Comments regarding Four Seasons Nursery

I ordered months ago, and just received my items yesterday. Some of the items, I am not sure will make it.
The communication with this company is terrible at best. I sent several emails, requesting updates on my items. It was one reason or another that they were not shipped. I tried calling the phone number, apparently it does not work. I asked them in an email for a good phone number, and they responded to the email, but did not give me a phone number.
I honestly will not deal with this company again.

Posted on May 26, 2018, updated March 6, 2020
I ordered two dwarf cherries and a citrus quartet on April 17. They arrived today, May 26. In between when I ordered and when the order arrived, I had a conversation with a very rude CSR named Jess who was not even 5% helpful.

But the plants arrived sooner than I thought they would. The cherries look dead, but the stems are pliable so I have a little bit of hope. But they're nanking cherries, not the dwarf cherries I ordered. Nanking are still small trees, but they're more like tiny plums than cherries and they get a lot taller than the dwarf plants I ordered. Plus, packaging is horrendous. They just threw the bare rooted plants into the shipping bag with no moist wrapping or anything. The roots are completely dry. I got them soaking in water within minutes of their arrival, and got them in a 24" planter a few hours later, in an attempt to save them. I doubt they'll make it. I will be pleasantly surprised if they do.

The citrus though - it's absolutely beautiful. I have four leafed plants. They tried really hard to kill them in shipping - they're wrapped in flimsy plastic blister packs, and thrown into a flimsy shipping bag. The bag had been crushed repeatedly by USPS. A box would have solved that entire problem! But somehow they survived the journey, and look like they'll thrive once potted.

For the price I paid, I suppose I can't complain. I didn't expect to receive leafed citrus, especially not when the same plants sell for $25+ each at the local garden center. One of them even has a bonus - there's another small citrus seedling coming up in the lime plant. For the $4.5 each/cherries if they don't make it I'll consider it the cost of the citrus and move on with my life.

Overall - would probably shop here again. The entire order was under $40 with shipping for a lime tree, a lemon tree, an orange tree, a tangerine tree and two cherry trees. But I'm concerned with buying bare root from them in the future. If they're not going to even bother wrapping the plants in wet paper towel and sticking the roots in plastic to keep them from drying out, what's the point?

I will update this to a positive if those cherries come through. If they do, I'll have no real complaints... except Jess, the CSR. She's a mess.

Wish I had read 'the scoop on 4seasonsnursery' before I ordered. I spent $30 and ordered four items.

I ordered:
Bi-Color Butterfly Bush1 for 4.49
Clematis 'Blue Light 1 for 6.99
Candy Cane Oxalis1 for 4.99
Angelique Tulip 6 for 3.99

The butterfly bush and clematis were substitutes, the Candy Cane Oxalis plant is a SEED, and one of the tulip bulbs has mold on it. Everything was fine, except for the PRODUCT.
Oh well - all those slots in the garden that were looking forward to those colors.
I'll be returning everything and requesting a refund. I ordered online, and now suggest to them that it would be helpful if their online catalog automatically told you they'd run out of something!
For the record, the timing of my order was good. I ordered mid October, and, as I can garden year round here, I received my order today (Nov 1,2018). Also, I called to check whether my order would be shipped out now instead of next spring, and got through no problem, and the customer service was fine. Shame about those tulips though.

I ordered 3 pawpaw trees and 3 nanking cherry shrubs which were shipped 5/25/18 and arrived here in York S.C. today 6/05/18. It took 10 days to ship from IL to SC with one day being Memorial Day. I contacted the company after 7 days stating my concern that I hadn't received my order and that I feared when it did arrive the likelihood was very high that the order would no longer be viable. The Fedex tracking report had shown that the package was delivered to the local Post Office after six days but when I attempted to track the shipment again, the tracking information could not be shown. That is when I contacted Four Seasons via email with my concerns.

When the package arrived today, I opened it fearing the worst and it actually was worse than I imagined. The trees and shrubs were bare root in an unsealed plastic bag which contained nothing to keep the roots moist. It was truly a bare root shipment. They looked like dried desiccated twigs. I called customer service and told them I wished a refund. Of course I had to ship the package back at my expense.

I purchased $ 129.92 worth of plants. I ordered the 7th of April. I received four tomatoes plants on the or around the 3rd of May. I waited for the tomatoes for almost a month. Today is the 15th of May, and I have not received the rest of my order. The tomatoes came broken off from the plant. The soil was totally dried, and the plants were dead.

I called today 15th of May, spoke to someone in customer service. She told me that for me to get my credit back, I needed to send the plants back to their company. I paid for Item 7581 Giant Hybrid Beefmaster Tomato Plants Item#: 7581 4 for 5.79.

The customer service woman told me to be able to get a credit, I needed to send the box with the tomatoes back to the company. I asked for a label with postage paid by the company to send the items back. She told me it was the companies policy not to send postage to the customer. I would have to pay for postage and send the tomatoes back in order to get the credit. I shop online with many companies. If something is damaged not do to my fault, the companies always sends the postage to return the item.

Imagine, the tomatoes came almost one month late. Now I have to drive to the post office or to UPS. It will take about 1 hour and 1/2 for me to return the package, use my gas, and pay for that size box at the post office about $10.00 for a $5.79 items. I was very surprised with their return policy. It is not my fault the tomatoes came dried, broken, dead, and could not be planted. This is the first time I purchase items from Four Seasons Nursery company, and the last.

Besides my order taking without the tomatoes, 1 month and 17 or so days, today is the 15th and I have not received my order for the rest of the items ordered. Four Seasons Nursery wants me to invest time, gas, and around $10.00 or so for postage to send back the box of tomatoes.

They offered no solutions to rectify their damaged goods. Four Seasons Nursery's solution to send back the box is timely and expensive. Why should I spend time and money to send their damaged item back? They can keep the money. I WILL NEVER, EVER BUY ONE CENT FROM FOUR SEASONS NURSERY. I will tell all my friends of the poor job they did sending the tomatoes plants, damaged. If they would of given my credit back, or send some other plants, I would not be so disappointing, but they offered nothing. I do hope the rest of the order comes in with healthy plants. I took pictures of the tomatoes when I received the package , but there's no way of attaching the pictures I took of the box when I opened it. I am a very unhappy customer.

IF A VENDOR HAS FIVE TIMES MORE NEGATIVE REVIEWS THAN POSSITIVE, IT'S PROBABLY ACCURATE! Stay away from Four Seasons!!! They stretch the truth as far as one can. They are in business with little or no concern for their customers. Their communications system is the worst imaginable. Their warranty only protects their company; not you. And I doubt it they have ever tried to resolve a problem, as their phony "Rep. Responses" indicate in this forum. Just stay away from Four Seasons. There are too many other nursery services in this country who are honest business companies who try to do right by their customer. Stay far away from them unless you like becoming angry and loose money!

I ordered serveral different plants from them, to include an apple tree. I discovered the horrible reviews online and I was in a panic. I am happy to say that I was VERY pleased with the shipping time (It took one week from day order was placed to my door). I was also very happy to see that the plants were in decent shape. The potted plants were suffering from some shipping shock but made a quick bounce back. EVERYTHING is growing great and looks very healthy. I will order from them again and hope for the same results. Fwiw...it is inexpensive bc they send small plants. If you are like me and ok with that, then the price isn't too bad.

"On Jun 16, 2017 7:54 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your kind posting on Garden Watchdog. Your experience is more typical of our normal customers as we do ship hundreds of thousands of packages to satisfied customers each year. I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post your comments."

I was truly disappointed in this company three weeks after I sent in my order and check. I had received no information as whether they had received my order . After four weeks I e-mailed them regarding my concerns. No e-mail back from them so next day I sent the e-mail again. I finally received an answer that my order would ship on May 15th. On May 28th I received a package from them. Every thing in the package was dried up into dust. The one thing I wanted was strawberry plants and the had not included them in the package. I sent an e-mail describing the condition of the plants and the missing strawberry plants to their Customer Service department and they told me that's to bad but they would make no attempt to get me new plants or the 50 strawberry plants I had ordered. Nor did they have any plans to refund my money. I wish I had used my credit card as now I have no recourse but to submit my experience here. How a company can stay in business doing what they do is a mystery to me. Years ago I had a simalar problem with a nursery called Michigan Bulb Co. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same company under a new name. My total loss is only $42 so no big deal. I will always check the reviews on any company and will use a credit card.
Jack Fatjo
Denver, CO

"On Jun 15, 2017 1:56 PM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. We do have a refund and replacement guarantee available. We also have no affiliation with Michigan Bulb.

We have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance"

WARNING: If you close the account you paid with,
EVEN AFTER RETURNING ALL MERCHANDISE,
you will not get a refund.

THIS COMPANY IS HEARTLESS! Flowers are a symbol of love and life, and this company has taken the death of my mother in law as an opportunity to benefit their bottom line.

My mother in law placed a $600+ dollar order the week before her death. When the first box arrived a few days after she passed away I returned the box and contacted the company to let them know it was being returned and why. I asked them to please cancel any remaining shipments and was informed that 5 other boxes had just shipped. I told the representative that those boxes would be returned as well once they arrived.

This company uses MANY names. Dutch Gardens (the name I ordered from) refunded the contents of the first box, but when I called to find out why the other 5 boxes hadn't been refunded, the representative confirmed that all the merchandise had been returned, but told me that the company would only refund to the debit card that paid and since the debit card was no longer valid (checking account had been closed due to death) they had no way to refund the orders. I requested they issue a check to the estate, or simply give store credit for the remaining amount. I was told that the request would be forwarded on the the appropriate person.

It has now been 9 months, I have called several times, and each time I am told the request for refund has been made, but the company stands by their policy of not refunding returned orders if they are unable to refund to the card that placed the order.

Basically, this company does not dispute the fact that they received this entire order back. They simply refuse to issue a refund in any form other than to credit a debit card that is not valid, and won't accept a charge or credit.

I wish I had kept the plants and spread them around to her many gardener friends and planted some of them with my girls in our own garden to remember their grandma by. I was just so overwhelmed by the unexpected death that anything other than returning the boxes seemed more than I could manage.

The death of a loved one is a very emotional and exhausting time, and this company has made what should have been very easy, a difficult and enduring challenge.

I recently ordered 28 lilac bushes from Four Seasons Nursery on line.
I don't know what happenned on the computer but it put in 2 orders in a row.
The minute I found out that I was charged twice I called them. They wouldn't help me on the phone but told me the only way I can fix it is to send proof that I got charged twice. I told them not to send me 56 plants. I have a small yard and only need 28 plants. I immediatly mailed them a copy of my credit card bill. They sent me the plants anyway.
The plants came in 2 plastic bags. I counted and there were 14 plants in each bag-or to better describe them-twigs. I guess they counted them as double since each one had 2 twigs joined together. The roots were a bundle and I am new at this so I counted each one as one plant. I would have ripped them apart but planted them as one plant.
They refused to refund me. I feel like they robbed me of $93 since I tried everything to stop it before they shipped out the plants.
They said they would give me a refund if I rip out the plants and mail them back. I would also need the original shipping label. They should know that errors happen on a computer. It is a common problem for computers to input a double submittal accidently. I was going to order more things from them but I never would use them again. They are unfair people!!

"On May 17, 2017 10:45 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. It does become very difficult to cancel an order once entered into processing. We do have a refund guarantee and we have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance."

After receiving a catalog in the mail, I placed an order for 4 Forsythia bushes through Four Seasons Nursery. I paid via VISA credit card.

It's been 3 weeks and I've received zero communication from Four Seasons. No email confirmation of my order, no follow-up email, and worst of all, no order has been delivered!

Their phone number is terminally busy. I can't tell you the last time I heard a busy signal. They don't reply to emails requesting information on my order. And now that I'm reading other reviews, I'm realizing that I'll never see the merchandise I paid for!

I'm just glad I printed out a hard copy of my order with them, because that's all I have to go off of! I'll be filing complaints with the BBB and Illinois AG. This company sucks!

"On May 17, 2017 10:53 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. If the order was placed online we do send a confirmation email. We also try to answer any email communication within 24 hours. Please be sure to check your spam folder as well as add our email address to your contacts.

We have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance."

My check was cashed by them over a month ago. I have not gotten anything from them and can not get them to answer the phone or internet communication. I fear the worst and so wish I had read the horrific reviews before falling for the "sale" I am afraid I have been stolen from by these people like so many others. Sad in Missouri.

"On May 17, 2017 10:42 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this problem. A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information.
"

I ordered 3 raspberry's , 3 Thorn less Black berry's , 6 Cherry trees , & a collection of 7 roses , & 2 Blueberry's & 6 Hibiscus plants ,along with a Bi colored Butterfly bush . most all of them arrived dead , Not a one of them have lived through the winter , I sent in my labels for everyone of them & got replacements 3 times ,all 3 times I have gotten dead plants are almost dead , I will never again order from this company , I also ordered some lillys which I had to reorder again , due to them being DOA , I do not know if they are going to replace any of them this spring or not , Have not heard anything from them since I sent in the shipping labels last year , I feel like I spent my hard earned money for nothing , as they only offer 30 days to get your money back , Not only that I was supposed to get a free rose with the collection of Roses , but since it was a free gift for ordering the collections of them , they will not reship it at all .it arrived dead also , I was very disappointed at this company's policy's & will never again order anything from them , I feel like I was taken advantage of and I live on SSDI & it is hard to get plants with my income anyway , So from now on I will just go to somewhere that has live plants & just buy them outright , Never order from this company as there plants either don't grow or They arrive DEAD .

"On Apr 7, 2017 10:54 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem."

I ordered from this company last year (2015) After placing my order with them, I read a lot of negative reviews and got pretty nervous about what was going to happen, but almost all of my plants arrived healthy and dormant. I did order in late Winter, however, so I think that helped protect the plants from much danger of freezing or getting too hot while in transit. The plants I had that ended up dying were due to lack of care on my part.

Of the three black raspberries I ordered, all three did well until the heat wave last Summer and I lost one, but that was because I forgot to water it for a couple of days. I still have two and am hoping they made it through winter - but I DID get three healthy raspberry plants to begin with. Same story with my two mock oranges - one died because I didn't get enough water on it. The other is alive and flourishing on the east side of my house. The three free ranunculus I received looked like dried, dead husks, but I soaked one in water for giggles and put it in some dirt to see if it was just dormant. After all the other reviews I've read, I didn't expect for the ranunculus to do well, anyway.

The only time I had to deal with their customer service was two weeks after my order, when I still hadn't received a shipping notice. I emailed them and got a reply that it would ship soon, and about two days later my plants came.

Not sure if I would order again or not, after reading other reviews. Time will tell. But I did want to share my positive experience with this company, even if I'm just one of the lucky ones.

I ordered a banana tree from them in Feb and they have took my money and that's all I can get from them, They will not answer their phones and when you e-mail them you get the same answer no madder what question you ask, It computer answered!!!!!!!!! I have tried over and over with phone calls and e-mail and still nothing,,,This is a sorry way to do business with anyone and I will not ever us them anymore

Order with PLENTY of time for Spring planting, company sent $238 worth of dead plants to me around the end of May, it is now Almost September (aug 28th) I have resent letters and 4 times they have replaced the plants with even worse dead plants. Today the latest replacement arrived and instead of 66 Hollyhocks I have 22 bags of mushy something that might have been plants once but it's hard to tell they are so old they actually smell rotten. NEVER EVER buy from this company or any of their other "sister" companies. They have been report to the FTC for internet theft and there is an outstanding case against them for defrauding customer of their money and using the internet to conduct criminal behavior involving fraud.

This company will not send their product on time, will send dead bare root trees, and worst of all will give you inferior varieties that are not what you purchased. I purchased seedless grapes two years ago from them... every last one has seeds and is not very sweet. Grapes take two years to produce fruit (if you cut them back appropriately after the first year) so this was not evident until now. They also conned me with the strawberry variety giving me an inferior spreading June-bearing variety, when I purchased a large fruiting ever-bearing variety that does not spread. They do not acknowledge their trickery and insist that seedless grapes sometimes have seeds (all of mine do), and do not comment on the strawberries, only insisting on the original shipping label (I sent this back to them with the dead trees in 2013).

I ordered plants from the Four Seasons catlaog on 03/18/15. My order totaled $182.97. Approximately 3 weeks later, I received partial shipment 2 of 3. I received package 3 of 3 around April 26th. I contacted the company numerous times concerning package 1 of 3, which contained the vast majority of the plants. Each time, I was told a different story as to why I had not received the remainder of my order. On April 25th, I emailed a request to cancel the order. i received a reply that the cancellation would take 1 to 2 weeks to process. When the refund had not been provided in over 3 weeks, I emailed the company on 05/19/15 and asked for a status. There was no response from the company. On 05/28/15, I called to inquire about the cancellation/refund. One agent said 'the refund was being processed". When I advised her that I requested the refund a month ago, we mysteriously got cut off. I called back and requested a Manager. I explained my issue and was placed on hold in excess of 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, the manager said he would call me back because he was trying to get information from the shipping department in Minnesota.

On June 8, 2015, I received an email that they were crediting my credit card $111.47. I had provided a list of that plants that I had not received, and the total that should have been refunded was $126.22. They stated that they sent cetain plnats that they did not and tried to use the ploy that I now undertand to be very common with them: " Provide us with your shipping label". What good would that do if they thought they put certain plants in the package when in fact they included something else.

Don't let the pretty catalogs fool you. You might get them from one of many of the Plantron companies. Those comapanies are:
Burgess Seed
Direct Gardening
Dutch Gardens
Exciting Gardens
Farmer Seed and Nursery
Four Seasons Nursery
Honeycreek Nurseries
House of Wesley
Inter-State Nurseries
Kelly Nurseries
Richard Owen Nursery
Royal Dutch

If you're lucky enough to get plants, most are covered with mold/mildew. Out of the plants in my shipment, everything was dead or died except for 3 plants.

At any rate, I refused to waste any more time dealing with this poor excuse of a company. I'll let them have that $14.75 and use my time and effort to ensure that prospective customers don't make the mistake of dealing with this pathetic company.

Spend your money elsewhere.

This company has extremely poor products and even worse service.

It is time for them to be investigated for their
refund/replacement practices!

They give a bad name to online nurseries.

DO NOT order from this company. Worst customer service experience of my life. Order was horribly late with no explanation. When called they stated they "didn't have the means to track orders", internally, and that the order will be delivered "Soon". When the product was delivered..a month later.. it was poorly packaged. The bushes were half dead when they arrived and half of the trees have died since planting. I made sure to follow directions for planting. I called about replacement and was told that I needed a label that was supposedly shipped with the plants to returns them. I asked for a replacement label and was denied. Customer service stated that they needed proof of payment. I have a receipt of the sale but they said that was not good enough that they needed financial documentation,. ie. a statement from a bank or credit card. To me this is ridiculous that I should need to produce a personal financial document when I already have a receipt. That is what receipts are for correct? Talking to a supervisor about this he was abusive and rude stating that I was an irresponsible customer for losing the return sticker they supposedly sent with the product. DO NOT do business with this company. They are not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. They currently have over 110 complaints with the BBB. They use predatory business practices and stick consumers with subpar poducts.

ordered for years from this company BIG orders. this year items were late and broken or dead, did not receive other bag , emailed several times either ignored or they will look into it. called several times
they finally said they would refund for items not received and dead plants with label.next they sent me fed ex copy saying order delivered.i called again and said if you look fed ex says only 1 pkg delivered not 2. NO REFUND NO AMSWER I made a complaint with federal agency. will never use again. I THINK IT IS TIME FOR CLASS ACTION SUIT. THEY TOOK $139 FROM ME ANYONE ELSE INTERESTED????

I ordered from the nursery and got roots that were moldy and mushy. I called and sent back my packing label and waited. When I called to check the status I was told they were behind and would be shipped. I explained we were going on vacation and agreed on a shipping date. When we arrived home they did not ship on the agreed date. They were sitting in the post office moldy and mushy again. I asked them to send me the plants again. I had to resend the packing slip again! Not pleased the other plants I ordered were marginal. Will not order again from this source again.

Posted on January 26, 2015, updated April 5, 2015
Posted on October 23, 2014, updated January 26, 2015
Posted on October 17, 2014, updated October 23, 2014
Posted on October 17, 2014, updated October 17, 2014
Posted on October 14, 2014, updated October 17, 2014
Posted on October 14, 2014, updated October 14, 2014
Almost 3 weeks ago I ordered a 3n1 citrus tree. The thing I hate about them is how long it takes to get your order. So before I even ordered I emailed them making sure they had what I wanted and could ship it. Well then I emailed them about a week after I ordered to see if they've shipped yet and they told me it was still in procession which usually takes 1 to 2 weeks they did expect it to ship soon. I emailed them again at 2 weeks to see and I get the same thing it's still in processing which takes 1 to 2 weeks. I told them it's already been 2 weeks. I received an email yesterday that says they apologize for the delay we are v waiting for more plants from the grower upon receipt the plants will be prepared and the order should be shippededaccordinly. I am so mad

I placed an order for a few items ($90 worth of stuff). I was shorted two trees out of my order. I contacted them about it, and they want the original shipping labels sent back to them, which are also needed for any warranty on any products. So I can either try to get what I was shorted, or keep my warranty. Can't do both. They will not take any sort of a copy of the shipping paperwork via email or fax. A pretty good way to get people not to ever warranty or get the items they are shorted. Not a good business to deal with.

Posted on July 15, 2014, updated July 15, 2014
we ordered $100 worth of flowers, bulbs from 4seasonnurseries, part of order was two perennial bargains you receive 40 plants total. I received 4. I emailed them was told send explanation with ship label did so and 3 1/2 weeks later they sent me same 4 plants I received first time. Now last two wks they been emailing me telling me they sent me 32 plants. That's funny I only have 4. I am sick of the running around they are giving me. So much for my garden. I'm getting no where with them and will turn them into better business bureau. I should not have go thru all this.

My order arrived ahead of schedule, they were responsive to my email. EVERYTHING I ordered arrived in wonderful condition, carefully packaged & preserved. You can tell they care about their products, not to mention everything smelled wonderful. I don't know what they use but I'd love their secret lol. I ordered almost $100 worth of perennials, trees, bushes & grass. The hybrid day lily mix literally started sprouting not even 3 days after I planted it. The kwansan Japanese cherry blossom tree was an instantaneous grower. The 3 in 1 angel trumpet tree is going strong & the hibiscus are well on their way. The only thing I'm waiting for are the old fashioned day lilies, ornamental corner grass garden, bicolor butterfly bush & old fashioned bleeding heart. But please take into account the fact that I am a novice, I'm learning as I go here. I water everything with miracle grow sprinkled in. I am definitely doing business with this company again, I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you for helping me to make my landscape. & garden beautiful!

I ordered 3 pampas grass, 1 surprise package, 6 golden sundrops, the 3 tree bargain, 4 yucca and 3 hybrid poplar. The surprise package was $4.99 and they sent plants that prices on their own website added up to $48.98 (more than my total bill with shipping). I was very pleased with the surprise plants and I said to my wife, if half of the plants live, I will be happy. All of the yucca lived and are growing well, the 3 pampas plants are doing well, the hybrid poplars have literally grown any where from 4 to 10 inches in 5 weeks. The golden sundrops are ok, only 2 of 6 lived, but those 2 plants look pretty good (10 inches tall). The tree bargain turned out to be red maples, which I was excited about initially, they all ended up dead though. The surprise pack again was $4.99 and they sent 2 peony trees, a cinnamon fern and a burning bush which total $48.98 on their website. Unfortunately only 1 peony tree lived out of those 4 items, but if I bought it by itself on their website, it would have cost me $19.99 by itself. It was exciting to think about saving that much money if everything lived. Unfortunately everything did not live, but overall, it was still excellent value. I lost $5.33 total on the 4 dead sundrops, $2.79 on the dead maple trees and gained $15 with my live peony tree (cost of peony is $19.99 minus the cost of surprise package $4.99 = $15.00) so I came out $6.88 ahead over what I expected from my order, and I thought the cost for all of that stuff was incredibly cheap to begin with. To sum it up, it was disappointing to lose some plants, especially after they really got me excited when the "surprise" plants arrived, but I have to say I expected a certain loss going into the deal, and even with the deaths, the plants exceeded my expectations so far. I also got a few flower seeds and some watermelon seeds that are growing in the garden just fine. I highly recommend the hybrid poplars, they look great for $15 trees, let alone the $2 price per tree you pay from four seasons. I am writing this only 5 weeks after planting.

DO NOT ORDER FROM FOUR SEASONS NURSERY! We ordered plants from this company last year. When some weren't growing, we contacted the company (within the money back time period). They told us " We do ask that you plant the items and allow up to six weeks for them to begin to show growth." So much for the money back guarantee. We have received varying instructions about whether they need the shipping label. One email states: "If they do not then you may return the shipping label from the replacement order with a written request for more replacements or a credit voucher. We do keep the label on file for the duration of your guarantee." Every time we have emailed or spoken to a CSR, we get a different story. Plants are in the mail...we've sent you a voucher....we need the label...we don't need the label.

When I spoke with a supervisor, he stated that he has no access to the emails sent by reps. When I asked him to review the file and return my call, he stated that supervisors can't make outgoing calls. To date, we have $35 worth of plants and they are offering to send back $17 in replacements...after we send back the shipping label. Horrible customer service, won't give you your money back for plants that arrive dead. Save yourself the grief...buy your plants locally.

I placed an order with four seasons nursery. It was about a $150 order with fruit and nut trees, pines, black berry plants, rhubarb, ect. I figured the plants to be smaller from descriptions and prices, and it was true. No complaints there. The issue was with receiving my full order. The order was initially shipped without two fruit trees, ok I get mistakes happen. The phone number does not work to four seasons nursery. I called early, late and all times in between. No one has ever picked it up. I did get responses by email. The remainder of my order was "shipped" it took 6 days to receive, one bare root tree with no packing around the roots. It was pretty dry, i soaked it and planted it. Still waiting to see if it decides to live. The second tree of the same variety did not get received yet. Just beware. You get what you pay for. I will not re-order with them.

I ordered 160 lilies from Four Seasons Nursery along with $160 worth of other plants. When I received the order it was short 100 lilies. I contacted customer service by phone and got the "you must return your shipping label and write a letter explaining the problem" run around. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was denied. Hung up after being placed on hold forever and emailed customer service. Got the same run around. Thankfully I haven't paid my credit card yet so I have contacted Visa to dispute the charges. I won't pay for something I did not receive and should not have to jump through hoops to rectify a mistake made by their shipping dept. I will keep the charges in dispute indefinately if they don't either send me the lilies or refund my card for the 100 not received. Terrible customer service, place seems to be a ripoff, scam artist operation. If they already had my money I'd be screwed.

All of the plants we ordered from 4 Seasons arrived in good shape, and after a couple of weeks, all of them are burgeoning.

Their service was slow in comparison to other mail order suppliers, but for us that wasn't a problem.

I made one large order from this place and the order never seemed to arrive. I inquired and was told by the rep that they could not predict when the order would come but that I should be patient. To me, that is amazing: the rep can tell you nothing about the status. A small partial shipment arrived then but the rest of the order was taking weeks and weeks to arrive passing planting time. Finally I sent an email stating that if it did not arrive within the week due to some item unavailability, that they should ship what was available and cancel the rest of the order. It all magically came, but as others describe, things are not shipped well and some of my things were actually just rotten mush in a plastic bag of mold. I did not bother contacting them for a replacement as dealing with them again could not be worth the money lost.

"On Feb 14, 2014 3:10 PM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem."

I placed an order of about $300 on dwarf fruit trees, hedges and roses in April of this year. Everything but the roses, lavender and one dwarf citrus looked like people say... a stick.

I followed the instructions, soaked the roots, dug $20 holes for $10 trees. Now, in December with almost all the leaves fallen, my "sticks" are much bigger and finishing their first year in their final home. I can say, it was a great investment going with Four Seasons Nursery and I'm looking forward to a huge variety of fruits that I wouldn't have been able to afford going elsewhere.

Customer service was friendly, but they mixed up the dates on my two packages. I would highly recommend having your planting sites totally prepared just in case your plants come at an unexpected time.

Survivors: 5n1 Apple, 5n1 Pear, 5n1 Plum, Fruit Cocktail, 2 Peaches, 1 Cherry tree and 4 Cherry bushes, 4 Citrus (potted and indoors now), 10 Climbing Roses and all of the planted Siberian Elm.

Fatalities: 1 English Lavender, 5 Sub-Zero Kiwis and the unused Elms. All my fault. I wish I could get the Kiwis replaced, but it was not 4SN's fault.

I will place future orders with them and their sister companies confidently.

"On Dec 19, 2013 10:37 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your kind posting on Garden Watchdog. Your experience is more typical of our normal customers as we do ship hundreds of thousands of packages to satisfied customers each year. Thank you again and happy gardening!"

Posted on August 6, 2013, updated August 28, 2013
Posted on August 6, 2013, updated August 6, 2013
Posted on August 20, 2012, updated August 6, 2013
I ordered a mix of plants back in March 2012 for an order total of $57.00. All plants (if you can even call them plants = more like cuttings) were immediately planted into pots and watered as needed. Out of 78 plants 2 survived (lavender). The remainder was dead within a week. I e-mailed customer service at least 5 times, no answer. I called numerous times. They are hard to get on the phone, most always busy, and no 800 number!. Anyhow, after i got them on the phone, she requested that I send back the packing slip. Well, who keeps a packing slip?? The other option I had was to send the CC statement that proved that I had actually paid for the order - really??? So requested papers were sent, and nothing happened for another 5 weeks. Called again today to find out that they will ship probably/maybe/possibly for fall planting. I don't think those plants will do any better than the previous ones. But one has to give them the benefit of the doubt. At this time, I would never again order as much as a lily from this company. They have been the most disappointing in CS and response.

"On Aug 21, 2012 10:35 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

We are happy to hear that the customer has decided to take advantage of the replacement guarantee. A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information."

i ordered from this company in may out of 30 lilies 6 are alive other flowers I ordered are blooming and their not the ones I ordered look like daisies and they were gross when they arrived but thought they do this for a living they should know what their shipping well half dead plants are not good for business tried calling many times and e-mail but you guessed it never heard back wish I would have read their feedback before I ordered 40.00 giving to rip offs yeah keep your shipping label why no refunds just more nasty plants will not do business with this place again and be careful because they have 4 or 5 mail order nurseries online all with the same street and town just not the same building number.

"On Sep 6, 2013 9:51 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee which is clearly posted on our website and we stand behind them. We are affiliated with other companies but we are a separate company.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem

"

It seems I'm adding another 'me, too!' into the mix.
I'd ordered previously from one of their aliases, Direct Gardening (they have many aliases, likely due to a lot of unhappy customers).

The first DG order was what many have stated - 'a bag of sticks.' $100+ in misc items, butterfly bushes, roses..not a thing grew from the first order, and I let it go.

In March, ordered from 'Four Seasons,' knowing they were likely the same company. Again, the order was around $100, including a dozen Canadian Hemlocks (which interestingly they state as fast growers, while everyone else states otherwise) to try to fill in the road line..with intentions of buying another 20+. A cherry tree, some hydrangea, some ground cover, and a bundled 'garden package.'

Followed the instructions to pre-soak roots, dug larger than needed holes for the Hemlocks, mixed in peat moss, good topsoil + existing, and on of their starter pills. Not a single one grew, but I gave it another couple of months to make sure. Same on the cherry tree and ground cover.

No problem, they've got a 'guarantee.' Yeah, sort of. As a former business owner, it's 100% ridiculous, to keep a plastic bag/shipping label as 'proof of purchase' while they are very easily able to pull up your order details. Pure scam, so they can claim to have a 'guarantee' while ensuring very few people can actually exercise that guarantee.

I had intended to order some 36+ trees for the road line, with them replacing the 12 DOA Hemlocks + buying 24 more. A call to 'customer service' assured I am unlikely to do business with them again, and will next be reporting them to the BBB and investigating if their guarantee requirements on proof of purchase are even legal in my state.

They have a nice catalog to look through (except for the crappy 'artist renditions' of some items, but don't expect much from them. Shipping wasn't quick, they mis-represented a slow grower as a fast one, and simply don't stand behind their product in a fashion than is reasonable and sane.

Save that plastic bag and shipping label if you order from them, but be aware as they take the orders online, they need no more 'proof' beyond what they already have in their own systems - it's purely an intentional jumping through hoops to ensure fewer replacements go out the door.

"On Aug 3, 2013 11:31 AM, Four Seasons Nursery responded with:

A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants which is clearly stated on our website, catalog, even the label itself. We stand behind this guarantee and do hope that the customer takes advantage of the exception we have offered."

THIS IS THE WORST ON LINE GARDENING EXPERINCE I HAVE EVER HAD. Last winter I ordered some plantings from Four Seasons Nursery and a Walking Stick Willow. I was intrigued with this willow and anxious to plant.it. It arrived spring of 2012 looking dead and musty but I planted it according to instructions. 45 days later no life.
The roots were dead. Called the company and they said they would send out a replacement. The replacement came looking no better. Dead buds and roots. I panted this and waited and waited. No growth so removed it and it was dead. I called the company and told a lady in customer service of my dilemma. She was courteous and stated that they had a lot of complaints with this willow. She stated that I could get another replacement or wait until the spring of 2013 for new stock. I chose to wait and asked her what I should do in the spring when I called. She stated that all my information was on record and nothing was needed and just call to have them send out a new replacement.
I called this spring and a person, I believe "Wayne" answered and stated he need all the data from the shipping bag. I explained that a lady told me this was not necessary. He checked his records and agreed my purchase was on file, but with the bag info he could and would do nothing. I asked for a supervisor and receive the same negative answer.
Just today by shear luck I came across the much necessary shipping bag. I called customer service and again talked to the same person. He now stated, your warranty has expired, it is past April 2013. No exceptions.
I explained what the other staff person told me and again he said, it is past warranty. I was told if I wasn't satisfied to write a Mrs. Grace Avery and include the bag with my letter. He would not comment on what Mrs. Avery would do.
I am concerned I will write and send the bag and that will be the end. I am out $40.00 but the bigger issue is the rudeness I received and no concern of my getting two dead plants. Comments like, " didn't you read our written policy, it doesn't matter what one of our staff stated. Any suggestions, totally frustrated. Jean

I'm a second time buyer from Four Seasons Nursery. My first order was a disaster. The very first disaster, in fact, ordering from a mail order company in my 15-year ordering history. I figured it was a rare fluke experience and accepted it. (The problem was the NOVEMBER receipt of a JULY order, and getting plants I did not order as well as not receiving all of the plants I DID order which monetarily shorted me by over $10).
I sent another order this April (2013) and a few days later came across "Dave's Garden" site where I read report after report of outrageous conduct by this company. I was very fearful that I'd made a huge mistake and would surely lose my $50+.
To my relief my order arrived within weeks, containing exactly what I ordered. Everything looked - well - like bareroot stock WOULD look - brittle sticks and dried out roots. I always follow the care directions when the plants arrive and rarely have loss. If it helps, I'll share the following with you: I immediately fill a bucket with rainwater and soak bareroot plants for 24 hours. (I add a product called "SuperThrive" to that water. Magical stuff - sells at WalMart). Then I dig a hole fill it to the top with water, let that soak in, then set in the bareroot plant. I cover it with a mix of regular soil mixed heavily with compost. I finish by flooding the freshly planted plant one more time and adding about a cup of solution containing a product called "Boost 'Em"- critical for root development - (sells at directgardening,com). Every plant I purchased this time has broken dormancy and is growing beautifully, with the exception of 6 bridal wreath. These do have plenty of swelling buds along their 'twigs' though.
Please know, I'm not a paid advocate for the two products I mentioned. I just learned how valuable they are by using them through the horticulture trade. (I have a B.S Degree in Horitculture and owned a hort business for about 20 years.) If you buy them just be VERY careful to use EXACTLY the recommended dose. More is NOT better with these potent products, but when used right, you can expect nearly 100% success.
After they're planted in - by the way - if the weather is above 70 degrees (F) and dry for more than 5 days I water everything with about 3 quarts of water each. I repeat every 5 days if it's still above 70 and dry.
I hope this company continues to make an effort to operate competently and every customer can have the fine experience I just had. It would be such a pleasure to have a reliable source of affordable plants.
I know from my first experience with this company how frustrating it is and how defeated a customer feels when a company has screwed up an order and their customer service is unsympathetic towards corrective measures.

Flee like a scalded cat from Four Seasons Nurseries.
They completely messed up my $ 200+ order, sent unlabeled material, sent bare-root plants with no protection whatsoever, just loose in the bag, and surprise, surprise failed to ship the two most expensive items in my order. I made repeated attempts to get them to replace the missing items, and each time I sent them what they asked for, they asked for something different. Like everyone else posting here, I wish I would have seen the horrific, well -deserved, reviews this company routinely gets. Oh well, burned once, but I will not be burned again. I will instead spend my time sending out photo's of the dead plant material I received from Four Season Nurseries to the many gardening blogs I participate on, and warning all my gardening clients to stay far, far away from such a disreputable firm.