If you have looked into shopping for plants online then you have more than likely run into 4seasonsnurseries.com . The reason why I am writing about them is because they have the lowest prices I have seen on the internet or anywhere else for that matter and because there are a lot of negative comments regarding them. . So the question is, are they any good? Do your items really all arrive dead? My personal experience has been quite positive, I have ordered several times from them and have always received healthy bare root plants which have done quite well in a short period of time. I have also recommended them to several co-workers and they have also received healthy plants. Have I received dead plants? Sure, one here and there, hardly a total loss or enough to disuade me from ordering again. After all, it is mail order, plants get stressed during shipping and the weather doesn't always cooperate. So why all the bad press? Here is my take:
1. Many don't realize that they are ordering bare root dormant plants so when they get something with no leaves they just assume that everything is dead. The Rose of Sharon I ordered from 4seasonsnurseries.com were little more than 12" high, 1/8" diameter sticks with no leaves and very small roots. By the end of the summer they were approximately 4 feet tall and a little less than 1" in diameter.
2. People do not have patience and do not give their plants enough time to grow before assuming it won't grow or its dead. This is especially the case when people order finicky plants or slow growing plants. If they are hard to grow, they will be much harder when they have to endure the hardships of environmental fluctuations that comes with shipping. My advise, stick to strong fast growing trees, shrubs and plants.
3. The nature of gardening is that plants die, there is nothing you can do about that. I have bought many plants from Lowes and Home Depot that didn't make it past a week , didn't make it through the winter or just died for no apparent reason. Do I think they have horrible nurseries? Not really. I think the difference is that when you buy at a physical nursery people see that the plants are alive initially so when they die then they assume they did something wrong and don't think twice about it. When people mail order, the plants are dormant so when they don't "wake up" then they automatically assume they got bum plants.
4. People see the cheap prices and go overboard by placing huge orders. I have read some people place $300, $400 and $500 which considering the prices on 4seasonsnurseries.com, it can mean hundreds of trees. I am willing to bet most of these people never even had the time to plant them all. My suggestion, stick to small and medium sized orders that way you have time to plant everything and if something goes wrong and it dies, it wont be the end of the world.
5. Ordering too early or too late. Don't count on 4seasonsnurseries.com to be able to predict the weather 100% of the time in 100% of the locations. I have seen complaints about how they ordered in January, received their order in March but it was still too cold. Well, fact is that weather is different everywhere, I can hardly blame 4seasonsnurseries.com for that. If you are not sure, then order a little later in the winter to allow for any unexpected frosts and order a little earlier in the fall to allow for earlier than usual frost.
6. 4seasonsnurseries.com probably generates a whole lot more sales than any other online nursery based on their prices so it is natural that they are going to get a lot more feedback and since dissatisfied customers are more likely to complain than satisfied ones it is no wonder why there is so much negativity surrounding them.
So to sum it up, 4seasonsnurseries.com is a great place to get inexpensive plants if you order the right plants, at the right time and know what you are receiving. Am I making excuses for them? I don't think so. I am a fully satisfied customer and have recommended them to many people. I just hate seeing people miss out on getting some nice inexpensive plants due to what I feel is undeserved or unjust negative press. If you are still not sure or convinced, place a small order to try them out.