Very nice specimens BT, they look happy. Such a blue Abies balsamea 'Nana'.

They all look great, it really is a good company. All the plants I have ordered I have been happy with. I've never ordered the 1 year maples from them, but I have ordered some 3-4 year maples that where around 3' tall with good experience. I also like that they sell liners in packages of 3 for around $12. It's nice ordering from a company that will sell cheaper smaller plants rather than spending $40+ a pop on one 1 gallon conifer.

Mary,

Abies balsamea 'Nana' looks like it needs a drink of water.

Good luck with your new plants. They should do fine.

Dave

i told you previously.. that i have gotten over 100 plants from girards.. and frankly i am getting tired of you slandering them ... if you insist on continuing such.. i will simply stop responding to your most interesting posts ...

if you fail .. it will have as much to do with you doing this very late in the season .. with little or no experience .. as it might have to do with the stock you are rec'g ...

i think what bothers me.. is that you have no personal experience.. and you are simply.. repeatedly .. repeating problems others have had ... in other words.. gossiping ...

as i stated previously.. i had no more.. nor no less problems with their stock.. as with any other stock.. given my level of experience at the time ...

if you have the budget .. like some of our more wealthy friends here.. then pay double or triple .. for premium stock ... then do your thing ... but i would rather.. with my budget.. 'risk' 15 or 20 dollars on 5 young babes.. rather than invest 100 or 200 dollars on one premium plant ... and if i lose 1 or 2 ... i am still 3 ahead of the game ....

but if you are playing the bargain game.. late in the season .. in what is basically the wrong season ... then you roll the dice .. like the rest of us would ... [most of us finished this all up 2 months ago]

but what i see developing is some level of failure.. and then you are going to complain.. that it was all 'their fault' ... and frankly .. no one will really know .. since you are trying to learn this all.. what took me 3 to 5 years .. inside a week .. to plant these things ...

i truly wish you all the luck in the world.. yes.. its an addiction .... [hence the reason i have 500 plus conifers] ... and i want to help you as much as i can ..

and to be clear.. to get toward 500 plants.. i easily lost 150 over the years ... from EVERY SINGLE PROVIDER I EVER BOUGHT FROM [and anyone who claims otherwise.. is lying to you .. there is an inherent loss rate in this hobby] ... this is not gardening 101 with annuals ... it is fraught with peril ... AND IT IS HARD TO DO ...

now.. sorry about all that.. but i just had to say it all ...

HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ... at your experience level ... find one plot... 3 by 3 feet or so ... prep the soil ... unpot.. look at roots.. unwind a bit .. but do not do major surgery ... insert each plant 18 inch on center ... refill hole.. mulch properly ... and BE DONE WITH IT.. [protect from vermin also, if needed] ....

in the meanwhile.. spend the rest of winter ... learning about drainage.. root surgery ... PROPER watering... PROPER MULCHING ... PROPER planting ... etc ... and develop that list of the next 100 plants you just cant live without ... and most importantly.. figuring out permanent placement based on size potential.. and the next 100 plants you will be getting ...

not 2 weeks ago.. friends.. sent me plants .. i was not happy with timing in my zone.. but who in their right mind is going to complain ... lol ... i did EXACTLY what i told you above.. i 'heeled in my plants' .. and i will deal with them as the ground thaws in early april .... see link below ...

one thing i fear.. is that you are getting all wound up.. with all the very intense information you are getting from some very experienced people.. who have 10 or 20 years of doing this stuff ... and you are getting overwhelmed with too much info ... when .. as noted elsewhere .. you should just get it done ....

you have a great day.. and good luck with your new hobby ...

ken

ps: what really hurts.. is losing the $100.. $200.. $300 dollar plants ... that you bought ball and burlap.. from the premium provider ... and you did absolutely everything perfect ... and still lost the roll of the dice ....

Here is a link that might be useful: heeling in plants

Ken - We aren't slandering them... We're mearly letting other users know our experience so they can make an informed decision and if the stock is worth the price. I've ordered a good 150 plants in the last 2 years. I've ordered from new places and I've ordered from same places over and over again. Out of the 150 plants 10 where from them. They were so distorted looking and ugly that I had to get my money back. No responce through e-mail and when you call they want to give you credit on a future order. I planted 6 of the 10 plants if I can recall... Of the 6 planted only 1 didn't make it... 2 still look great... that leaves me with 3 others in the ground and 4 in 1 gallon containers. A total of 7... you still follow? I ripped the 3 out of the ground... then I took the 4 in 1 gallon containers and tossed them in the burning pile. Most didn't make it, not because of stress or planting, but because I couldn't stand looking at them each time I walked around lol. I understand that their will be some degree of failture when planting, but some plants aren't worth planting to begin with.

If someone is going to ask about this company... I will tell them my experience... You don't send someone plants that look like this and offer them store credit on future orders... I know they trapped Whaas in the endless cylce until he finally had enough. I think he ordered from them 3-4 times and each time he called and they gave hime store credit for future use.

Frankly, I haven't had a problem with ANY other company... all stock has been healthy. I've placed probably 15 orders through 4-5 different companies in the last two years. Some stock was expensive, some not so much, some cheap. They fall in the mid price range.

I did have one bad plant of the 50 I bought over the past two years from SongSparrow. one plant I just had a concern with. I didn't want a replacement... I just called to let them know just incase it turned south after planting. They told me not to worry about it and to go ahead and plant it. In the meantime they will send a replacement just incase that it didnt. Now mary can make her own judgement on this company once she receives the plants. Who knows she may receive great looking plants. If she does I hope she will post a positive review... if she doesn't I hope that she will post a negative review. Whaas got from them looked pretty nice... it all just depeds on their stock at the moment. I'm more upset with customer service and how they handle replacements then the plants themselves.

Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to ME?!?!?...

Ok yeah... the mobster thing wasn't going anywhere. Ken. Holy COW you're grumpy this morning!! Dude. Coffee? Extra cream and sugar to lessen that bitter sting?

My apologies. I had no intentions of slandering anyone or setting them up to take the blame in lieu of my ignorance and inexperience (wow... Really?? You got THAT out of my posts?!?) No, I don't have much $$ to spend on plants - I mean, c'mon! I needed HALF OFF GIRARD'S prices before being lured in to the conifer trade! At any rate, I will try to cut down on my lame attempts at humor in future posts - for that's all that was based on others' experiences and advice - and I'll ask my questions, stick to the facts, and be done with it. No need to rip my head off and sh** down my throat... Twice. (You know... You DO get a chance to review what you've written beFORE you hit the submit button... Just sayin'... No? Ok.)

At any rate, thank you for all the good advice and tips thus far. I really have appreciated it. And Rick - many sincere thanks for coming to my defense! I do believe I kinda needed it! :)

Again my apologies for having rubbed anyone the wrong way! And one last thing regarding my "inexperience" - I happen to grow a FINE honeysuckle!!! ;)

Ah! It just hit me! You're just grumpy because I got "I Will Survive" stuck in your head for three stinkin' days!! Oh, I can do one better... It could've been worse! My little Girard's could be singing the Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive"! HA! Well, look at that! Who would'a thunk my little conifers would turn out to be "Dancing Queens"! Bwhahahaha (evil laugh)... Ok - that was low... ABBA's gonna be in there for a WEEK!

But seriously, I'm sorry if I've offended you. I promise to give Girard's a fair tria... REVIEW! I meant review! when they arrive... if they ever do... and I can distinguish one stick from another... KIDDING!! I'm just kidding!! My hosta's gonna take one look at those FIIIINE little plants and start beltin' out, "She's a BRICK... HOUSE!!..."

:0D

Mary

Yes, please do post pictures of the Girards plants when you get them so that we can see what all the hubbub's about.

Well Mary to give you a little hope until your plants arive and possibly a little luck... here is one of my good Girard conifers.

It was planted in October 2011... the photo is a cell picture from today.

Meet Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Strict Weeping'

Oh wow, Rick! He looks FABULOUS!! See? It's all gonna be ok. :) Thanks for the uplifter! :)

Will do, Alex! Hopefully we'll be able to say, "Well what did we get so worked up about?? These plants look fine!" Also, to Girard's credit, when I called yesterday to check on my order, the girl who answered the phone tried to answer my questions as best she could, but she just didn't know if they were going to be shipped that day or not so she said she'd have someone call me, and someone DID! Just a couple hours later and left me a nice, informative message. I had asked the first person to please ship them that day (she had asked if I wanted them shipped that day or wait 'til Monday but had also said she remembered seeing some of my order ready so I was worried it was already getting packaged up and might dry out or something if I waited) So at any rate, the person who called me back left a nice detailed message letting me know my order had been shipped and that I was sent an email with the tracking number/info. I was happy with the responsiveness. Also, for what it's worth, I'm sorry Sandy was so cruel to you. It was sad to see everything you lost... :(

Oriental garden supply, Western Evergreen, Dans Dwarf Conifers, Broken Arrow Nursery, Conifer Kingdom, Iconic Gardens, Porterhowse, Coenosium and sometimes Song Sparrow and Blue River Nursery are more than enough to keep a collector happy (and there are many others).

The difference here is that these owners take pride in their product and don't say such things as "this is how the plant looks in the fall".

Yes, one of the owners at Girard actually said that about this plant below. That is when I flipped and will forever point out my horrendous experience(s) with Girard's confiers.

This is when I first started and didn't know of the other quality sources out there. I probably own 4 plants from Girards, the other 20 have either died, gone in the garbage or where given away. At least two sources above not only have quality that is leaps and bounds better but also better pricing that beats those "hey take 50% off our crap because no one is buying it in person stock". The proof is in the pudding. At the end of the day I hope others had and will have a better experience.

{{gwi:839253}}

So do you purchase that one for $15 or this one for $20?
I know which one I'd rather have. Good luck with your new found hobby!

{{gwi:400961}}

^^^ Stop with the slander lol. Savage comparison there.

Never was much on mail order. I have only mail ordered from two growers. Bob at Coenosium. His selections for the rare and unusual are the best.

Always quality plants. I see no need to look elsewhere.

Same applies for Bethlehem Nursery. Dennis Dodge grows quality nursery stock. No disappointments here.

Dave

OMG I'm sorry, Will - maybe I'm getting slap happy with my impending doom (... or it could be the glass of wine I just downed for my moving-rocks-all-day-induced pain), but your poor tree just made me bust out laughing!! That poor thing. I don't know anything and even I (in bold caps) can tell that little tree is pretty pathetic. Poor fella. You've made your point. Thank you and everyone for all the recommendations! I'll still be sure to report back on my plants when they get here - should be Monday evening according to UPS tracking.

I'm trying to put out those flames, Severn... ;) LOL!

Thanks again, all!
Mary