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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 12:24 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I purchased some plants from greenwoodnursery.com and I'm disappointed. I was wondering your thoughts on my purchases.

Greenview Bamboo:

Greenwood nursery is heavily marketing it's "Green view Bamboo" as a "groundcover" and on its website shows pictures of it accordingly looking very much like a groundcover, as you can see:




I paid $70 for just one plant and get this, which doesn't seem at all like the ground hugging "groundcover" advertised in both their print and especially their photos:




I'd have to bury the thing all the way up to the beginning of the leaves to get that effect. Why do companies do this? Should I complain?

Also, besides the poor condition of the leaves (so brown and dry), literally this plant arrived with ZERO dirt in the container. Just a tangled mess of roots plopped right into a plastic container, some of the roots strangling the top of the plant. I'm serious - not a bit of soil. Here you can see the shape of the plastic container in the roots themselves!!:




And, finally, I ordered Phlox-David and here is what I got below. It came with a mesh bag over the top of it, and every single leaf on it was soggy and had fallen off into the bag which you can see still in the bag all soggy:





Is this normal? Should I ask for refunds? This has never happened to me before and I have frequently ordered things online. Mind you, not everything has arrived in mint condition and I have nursed plenty of things back to health. But at least with the Greenview Bamboo - isn't this drastically different than as advertised and also, with no dirt and twisted roots? As for the Phlox, it doesn't seem worth it to order it online if it's going to come in that condition. It has no leaves but was not delivered until May 31 which is pretty long into the season to have a leafless phlox, n'cest pas? Thanks for any advice you can give.

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Gardenfiend  Send Gardenfiend a private message!




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Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 05:09 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

The Phlox looks pretty miserable I agree. Not the quality you'd expect; though if the roots are OK it will probably grow.

As for the bamboo: It looks like they have given a proper name to a species: Sasa tsuboiana. If the roots are alive it will grow - more than you ever wished for, believe me. I think you should soak the roots in water for a while and try to tease them apart.
Sasa tsuboiana will normally grow to over 1 metre, but you can probably keep it shorter by trimming it regularly. The brown bits on the leaves may be winter damage or the result of the poor plant having no soil or space for its roots. If you see eyes lower down showing signs of life, cut back to them. Otherwise you probably should wait till next spring before trimming back to lower eyes.
The main problem with these bamboos is that after a few years they decide to take over the entire garden. So either plant it where it can spread to its heart's content - or put a good root barrier in place before planting. This advice from my own bitter experience (with a different bamboo).

Gardenfiend - Germany, Zone "7a"
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Jak3  Send Jak3 a private message!




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Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 08:43 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I think I would complain. If these mail order companies are going to compete with nurseries that you can visit, they need to know that purchasers have difficulties and what the problems are, otherwise they cannot fix things up and improve their reputations. Both plants will probably survive, and Gardenfiend gives good advice. But if you are not satisfied, alert the company.

I recently had an experience where some of my mail-order plants did not survive. I informed the company and to my surprise, they immediately credited my account with the full purchase price of the plants. This means that I will try again from them as I have a credit, ensuring that they have a second chance for my business; and I can go out and buy the plants that I wanted. If I had not complained, this company would not have had a chance to turn me into a satisfied customer.

Jak3 - Ontario, Zone "4/5"
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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 12:03 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thanks for all the advice. Funny thing is that although the website now provides the name, "Sasa tsuboiana" it didn't before, just saying "Greenview" (as a patented new plant) and I recall doing Google searches on "Greenview" and "Bamboo" in the same document. Anyhow, I will grow it in a huge container, now that it's obviously not a ground hugger like the pic shows. It does not show eyes lower down and doesn't look to be doing too well.

I ended up writing a polite note, and left out any mention of the plant not looking like the ground-hugging photos. I simply included the photos of the phlox and the bamboo plant as they arrived and said I was disappointed, and also mentioned that the bamboo plant had no soil in it, as is obvious from the pictures (the root ball is the exact same size and shape as the container). Rather than offer me a free plant or something, they told me I must have spilled the soil from the bamboo container out in the box. Huh? Let's take a look again at the pics, and as you can see from the plant before I unwrapped it - the entire container was tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, so where would the soil have "spilled" from?

Before unwrapping:


After unwrapping:


*sigh* No wonder the poor roots were so dry. No soil. Anyhow, they were snooty and kept to their "soil must have spilled out" theory. Good heavens, I had to literally cut the container apart with scissors to get it out of there. Oh well. No more business to them. I've usually had great luck with online ordering (though not everything has survived or showed up in perfect condition).

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Suzyqt1968  Send Suzyqt1968 a private message!




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Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 01:15 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I'd steer clear from them if for no other reason than because their prices are fairly high. I have never priced your bamboo elsewhere, but their prices for other things are definitely inflated. Especially taking into consideration postage.

I do see in the description of your bamboo that you should cut back in the spring and that it can get as tall as 6 feet. Its awfully hard to kill bamboo. I bet if you cut it back now it would look better in the long run.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I haven't ordered plants in the mail before because I been afraid of just something like this. I do love looking at online catalogs though!! hehe

Suzyqt1968 - Washington, Zone "7-8"
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Terryk  Send Terryk a private message!




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Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 08:29 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

What a horrible reply. They would have been better in the long run to have offered replacements, you would have thought about ordering from them again.

I would take Mara's advise and be careful about where you plant that bamboo. You (and your neighbors) may regret it.

Terryk - NY, Zone "6"
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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 11:44 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Terry and all -- that bamboo is just going into a huge container, where it will stay. I'm too scared to release it elsewhere. It was supposed to have been for an area surrounded by concrete on all sides but it doesn't have the ground hugging look I need, so into the container it goes. I suppose I will trim the roots to keep it small? Who knows.

As for ordering online or through the mails, there really are plenty of companies that do a nice job of shipping. I have ordered very successfully from Triple Oaks Nursery, Flowerscentgardens and Garden Crossings. Usually, the plants are shipped in a box full of shredded newspaper and the plants themselves are watered nicely and then pieces of the shredded newspaper are stuffed on top like a little "mulch" on top of the soil of the container, and the newspaper is held there with rubber bands. They lie gently on their side floating around in the newspaper clippings in the box, so when you open the box, you just pick them up and there they are with all their leaves. You could always try ordering when they have their sales. Garden Crossings has sales on various items all the time.

Cheers.

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Greg  Send Greg a private message!




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Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 12:31 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Charlene,

I agree . . the state of the plants you received are awful.

About the bamboo . . I could be wrong, but I'll bet if it is planted in the ground and the roots find soil, it would fill out and look lush like the picture.

Greg - ND, Zone "4"
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Malgorzata  Send Malgorzata a private message!




Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 10:49 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Charlene, just wanted to show you how bamboo (have no idea of the name) looks on the mountain trail next to my house...and thinking you paid $70 for that plant!

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Malgorzata - Fukuoka-Kyushu, Zone "8-9"
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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 11:45 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Charlene, just wanted to show you how bamboo (have no idea of the name) looks on the mountain trail next to my house...and thinking you paid $70 for that plant!

LOL. The scary part is that I have no excuse for that blunder, or others I have made (like planting things too closely) considering I made the blunders after joining this expert group! *sigh*

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Lilybeetle  Send Lilybeetle a private message!




Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 07:54 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

OMG Charlene. Even with expert advice from GBs and other authoritative sources I have made many blunders and continue to. I really have no excuse for not tying my clematis better, for not guiding canes on climbing roses and the list goes on and on. I have a friend that graduated from a Horticultural program and she gave me wise advise on many occasions. Once she visited my garden after I had rearranged a border. I was pleased because it looked so much better. Her comment was to the effect that she had hoped I would do that. When I asked why she didn't tell me before - she simply said some things we need to learn on our own. Well the bamboo advice = that's different - as lovely as it is I would heed Mara's advice. Malgorzata's picture suggests there may be better applications for your bamboo other than your back garden.

Lilybeetle - Ontario, Zone "4B"
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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 11:07 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hi Lilybeetle. That is interesting. Thanks for sharing. This week I decided to heed all warnings on Gardenbuddies. Hence, I now have that bamboo in a big container on my back porch (not in the ground), and tucked in around it are the "Everlasting Sweet Peas" (perennial) that many warned would take over areas. I figure I'll let the 2 monsters fight it out and see who wins.

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Joni  Send Joni a private message!




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Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 07:53 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

charlene...i checked gardenwatchdog on another site...and in a 100 transactions they have 20 negs...who knew?? so sorry:(

Joni - West Texas, Zone "7"
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Daylily  Send Daylily a private message!




Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 01:39 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thanks for posting about this, Charlene. I will be sure to never buy from greenwoodnursery.com!

Daylily - Mi, Zone "5b"
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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 01:49 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Funny -- after getting the awful customer service (in addition to plants in poor condition) I told them (nicely) that I would post on Dave's Garden and they said "go ahead". And of course I did. Just yesterday, more than 3 months later, the company decides it doesn't want to see the negative posting on Dave's Garden so it sends me an email basically saying how busy they were and such. Um....okay!

Anyhow, yesterday I got a bunch of clems from Klehm's Song Sparrow and they look good. I have had fantastic luck with mail order plants and have used a whole bunch of different companies, all of which have been really wonderful** except for Greenwood.

**I say "wonderful" but I'm not the type to get upset if something dies or doesn't grow perfectly. Example: the chocolate cosmos I got through an end of season plant sale never bloomed but...one must be realistic ordering cosmos in July! I've also had some plants die after planting them, like a White Forsythia and Christmas Box, but the roots seemed fine on arrival.

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Jeanne  Send Jeanne a private message!




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Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 03:17 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post


I had seen your Negative rating about them on DGW when I went to check out their rating with other people...I also saw where someone else said."The customer service for a simple question was so poor I won't be ordering from this company. Nasty, surly responses don't win customers!"
So obviously they are sinfully lacking in peoples skills as well as outrageously, expensive, poor quality plants..I was glad to read this and since then changed my mind about ordering from them...DGW has been a beacon for many of us and has been good about companies trying to do the right thing when they begin to understand how much power his site has among us....Sorry you had such a bad experience...just the price of $70 bucks woulda scared me off....and I ain't cheap...LOL...Jeanne

Jeanne Texas Zone 8B Click to hear a voice greeting from Jeanne
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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 03:45 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

LOL. Well....I need to take responsibility for buying a $70 bamboo. !! Although when I ordered it the web site din't have the latin name, I could easily have asked the company and then googled the latin name. That would have shown it to be something other than the cute, ground hugging item on the site. Mea culpa.

Sometimes, you just have to take the chance with a company that has gotten sucky reviews. Another company on DGW has gotten poor ratings -- Wayside Gardens. But...they were the only one with Arabella in stock and I wanted 3 of them so I ordered through them (and they also had Ruutel through a sister company - I have to have that one!). Haven't gotten the order yet, but I'm bracing myself!!!!

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Jeanne  Send Jeanne a private message!




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Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 05:00 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post


Oh Charlene..wished you had said something..Joycreek has like 51 Arabellas in stock....Jeanne
http://www.joycreek.com/cl.htm#150-304-1

Jeanne Texas Zone 8B Click to hear a voice greeting from Jeanne
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Charlenenj  Send Charlenenj a private message!




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Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 06:26 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Jeanne wrote on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 03:12 pm:

Oh Charlene..wished you had said something..Joycreek has like 51 Arabellas in stock....Jeanne
http://www.joycreek.com/cl.htm#150-304-1



Arghhh!! How funny you say this. I ordered a bunch of stuff from Joycreek back in July (love them) and they only had one Arabella at that point!!!!! Girlfriend, I'd have ordered all 51 of them if they had them then!!!! The one I ordered from Joycreek got shipped a few weeks ago and here it is with it's first bloom:



The rest of my Arabellas I ordered from Wayside (one more for me; two for my parents). I blame Mara for my Arabella addiction.

From Joycreek, I also got 2 Odoribes (love the leaves on them), Venosa Violacea and 2 Sambucus Racemosa "Sutherland Gold" (one for my parents). No flowers on either but they are real healthy. Last night my order from Klehms Song Sparrow (thanks for the suggestion Mike in Chicago) arrived -- 2 Blekitny Aniols, 2 Perle D'Azur (one for my parents) and 1 Belle of Woking. They all look really good, too. Arrived in a big box with 3 feet of vertical growth!

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"
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Jeanne  Send Jeanne a private message!




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Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 07:06 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post