Here is a picture of the second tree I'm not sure how I should feel about. This is a Princess Diana Serviceberry - Amelanchier Grandiflora.

This plant should be in a tree shape, not must bush like, correct? I was surprised to see two main leaders. They are pretty much equal in length. What should I do with this? Actually, I just looked at it again. I think one whoe leader is dead (every branch on that leader just snapped)!

Why would they have left this? What should i do with it?

Thanks everyone!

well.. i am glad you asked.. before you went flaming..

lets get this straight.. to stick things in boxes.. and mail them.. there is some limitation to what you can do.. dont you think ...

and when both are 6 inches across the trunk.. those little bends will be irrelevant...

plant both ... PROPERLY.. ask if you dont know what that means ... give them two years to settle in.. AS IS ... then buy a pair of good pruning shears.. such as felco's ... and start making them what you want ...

as to whether you got what you paid for.. i dont know.. because i dont know what you paid..

but i have to tell you.. i could show you some 10 year old plants.. that looked a lot worse than those.. and now would knock your socks off.

i suspect .... there is some level of anxiety over 'instant gratification' ... and if you wanted instant grat.. perhaps you should have paid thru the nose for a very large balled and burlapped locally grown plant ...

as far as i am concerned.. you bought.. and rec'd 'potential' ... and you got it..

the only other though i had.. on the chestnut.. is where the graft is.. and if that tall thing isnt actually the understock ... a close up of the graft might give us an answer.. if it is understock.. it will be removed in a year or so anyway ... the actual named variety MIGHT BE.. that part that is straight as an arrow ....

i paid $125 for a red flowered chestnut 12 years ago.. and i am presuming.. you did not pay that much .. at this size ... and in 12 years.. yours will look like mine ... your benefit.. will eventually be the same.. but you probably won on cost.. speaking of the cost/benefit ratio ...

pix of that graft????

ken

Ken,

Here a picture of the graft. You've lessened me before on instant gratification, thus the purchase of these babies.

I didn't want to flame away given my lack of knowledge, sound like these are typical of the type of plants to be expected. Just can't believe they sent out a 3 foot tall dead stick attached to my serviceberry.

Send 'em back.

WxDano, I'm not sure if you're being serious or sarcastic? If serious care to elaborate.

I guess I'm more disappointed with the serviceberry. Just not sure how you send something that's half dead.

I don't like the look of all the junk on the aesculus' graft, but maybe that's just because I don't know what it should look like?

That Aesculus is pretty ugly; I've only grafted a few - and I'll admit that they don't always make a very pretty graft union - but it may improve - or at least look less ugly a few years down the road. Looks like all the shoots you have are from the grafted variety. I'd probably leave 'em all on there this year, then prune all but the most desirable one off next year just before budbreak.

Don't have any experience with P.Diana, but every other A.x grandiflora I've ever seen or grown was a medium to LARGE multistemmed shrub, in growth habit; would require a lot of constant pruning of basal suckers to get any I've had to stick to a single-trunk habit.

i cant tell what is the graft.. lol ..

have you called the seller.. and discussed with them???

i will say.. if you paid $100 a piece for these.. i would NOT be happy..

if you paid $20 .... i dont know if i would complain ...

ken

I paid, with shipping, $35 for the serviceberry and $45 for the buckeye. Based in the comments here con census seems to be that these aren't the best.

Hopefully they will do something, at least about the buckeye. I can always just prune the dead leader off the serviceberry.

I had to go to your page to get your zone.........The buckeye is out a lot farther than mine are in zone six. What state is this stock coming from? The buckeye looks healthy enough, but boy, I've never seen a graft union like that. That upper furl of leaves looks like trauma of some sort in shipping. They also look like that when gone too dry, but since the lower leaves are fine, that's not what it is. I used to grow and sell buckeye, but not grafted ones. Serviceberry wants to be a multistemmed shrub and you have to lean on the pruning to turn it into a tree form and that's an undertaking you will have to do yourself as it grows. I don't think the prices are out of line, really. You said a branch on it just snapped. Did it have green under the skin?

No green skin, every branch on that dead main branch just snapped.

The trees came from Oregon. Shipped monday arrived today. I'm in central Iowa.

Feeling quite bummed about the buckeye.

Duplicate post

This post was edited by mdchambe on Fri, Apr 12, 13 at 18:24

That buckye is garbage. What an embarrassment that plant would be sent out. That is the understock growing off to the side and there is a strong possibility at failure.

If its the nursery I'm thinking off they just don't maintain consistent quality. They once told me they don't throw plants out even though they know they should and ship them instead.

I got four plants from them last fall. Tossed three of them as they sucked so bad.

If you want some good quality, spend literally a few extra (if not less) bucks and go to song Sparrow, Broken Arrow Nursery, Oriental Garden Supply or Gossler Farms for deciduous mail order.

Thanks whaas. I'm quite disappointed with these, particularly the buckeye. Well see what they do.

Most shipments I've gotten from them I've had to prune some off the top to a good bud. I keep ordering from them because their selection is really good. The shipping is high from the west coast to me in Pa, but there isn't much they don't have that you would want. I don't recall anything outright dying and not sending out new growth after getting rid of some die-back on top. I know it should not come like that, but if it's a spring shipment, it will look good after a growth spurt.

If you end up going a different route and stick with an Aesculus, here is one worth considering. Its only a 1 year graft but I recall they had 2 gallon plants so you could always call.

Whitman Farms is another one that usually has good quality. They have this plant as a 1 year graft as well but only $15.

http://www.brokenarrownursery.com/shop/trees-shrubs-vines/aesculus-x-neglecta-erythroblastos-erythroblastos-horsechestnut

IMHO, Stop payment for those on your CC. They sent you ^*%#, and you paid champaign prices. Plus they gouge like crazy on shipping to inflate their profits. That are a crap nursery that have snowed allot of people.

Arktrees

Yup. Send them back.

Just like poaky, I keep ordering from them, they have things others don't have and they resolve things pretty good for my satisfaction. They are just too big, with too many different plants, with hired help that don't know anything.

I wanted to follow up. The nursery apologized and is sending me two new plants. Couldn't have asked for better customer service.

Thats good to hear. Has been a couple years since I ordered much. A few of my trees are from there.

I am curious to see the replacements.

mdchambe, you are a mature and responsible poster for sure!

Are they paying for the shipping? IMHO, they need to be paying for that as well. You paid for quality plants, and the cost to get them, to you. They sent you crap out of their choice, and used the shipping you had paid for, to get the crap to you. Therefore, they are responsible for the shipping as well since they knowingly sent you crap.

IF you are paying for the over inflated shipping AGAIN, then it is most likely costing them nothing or next to nothing.

JMHO
Arktrees

Thanks tornado. And Arktrees, no, I am not paying shipping again.

They had suggested that I could buy two more trees to fill this second box but then wanted half of the hefty shipping fee. To which I told them, I'll just take the two trees you are replacing then. My thinking was the same as yours, I'm not going to cover their cost for having sent me bad trees to begin with.

As of right now I'm satisfied that they are sending replacement trees. I'll post pictures of what they look like.

Thanks for your continued thoughts.