currently, they are having a competition with Autumn ridge to see who can sell the smallest twigs and call them "trees" without breaking into maniacal laughter when you call and ask, "um, hello, you sent me a handfull of twigs by mistake, I ordered trees."
I fully expect that the Scarlet Oaks they sell will soon be shipped out in the form of an acorn. It will simplify planting.
Apples and pears I ordered were borderline acceptable. Other trees (cherries and such) were too small.
Folks, it's pretty simple. You'll spend 5 or 10 bucks on the most useless crap, so spend 5 or 10 bucks on a tree that will then produce fruit for you 5 or more years earlier than what this charity/business sells you, and you avoid the aggravation of trying to find your new plantings among the clover and dandelions.
Support the cause with a straight donation - buy your trees elsewhere.
Buyer Beware! Trees are smaller than a #2 pencil and most won't grow at all. Worst of all this applies to purchased trees not just the 10 free trees that comes with the membership. The trees are so tiny that if they grow at all they need to be planted in a protected garden for at least a year. At the size they arrive it is doubtful that they will be able to survive a winter.
If you want to support the Foundation, do so. Just don't bother to order trees. Save your money for a site with a proven track record.
I wasn't expecting much out of the 10 free trees, so when I opened a package of sticks, I wasn't too disappointed, as I figured they'd be crap.
However, I did buy 4 Pee Gee Hydrangeas and was flabbergasted when they arrived in the same condition and size as the free trees. Wait a minute..you mean I paid good money for these?
It's now 2 years later and my Pee Gees are only about a foot tall. I have to mark them with red ribbon each spring or they'd get pulled as "weeds". They are a moderately fast growing tree normally, but mine are about the same size as 2 years ago--they 've sprouteda few branches, but not much.
I just topdressed them w/some humus and cmposted manure to try and boost them up a bit.
I am beyond disappointed. I expected them to be "experts" but was I wrong.
I placed my order in the fall and planted the day they arrived. By this spring everything had died (approx 10 trees) except for the two free forsythias they sent. Conversely, everything I ordered from Miller's Nursery is doing very well!
Yes the prices on Arbor Day Foundation are cheap, but is the disappointment worth it?
We started a membership with NASF to help landscape our combined business and home property. I heard good comments about them over the years, and looking at their prices figured they were a safe bet. Our 'premium gift' for membership was ten flowering trees. Looking at their catalog, we assumed these 'trees' would be 1-4 foot branched seedlings/saplings. We were disappointed when they arrived today small enough to fit in our mailbox. To make it worse, the mail carrier expressed her sorrow that her 12-years of experience showed this was about the best we could expect from them.
The seedlings were bound in one bundle, non-branched and gel-coated, with an average size of about 8 inches. Basically twigs with a few roots. Our plan was to plant these with our three girls. Instead I dug some quick holes while they were napping as they would have been heart broken to see them. I went to the extent of fencing around them to keep the errant leaf or running squirrel from knocking them flat. It felt like a scene from a Charlie Brown cartoon.
I planted thousands of trees with the Scouts in Washington for lumber company reclamations and with the Forest Service for erosion control. Even those trees which we packed sometimes miles into the mountains were larger and healthier than what Arbor Day 'gives' away for $10 along with a ton of fliers asking you to spend more. The giveaway plants at the local nurseries are at least branched 3 footers - and they are free add-ons to any purchase. A nursery couldn't give away what NASF sent - even without a purchase. Very sad for $30 million a year foundation.
I ordered a starter set of trees (2005) and did not receive them until the ground was too frozen to plant (late December). I potted them to over winter in my garage following instructions, but none survived to the following spring. Won't be ordering from there again. They ship too late for my part of the country.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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!!
On Jan 6, 2003, christinadill Roanoke, IN (Zone 5b) wrote:
The Yoshino Cherry trees I ordered arrived marked as such, but are not. They look to be Purple Leaf Sand Cherry trees, and while the purple foliage is a nice surprise, I'd rather have the trees I ordered.
I passed on the ten free tree offer, but have tried this company twice. Early in the season is the best time to order, as one has a better chance of getting better stock. A late season order resulted in miniscule whips (6 - 8"), with few surviors.
I would in no way consider this company to be on par with a professional nursery in terms of quality control of their stock. I'll spend my money elsewhere.
On May 30, 2002, Karen Thomasville, PA (Zone 6b) wrote:
I've ordered from them twice in the last 3 years. Only one of the trees I've gotten from them is living and it's a 3 year old pink dogwood that I doubt has put on 2 inches of growth in any direction in 3 years. I have only received some of the trees I ordered, they substituted trees I didn't want and couldn't use for those I didn't receive. The trees were very small. Their customer service is pathetic and don't ever get on their mailing list because it's extremely difficult to get off of it.
I fell for the ten free trees pitch back in the spring of '99. I got ten sticks in a plastic bag. I figured that was the way they were supposed to be for shipping purposes. All of me trees with the exception of one has died. The one is still as tiny as it was two years ago when I planted it. I have not renewed my membership with the Arbor Day Society as a result.
I had been a member of National Arbor Day Foundation for several years in spite of the fact that their 10 free trees were just twigs and usually didn't live and in spite of the fact that the fruit trees I ordered from them were not dwarf trees and never have produced fruit (they are 8 years old). I have since ordered fruit trees from another company and they are producing bountiful crops. The biggest disappointment for me from National Arbor Day was the fact that they say they are a nonprofit organization to protect trees and the environment. However when our local conservation department started pushing out rows of trees for our farmers in this area and cutting down beautiful old trees. I wrote to the NAD folks and told them what was happening. I never even received a letter in reply. I doubt they could have done anything about it but it would have been nice to at least get an acknowledgment. I have not really seen anything that they do except sell trees, so where do all of our membership fees go? Maybe they aren't so "nonprofit". Anyway they will never get another dime from me.
On Nov 29, 2001, dave Jacksonville, TX (Zone 8a) wrote:
This past spring I ordered trees from a variety of sources, and the Arbor Day Foundation was one of those places.
Compared with other vendors of trees, the products I received from Arbor Day were slightly more expensive, and the trees I received were about half the size of the trees from their competitors. Today, as you walk through my orchard, you can tell which ones I purchased from Arbor Day. They are the ones that are 1 foot tall, instead of the 4 foot trees I received (at a smaller price tag) from their competitors.
While this organization appears to have a good reputuation, the product does not quite stand up to their competitors.
In the future, when I need trees, I will not be buying them from this organization.
I think it only fair to let you know that I got "free" trees from joining the National Arbor Day Foundation, and they were pathetic. I didn't bother to plant them, mainly because it would have been a pain digging through the snow and frozen ground.
I sent in my membership dues last year with the hope that I would receive the 10 fruit trees as promised but I never received them. Needless to say this year when they sent the renewal membership application I did not send them anything.
The first time I received decent seedlings. The second time I ordered I received very small, dried out seedlings way too early to be planted here and the trees were not native to my area. I wouldn't order again.
I placed several orders to the foundation. I received my ten trees--three lived. I never received the next order I placed (spent $50!) I even wrote and received an answer, but NO order! May I suggest: leave them alone!
What exactly IS their "cause"? The ten free trees are not worth the price of membership. Mine were so small that they either died or I accidentally weeded them. Even so, I would like to think that my money went to a good cause. But what is it? What are they trying to raise money for? I'd rather give money to charity on the one hand and go to a nursery and pick out trees based on genus, species, and cultivar on the other. A tree is a lifetime investment and you can't tell for sure from their catalog what you are really going to get.