Yea, i bought a red buckeye tree online already and it surived. The trees are usually sent in long cardboard boxes.It can however take some time before you actually get the tree. The wait could be anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks depending on the nursery.Lazyssfarm and Sooner Plant Farm are suppose to be a really good places, their reviews are almost perfect.

There are really too many mail-order sources to list. It would probably make more sense to search for a vendor with a specific plant in mind.

One absolutely majorly important thing to keep in mind is to check the potential source out BEFORE placing an order. Garden Watchdog is probably the best resource to do that. Always review your source's listing there first!

If you can't find the nursery listed in Garden Watchdog, one of three possibilities exist...
1. misspelling or alternate name
2. very new or very small nursery that isn't listed
3. very bad news that should be avoided at all costs (like TyTy, for instance).

Ditto what Brandon said. Check the Watchdog.

richardonthego, what kind of project do you have going on? Looking for a couple rare conifers or Japanese Maples? You reforesting a few acres and just need common trees and lots of them on the cheap?

Some State Departments of Forestry offer seedling bundles ridiculously cheap. I tried finding California's once with no luck.

i have used Guerney, stark brothers [fruit] and jung for general trees ....

and many specialty houses for conifers ...

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING .. is proper timing of planting ...

most stock is shipped dormant.. and they need to be coordinated with the proper time to plant in your area ...

a call to your county soil conservation district office.. high end nursery.. or Ag office should narrow down the proper planting time .... [or all 3 to see what they all say]

sooooo .. when you order.. you need to have the seller send them at the proper time ...

good luck

ken

I've bought a Renaissance Reflection birch tree from Advanced Tree Technology, Yoshino cherries from Greenwood Nursery, and numerous tiny size 1 Japanese maples from World Plants online. I've nothing but great things to say about these trees - they're all thriving!

I,ve had bad experience buying fromArbor day and Nature hills, they left hardly any roots on the trees when they dug them up to send.Someone suggested a California nursery to me when I was trying to find a certain tree and I can,t remember the name,I know that's no help but maybe the person who recommended it will read this and remember, this place has a good variety of oaks from the west.

for both "exotic" and more common plants www.forestfarm.com(oregon) has been great for me for nearly 30 years. www.colvoscreeknursery.com (washington) and www.cistus.com (oregon) have very interesting selections of rare plants for zones 7-9 and www.yuccado.com (texas) has lots of stuff yuccas,agaves, cacti, for hot dry climates.

I tried TreeForSaleOnline, which I think is affiliated with Tennessee Whole Sale Nursery. I bought 10 California privet for $108 but I ended up with a small bunch of twigs (I could have gotten the same thing from Home Depot for $20). Make sure you research what you want to get and make sure they have a exact picture of what they are offering. Sometimes sellers offer warranty but only for in-store credit but will be a hard process. My dealer didn't even return my e-mail questions/requests.

Yes - we've had great luck with several seedling/sapling size trees bought through on-line or print catalogs. Only caution is to deal with someone who knows the (genetic) source of their plants where it matters. Not always in issue, but can be a crucial factor for some wide-ranging trees. For example, bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) native to central Texas generally do better in that limestone region than ones from more acidic soils further east. The best companies will know this information where it is significant.

i just recieved a couple leylands from the tree center (i think its www.thetreecenter.com) they looked great. big nice full plants in a really big box. i think their kinda new. i also had success with bareroot trees from stark bros.

Do *NOT* order plants from them in the summer/fall.

When you order, you get their “Arrive Fresh” guarantee which gives you only FIVE days to determine if your plants are going to be healthy or not. Now, other than any OBVIOUS defects that you can SEE (which I assume they would never ship in the first place), IMHO there is no way to know if a tree is going “healthy,” even after the additional 45 days you have to report damage.

BE AWARE: That the Shopper Approved reviews you will see for this company on their website are only entered immediately upon ordering. You cannot – and I tried – enter feedback AFTER your purchase.

I bought two arborvitae from them in late June 2017. I rigorously followed the planting instructions. One of the two plants did not appear to be in the greatest shape and I did bring this to their attention. Yes, it was 14 days after their 45 day "grace period." However, at the time, I was told to wait until spring and if the tree did not “come back” they would “take care of it.”

As I suspected this spring (2018) the tree is now a pile of brown leaves. [I have photos of the two trees together if that would be useful to anyone.] When bringing this to their attention, sharing emails from the person who made the promises (who, of course, no longer worked there), I was told that the “best” they could do was offer a 50% discount on a replacement since I had not purchased their “1 year guarantee” (which BTW is very easy to miss on their order form).

So if you are considering ordering from them, my suggestions are:

(1) Order in the SPRING only so you are at the peak growing season and can reasonably determine health within their narrow 45-day window.

(2) File a complaint about the tree’s health – REGARDLESS of condition – within 5 days so you are on record in case the tree turns out to be defective.

(3) Always order their 1-year replacement guarantee. HOWEVER, note that when you do, their attractive prices are no longer so attractive when compared with others, including local nurseries who always warrant what you buy from them.

(4) Your local nursery will provide much better service and warranty because they want your repeat business, which the Tree Center clearly does not (at least based on the way I was treated).

Good luck!