Comments regarding Forestfarm

I ordered 3 tubes since they were out of the gallon size . 2 arrived in good shape, although smallish. The third one a kousa dogwood was puny with no discernable rootgrowth. It had lost most of its leaves and the remaining ones were shriveled. For this one I paid $29 plus shipping, which is a lot of money for very little plant. I had just received a shipment from Smith and Hawken with superb plants, so I was very suprised at the poor quality after reading the good reviews. I e-mailed FF upon receipt of the plants, but did not get any reply. Hope my experience is not typical.
L.Larson, Chevy Chase, MD

I heard of this company through this site. I was thrilled with the plants in general, but one died of transplant shock. They mailed a credit letter, which I finally used two years later and the second order is terrific. They also have an amazing catalog.

This is the 2nd consecutive year we have ordered products from Forestfarm and we have been richly rewarded both years! Their shipping containers and processes are excellent. Every product we received from Forestfarm was in excellent condition and performed exceptionally well! We will continue to order products from this excellnt company!

Trees arrived on time and in prestine condition. Very thoroughly packaged. I nice instructional care manual came with the order as well as a huge catalog that has any plant imaginable! I will definately be ordering again from this company, very pleased!

This company is the best. I made a $200 order of plants, and made several mistakes on size,shipping and codes. They were wonderful and very patient in sorting out my mess. The order was $10 more then I sent when refigured and they didnt even charge me the difference. The plants that arrived are just beutiful and growing well. I recomned this company to anyone who wants quality plants with a great customer service.

I ordered a Fragaria vesca 'Golden Alexander' from Forestfarm last week. It arrived today (a day earlier than expected!) looking really good. Their tube system kept the plant in excellent shape in transit and it came with new buds ready to open as well as multiple berries forming on it. I had a million questions to ask, Ray was very patient with me, answering every last one, even apologizing for not getting the UPS tracking number to me fast enough.

I corresponded with Ray via email for over a week before purchasing my one little plant, but he treated me as though I were his only customer. I cannot recommend this company more highly. They have plants for sale I've only ever heard of and their commitment to customer service is beyond compare.

This is the first time using Forest Farm and i was very pleased......
Nice tree and arrived in good condition, and very fast shipping. I have planted lots of trees bought locally this year and i will be intrested in seeing how the Forest Farm tree measures up. Very happy so far.........Thanks

I ordered from Forestfarm on April 22. Today is April 25 and I just got home from work to find my order on my porch. The plants are HUGE! The plants are HEALTHY! It was so well packaged that I think I could have run over it with my car and the plants would still be fine. I ordered:
Chinese Viburnum
Sedum 'Cape Blanco'
Agastache cana 'Sonoran Sunset'

My only disappointment is that it is already dark, so I can't put these beautiful plants in the ground until tomorrow.
I will definitely do business with this excellent company again!

This year I have ordered plants from 6 different on-line nurseries.
By far Forestfarm.com has sent the best quality plants. The plant
quality, size and packaging condition has exceeded - hands down - all
the other sites.

If I need any plants in the future, and they have them in stock, I will
no doubt be using Forestfarm to place my order. My only regret is I
did not find them sooner.

the best packaging and plant condition i have every experienced in many years of ordering plants by mail. my compliments!

I am so pleased with my order from FF and am ordering more items I cannot get here at the local nurseries. They were quick to follow up on a couple of items that were struggling (and unfortunately didn't survive). I was impressed with the overall treatment.
CaTransplant

I ordered a Scarlet Curls willow and a Black Maul willow from FF and was very pleased with the plants. This was last year and both are doing great.

They have a great selection and a lot of items that I have not been able to find anywhere else.

I have been ordering tube size trees from Forest Farm for years, maybe even half a dozen years. I am more then well pleased with the shipments I have received. As I receive these baby trees in early spring into my Greenhouse, the only comment I really have to offer is once the trees leaf out in my Greenhouse, they definitely need to be hardened off before being planted outside.

xxx

I am very pleased with my first order from them , which arrived today. Plants were well packed in a peculiarly tall box, the roots tightly secured at one end (my order were all tubes, this reduces shipping costs considerably compared to gallon sizes). Two plants were rather small, but very well rooted and healthy, the rest of the 12 ranged from as expected to much larger than expected (a jasmine had multiple yard plus branches on it, and a rose arrived multibranched with an unopened flower bud!).
Based on my experience, I'd highly recommend forest farm!

It is hard to describe the way Forest Farms packs plants for shipping---very strong cardboard boxes, everything is held firmly in place.---Their system must have been designed by an engineer! They obviously spend a great deal of time packing the plants for each order.

When ever I had questions, they responded immediately to my e-mails. I made a major change to one order, and they were very cheerful about making the change. Nice people.

This is my third year ordering plants from them in the gallon size. These plants are huge. For the first time this year, I also ordered some plants in the "tube" size in order to save money on shipping coast to coast. I will let you know how these work out--The plants in the tubes are small, but appear to have excellent root systems.

I have made several orders now from this fine company. Their customer service is helpful and responsive. I have been very impressed with the quality of their plants and the variety in their catalog is super.

Once again a perfect experience with Forestfarm. Tube Eucalyptus was near 5 feet high. Packed so well it was a chore just getting the trees out of the box, but packed in a way that it would be near impossible to damage the trees, especially the roots, either in transit or while getting them out of the box. Thank you, Forestfarm, for helping me bring some of California to Arkansas. By the way, my Sierra Juniper seems to love Arkansas summers more than the Greenmound and Bluestar juniper around it that nearly died.

I was ecstatic to receive my first mail order tree (Japanese Maple 'Katsura') from Forestfarm yesterday, it was in great shape with a beautiful form and nice healthy rootball, nice size for a good price. The packaging method ensured no damage in shipping whatsoever...couldn't be happier :)

Great company. I have received 2 shipments from them already this spring. Large healthy plants and a marvelous never-ending selection in their catalog.

Forestfarm of all the purchases I have done from the web (Edible Landscape, Big Dipper, Raintree Nursery, Springhill etc) has send plants ALWAYS in top condition, healthy looking and they do by far the best job on packing. This is my favorite nursery. Once a package was damaged and a plant broken. They immediatly send a replacement that was bigger and packed to perfection.

Great job keep it up

I ordered three carolina silverbells, an 'Akebono' cherry tree, two types of honeysuckle, two rhododendrums and a Mexican orange bush. I purposely ordered in all three sizes they offered, 5 gal, 1 gal and tube size so as to know what is what if I should choose to order again. All were of the size I would expect and perhaps larger. I would definately order again as everything was well packaged and healthy when it arrived, which was exactly when I requested it to. I am very pleased.

I have ordered from Forest Farm three times over the past year. With each order I was very pleased to receive healthly, good sized, reasonably priced trees. Forest Farm reps are helpful and friendly on the phone and Forest Farm ships quickly. They sell many plants that are hard to find elsewhere. I recommend this company.

I can say nothing but good things about Forestfarm. They have an incredible selection of hard to find plants. They are very friendly and quite knowledgeable. Prices are reasonable. EXCELLENT NURSERY!!!!

I have made at least 5 purchases from Forest Farm in the last 3 years. For the price and the distance plants have to travel to get to me from the 'other' coast they are a great deal.I always received healthy plants. Forest Farm has an amazingly large selection of plants. Pretties I could not locate anywhere else!
Prices that are very low compared to other places.IE Banks rose alba -elsewhere $ 39.95 for a gallon container , at Forest Farm $ 8.95....for a 'tube' the plant is almost same size
Reading their print catalog takes days if not weeks to go thru for the sheer volume. I like them a whole lot!

I have ordered from FF for many years and the experience has always been positive. The have a great selection of plants also. I have had my plants shipped by ground to save on the more expensive airmail shipping and have had some plants that did not look good after the week in transit. FF will replace these if they do die if you notfiy them. May bight the bullet on future orders and go with airmail shipping.

I've ordered several times from Forestfarm. The plants are always good quality and excellently packed. They have an amazing selection of plants. Their customer service is very good.

I've seen some comments about the cost of shipping. It's really not bad when you consider that their plant prices tend to be low and the quality is high. If you order something through the mail, you're going to have to pay for shipping one way or another. Either you'll pay more for your plants and less for shipping or the other way around.

I am completely satisfied with my experiences with Forestfarm and will continue to be a customer as long as I can find space in my yard or greenhouse.

I ordered from Forest Farm this past spring at the suggestion of my friend (who is a professional gardener, garden designer, and horticulturist - I tend to listen to him).

When I ordered (my original order was 6 gallon sized roses) the representative informed me that I could order 2 more gallon sized plants if I wanted and still pay the same shipping costs. Nice! And, yes, dear reader, I added to the order - an autumn clematis and a helleborus.

The plants arrived beautifully packaged and in great shape, with detailed planting instructions included. The roses have survived a vicious insect infestation handily; the clematis is covered in buds and about to burst into bloom; the helleborus is larger and more vigorous than a previously established plant - and I'm happy.

Yes, the shipping charges seem high at first - but considering the obvious care they take with packaging the plants and the plants' condition on arrival, it's more than worth it, IMO.

Plants in early June arrived weak but most have strengthened since. However, the Ispahan rose I ordered has continued to go downhill. I wrote to them about a month ago with no response, and wrote a second time 4 or 5 days ago and still have had no response.
The other plants have improved, but their lack of response on the one that hasn't concerns me.

I ordered a bunch of plants and some were very weak, they very quickly replaced the poor quality plants, very nice people and look forward to next spring when I can get some more plants. Thanks a Mill to Forest Farm and what a fantastic selection.

Yah alot of positive reviews ...maybe alot of folks are use to bad treatment or maybe mine was a fluke ... I was looking for a red scolopendraflorium JM.... well after a couple of emails which BTW were timely ... I was told to take my biz elsewhere ...not in those exact words but that was the jist ...I guess they thought I was too picky but if I was gonna pay over $100 for a JM from a company I had never dealt with I wanted to be sure the tree was worth it ...and the high shipping was worth paying for the quality of tree I was getting ... I HAVE NEVER been treated this badly by any JM internet company.... no resposes ..yes...poor quality plant....yes ...but never told to go elsewhere... I would NOT suggest anyone ever buying here...unless they just buy off the site and trust these bozos to send good product....again I have NEVER been treated so badly over something that was my right ...to know exactly what quality of tree I was spending the big bucks for David

"

We’ve been thinking for quite awhile as to how to respond without raising anyone’s hackles, but perhaps that’s wishful thinking, at best!

Do we deserve a negative rating for being honest enough to suggest to this person that he might be happier shopping at a local nursery? When someone asks early in the conversation what is the guarantee if he doesn’t like the plant we have sent to him, our guard goes up. Does this person want us to send him an expensive plant just so he can say he doesn’t like it, and demand his money back? It’s happened, it’s costly, and we don’t wish for it to happen again. So we tried to graciously steer him in another direction—to a local nursery where he can actually see the plant before he buys it. If that is considered to be rude, we’re sorry—we really try not to be. We’d like the customer to be happy with the plant he purchases no matter where he obtains it. Although we hope our plants are considered to be good specimens of their type, we have no way to know if they will meet someone’s notion of how the plant should look—it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to really paint a picture with words.
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I have ordered many clematis from them. It's always easy and the plants a ALWAYS great & healthy. I have delt with them since 1992.

Mainly positive. I ordered $259 worth of plants from Forest Farm and all of the plants are doing well. I was very impressed with the 6-7' tall Malus 'Royal Fountain' they sent me across the country. The shipping was more than the plant, but if I could have found the same plant at a local nursery at that size, I would have paid the same.

The only thing that has left a sore spot is the tiny, skinny 1 G. Cercis 'Silver Cloud' that I received last Fall. I had doubts about it then, but because of the mild winter, it made it through and began leafing out only to die. I have no idea why. A 1G Prunus serrula is slowly coming back from the roots. (These are the more frost hardy plants- the zone 7 plants made it through the winter fine.)

Getting to the point-I called them ONLY about the Cercis because I paid $39 for a now dead twig. After talking to Ray, Michelle, (who does not seem too patient, which also came through when I was asking her questions prior to ordering the Crab), asked Ray what they could do for me. They offered a replacement at 50% of the cost and I would have to pay for the shipping. I decided not to shell out more money for another tiny plant. This was not a good experience, esp. when she stated, "I don't know what you want me to do, ________, in an exasperated tone.
Well, let's see Michelle, how about replacing the Cercis w/o any cost to me. It's not like the plant was some robust specimen that I killed due to by black thumb.

Anyway, I have not looked at my catalog since, and probably will not again. Loss for me too because overall, I loved their selection and quality, and understand that plants are living things that die. Perhaps if I had talked to one of their nicer staff...

On 6/2/06 I ordered

2 "Berries Jubilee" Honeysuckle
2 Astrantia major "Hadspen Blood"

They arrived very well packaged and completely intact and still moist. The honeysuckles were approximately 3 feet tall and 1 was in bloom. Both the astrantia had nice follage.

I would definitely order from them again.

This is my first time with Forest Farm, and they were so incredibly nice. My credit card didn't go through the first time and they sent the shipment anyway! Lovely, lovely people; Ray is the salt of the earth. Awesome customer service, and a very friendly "family" atmosphere. Oh...and the plants were ENORMOUS, carefully packaged and healthy. Decent price, too; I have spent more $$$ at other places for not so nice, smaller plants. Definitely check them out. Their website is a little difficult to maneuver, but they have TONS of plants. Wide range. Great experience!

I have been buying plants and seeds mail order for 20+ years,in terms of price and selection they can not be beat. Thier customer service reps have always been courteous and helpful.Now on to the shipping,packaging was excellent my 6'4" husband had to spend a little time unwrapping. The plants and trees came from coast to coast ,and handled the transit quite well, I bought a selection of conifers,bushes,trees and herbaceous perrenials so I feel safe to say good job all around.

Forestfarm is my favorite mailorder nursery. Their list is the most comprehensive of any nursery I know, and whenever I have an esoteric question (such as about height of grafts on the Laburnum trees, for example) or request small plants to save on shipping, the owner calls right back. It's true that their packing is very difficult to undo, but then I've never had a plant get harmed during shipping. I've always been pleasantly surprised by the size/health of the plants, especially compared to nearly every other mailorder nursery.

I've ordered from forestfarm several times and have generally been very satisfied. I've ordered a variegated norway maple, several crape myrtles, magnolias, the eskimo sunset sycamore--- all were excellent plants that are growing well. Their packaging is faboulous...it's actually quite a chore to get the plants out of the box!

My only real disappointment was with the 5 gallon Edith Bouge magnolia I ordered. For it's price and with the cost shipping, I was slightly dissappointed with how sparse the branches and leaves were. I became far more concerned when upon planting I discovered the soil was very wet and the roots were severely rotted. The soil fell off back to where the live roots remained and the living rootball could have actually fit snuggly inside a one gallon pot. The plant then shed further leaves and now has very few pale green leaves left. It's had just over a month to get established but it's still not showing any signs of improvement.

Small plants arrived in decent condition. However, I was not notified of shipment, and had to phone to obtain the UPS tracking number, something that I find disappointing in this day and age.

I recieved three trees that were in great shape, and didn't seem to be suffering any shock at all. They all arrived in about a week, and were all larger than I expected. They look great! I'll definately order from them again in the future.