Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

I have had good luck with Gurneys.

I have ordered red twig dogwood, potatoes, and asparagus from Gurney's and the packaging for shipping has been terrible. Virtually everything I have received has been dried out and dead by the time I received it. I tried planting everything anyway but was not successful. I asked for a refund on part of the order and got one without any trouble but the replacement plants were also dried out and have failed (the dogwood). So I guess customer service is good but product quality and shipping needs a lot of improvement. I will try to get my order replaced this spring.

Having ordered cheap plants (I mean honestly--$.49 for a perennial that sells other places for $5 to $8?) I expect cheap plants. Several years ago, after the initial shock of bare root pieces of what looked like garden debris, and the realization that I was "clueless" about mail order plants, I soon found that these little roots take better to my soil than most larger plants I have bought. I am thrilled that I can find such low cost plants now that we are planting over a thousand feet of fenceline. I have had only one order where thanks to a package sitting in a sweltering mail truck all weekend, I found some things "a bit slimy". They were replaced immediately. Perhaps some of the trouble is not the company but rather the delivery services where stuff sits in hot trucks for days. I will continue to gratefully order from Fields and Gurney's.

Gurney Seed & Nursery has disappointed me this year. I have ordered from them for 29 years. This year's order was placed on April 3. Two days later they sent a letter stating the credit card authorization did not go through. After checking with the credit card company, I discovered that Gurney's had submitted an erroneous expiration date for the card. I tried to contact Gurney's by phone and e-mail. Their lines were continually busy at both the order number and the customer service number. When I did finally reach an order line, they advised they could not help because they were an overflow phone line and could only take orders not check on previously placed ones. After two more weeks of unsuccessfully attempting to contact customer service by phone and e-mail, the supervisor at the order center sent a fax to the customer service center with instructions to make the correction on the expiration date and resubmit it on a rush order. Two more long distance calls later, I found out the wrong date is still being submitted. They now advise they will submit the order again but it will be approximately another 10 days before shipment.

I have ordered from Gurneys on many occasions. I find that you have to baby the plants, but once established all grow and flourish. I find that if your order is relatively small, you get great results. My first order with them was enormous and was somewhat overwhelmed with the amount of plants. Consequently I lost some plants. I called them and told them what plants had died and their customer service people promptly offered me a refund, replacement or a credit. I took the credit and received it within 2 weeks. No questions asked. After reading some of the horror stories on this page, I can't understand why I have been so lucky, or is what has happened to me typical of their customer service?

I have ordered from Gurney's several times over the past 15 years. And although when the package arrives it looks nothing like what I see at the local nursery, I have always been most pleased once I put the dead looking arrival into the ground with a little tender loving care. The dead looking arrival seems to thrive on the attention and reward me profusely. I ordered Bleeding Hearts years ago, I cannot even describe how beautiful they are now. By the second year they were wonderful. Any time I experienced a problem, the customer service people were very willing to try to assist and help replace any item. I have been and continue to be very satisfied with Gurney's.

I am 58 years old and have ordered from Gurneys for years and have never had a bad order. I think some people order and when they set out the plants they go away and let them fend for themselves. The right soil, the right care will solve any growth problems. You can't expect something to grow if you don't take care of it.

We used Gurney for the first time this year and ended up planting half of the garden twice with Burpee seeds from our local WalMart store (and they are coming up great.)

My experience with Gurneys has not been good. Most all the items I ordered from their catalog were bare-root and never came up after planting them. I ordered other bare-root items from other catalogs and had no problems with them. They also substituted several things that I had ordered, without asking me. The substituted items were not even in the same color family that I was trying to order. It was not acceptable. I was very unsatisfied.

My in-laws have a beautiful peach tree in their yard. They bought it several years ago from Gurneys. It came in the mail as a little dead-looking stick. They were so disappointed that they purchased another tree from a local store. The little stick quickly outgrew the local tree and is now their best producer. Because of that story, we purchased our hedges through Gurneys. Just short of one year of growth, they have gone from 12 inch dead looking sticks to over 10 feet tall. Several of the have been accidently and repeatedly stepped on and "wacked off" with the weed-wacker, and they still grew back. That is probably largely due to the variety of plant, but also due to the quality of plant that Gurney's sells.

We lived in South Dakota for years, and bought many of our plants, both flowers and vegetables, at Gurney's; the nursery stock you pick out on-site is fabulous. When we moved to Michigan a couple of years ago, we decided to continue to get their plants by mail, since we knew what to expect of the quailty and of their customer service. Unfortunately, we have been extremely disappointed with the quality of the items we've received from Gurney's by mail order. We really feel that first, you should be charged for an item when it is shipped, and second, a customer should be notified when an item is no longer available. No such notice was received from Gurney's until we contacted them and asked where the rest of our order was. I loved their nursery and greenhouses when we lived close enough to shop there in person, but am definitely NOT IMPRESSED with their mail order business!

On April 11,1999 I placed an order with Gurney's. Today's date is May 3,1999. Gurney's order arrived two weeks ago, in excellent condition and is growing fine.

Gurneys and Fields were great! They were quick to answer the phone, fixed the problem (short on a few items) immediately, and all of the plants were alive when I got them, and still are! Best of all, they arrived earlier enough to plant.

I have ordered from Gurneys for the past 8 years, and I have mixed emotions about the company. One year I ordered live "Cold Set" tomatoes. When they arrived at my doorstep, they were in perfect condition! All six transplants were a bright, healty green and had a healthy root system. Thinking that was the standard of the company, I made the same order the following year. When I received them, they were soft, stinky, and had a sickly yellowish-brown color. I requested they send me fresh transplants, but after 4 attempts with the sameresults, I just gave up. Also, when I ordered their seed potatoes, theyarrived dried and shriveled. I have ordered a bulb garden, perennial garden, strawberries, blackberries and clematis as live transplants. From those orders, I have had about a 30% survival rate.I've had great success with their seeds, and I use Gurneys for seeds only. On an interesting note, it seems ironic that the healthiest plants in my garden given to me by Gurneys, have been the "freebies" they send with every order, which have been the plants I never wanted to begin with.

I have received an order of mixed, bare root stock from Gurneys that has arrived in very good shape, some of it just beginning to bud.

I have ordered from Gurney's for years; we have always been satisfied for as long as I can remember. I have tried some other company's bargains and have not been as pleased as I was with Gurney's.

I came to this website after looking over both Gurney's and Henry Field's catalogs this afternoon while deciding on my seed order. I quickly noted that, for a couple dozen specific varieties of seed items I was looking for, they had the EXACT same quantity and prices listed. I have ordered seeds from Gurney's several times in the past and had no complaint. (I WOULD have had a big complaint when my order was sent to avery honest and kind woman in Murfreesboro, TN along with her order. But she actually re-packaged and sent it on to me along with a nice note! God bless her! I should have notified Gurney's, I guess, but got busy planting and then let it go.) I hardly would ever even consider ordering nursery stock or any live plants from either company; don't know why, just call it a hunch. Maybe it's just the cheap look of their catalogs.

I guess ordering from Gurney's is hit or miss! We got some very good strawberry plants from them. One of our caraganas was smothered in weeds, & they'll send us 5 more next spring to replace. Garlic & shallots did not do well. They were very prompt to refund. Seeds were fine with me, but it was my first time ordering from them, & the first year I've had a large garden. My "free gifts " did not grow.

We have done our 1998 business with Gurney's. Their prices are way below Stark's, however; they do not offer an on line service. Gurney's has been very kind in dealing with our problems which have been many. I am eventually satisfied. You really get what you pay for anywhere. Some of Gurney's plants are very small while we have been pleasantly surprised with others. Their season is something that needs attention by the purchaser as well as good receiving recordkeeping. We're going back despite some problems. We lost a lot of trees from Gurney's this year because of the heat. They were gladly replaced. There does seem to be ordering problems here and there. Some of the plants were really small but did well while others were much larger than I expected and they did excellent. We watered some that looked like they were not going to make it and they hung on. I have always received kind service over the phone and even reimbursement for the calls. I suggest great planting care expectations as well as a good receiving log book to keep track of shipments. I would not suggest UPS since our first order was lost for a while then picked through when we found it. I prefer the U.S. Postal Service.

Henry Fields & Gurney's are one and the same; however, there are differences. One is that the people at the HF division DO NOT know how to package live plants. And the stuff I ordered from Gurney's was generally in a LOT better health than what Henry Fields sent. Both DO have wonderful customer service, but that doesn't mean a hill of beans if they keep sending you dead stock - even the replacements were dead. So take your chances with Gurney's.

My orders from Gurney's generally ended with disappointment. I have one white phlox and one raspberry daylily to show from several orders. Replacements either died or never made it due to "out of stock". Particularly pathetic was the order I made for 100 daylilies to naturalize a section of my mother's yard. A couple of spindly plants is all I have to show for all that digging. I give up on them.

I ordered 4 fruit trees from Gurneys. They arrived looking dead, but their brochure explained that they were in their dormant state. I followed their directions when planting them and now they are still alive with leaves. They have only been planted a few weeks. I intend to keep using their services.

Gurney's seed is great. Bare roots don't do well although my strawberries (100 plants) did. Seed potatoes are all right. I've used them for a couple of years and only a few didn't come up this year. I bought as part of a special offer last year and when one type of potato didn't come up, they refunded the whole offer plus sent me 30 more sets free.

I ordered stock from several companies this year, and have planted their stock side by side, you can really tell what came from where. The stock from Gurney's is doing well.

I have ordered from gurneys for over twenty years. I have had no problems whatsoever. I have received everything from tomato seed to locust trees. Also, their catalog is an education in gardening in itself.

Gurney's sent me a confirmation in 2 weeks and the order came at the correct planting time, although my bleeding hearts haven't come up, the Hostas are doing great.

If you're going to mail order, order from Gurney's. They have excellent customer service and if the plants didn't grow, they either give you credit or send you new plants.

I have ordered for may years from Gurney's with great success! If people think that everything they order will live, and thrive, they will be disappointed. You can't get that good from your local high priced nursery!! I have always had very good luck from plant stock, and seeds from Gurney's. Sometimes plant stock is not handles well in transit, and it arrives in less than good shape. Plant it anyway, if it does not live, call Gurney's, and they will replace it. I will continue to order from Gurney's for many years to come!

I just want to comment on how satisfied I was with all of my orders from Gurney. We ordered 200 Hedge plants and only lost 3-4...better than most garden stores. The first year all of my Tulips came up. We had a very hard winter and about 90% of them returned the next year. All of my bleeding hearts came up the first year and are doing absolutely wonderful 4 years later. Garden seeds are great, top quality. I purchased a couple from the garden store when I ran out and they did not compare to the Gurney seeds. The roses didn't do as well. They sort of let me know they were alive the first year. The second year only half survived and at this point, 3 years later, I have one the is doing O.K. Over all, I think they are a good company.

Last year I ordered the 50 lilies for $13.00. Every one came up. I also did the $.69 coneflowers. These also came up. The only thing I did not have luck with was bright eyes phlox, and they replaced it within 3 weeks. I have already placed my order with them for more stuff.

I HATE this company! This year I ordered two plants from Gurney. They were so called "row-run." It was a real cheap price, but the catalog said that the plants were guaranteed to grow. When the plants finally came, I was shock. They sent it in a PACKAGE in BULK RATE!!! Can you believe that? When I opened the package there were two little roots in a plastic bag with nothing covering them at all. They were BARE. That was only one of my plants that I ordered. A few weeks later the other package came. And this time the package had a HOLE in it. The plants were the same and one of them was beginning to sprout. None of my plants grew, even though I put one in potting soil. I am not very please with this company, and I do not recommend it at all.

I have had nothing but good success with Gurney's. My years as a gardener have taught me several methods of fertilizing, transplanting and pruning. Gurney's always stood by me and my learning process. They were patient and always helpful. Yes a few plants did die but they always replaced them, no matter how many times that I asked. I love their attitude and will always use them as long as I plant a garden and find the happiness Gurney's brings me.

I am really surprised that most of what I have read are from dissatisfied Gurney customers. My experience has been just the opposite. Only one item came in questionable condition. My trees, seeds, and vines have done well. I have yet to test their customer service and warranty. My expectation would be, that based on their plant quality, it would be good also.

I ordered for summery 1996 from Gurney's exclusively and I had no problems whatsoever. Their prices are the same as Henry Fields (in fact so is my customer number) and are reasonable. They have a great variety of everything and the shipments were packed well and sent in plenty of time to get me started early. Everything I planted came up and did fine. I ordered again from them this year for summer 1997. I really don't know what to make of all the complaints your web page shows for Gurneys!

I have been ordering from Gurney's for the past six years and have had excellent results. The prices are more than fair and the stock is usually healthy. The one occasion I had problems with a shipment (and considering the condition the package was in when it arrived, I think the post office may have had something to do with the failures I experienced), Gurney's customer assistance was friendly and I had replacement plants sent to me within the week! I never had varieties substituted, but then I've never ordered odd varieties either. The low, one rate postage is a real plus and any additional orders placed during the same season require NO shipping charges. All these things make Gurney's a winner in my eyes. I will continue to use Gurney's, just as my parents and grandparents have been doing for as long as I can remember.

We have ordered from Gurney's three years in a row now. Trees, seeds, and plants all have arrived in good condition and grown the way they are supposed to. We have only good things to say about Gurneys and will continue to order from them.

Just wanted to let everyone my experience this year with Gurney's. I ordered one of their special offers - 25 lilies for about $13.Unfortunately, they arrived a day before my vacation back home to England. I did not prepare the soil and really do not plan their location. However, to my amazement these small bulbs turned out to be WONDERFUL! During the month of July these lilies were in full bloom -the orange ones bloomed first, followed by my favorite pinks! I think every bulb lived! I've order some more!

I like Gurney's mainly because of their very low "postage and handling" cost. One price for any size order! This is very important for those of us that like to order a few things from a number of mail order companies, that charge adds up too fast with some vendors. Admittedly I also haven't forgotten that big kids seed packageMom & Dad always ordered for me as a kid so many years ago. Mid-June I ordered over $150 worth of perennial plants and a couple trees/bushes. They showed up in what looked like a huge "body bag" by the front door as I came home from work (wow, great postage price). Everything was well labeled, but I did have to call Mom to see what to do with the two free gifts. A mixed review for now, I'm sure I'll be writing to complain about some of the stock, but am glad to hear from the other letters that Gurney's is good about fixing problems. For those of you that haven't seen "bare root" plants, it's quite a shock.

I've order from them only once and never again. I ordered 3 types of potatoes. Just when planting season was upon me, I received a postcard saying that 2 of the varieties were no longer available and to return the postcard for a refund. I did that, but only received a refund for one. Well after planting season the last part of the order came, little shrunken tubers. Never again.