Comments regarding Pinetree Garden Seeds

I LOVE THIS COMPANY. My order (several (6) packets of vegatable seeds, some cover crops, and 12 peat flats) came in less than a week and a half, and was packaged very nicely using the flats as the main support and some newspaper. At the bottom of the box I found a few ads, an extra order form, a packing slip stating that everything came except walla walla onion seeds and a credit for $1.10, as well as a $2 coupon!!! I will be ordering within the next week.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've had great experiences with Pinetree Garden Seeds! I have ordered a wide variety of flower seeds, both annual and perennial, from this company each of the past two years. All seed varieties have had excellent germination rates and have grown into strong, healthy, beautiful plants. The prices and shipping are quite reasonable, too. If you haven't ordered from them before, go ahead and give them a try...

I, too, have ordered seeds from PineTree for about 10 years.
I appreciate the lower cost for less seed. Who needs 2000
seeds of one plant for a backyard garden? I have always received exactly what I ordered, and it all comes fast, too. I will probably order from PineTree for many more years to come.

I've ordered from Pinetree for the past few years and always received my order promptly. I like their smaller packet sizes and the prices are great! My garden last season was planted mostly with Pinetree seeds, and it was the best ever. I already have received this season's order and can't wait to get planting.

On Jan 2, 2008 I ordered seeds from 5 companies. Pinetree's order was the second order to arrive, in about a week. I have ordered from Pinetree for at least 10 years now and I am consistently happy with their service and quality. They are a great company for the backyard gardener, because they sell small quantities at reasonable rates. In addition, I was happily surprised by the changes they have made to their website this year. It is much easier to navigate and order, and much more fun to use.

I have ordered from Pinetree for about 10 years now and have always been satisfied. If they are out of an item they send you a credit to be used towards your next order. I enjoy finding their catalog in my mailbox every December.

I have ordered seeds from Pinetree Garden Seeds for over 20 years and have never had a problem with their seeds or their service. I like the small packets so I can order more varieties and their prices are always reasonable. I also love to browse their discounted books and other items. I just received my order for 2008 in record time.

I have ordered seeds from Pinetree for many years, probably around 10 years. I have always ordered early, usually in December shortly after I receive the catalog. I have received my orders within a week or shortly thereafter. I like the smaller, lower priced packets. I have already ordered, received, and grown out a batch of wheatgrass (kittygreens) from their 2008 catalog. A couple of years ago I ordered a vial of wave petunia seeds and it had a low seedcount. I emailed them and they promptly sent out another vial. Thanks, Pinetree.

Ordered a large number of seeds and quite a few berry plants last spring - as well as lots of plastic mulch and seed starting products. They were a new company to me, but as an organic gardener on a budget, I couldn't resist trying them out. Their seed starting and mulch products were less expensive than anywhere else I saw, and the products were great.
I had fantastic luck with all of the seeds I purchased, and even good luck with the clearance flower plants I bought at the end of the season. The blueberries did very well. Our only failure was the raspberries. We didn't have a single one of the 30 I ordered survive. I planted half at my house, and my daughter planted half at her house. We did have a dry summer, but we watered 2-3 times a week, quite deeply (we have a well, thank goodness). Most of the plants never broke dormancy, and the few that did didn't survive. But who knows why? I'm not sure I can blame that on the company.
I will be ordering more products from them this winter for this coming summer's garden, although I don't believe I'll try any more of their raspberries. I was happy with their service; got my orders in a timely fashion, and exactly what I'd ordered.

I have ordered from Pinetree for the past several years and have been pleased with their seeds and plants. Their website is not the most sophisticated on the net (it's better than it was!) but I love the smaller seed packets and the prices are great.

I have purchased from this company three different times and have been very pleased. Recieved a broken ornament and was replaced with 24hr shipping. Courteous, friendly phone transaction each time & things were packed very well. I've purchased numerous sale priced items which I've been delighted with so I will continue to shop them first. Deb

I have ordered from Pinetree Seeds for many years and
have never had any problems. My seeds have always
been as I expected and have grown well. The only thing I
was disappointed with is they have discontinued many
of their vegetable seeds I always liked and ordered. Likely
what they discontinued was not a highly requested item so
do not order my vegetable seeds from them any longer but do order a considerable amount of flower seeds.

I have shopped with Pinetree for a number of years and find them to be extremely inexpensive, prompt, and cooperative. Recently, I took advantage of sale items of Siberian iris and daylilies. When I reported that several of the daylilies and all of the iris had not made it, they refunded my money. Their garden products such as black plastic and red plastic mulch (used to increase growth in tomatoes) are much cheaper than those of other garden centers and catalogs. I was well-pleased with my tulips and daffodills that I ordered this fall. Time will tell how they do when they come up.

I have ordered seeds and plants from Pinetree for several years. I also work at a nursery that orders seeds from Pinetree. I appreciate the no-frills, low price/small quantity approach and have had excellent results with their products. My purple wave petunias were easy, gorgeous, and CHEAP! I did have a packet that was supposed to be mixed zinnia augustifolia which turned out to be entirely orange. One baneberry died, the other is beautifully alive. But I don't expect every plant --especially cheap, small plants, --to live. It is entirely possible that it was my fault that this small plant did not make it. And when you order a plant that is $4.95, you have no business expecting it to be anything other than small.
If you order only one thing from Pinetree it should be their fabulous Korean gardening tool. It's a hand tool that I cannot live without!!! I lost it a few times last year, so this year I painted the handle bright red. And the price!!!!
Pinetree is just about my favourite seed company.

These folks are always a pleasure for me to deal with. That said--I'd like to note that the seed provided by Pine Tree has always been dependable and true-to-type. This may not seem as important as having the box delivered on a particular day of the week, but after the expense in time and money, this gardener wants her pencil-pods to be pencil-pods and her hubbards to be hubbards. Pine Tree Gardens has never let me down. Kudos to you, Pine Tree.

Until a year ago, I lived 4 miles from Pinetree. I enjoyed recommending them for specific items. I enjoyed their onsite sales, geared towards being a community minded business. I was also allowed to go inside to pick out my own bulbs/roots. I did find that as a so-so gardener the germination of some seeds required more than I was willing to give. I will defend the amount of seeds in a packet for an affordable price. Other companies I end up with left over seeds and can only hope they will germinate next year. As a 'wanna-be-gardener' I would not recommend Pinetree for SOME seeds and products. You need to have more experience especially with some of the more exotic species. I actually applied for a seasonal job there to fill that dreary time of year in Maine but never got called.
Pinetree is a small business that does not waste money on glitzy catalogs or comfortable space for the human element (especially the lack of parking spaces). They do spend their time working with new product and being real. It's nice to call a place and know you're speaking to them. I now live in the LaSal Mts in Utah at 7750' elavation and my gardening knowledge is in its' infancy...again. I don't know when I'll be ordering seeds or bulbs again, but I still enjoy many of their other products.

I had no problems. Seeds were delivered on time. They had great prices. Everthing grew. However, it would be nice if they would seal seeds in a foil envelop so excess seeds can be used the following year.

Last spring I ordered a mushroom kit and some seeds in late March. The final date to order the mushrooms was within that week, so I ordered before that date. The seeds came quickly, but the mushroom kit came in late April, and came from a different company. After reading for the first time in the instructions that temps in the 50's are needed to grow mushrooms, I immediately emailed them that I could not provide the proper temps in my area in April. It took quite a while to get a reply, and got a very terse, "Go ahead and try it." Not a Try it and let us know how it goes, which should have been a clue.

I did try it, followed directions to a "t" and nothing happened - I just misted a very expensive box of dirt for a few weeks.

I emailed them several weeks ago, and have had no reply. The box of dirt and spores cost over $30! I can get high quality seeds from countless other companies that have excellent customer service, unlike theirs.

I will not trade with this company again.

I ordered a few packs of seeds for a fall veggie garden....they arrived in only 4 days!! Their selection is great also. I did order a little garden planner (only .95) which was not in my order when I received it, but I've sent them an email and I'm sure I'll get it later. I would definately order seeds from them again.

I placed a very small (thankfully!!) order from Pinetree last month. FIrst of all their site wasn't current and the book I ordered wasn't available and I wasn't notified this PRIOR to shipment or I'd have cancelled my order compltetely. And the blueberry bush I ordered as an afterthought since the book was on sale was pathetically small and looks as though it may not make it. But my BIGGEST disappointment is in the customer service. I emailed them three different times to let them know about my disappointment with my order and not once have I heard from them. Every single other gardening company I've ordered from has always made good on their products. So my opinion is save your money and order elsewhere- I certainly will be!!

The cheap price on seeds packets is a pretty good reason to check this company out, though it is worth mentioning that the quantities are fairly small.

Everything I've planted thus far has sprouted and done beautifully. Especially pleased with the purple Trionfo Violetto pole beans, Vera lavender, pennyroyal, and hollyhocks. I haven't been able to plant the morning glories or borage yet and I just planted the millet, but I think I'll have decent results with all of these as well.

Their catalog is a bit weird and they could use more photos, but I like the way it's organized, along with the personal slant of their descriptions. The shipping was also pretty fast. I would definitely order seeds from them again.

I placed an order for seeds, onion sets, asparagus, strawberries, Kiwigold raspberries, rhubarb and cherry bushes in January. I got the seeds in good time but was waiting for the plants. When they hadn't arrived by the first week in May I called to enquire and they said the order was being held up because of the cherry bushes. I then requested them to please send what they could because it was getting late to plant the onions. The rep agreed and within 2 days I had my order except the cherry bushes which I am still waiting for. Customer service was excellent in this matter and the plants arrivied in excellent condition. I have ordered from this company a number of times and continue to be pleased.

I have been purchasing seeds as well as plants from this company for 12 years and have never had any problem (except reining in my budget) when it comes to their line up. I have ordered bluberries which were FAR larger and healthier than those of the big box stores as well as less expensive.
I love their honest review of the seeds they have planted and evaluation of their performance...drawbacks included...which you will NEVER get from corporate seed companies.

Their books are too inexpensive not to enjoy buying too many. And their seeds have never failed to germinate..even when I have kept them for 4 years. The small size is perfect for the homegardener/hobbyist and nothing costs so much that it is frustrating when something goes wrong and the seedlings die.
I cut them slack on delivery issues...they are in MAINE for crying out loud! They get snow and cold as bad as Canada! But that also tells me that their homegrown stock should be hardy.
I love them and will not leave them. My only complaint is their catalogue could use a bit more flash....but it would probably drive up the cost of the seeds.

Pinetree has excellent prices on certified seed potatoes and stocks some old New England favorites such as Kennebec and Green Mountain. Last year's delivery was good for this area (North Shore, Massachusetts) but this year's delivery seems to have been delayed about two weeks A phone call April 30 yielded info that potatoes would be shipped "within a week or so"; however, in response to an e-mail, I was told potatoes had shipped that day.

I have ordered from Pinetree Garden Seeds for a few years now. Like most home gardeners, I appreciate the price and size of their seed packets. I had always received my order promptly in years past ;so this year when my order didn't arrive after 3+ weeks, I emailed them requesting the status of my order. They replied they had mailed it a month ago; and asked that I check with the post office and verify the mailing address.
Was I embarrassed!! I had given them the wrong PO Box #! They were SO accommodating given that the mix up was my fault. They sent out another order for just the cost of shipping. This saved my vegetable gardening season, I will continue to use Pinetree Garden Seeds and will recommend them to other home gardeners. I am certainly a satisfied customer.

I will not order plants again from this company. Shipping took 7 days between ME & NH. Strawberries arrived wilted and full of tiny orange spiders. Ordered replacements which also arrived in poor condition with more orange spiders. Zero germination with their Last Chance seeds.

Regular seed packets had good germination and were priced and sized just right. I will order seeds again from this company but not live (barely) plants.

"Note from Pinetree rep...... We only received our strawberry shipment the week of March 26th and not only have we not sent any to New Hampshire, we have certainly not shipped any replacements, therefore we respectfully contend that this defective shipment was from another supplier."

I ordered a few hard to find cultivars for trial this year, They arrived promptly and germination has been excellent. Because of their small quantities, I can't use them for main crops, but for a backyard gardener, or when just wanting to evaluate a cultivar, they seem ideal.

I have seeds from this company that are 5 years old and they all germinated for me this spring... I love this company! I don't think anyone offers better pricing for better quality than they do!!!

I usually order from them every 2 or 3 years (I save seeds for years) . I was really surprised how fast my order was shipped this year. In previous years it had taken too many weeks. I'm glad they have fixed this.

I like their selection. They have varieties of vegetables from around the world.

I placed an order on 12-26-06. While the majority of the order arrived fairly promptly, one item was back ordered (replacement cover for greenhouse structure). A note was sent saying the iterm was backordered, and the item would be sent when they have it in stock - usually within 30 days. On 1-30-2007 I emailed the company to find out the status since I had heard nothing. January 31 I received a response saying they were still waiting for the item to come in - would I like to cancel - with no indication of when the item was expected. I sent a subsequent email asking when the item was expected, heard nothing back, sent another email 6 days later, only to be told on 2-7- 07 "it could be another month". I realize they are probably dealing with a distributor to fill their order, but would have been more satisfied if they had given me some idea when the item was expected (or that they had no clue) when I inquired - instead of just offering to cancel the order outright. I want the item, but need it before time for the seedings to be placed in the greenhouse.

"

Hello - we try to offer these replacement covers as a convenience to our customers - you didn't buy the greenhouse from us. Why aren't you "negative" towards the vendor who sold you the greenhouse and then did nothing to support it? That is not uncommon - Smith and Hawken sells the replacement for 20 bucks and we have it for $7.95 all of the other folks who sell the greenhouse don't seem to be interested in the hassles of dealing with the spare parts. Initially we had 20 pieces which went very quickly - i hope to our "real" customers - those who purchased the greenhouse from us. Now I'm told there are 250 units with our name on them in China. If we don't actually lose money on the deal i might consider air freight - for the sake of those who have been waiting patiently - not you. If that is too expensive it will be a couple of months. Since the demand for the replacements is double the number of greenhouses we sold it would appear that we are servicing the needs of everyone who bought one of these greenhouse - regardless of who from. Believe me, the replacement cover isn't nearly as profitable as the greenhouse which someone else sold you.
When our computer again shows the item as available it will mean that they are on the shelf. You were always offered a refund and the responses you were given were accurate. We don't know when they will come. Meiners - Owner"

I was a little aprehensive about ordering from Pinetree after reading some of the comments, but I'm glad I did. I ordered seeds, which arrived in a reasonable amount of time. I haven't ordered any plants from them, but after this positive initial experience, I plan to.

I have ordered from this company for serveral years.
This includes seeds and soap making products. This year,
I received my order, with one packet that had no seeds.
I sent them the empty packet and requested another packet
of these seeds. I received the seeds with no problem.
Prices are reasonable compared to others. Germination rate
is about average.

On the plus side, the smaller packets of seeds are very affordable and encourage to try new things. The seed ordered mostly germinated very well.
On the minus side, the plants received were very small and not very vigorous, but somehow most managed to survive. The blackened and dead looking hosta root I got in September surprised me by coming up the following Spring, just a couple of leaves but it is alive...

I have ordered from Pinetree for several years and love their selection, prices, and service. Their seeds are usually in packets small enough for an inexpensive trial, but large enough to grow a small section of plants. Their discount book prices are fantastic (too fantastic, actually).

Germination is very good, though it does not seem as good as the seeds from Johnny's or Stokes.

Shipping is timely, but not super fast. Costs are very reasonable. Expect reused boxes (fine with me) and newspaper packing (also fine). I only had one problem with books packed in the same box as bags of seed starting mix - the books were coated with peat moss. A quick vaccuming solved the problem, but the books should have been in sealed plastic bags.

Three issues:
1. Their website is better than it used to be, but it needs two things:
a. A savable shopping cart/wish list feature.
b. A search engine. You can't search their site.
c. A way to order larger quantities of favorite seeds.

I love this company, and continue to look forward to ordering from them for years to come.

i have ordered, save for last year, every year for the last 6 years. i LOVE them. there books are low enough priced that i can afford several. only wish that they was discribed a bit better as that i ordered one beliving was some thing different that what it was. i ordered last time nearly 65 dollars in seeds and loved all. last year i used up surpluss seeds from the last two years. still had a 90% + germ rate one most one and two year old seeds. will order from them again. most seeds are about .65-.79 perpacket. even the more 'expensive' seeds are only about 1.50 packet. and they have soooo many extras that i shall probably be a life long coustomer.shipping is cheep. nothing is more annoying then ordering a 10 or fifteen dollar order only to find out that you will pay that much or more for s&h. and all you ordered was 5-6 pkgs of seeds. wont happen here.
they also have the 'in' veggies each year. i would not expect this at a discount seed store.

I found this company through Dave's Garden and attempted to place an order via their website. My browser was a bit out of date and therefore the website was cranky. I had my shopping list and had just entered my credit card information when the site burped and all of my shopping list disappeared. Luckily I had already saved a version of the page, so I cut and pasted in my list and e-mailed them. They responded promptly, confirmed that they had my credit card number and used my e-mailed copy of the list to place my order. The seeds came promptly. No word on germination rate yet because I haven't planted any. Anyway, they did quite well on making up for the communication difficulties promptly.

I've bought seeds from Pinetree for the last 3 years. No customer service issues have ever arisen.

Positives: The quality of seeds has always been very good (though the tomatoes seemed a bit lower in 2006). The prices are very reasonable.

Negatives: Service is very slow - - Pinetree may take weeks to ship your order during the busy season, so don't use them for last-minute purchases. You can't buy larger size packets. They provide very little growing information, either in their printed catalog or their website.

I've ordered from Pinetree several times and each time, I've been delighted with my order. It's wonderful to be able to get smaller quantities of seeds and I love the fact that they carry some very unique varieties. Wonderful company!

Just received another fine order from Pinetree Seeds. Website was newly redesigned and worked great for me....fast loading pages and no problems with credit card order. Most of the seeds I ordered were received in about a week's time with the backordered items arriving within 2-3 weeks. As with any seed company, I recommend ordering early for faster shipping and better availability. Germination rates have always been excellent with this company. I will report back in spring if they are any different.