Comments regarding Chris Bowers & Sons Whispering Trees Nurseries

This was my first time ordering from Bowers Chris & Sons and the experience was good. The tree I ordered arrived quickly and undamaged.

Great purchase. Plant came quicker than I had expected and was larger than I had hoped for. It came with the soil and fertilizer included in same package.

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I have been buying from Bowers Chris & Sons for some time and am very pleased with not only their prices and plant selection but also their Great customer service!

Note from the Garden Watchdog editors...

It is the policy of the Watchdog that customers cannot publish multiple reviews under different usernames in order to manipulate a company's rating. It has been determined that this review originated from the same source as multiple other reviews here. Therefore all these reviews have been changed from a positive to neutral rating so they will not affect the overall ratings given by customers

The ordering of my lemon and rose bushes was easy. Plants arrive on time. Impressive packaging. I'm thrilled!

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It is the policy of the Watchdog that customers cannot publish multiple reviews under different usernames in order to manipulate a company's rating. It has been determined that this review originated from the same source as multiple other reviews here. Therefore all these reviews have been changed from a positive to neutral rating so they will not affect the overall ratings given by customers

I am so excited to have gotten my new avocado tree so quickly, I hope the first fruit comes just as quickly! Thank you, shes adorable!!!!

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It is the policy of the Watchdog that customers cannot publish multiple reviews under different usernames in order to manipulate a company's rating. It has been determined that this review originated from the same source as multiple other reviews here. Therefore all these reviews have been changed from a positive to neutral rating so they will not affect the overall ratings given by customers

Regular stop for plants, cut flowers and vegetable plants. Always great advise and a friendly atmosphere.

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It is the policy of the Watchdog that customers cannot publish multiple reviews under different usernames in order to manipulate a company's rating. It has been determined that this review originated from the same source as multiple other reviews here. Therefore all these reviews have been changed from a positive to neutral rating so they will not affect the overall ratings given by customers

All in One shop for Garden or flower lovers. Here you can get easily all gardening tools and equipment , seeds, bulbs, aquarium & fishes, any thing you need for gardening.

Note from the Garden Watchdog editors...

It is the policy of the Watchdog that customers cannot publish multiple reviews under different usernames in order to manipulate a company's rating. It has been determined that this review originated from the same source as multiple other reviews here. Therefore all these reviews have been changed from a positive to neutral rating so they will not affect the overall ratings given by customers

We went to the nursery in person for specific advice and to look around. The trees are fantastically healthy and fruit fast. Loads of practical advice Very pleased

Very happy with the personal advice and help given by Bowers Chris & Sons, who clearly knows and loves trees. The lemon trees we have seen at various garden centers have all looked a bit sad and underwhelming, but these trees reflect the knowledge and love given to them. My wife is very happy with her new acquisition.

I have great experience with Bowers Chris & Sons . 100% Satisfied plant & Nursery Center. I am fully satisfied. I want every one please buy some product or share own experience. I have already share.....Thank You !!!

The best nursery in this area. I have bought plants, bulbs etc here for garden and house for many years and keep going back whenever I need something including advice on how to plant and keep certain plants.

Just wanted to say thanks publicly for the magnificent leafy strawberry plants which came to me well packed and just a few days after ordering. They are truly the best I have every had. I shall certainly use them again.

Absolutely shambolic, with the worst customer service I have come across in ages. They take your money, but don't despatch or update you. When you try to get in touch they ignore emails and don't answer phones. Save yourself a lot of grief and avoid these muppets. I have placed 3 orders and never managed to get a single one delivered, or a reply to an email. They also don't answer their phone and their voicemail is full. These guys are absolute cowboys - avoid!

I am a repeat Chris Bowers customer and am very happy with the fruit plants that I have bought from them via mail order over the years. Strawberry and pear plants still going strong! In Feb 2017 I purchased 3 cherry super column trees an 2 gooseberr bushes. All we well packaged and arrived in good condition. All doing well. Harvested loads of gooseberries. Can't wait for the cherry trees to start fruiting!

Purchased 2 apple trees, there was a good choice of varieties and sizes including smaller trees. The site was easy to use and we received them in good condition in the post shortly afterwards. This included instructions on planting. Both trees are growing well.

They have been very helpful when I have been deciding which varieties of blackcurrants and blackberries to buy. They answered a couple of in-depth questions about disease resistance and fruit flavour, and I have been pleased with the plants I bought - they are doing nicely. They came well packed and with planting instructions.

I recently ordered a super column apple tree which arrived quickly and in good condition. The tree is growing well and looking very healthy.

We ordered 4 cordon apple trees from Chris Bowers and were very pleased with the speed of delivery and the health of the trees. They stock a wide selection of varieties and have lots of useful information on their website. We would definitely order from this company again.

A COMPANY FROM HELL - AVOID AVOID AVOID
A month ago I ordered recently two super columnar fruit trees from this company, an apple and a plum. I asked the company to ensure that they arrived here by late May because I was due to be away for a few days and rightly I wanted to ensure that they were planted up at my allotment in good time. The two trees duly arrived. I took them up to the allotment, unpacked them there - only to find that one of them had clearly been unceremoniously ripped out of the ground, then more unceremoniously plonked into a floppy small plastic pot sized bag with really miserable looking damaged roots. That was all bad enough as it was, but this small undersized very runty tree was totally infested and over-run with ants - gazillions of the creatures who were clearly making mince-meat of it pdq.

I gave this small tragic little tree the full anti-ant treatment and planted it out, watered it, nourished, and had it watered for the few days I was away by my next door allotment holder, (and she is very reliable).

It died, it was as dead as a dodo within days. By my return is was beyond death on the far side of eternity. It was just about dead on arrival, definitely in its death throes, shrivelled and horrible.

When I wrote to the company the response was that I hadn't planted it immediately, that I hadn't watered it, that it hadn't been watered while I was away. ie - this company has taken no responsibility for sending out a nearly dead ant-infested tree. When I sent a photograph, the same response. Unbelievably unpleasantly written, but clearly written with gusto and determination to talk to a customer in a pretty revolting, actually disgusting, manner. You just have to wonder that they consider this acceptable business practice

I hope this will give you, (as a potential customer of this company), a strong warning that if you buy from these people and you take up any issue with them, you may well find that you are given the shove off - this isn't even a brush off, it's clearly a well tested way of making sure you get lost.

Spare yourself your grief. - and be under no illusion that you will receive decent respectful customer service. My experience is that you may well not. I didn't and I wouldn't want you to have to waste your money, your effort, your hope and your outrage. It's not a pretty outcome.

Go buy your trees from another company. I strongly advise you to leave this one alone.

I would NEVER buy from this company again and wish I had read the reviews before buying.
I bought two fruit trees. Both were very small and one had several deep scars on the very slender trunk. I complained by email about the one with the scars and the person (no name was given) said it was fine - they gave no name. It wasn't. When I said I wanted a replacement their total reply was "send it back then, no-all". No Dear x, no sorry, nothing, just that single line!.
Such a rude comment from a 'professional' company was breathtaking.
I will be returning the tree but fully expect them to say it was damaged in the post and therefore no refund is payable.
I would NEVER buy from this company again and wish I had read the reviews before buying.

I ordered 5 grape vines, unfortunately i made an error in the postcode. After a few weeks i emailed them as it did state deliveries would be in may. So on the 9th may i emailed and had a very abrupt and unprofessional reply to say they had emailed me. I checked my spam box and they had not replied. so i gave them the correct postcode and they replied to say we have already cancelled your order, sorry it didnt work out!!!. I have been waiting for these plants, no phone call, no lets see what we can do for you, just sorry it didnt work out! Seriously the staff need to have some training in customer service. I wont be using them again. Very annoyed.

Appalling customer service. When contacting them on phone regarding refund for grafted half-standard redcurrant bush, which failed and reverted to it's root stock,|I was told that I have to email them and them this person hung up the phone. It took me several emails to get a refund, as they insisted on me sending a plant back, even though I sent them a photo clearly showing that their grafted plant failed.
After I paid £11 for a postage, I emailed them again sking whether |I could get finally my refund.
This was their response:
''We already have refunded your account, pity you didn't check before pestering us again.''
Really dreadful customer service, best avoided.

I bought three apple trees from Chris Bowers' substantial collection: A Tom Putt, a Beauty of Bath and a Red Falstaff. The website contains lots of useful information regarding pollinating partners, appropriate rootstock etc. The selection is vast and they have some really interesting varieties. The trees arrived quickly, as described and well packaged. They established well in the my smallish Londdon garden and have even produced some fruit during their first season! I'm very impressed with the quality of service and will definitely order again.

Posted on January 2, 2013, updated August 12, 2016
In February 2012 we bought 3 fruit trees - "espalier -selected trees for training" -2 pears and 1 greengage. These were more expensive than many of the other options advertised - curiously the website does not explain the ages of the trees on offer. Three rather small trees arrived in a reinforced paper sack with no obvious sign of how they were more suited for training than maiden trees. Then we waited 3 months before any leaves appeared - worse then waiting for the kettle to boil! We called the nursery three or four times and could never talk to anyone other than the office staff who presented a variety of rebuttals that felt like well practiced fob offs: "wait a bit longer" / "have you watered them enough" /"did you think about getting the right varieties for cross pollination?" - hardly the issue as no leaves had yet appeared! We did explain that we had a small orchard already and that we were experienced gardeners but this was not really listened to. Later in the summer the Old Greengage died. Having called so many times and been fobbed off we did not have the energy to complain. The two pear trees seem to have survived but we have little faith of a successful future for them as they do not appear to be very healthy and have hardly grown. It just goes to show - experienced gardeners or not - you can learn lessons. The HDRA's view was that the trees had not been over-wintered sufficiently. The RHS's view was that you should only buy trees from a reputable nursery and ideally see the trees first - Chris Bowers is not on the RHS's list. This company should be avoided.

There's a very wide range of varieties to suit most conditions and requirements. The ordering process is easy and the quality of the plants I received seems to be good, and they look vigorous enough to be productive in the coming years.

We were looking for bare root walnut trees, relatively late in the winter season. We hadn't dealt with Chris Bowers before, but found them online and placed an order, a but worried whether their stock levels were correct on their website. Anyway the tree arrived promptly,. well packaged, was planted out and is doing very well, better than a similar tree we ordered from another nursery. So for us a positive experience and would use Chris Bowers again.

Second time ordering from Chris Bowers and excellent service again. Damson and gooseberry this time, both arrived promptly in great condition. Handy that they use a courier service that will leave items in a safe place for you too so no signing necessary. Good response to a pre-order email as well giving advice regarding patio pots for fruit trees. The apple tree and lingonberry bush I ordered a few years back are blooming! I'd advise ordering at least 2 items per order as the postage remains the same.

Could not be happier with the fantastic service and superb product! Prompt delivery of the apple tree ordered as a Father's Day surprise and one very pleased Dad!! Order arrived in perfect condition and is now happily planted! Many Thanks and I will be using you again!

I chose Chris Bowers because they had the varieties I wanted, on the stocks I wanted, at the time I wanted and at a reasonable price. I placed two orders: one for two pear trees (Josepene de Malines and Beth) and one for an Oullins Golden Gage. In both cases the trees arrived promptly and in good condition. All three are growing happily in my small orchard.

I ordered two standard gooseberries which arrived as described -they were both the same height and shape/size which helped me achieve the desired symmetry in my plot -they were well packaged and arrived promptly -the website was easy to use .Recommended .

Chris Bower has been one of the most considerate and efficient online retailers I have ever ordered from.
Their after sale care is exemplary, and the products are of high quality. I believe they are the specialist in the field of gardening and I will continue to avail their services.
I thoroughly recommend them.

I was looking for an unusual fruit tree, and Bowers were the only place that had them. They responded very rapidly to an email query (on a Sunday!) and were very positive and helpful.
My following order was carried out very quickly and I received the tree in good condition - it was healthy and well packed in a large box, with padding.
The tree is now thriving and I am very happy with the service - I have used them before and will use them again.

Great plant selection. Easy to navigate and buy plants through the website. Efficient and timely delivery. And just the right amount of emails to keep me informed of the progress of my order. Really impressed!

We brought two fruit trees for our allotment. We're allowed to plant dwarfing varieties. We opted for the Victoria plum and a Conference pear.

They were delivered quiet quickly and in good order. We had to delay planting them in the ground as our clay soil was very wet.

They were temporarily planted in pots and then re planted once the ground had dried out.

Both trees are doing well. They're in leaf and we've even had, just a little, blossom.

I would use this company again and have been impressed so far.

Excellent service and really good quality stock. Can highly recommend and would definately use again.

I have used Chris Bowers for a number of years and always found the trees to be of good quality and the website has very helpful information.

I wanted to experiment with super column trees, never having had them before. I placed my order with Chris Bowers based on price, availability of the varieties I wanted, and also the number of positive reviews I had read.
I was not disappointed. Delivery date was e-mailed promptly, and the trees arrived as promised, well packaged, and as described.

Would certainly buy from them again.

We decided to have a go at growing a greengage tree, even though we knew the site might be less than ideal, in heavy clay. To make matters worse, we had left it very late in the season to be planting bare root fruit trees (end of March). We were able to buy the particular combination of half standard and St Julien rootstock which we wanted, which was otherwise hard to find, at what seemed a very reasonable price. When it arrived, the good-sized tree didn't seem to have noticed that it had been moved, apart from a reluctance to spring back having been tied up for transportation. It burst into leaf straight away and hasn't looked back. Fingers crossed for some fruit next year.

Only nursery I could find easily that supplied a the varieties of trees I wanted as Super Columns.
Trees arrived on time and in good condition.
When issue arose with one tree not coming into leaf this spring nursery promptly replied and will send a replacement next week.