Comments regarding National Arbor Day Foundation

I have had mixed experiences with the National Arbor Day Foundation through the years. After seven or so years of donating and getting free trees, I have some nice trees to show for it, which represent but a small fraction of those originally recieved.

A couple of years ago, I decided to participate in the hazelnut project. I recieved a few trees in the late fall, carefully planted the small bareroot specimens in prepared garden soil near my newly grafted apples, where I hoped to coddle them until they grew larger in a year or two. None made it through the winter, so I contacted them. A nice response came back saying that they would send some new ones. These arrived in plugs and were fully leafed out when they arrived. Unfortunately, their leaves were mostly falling off. I promptly potted and watered them and placed them into the shade. Only one lasted for two weeks before joining the others that died.

A similar story could be said for each year.

I believe that if anything is worth doing, is worth doing right. With all of the time and effort spent sending trees, they should arrive to grow, not die.

Are the free plants the only reason to donate? No.
Are they a worthy cause? I believe so.
Will I order trees from them again? Unlikely, unless the survival rate increases.

Be prepared for disappointment here, i ordered over 200 dollars worth of trees and had 2 live. I called and emailed them and I received my money back on my credit card, but some of the stuff they sent was either the wrong tree, totally dried up dead (the pinch test revealed nothing but dried tissue) and one of the trees smelled like sewage--it was actually rotten. I missed two years of growing seasons waiting to see if the trees would pull out of it, but they did not. Many of the trees will NOT grow in the zones they advertise them as. Further, they inundate you with junk mail when your membership expires, and the ten free trees are not worth the membership in the first place. I could grow trees from seed and have better luck and better looking trees. The free red maples advertised are more like a free stick to play fetch with the dog with. To do such terrible business under the guise of being a non-profit organization makes me ill, every time i see a "tree city usa" sign i cringe. The founder of Arbor Day is rolling over in his grave--straighten up!

Good deals. Not the best packed. They all looked really good but still too early to see if they are going to come out. You have to order from the website to get real trees the free trees are junk. Pay a little and get some good trees!

I joined and received ten free educational seedlings in the mail. They were sent by bulk mail since it's financially impossible to send free things by UPS or Priortity Mail. I wanted to learn about growing bare-root trees before I placed a big order and killed them all. Well, I put the trees in pots and fertilized them and kept them indoors over winter because I didn't want them to freeze. They all died and I emailed the company, furious. The company informed me that planting instructions were contained with the trees and that I would have had success if I would have bothered to read them. They sent me another package and most of them grew. I then ordered from their catalog and had good success because I ordered in February and received my trees in April. The customer service rep advised me to order early because as a non-profit foundation they don't have the quick turnaround like the more expensive commercial bigboys.
If you're ordering late or expect something for nothing then you should probably go elsewhere.

I got the membership with the 10 trees, all of which came tiny and in questionable health, however all of them are doing great! They look truly healthy and happy. The reason I am neutral here is that I ordered 45 privet plants, and a PG hydrangea. The PG is also doing great, but most of the privet died. However, I wrote back to them, told them what I had done, and they sent me a new shipment. Most of that is doing just fine (I may have lost 3 or 4, but at .85 each, it was a good deal. But also, I joined through the mail, responding to some paperwork that didn't say anything about a 6 month membership. So I recently got a renewal notice, however, I had only joined 4 months previously. So once again, I wrote to them and explained the situation and they just re-upped my membership. It took some runaround, but out of it, I have some pretty nice looking, cheap, while small plants. I would order from them again for sure.

It's disappointing to have to give the National Arbor Day Foundation a bad review, but it's even more disappointing that this organization does business the way it does and then hides behind it's perceived image as some kind of wonderful, environmentally conscious mission-oriented group.

Several years ago I went for the ten free trees. They took almost a year to send them. I had completely forgotten about them. They arrived in the middle of summer. When they showed up several were just twigs with no roots and half were not labeled. I didn't know what many of them were. They were supposed to be marked with a swatch of paint that matched a printed list and only four or five of the trees had a swatch of color on the stem. I planted those that had some roots and the two bonus forsythias that came with the package. All of the trees died, one forsythia grew - very disappointing. I was also deluged with junk mail from them and other gardening outfits afterward.

At one point they asked me to try "Rain Forest Coffee." I went for this offer. Months and months went by with no coffee. I would send email with no replies. I finally looked up their phone number one day and called. I was told there was a problem with a shipment and they had to reject it and they had fallen behind on orders. I was told to be patient in a somewhat scolding way. I told them I was no longer interested and to please cancel the order. They said they would. About a month later, the coffee shows up with an invoice. I called and explained I did not want the coffee and had cancelled the order. I was given an address to return the coffee and told to ignore the bill. I sent the coffee back as they instructed. About a month after this I began receiving dunning letters for the coffee. I ignored the first couple I received, but when they kept coming and the wording of the letters intensified, I called again. They claimed they had never received the coffee I had returned at my own expense. The gentleman on the phone was quite condescending and arrogant. I was upset and asked them to cancel my membership at that time and quit sending me mail. They did neither and I received "please renew your membership" mailings from them for a long time.

Two years later, I was looking for a Royal Purple Smoke Tree without much luck. I searched for suppliers on the Internet, and National Arbor Day popped up. I continued to search elsewhere, remembering my past experiences with them, and couldn't find it in stock anywhere else. I went back to the NADF website to check the price. It was cheap and I figured it wouldn't matter much if they screwed it up again, so against my better judgement, I ordered the tree, paying the non-member price because I did not wish to sign up again. This time, the tree showed up in a fairly decent amount of time. It was small, but I think I had paid about $12.00 total including shipping. I *was* irritated that they had included another membership despite the fact that I had not taken the member discount.

I planted the tree. It grew (slowly) but it's not a Royal Purple Smoke Tree. I believe it's a Redbud tree. I'm not sure though, because it has never flowered. This is the start of its third year. When I received it, it was a six-inch long twig. The trunk is now about pencil thick and it's a little over five feet tall. It has six branches ranging from about a foot and a half long at the top of the tree, to six inches long about two thirds of the way up the tree. It has round green leaves (not the dark maroonish purple leaves of the smoke tree.) The leaves look just like the leaves on the many Redbud trees in the neighborhood.

I wouldn't do business with them again under any circumstances. They would probably do much better to stick with their educational and other programs and stop the sloppy and mismanaged attempts at being a vendor. It sure doesn't do anything for their reputation.

I was happy to be able to give to a good cause and get ten free trees from the deal, but my enthusiasm waned when I never received my trees. I did get a catalogue and proceeded to actually place an order, which was received in bad shape. We got the package in late April and immediately placed the trees (well, sticks would be more acurate) into a pail of water. We have a lot of gardening experience, but we were unable to save any of the trees or bushes I had ordered. I believe they were all dead from the start. I tried to scratch the bark, but none of the trees appeared wick at all. I still have some sad little sticks protruding from the ground, but they haven't showed any signs of life. I e-mailed the company about my ten free trees and they replied within a few days saying that they will ship them in the fall now. Sigh. Overall, a very big dissapointment.

There's no such thing as a "free lunch"!!!

We all need to learn that we can't get suckered in by sales pitches....even from organizations operating under the guise of being 'environmentally concerned'.

I ordered 8 trees, with which I got a bonus red maple, and 2 bonus forsythia. I also received the "ten free flowering trees!" with membership. The free trees were shipped in early March (we still had snow on the ground) in nothing more than a plastic bag with an address label on it. The others were shipped at the same time, priority, but the only things to survive were the forsythia. Nothing else even broke dormancy. They are all quite dead. Not surprising, since they were so tiny. I have four month old seedlings bigger than the "trees" I received. (Yes, tree seedlings)

So, basically I spent $40 and a good chunk of my time to plant two 9" tall forsythia starts, which I could well have gotten for free by asking a neighbor for a branch, sticking it in the ground and watering. I'd have gotten bigger plants to start with, too!

I've been a member of the NADF for several years. Yes, the membership trees are small, seedlings to be precise. But they do tell you this and they tell you to baby them for the first 2 years. Most of the decidious seedlings have started for me but you have to give them tender loving care. Another tip is to have them send you what ever trees you order for spring time delivery. I say this because one year I ordered several of their nursery trees (which are larger than the membership trees) for fall delivery. We had an extremely cold fall and almost no snow cover during the winter. By the time I got the trees the ground was starting to freeze. I planted them anyways but none survived. Roots need a certain amount of warmth to grow. So, I ordered another batch to arrive in the spring and all of those are growing nicely. Just recently I received an order of nursery trees with a free red maple thrown in. One of the trees, a Kousa dogwood, was a DOA. I called NADF and they will be sending me a replacement. The man I spoke to was polite and gave me satisfactory service. So I can't complain. Sure, I can go to my local nursery and spend alot more on larger potted trees but it's fun getting baby trees to grow and it's for a good cause. That's why I still order from them. I'm giving them a positive rating because they promote programs to educate kids and adults on the importance of planting and preserving trees and forests.

This is the worst company in the business for plants and they never ship UPS like they say and the prices are horrible as well as the quality. Fortunately I got all of my money back. The customer service is also sub standard and the money goes to the peoples pay checks to run the company and not to where it should.

I love the idea of saving the rain forests, habitat protection, ecological balance, etc.

But you'd think people so concerned about trees would ship their bareroot trees a better way!

Mine were in a clear plastic pouch that the P.O. 'lost' for 4 days. They sat in a streetside postal bin the entire time. Some were only a few inches tall. None survived.

I wouldn't order from them again. I don't feel they 'practice' what they preach - and everyone knows how mail carriers damage and misshandle mail. There has got to be a safer way to ship and protect live plants!

I just recieved my nursery order from NADF on Friday and was greatly disappointed. I knew the trees would be small but the packaging was terrible. The trees were in a box twice as tall as they were which left a lot of room for movement. They were all bundled together and the bundle was not taped or otherwise secured inside the box. I can't put the blame on UPS because the box was flimsy and there was no information on the box telling UPS to keep the box upright or that there were live trees inside. Consequently, half the trees had broken leaders. When I called to report the situation customer service offered to replace the broken trees, but I explanined that I didn't want to do business with a company that packs live trees in such a shoddy manner. The representative offered to reimburse my credit card and I accepted. This is the only reason I'm giving them a neutral as opposed to a negative.

I haven't gotten my 10 'free' trees yet but I did notice that their booklet and the website is very clear that these are 'babies' and need to be potted for at least a year, or at least put in a protected area. These are not ready to go into the wild open spaces. So don't be so discouraged about the little 'whips'. They're free!

I ordered the 10 flowering trees last year in Spring, and all but 3 died. I emailed them and told them that 7 of the trees died, but I wasn't sure which ones they were. They replied right away, and told me they would send replacements in the Fall. And they did replace them. Not just 7, but all 10 of them. I planted them, but of course I couldn't tell if they were going to make it, until Spring. But about three weeks ago, all 10 trees have started to bud out, and are doing great. The 3 trees that lived from the first order (2 of them got chopped down to 1 inch last Summer, by the lawn mower, but they sprouted right back up again) are about 4 feet tall now, and doing wonderful. I think the first time around was my fault anyway. I'd never planted trees before, and I didn't go by the instructions at all. Just stuck them in the ground, and watered them. I guess I just figured they would grow no matter what. But I think when you get bare root trees from mail order, they need a little extra attention, and babying (they've been through a lot). As they say, they look dead, but they aren't. With proper care and the right conditions, you'll have nice trees. I really like this company, and will order from them again!

I was disgusted with the little twelve inch and less twigs that were sent. I haven't checked them this winter, but if they survived the winter I will be very surprised. I was surprised enough that an organization that I had admired was stupid enough to create bad will with little twigs that I looked up their record on use of the contributions. I was surprised. It appears that they spend a substantial majority of their contributions on their programs.

Total income $22,986,645
Program expenses $20,193,709
Fund raising expenses 2,607,060
Administrative expenses 496,485
Other Expenses 7,452

Total expenses ($23,304,706)

so I guess I will keep contributing and trying to find somewhere to stick the twigs. But, in my opinion, they will create as much bad will as good sending out trees that don't match their advertising.

I wanted to post a positive for Arbor Day since I plan to order some trees again from them in the fall. I ordered a large number of trees last fall and about one-third died. We had a terribly cold winter here in the Mid-Atlantic and I was not able to get the trees in the ground immediately so Arbor Day is not entirely to blame. I made a list of the trees that died and e-mailed their customer service. I requested some substitutes for some types because I wanted to try different trees that were more tolerant of the cold. They have honored all my requests and I received a mailed confirmation thanking me for my order, with trees to be shipped this fall. I think their trees are well-priced, although I agree some were smaller than advertised. As a side note, all the fruit trees I ordered from them are doing well. I will re-visit if I later have a negative experience, but so far I am satisfied.

I recently became a member of the National Arbor Day Foundation, and with my membership, was entitled to receive 10 free flowering ornamental trees, and a free lilac. I wasn't going to keep any of the free trees, but was planning to give them to a friend who is a new homeowner and has no trees at all.

My first indication that there might be a problem with this organization came when I received the free trees. Instead of 10, there were 12... made me wonder whose order was short a couple of trees. Next, I was shocked by the size. When I signed up, these trees were described as being at least 12" tall. All were 6" or less, mere sticks with no branches at all. I was almost embarrassed to give them to my friend, who will have to pot them and let them grow for several years before they can be planted in her yard. Meanwhile, I had already ordered 3 trees for my own yard; 2 were described as being 2-3' tall and the other was to be 3-4' tall. All of them arrived at 2'tall or less, again, with not a branch in sight. Along with my order came a couple of freebies that I'm also going to give to my friend. The freebies were twice as big as the trees I paid for.

I really expected better from an organization whose sole purpose is to promote the planting and care of trees. At the very least, I expected them to be accurate and honest with their descriptions. I will not renew my membership, and I cannot recommend the National Arbor Day Foundation to anyone else.

When you join the National Arbor Day Foundation, (for $10., and it gets you the FREE sticks or twigs) you are making a donation to a non profit organization! I'm sure most of you who purchased any of their other trees or shrubs joined in order to get the discounted member price. Their products are very reasonably priced. At any rate, here's what that $10. donation is doing.............

//www.arborday.org/programs/fires.html

The National Arbor Day Foundation is a worth-while organization and I will continue to support them.

The Yoshino Cherry trees I ordered arrived marked as such, but are not. They look to be Purple Leaf Sand Cherry trees, and while the purple foliage is a nice surprise, I'd rather have the trees I ordered.

I passed on the ten free tree offer, but have tried this company twice. Early in the season is the best time to order, as one has a better chance of getting better stock. A late season order resulted in miniscule whips (6 - 8"), with few surviors.

I would in no way consider this company to be on par with a professional nursery in terms of quality control of their stock. I'll spend my money elsewhere.

I've ordered from them twice in the last 3 years. Only one of the trees I've gotten from them is living and it's a 3 year old pink dogwood that I doubt has put on 2 inches of growth in any direction in 3 years. I have only received some of the trees I ordered, they substituted trees I didn't want and couldn't use for those I didn't receive. The trees were very small. Their customer service is pathetic and don't ever get on their mailing list because it's extremely difficult to get off of it.

I fell for the ten free trees pitch back in the spring of '99. I got ten sticks in a plastic bag. I figured that was the way they were supposed to be for shipping purposes. All of me trees with the exception of one has died. The one is still as tiny as it was two years ago when I planted it. I have not renewed my membership with the Arbor Day Society as a result.

I bought about a dozen blue spruce seedlings from Arbor Day. Due to no fault of theirs (I killed them prior to planting) they died. I emailed me and they told me where I went wrong and mailed out new seedlings at no cost to me. The fruit trees I ordered arrived in good condition. However, since they were a fall planting, I cannot attest to their growing vigor.

I signed up for membership in Arbor Day Foundation and received my 10 free trees. I also placed an order for other trees, which were shipped appropriately. I agree that the trees are "whips" and seedlings, and that was a little disappointing, but I dutifully placed them in water, then planted them in a sheltered area near my house from where I'd just moved a compost heap. All winter long I wondered what would happen, but now that Spring is almost here, they are leafing out beautifully. I agree that it is hard to tell what they are from the color (you could see it pretty well before putting them in the ground and I marked them) - but once they leaf out, they are pretty recognizable. The 10 plants for 10 dollars is a pretty good deal and the book they send and instructions were interesting and informative.

Are so many people honestly expecting to receive ten spectacular, specimen grade trees for their ten-dollar contribution? I wasn't, the first time I sent If you want top quality, specimen grade, on-the-cover-of-a-magazine trees, you must pay for it. Tree raising in the US is a lost art. Those little sticks so many of you disdain took a lot of work to propagate. I would say it is WELL worth it.

I had been a member of National Arbor Day Foundation for several years in spite of the fact that their 10 free trees were just twigs and usually didn't live and in spite of the fact that the fruit trees I ordered from them were not dwarf trees and never have produced fruit (they are 8 years old). I have since ordered fruit trees from another company and they are producing bountiful crops. The biggest disappointment for me from National Arbor Day was the fact that they say they are a nonprofit organization to protect trees and the environment. However when our local conservation department started pushing out rows of trees for our farmers in this area and cutting down beautiful old trees. I wrote to the NAD folks and told them what was happening. I never even received a letter in reply. I doubt they could have done anything about it but it would have been nice to at least get an acknowledgment. I have not really seen anything that they do except sell trees, so where do all of our membership fees go? Maybe they aren't so "nonprofit". Anyway they will never get another dime from me.

This past spring I ordered trees from a variety of sources, and the Arbor Day Foundation was one of those places.

Compared with other vendors of trees, the products I received from Arbor Day were slightly more expensive, and the trees I received were about half the size of the trees from their competitors. Today, as you walk through my orchard, you can tell which ones I purchased from Arbor Day. They are the ones that are 1 foot tall, instead of the 4 foot trees I received (at a smaller price tag) from their competitors.

While this organization appears to have a good reputuation, the product does not quite stand up to their competitors.

In the future, when I need trees, I will not be buying them from this organization.

I have ordered in the past, never had much luck with the pines but plan on getting some of the shade trees this year.

I absolutely recommend the arbor day foundation for trees. The plants are in good condition, really guaranteed and the response is prompt and polite. It is also cheaper than mail order catalogs, usually for a larger plant. I have had terrific luck with them and look forward to continuing to support them.

I think it only fair to let you know that I got "free" trees from joining the National Arbor Day Foundation, and they were pathetic. I didn't bother to plant them, mainly because it would have been a pain digging through the snow and frozen ground.

I've read the other comments concerning this organization, I guess I've been blessed with several flowering plum trees over 25' tall. I had also purchased the river birch, which have grown past the roof of my house (two-story). I do agree the initial 10 free trees are not worth the investment (as I lost all). I do feel however if I had planted them in containers for a few years they would still be alive. The Tree Book they send is very informational and the trees I have ordered have always been exceptional in size. I have belonged to the organization for about 9 years now and wish I would have ordered more early on. I'm getting ready to place my order for spring 2000, donate the 10 free to a school, church, etc. Good luck to you all, happy blooms!

I ordered the 10 free blue spruce with the bargain membership fee they ask. They have a good catalog, great prices, instructions with the trees, and they were all tagged. What more could an inexperienced gardener ask for? I read the instructions and placed the roots in waterovernight and planted them as a hedge. Granted they were only whips when I received them, as well as dormant, but they thrived as I tended to them rarely and enjoyed them often. I would get excited each time I had not seen them in a while and discovered a new light green branch and new buds. I also ordered many fruit trees and this time knew to expect them to show up as bare whips. They flourished as long as I kept the pets away from them. Care is the important thing. You pay less, you get younger growth and tend to them more. If you don't like gardening, are impatient, or don't know how long you will be in your house, pass on the trees and just send in your donation.

I ordered 10 Blue Spruce, 8 of which they replaced with about 8 surviving after two years. In '99 I got three good Hybrid Poplars from them and they have done well.

I sent in my membership last year, and did receive my 10 flowering trees. Six of them survived. As a matter of fact the Redbuds are extremely beautiful. I sent an e-mail about the other four tress that didn't make and they promised a replacement. I live in zone 6, and planted the trees in gallon pots which I buried in the middle of the vegetable garden. I believe that all 10 could have made if I had given them a little more protection during the winter. Later when I receive their catalogue in the mail, the prices for the plants were very low, therefore, I couldn't resist and placed an order for quite a few plants. None made it. The Cape Myrtle in particular looked almost like a little twig. I must say I am disappointed, but I try to believe in the cause and when I look at the Redbuds, I think they deserve another try. Well, ten dollars for ten trees. If one make it, I am happy!!

My husband made me a member as a gift, because he really thought they were going to send me 10 flowering trees. But they won't grow in zone 4,so I got 12 (accidentally, I guess) spruce trees. I can't stand spruce trees. Only 10 are still alive, but that's my fault. We'll see if they make it through the winter. Their newsletter is tedious & repetitive. How much can you say about trees?

I sent in my membership dues last year with the hope that I would receive the 10 fruit trees as promised but I never received them. Needless to say this year when they sent the renewal membership application I did not send them anything.

The first time I received decent seedlings. The second time I ordered I received very small, dried out seedlings way too early to be planted here and the trees were not native to my area. I wouldn't order again.

I bit on NADF's ad for the FREE Tree BOOK and ten seedlings for only $10 membership fee. I just got the booklet on trees (that they have for sale). It does have a lot of good information on their plants and how to plant and care for them, but I had kind of expected a real book with more trees in it. They now have a web site that I haven't checked out yet. I hope that I don't receive my seedlings till mid May, since I live in the north.

I placed several orders to the foundation. I received my ten trees--three lived. I never received the next order I placed (spent $50!) I even wrote and received an answer, but NO order! May I suggest: leave them alone!