Comments regarding Pense Nursery

Ordered 5 varieties of Honeyberries, 3 varieties of blueberries, and 4 thornless bareroot blackberries. Arrived on Monday the 9th of March. Ship date request ignored. We live in upstate NY, still snowing/freezing temps. The honeyberry and blueberry plants were haphazardly packed in plastic wrap that did not keep the soil in the pots. Blackberry roots were poorly wrapped in paper that was dried out. The blueberry plants are advertised as 13-17 inches tall - they are 7 inches. The honeyberries are advertised as being in 1-gallon pots. Only 2 of the 5 pots were 1-gallon, the other 3 pots were 1-ltr pots that were broken/split. Plants just shove into them with roots hanging out of the top of the containers...
I contacted pense to notify them of the poor packing, undersized blueberry plants and undersized containers on 3 of the honeyberries. I requested a refund on the 3 honeyberry plants. Owner's reply was ship them back. I replied they misrepresented their plants and they should provide a pre-paid return shipping label; owner replied he will send a label with an $11 restocking fee! I replied that their nursery/business practice is a joke. I refused to pay a restocking fee. Owner is just playing games. Recommend avoiding this online nursery retailer!

I placed an order for numerous raspberry canes and honeyberry plants. All the canes came in good condition but the honeyberry not so much. The raspberry canes I ordered were all suppose to be thornless, once they came up a dozen or more were loaded with thorns, also the honeyberry bushes never made it. I reached out to them and they replaced all that were incorrect and also the honeyberries that did not make it. The stock that was replaced was even bigger and more of them than I asked for. I will never order from any other nursery again. There was no charge for shipping or any question what so ever. I have ordered another name band nursery and had problems, the difference was they said they had a guaranty, but I would still have to pay for shipping which was more than the plants cost would never order from TyTy again. The top nursery out there to order from where they stand behind what they sell is PENSE NURSERY. Phillip Pense is a man of his word.

I bought bare root raspberries, blackberries and 4 inch plugs of boysenberries and tayberries in February last year. Because I am in central Alabama and had failed in the past growing raspberries I didn't want to spend a lot of money on plants. My raspberries are flourishing despite 105 temperatures last summer, my four inch plugs of boysenberries grew 15 foot shoots and are flowering like crazy right now at the end of March. So far everything is growing extremely well and if the plants fail it won't be because I got bad plant material but because of my climate. The plants I got from Pense were much bigger than what I have received from Stark Brothers and about a fourth of the cost. Now I did baby them last summer, but if they produce this summer and I want to expand this experiment I will buy more from Pense.

Purchased a number of blueberry plants from Pense, even had email communication with the owner over a specific plant, he was very quick to respond and point me in the right direction. Would highly recommend as the plants arrived quickly and in great shape!

I read reviews. So... I was a little nervous ordering from here. But they have a few things that are surprisingly hard to find, like white currants. I ordered a few currants, a thornless blackberry, and a hardy kiwi. First of all, I also ordered currants from Burpee. Let me give you advice- buy your currants here instead. The bare root plants I got from here were three to four times the size that burpee sent me and are far more vigorous. The thornless blackberry is also growing so fast I'm questioning my decision of planting it in a halved barrel instead of the ground. The hardy kiwi they sent died. I asked for a replacement. I had to ask a couple times. They don't answer the phone and they don't respond when you email them. Other reviews clearly corroborate this. I wish they did, because their stock's quality deserves a customer service rep. They did send me a replacement, two in fact, which was nice. But no response. Of the two replacements, I will say, one died. The other is doing just fine. The kiwi was a plug not a bare root, and way smaller than the bare root stuff. Maybe stick to ordering bare roots from this nursery? Either way, very satisfied with my purchase.

2nd time ordering from Pense. Happy with both orders. I lost a couple from the first shipment, but I'm pretty sure it was my fault. This year all the plants are definitely alive and kicking. Don't be fooled by some of the "plugs" if you get them. I got 3 Kiowa blackberry plugs, and they have put out shoots 3" long in just a little over a week. Thanks again, Mr. Pense!

I placed a $391 order on 5/13. They immediately charged my card and sent me a confirmation of shipping later the same day. However, it is now NINE days later and the "tracking number" status at UPS still says "label created". That means in NINE DAYS Pense hasn't managed to actually pack anything up and get it to UPS. They also haven't answered ANY of my emails. It's the total lack of communication that is so annoying. If they're backed up with orders, fine, just tell me that. But as it stands now, I feel like I'm being ripped off. So...I'll just have to contest the charge with my cc issuer.

I placed an order with Pense Nursery for a specific delivery date. Well in advance of the delivery date I requested that the delivery be held up due to the cold weather expected over the next two weeks. I sent an email to Phillip Pense and he responded that the shipment would be delayed as requested. I received notification a few days later that the order had shipped. When I asked Phillip about this he responded that between the time that he agreed to delay the shipment that a button got pushed somewhere that shipped my order. I had to delay planting my plants for two weeks because of this.

When I opened the box I found that instead of Ponca Black Berry and Tayberry Bare Root plants I received 2" plugs. No where on their website do they indicate that they will be shipping 2" plugs. In fact on the page where you place the order they show you a picture of Bare Root Plants. I contacted Phillip about the plugs verses the bare root plants and he indicated that the Ponca was so new that he could only send 2" plugs. I then pointed out that several of his competitors were offering 1 year old bare root plants for nearly the same price. I then questioned him about the 2" plug Tayberry plants because they have been around for years and he never gave me a response.

Phillip indicated that he would refund my money if I would just ship all of the plants back to him. I asked why should I have to pay to ship the plugs back. Phillip then accused me of being the type of person who tries to get something for nothing. I told him that I was deeply offended by his comments and requested that he let me know where he wanted me to send the plants to. I will never do business with this company again and recommend that if you decide to do business with them that you make sure you are going to receive what you order. I do not trust them.

Well I sent a $185.60 and an order to Pense Nursery. The nextday when I tried to contact Mr Pense the phone was out of order. Idid get a message from him. I messaged back I had to cancel the order because I couldn't reach him. I asked for my money back, Every attempt to get my money since has been met with giberisn and lies. Do not, DO NOT order from this company.

I love this Co. Great Prices Always Great Plants

Good experience ordering raspberry plants from Pence last spring. Pence replaced all 5 this spring. All are now growing well.

Phillip Pense was quick to respond to email, phone, or test messages and had the product in the quantity I wanted for a good commercial price. He was knowledgeable and shared good information when I picked up my order at the nursery. We will do business with him again. We bought the bare root stock of Ozark Beauty strawberry and those we planted last month are thriving.

Ordered a Au-Roadside plum on Halford rootstock. The tree could have been packed in tougher cardboard, because the box got dented, but it was alright. Bareroot tree was a good size and appears healthy. It's already planted and doing great!

This is what you do. You buy from Pense FIRST! If he doesn't have it, then you buy your berry plants from someone else. I have purchased from him, and have spoken to him on the phone-a very humble, and approachable fellow. I purchase my plants from Pense first. If he does not have it, only then do I try someone else. God bless him.

Received my order of bare root raspberry plants today. I ordered 3 of each of prelude, nova, encore, polana, Joan j, and himbo top. I received extra of a few of them which was a nice surprise. Root stocks were all alive, in great condition and large. I recommend this company. I am planning to order a bunch more for spring.

I ordered blueberries, raspberries, haskap, currants and gooseberries from Pense Nursery this Spring. I made an error on my order, and emailed to request a change. The request was promptly answered by the owner, and they fixed my error for me - great customer service. I promptly received my order about a week later (I ordered during planting season for my area). I was thrilled when I opened my package, the plants were much larger than I expected, well labeled and were all in really nice shape (which was a concern as they were shipped from Arkansas to Michigan). I will order from Pense again, and would recommend them to anyone.

I ordered goji plants, but was a little apprehensive, because of a couple of bad reviews. Price was good, so I ordered a minimal amount, just to be sure. They sent me an email when my plants were shipped, they arrived promptly 3 days later. Beautiful plants. I planted them. Couldn't be happier. I will now be ordering more( much more plants, since they have such as nice selection of so many plants).

This is the third time I have placed an order with Pense Nursery. As in the past, the communication this time was great, and the plants arrived in great condition. I ordered a bunch of primocane blackberry plants and a bunch of black raspberry plants. Pense allowed me to move my shipping date around to work with the crazy weather we had early this spring in Michigan. Pense provided plenty of advice during and after I placed my order. The blackberry plants were heavy duty bare root plants and very moist. The black raspberry plants were smaller than I was expecting, however, my last visit to the patch indicated that 110+ out of 110+ (from my count, I received some extras) have all leafed out. I have had excellent success with all of my orders from Pense Nursery. From blackberry root cuttings to blackberry to black raspberry plants, all are growing well. So far, I have not encountered any disease or die off from any of the plants that I have received from this nursery. Highly recommend Pense Nursery to gardeners of all experience levels.

Pense nursery delivered my order as requested. As a family-run business, one cannot expect the customer service/database/email/phone systems as with a large-scale grower. The higher volumes for a large-scale grower allow for a setup with computer data bases where specific operators can key into the system to pull up a customer file within minutes. As a small-scale operation, if the business were to respond to say 10 customer requests and each were to take 10 minutes, well, do the math... Almost 2 hours of lost productivity....
So one needs to realize customer service may not be a strength, especially during the shipping season.
An earlier comment in Dave's garden watchdog alluded to this.
As for my order, as in the past, the root systems for all plants were extensive. I had one each of about eight raspberry/blackberry/currant varieties.
As compared to other bare root plants, the ones from Pense nursery far exceed the competitors' root systems.
I usually get pretty good success with strong root systems.
Timing is everything in getting these started off which is why the growers such as Pense nursery often have suggestions for shipping dates for a customer's particular region.
That being said, if someone from Cleveland ordered their shipment date last week, well, with all that snow...... May have been off a bit in planting....
We can't control mother nature, nor blame growers for being a bit off in timing....

Overall, Pense nursery has excellent bare root plants with extensive root systems at a very fair price.

I started dealing with Pense nursery several years ago. I have ordered three times since then. Their products have always been excellent. I ordered more blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and grapes this year and am not disappointed. Sometimes it is difficult to talk to them, but they are family owned and some sacrifices have to be made when dealing with personal service. When I do get through they answer all questions and go out of their way to find what I am looking for. Great people, great service, great products. Have and would recommend them to anyone.

I have ordered from Pense for the past three years. I have ordered apple trees, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, fig, grapes and kiwi. ( I think that is all ) Yes I am a bit of a fruit tree and vine addict. Everything I have ever ordered has arrived in great shape a the plants are y healthy. I have been pleased the the size also. I used to buy local and have ordered from other nurseries but Pense has been my 'go to' place for the past three years. Phillip Pense will n take the time on the phone with you if you have questions. I love this nursery! I can not recommend them highly enough!

I made an account here mostly to give Pense a great review. I've ordered blackberry plants from several different companies and none of them even compared to the bareroot plants I received from Pense. The roots were huge and the size of the stems looked awesome on the blackberries, the raspberries were small though. Can't wait to see in action. The natchez produces great for our area, I had great crops over the last two years. I ordered 20 natchez, 10 freedom,10 tayberry, and 2 black raspberry.They shipped one week after I placed the order. I recommend for blackberries.

my order arrived most of the plants looked good but three were dead i tried to email them but i could not get thru i tried calling them but i could not get thru one anne raspberry dead one oregon gooseberry dead one pixwell gooseberry dead i will not order from this poor communciater again and now i have tofind someone else to order these plants from

I placed and order on March 21, 2015, requesting a shipping date of April 6, 2015. Their website allows customers to request a shipping date. I paid for the order with a VISA gift card purchased at Walmart, and noted in my order that this is what I did. Almost immediately, the order showed up as "processing" in my account at their website. Now, six weeks later, it is still "processing." I emailed the nursery using the email address provided at the website to ask for an explanation for the delay. So far, no explanation, no reply, no order, no nothing. I have not checked the card to see if it has been docked the cost of the order. If it has, I'll be back.

Posted on February 23, 2014, updated March 16, 2015
After looking all over the Web for a source for blackberries, I found the Pense Berry Farm. They had a huge selection, unlike most others. And, the prices were reasonable and included free shipping. I ordered a total of 12 blackberry plants of three varieties. I also ordered 2 blueberry plants.

All arrived in great condition (in spite of UPS losing track of them) and are now planted. All are beginning to sprout and look to be very vigorous. More so than some others from a local nursery that were twice the price, just because they were in pots.

If I need any more plants or trees for my backyard landscaping, I'll buy them from the Pense family nursery.

Lee
Leeds, AL

I ordered Elderberries 2-York, 1 John, 1-Nova, 1-Adams as well as a Vanessa grape. The plants arrived on time and were planted that same day.
Of the five Elderberries only two put up shoots. The grape is doing the best of all. The other Elderberries still aren't showing signs of life.
I tried emailing the company more than a month ago with out receiving a response, then I tried contacting them though Dave's Garden, the company has not seen fit to respond.
That was my first and will be my last dealing with Pense.

I ordered 5 raspberries and 2 blueberries. Everything I ordered arrived alive and healthy. Raspberry canes had widths of 3/8" - 1/2" with good healthy root systems; no runts or cuttings with a few roots attached. Blueberries look great with good leaf growth, not dormant plants or twigs with small buds.

This was my first order with Pense Nursery and based on the products delivered, I recommend them and most likely purchase from them again.

Two years ago I purchased 4 varieties of blackberry plants totaling 400 plants. Two varieties were short of the hundred count, I notified Pense's nursery by e-mail and within days received the missing plants plus. They were all vigorous plants with good root systems.
When planted they took root immediately and grew well.

I was so pleased that I ordered 100 root cuttings around January the next year. I potted them and they almost all thrived and created nice plants. Due to the very wet weather in poorly draining soil, about 50 plants were drowned this year. The balance are huge heavily bearing bushes this summer. I was not thrilled with the triple crown
growth habit but had nothing to do with the plants.

I am so well pleased that I will be ordering 200 more root cuttings this fall to try out other varieties in my area.

Frank Adair
Douglas, Ga 31533

You will LOVE this place.

The plants I got (40 blackberries, and a big bunch of jostas, currants, gooseberries, and elderberries, were HUGE.

They grew like WILDFIRE.

They had no pests, no diseases, and no problems.

I am ordering around 1000 grapevines for my vineyard addition next year, and I will order them ALL from PENSE.

I ordered 12 Reveille red raspberry plants in February 2011 from the owner, Philip, who explained that he prefers to ship in early April, because waiting much longer brings warm temperatures to Arkansas, and the dormant plants will unfortunately start growing too soon. Philip shipped them April 4th as promised and I received them in Iowa April 7th. They were beautiful. I planted them immediately and covered them when there was threat of light frost. They bore sweet fruit twice this year. I plan to order additional plants from him in February 2012, as I am very pleased with his product and service.

I found them on line a couple of weeks ago and looked at both the price and the variety of plants.
I phoned but did not get a call back, but since this is a busy shipping time I thought, "oh, well I will take a chance and mail with their snail mail option."
I sent a list and a check. and days later I received the finest quality plants that I have recieved all year.I ordered a dozen of 6-7 varieties of berry plants, and 3 each of the elderberry john, and adams.
The black berry and raspberry are strong plants with huge root systems, bursting to send out shoots. the elderberry was a stalk far larger than my thumb, huge root system, and vigorous shoots.
I ended up with 66 fab plants for $177.
You just can not beat that.
Thanks, Pense.
Alya

Great plants for a great price. Quick delivery. I'll buy from them again!

I have ordered Blackberrries twice from this company. A couple of years ago I called and placed an order late in the season. Mr. Pense told me what he had left, we agreed, and he shipped me what he promised very promptly. Plant were good and lived great until I over sprayed with weed control a year later.
So I ordered again this year, early in the season. Left a message on his phone saying I wanted to place an order. He called me back and took my order.
Shipped when he said he would.
100 Plants arrived in excellent condition.
Plants had a tremendous root system and most had half inch stems. There was no just sticking these plants in the ground. Because of their large root system I had to Work when I planted them. I should have asked him to come from ARK to NC and help me plant them!
If you are reluctant to order from Mr Pense, you are missing good honest service, excellent plants and a very reasonable price!

I called Pense Nursery to order on a Friday at noon, left a message, and got a callback about 7pm that day. I ordered some blackberry plants that Friday PM, Mr. Pense said they would be shipped Monday, and likely received on Wednesday.
Wednesday afternoon the Fedex Ground van delivered them, in great shape. The plants matched my order, with a couple of extras. The plants had better root development than I expected. I'm very pleased with Pense Nursery!

I ordered 20 blackberry plants in February, 2010. The order was received in less than a week. All the plants were in good shape and lived.
I ordered 25 more blackberry plants in February, 2011. The plants were received in less than a week and again they appear to be in good shape.

I ordered 100 mars and 100 reliance grape vines and they got here on time and were in great shape. I still need 30 blueberry plants to complete my you pick and I will be ordering from Pense.

Posted on February 14, 2011, updated February 16, 2011
Posted on February 11, 2011, updated February 14, 2011
Posted on February 11, 2011, updated February 11, 2011
Yes...positive. I am fixing to place my order with them. Last week I emailed Philip Pense inquiring to the availability and pricing of three varieties of blackberry plants I am going to order. I received a PROMPT reply back from him that very same day and will place my order soon.

GIVE THE GUY A BREAK.....His wife passed away in June 2009 and then he lost a son in June 2010.... His life cannot be the same after such a terrible loss of loved ones. Prayers for his family.

Robert R.
Wharton, Texas

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i ordered 900 natchez and 500 triple crown,phillip was very attentive, nice place to do buying from, i plan on buying more in 2012

richard d & r berry farm

Plants (raspberries, blackberries, and elderberries) arrived on time and in great shape; they were stout and healthy-looking with plenty of roots.
Nice job!