Pinus Densiflora 'Glitzer Pendula' - They may have staked and removed for shipping, or maybe becasue of it size they expect the purchaser to stake.. Some people like it satked high and other staked low. One of the challenges of ordering on line.

If your not happy call - I bet they work with you to get what you want

Thanks, I'll shoot them an email to see if we could work something out. It looks like at some time it may have been staked the first 5-6 inches. As you can see because of the 'Z' type trunk, then they allowed it to grow sideways.

Take a pic of the nice and full plants for us!

My experience with Girards is that you get what you pay for. Sometimes you get a steal, sometimes you don't.

My 'Golden Ghost' I got from them is gangly like that as well. Its much taller than advertised but extremely thin...it will take some time to fill out with pruning.

In these cases I don't think there is much you can do. Unless someone can confirm you got the wrong plants. That first one sure doesn't look like a pendula type cultivar.

I've had modest success with Girard's Nursery. I never did post a review. Maybe it's time for me to add a few nurseries? Maybe it's overdue! Stand-by, I'll get working on it!

Those plants are OK John, they're just not real happy or healthy now. Give them a nice spot and 2-3 years and they should be fine. Just make sure the roots look OK.

its obvious.. with those plants.. in those size pots.. that you will spend time bare rooting and untangling the roots ...

and if you do it.. they will .. most likely be fine ...

if you want to pay $50 per plant.. you will get much better plants.. that goes without saying ...

as noted .. you got what you most likely paid for ...

but it never hurts to call and voice your opinion of the stock ...

i note neither are now listed online ..

ken

Ken - You're correct, I just went to the site and I can't find these two anywhere. Just this morning I went there to get the size information so I could let them know the size compared to what actually was received. (i.e Glitzer was supposed to be a weeping groundcover that was 8-12" tall, but I received it around 3') Both were still listed.

I e-mailed them a couple hours ago, unless I'm missing something, it looks like they took these two off for some reason.

Will - More reviews definitely... I read a few bad reviews about this company on this forum, but they had one I really wanted so I decided to order a few more from them as well. It just so happens the few more from them I ordered didn't turn out so well. 'Glitzer Pendula' is a lot worse than in the pics. You can't tell by the pictures, but the last bundle of needs on top is the top of the sideways leader. However, this is bent like an "L" shape. If I straighten the bottom leader vertically with a stake, the very top of the leader will be at 3:00. If they don't replace, I will definitely plant it, but I don't think it'll make a very good upright conifer nor a groundcover.

Pinus Strobus 'Torulosa' - It could be a little fuller, but I'm overall happy with it. I have nothing else like it in my collection. Needles are dark green on the top, blue on the bottom and they completely twist around giving it a unique color/texture. Nothing else I have can compare to this one!

Whaas - I have a huge order coming in tomorrow from Song Sparrow & quality maples, I will post pics of everything tomorrow in a different thread as soon as UPS gets here. This will put me up to about 130 for the year!

Expecting my first order from Girard today. Got my first mail order conifer shipment yesterday--from Porterhowse--and couldn't be happier. It will be interesting to see how the Girard plants look after 6 days on a truck. I'm expecting "you get what you pay for" based on others' comments, so maybe there will be a pleasant surprise.

Will, your reviews have been invaluable. More are good!

And the best news of all--it's trying to rain a little bit outside--perfect planting weather!

Just my opinion....
You should've waited on a reply from Girard Nurseries before jumping the gun and starting this post to bash them. Mistakes happen. Considering you only paid $18-$24 each and received free shipping as a recent "courtesy" special, you should be happy. They're young plants and will fill in.
Fall 2009, I purchased a small, thin Pinus strobus 'Torulosa' from Girard Nursery. I inspected the roots and potted it up. Now 2yr later it has filled in some and ready to plant in my recently finished pinetum expansion.

Last year I purchased a Pinus densiflora 'Glitzer Pendula' from Girard Nursery. I staked it for height and will also plant it this fall.

Patrick

I've never mail-ordered from Girards but last July we stopped there on the way back from a road trip. Owner took us to their greenhouses so I could pick and choose. Ended up with a dozen 1-gal. impulse buys...geez. All are doing well. Have a Song Sparrow order coming in next week and a Bloom River one on Saturday.

Patrick - I didn't start this post to bash them, under my pics I simply asked if these will be ok or should I ask for replacements. I guess my title is a little harsh... I'm new to conifer collecting, I've ordered so far 130 this year. 2 of the 4 I received today were at the bottom quality wise. It's not like I ordered 20 plants from them and got 2 bad ones (This would be somewhat acceptable). I ordered 4 and only 2 were ok. Add on top a few other bad threads about this company, I figured I would ask the question before I sent them the e-mail. If they are a reputable place, they will send a replacement.

Still I purchased 'Glitzer Pendula' as an 8" plant so I can make sure I get something that isn't staked very high so it can become a ground cover. I received something that's going sideways that's 3' tall. Not what I had ordered. Receiving something that's 4x the size of what you are expecting is just as bad as receiving something that's 4x shorter than expected. An 8" plant in a 1 gal container isn't going to be root bound, a 3' plant will be. So far most of the plants I've ordered have been around the size advertised give or take a couple inches. Not off by 2 feet =)

In regards to what Patrick said, Rick has a right share his experience with a company. I have placed three orders with Girard's in the past, and each time I received crooked/mangled stock and frequently the plants were mislabeled to boot. It's taken my Pinus strobus "Louie" 4 growing seasons to fill in and look half way decent.

I've received far superior product from other vendors for the same price as Girard's (I think of Porterhowse.) Although Don's stock is smaller for the same price, it is in much better condition and in 2 growing seasons catches up to Girard's plants.

Now, I must say, Girard's has always been happy to replace the plants I was not happy with, free of charge. However, I do not feel, even with the great customer service, they are worth the hassle.

It is not bashing when you state the facts.

-Matt

Last year I bought 2 hardy Japanese maples from Girard's, and they survived a -25F winter nicely, which I never could get in the past. So I am happy with them!
Bernd

I for one am glad you shared your experiences before waiting for a reply from the nursery. Eventually, I'm sure you'll update the thread if something happens to change your perception, in which case readers will have a play-by-play of what your individual experience was like. If it has a happy ending, readers will know it. If it doesn't, we'll know that too. If you had waited for a reply, and assuming the reply led to a happy ending, there's a very good chance you wouldn't have posted at all, in which case the forum would have been lesser for not having known that initially your purchase was less than satisfactory, which does count, no matter how it turns out.

All reviews are welcomed here.

I heard rumblings a year or two after Pete Girard passed away how it was going downhill. I ordered a few times after that because I was always happy before and also called with several questions. I never had an issue with plants and questions were always answered in an accommodating manner. I would not hesitate to order from them again...if I had room.

tj

These are all my Girards plants from this year. I'm missing a few but it gives you an idea. I started pulling a little weight as a frequent buyer so that helped with the quality of some of my specimens. I had 4 ('Low Glow' is up in the air) mislabled plants and needed two replacements out of the entire bunch.

Pinus densiflora 'Low Glow'
{{gwi:805027}}

Picea Pungens 'Thuem'
{{gwi:805029}}

Pinus heldreichii 'Green Bun'
{{gwi:805031}}

Picea orientalis 'Connecticut Turnpike'
{{gwi:611119}}

Pinus strobus 'Coney Island'
{{gwi:805033}}

Picea pungens 'R.H. Montgomery'
{{gwi:805035}}

Abies balsamea 'Tyler Blue'
{{gwi:805038}}

Picea jezoenis 'Howell's Dwarf Tigertail'
{{gwi:805039}}

Abies Lasiocarpa 'Compacta'
{{gwi:805040}}

Pinus strobus 'Girard Contorta Nana'
{{gwi:805047}}

Picea glauca 'Dent'
{{gwi:779594}}

Ginkgo biloba 'Pete's Dwarf'
{{gwi:731704}}

Pinus koreansis 'Anna'
{{gwi:736235}}

Picea glauca 'McConnell's Gold'
{{gwi:599429}}

Got my order as scheduled--haven't had a chance to post photos yet, but they don't look bad at all, considering they spent almost a week in a box. A few had been carefully curled around to fit in the box and will need to be staked. Given the free shipping deal, I'm pretty happy with them.

Whaas - Those look great, I would be very happy with them!

Lucretia - I made my first conifer mail order early this spring from a different company. I to thought they were great and I posted a good review about them. After getting some from SongSparrow, Bob (Ebay Merchant), etc the first company I purchase from didn't look so great after all. After you order from a lot of sources, you'll start to see the difference in quality.

On a side note - I opened my Pinus strobus 'Torulosa' to look at the root ball. It may have some problems, but I'm not sure. some of the roots were almost black and they fell off with the slightest touch. It may be root rot, but I don't know for sure. It did have a few strong white healthy looking roots. Should I be at all concerned?

Looking at these plants it looks like they were sitting in more shade than recomended or packed closly to geather in a cold frame.
when you plant them they should look better next year. that is why fall is best good light but not too much as to burn them.

Patrick - I didn't start this post to bash them,

===>>> but for the threat in the title ... eh???

it cracks me up .. that lucretia.. who live in the navel of conifer collectors dreams.. the PNW .. is mail ordering to east of the armpit of the world.. aka cleveland.. rotflmbo ....

ken

Ken, the PNW is still expensive! Although I would still pay the little premimum to pic out a plant.

Its hard to beat a $18 1 gallon plant with free shipping...even if it was ran over by a trunk or staged behind a jet engine like Rick's plant above.

Ken, the armpit of the Midwest is Pittsburgh. The buttcrack would be 'Detroilet'--your neck of the woods. Cleveland is actually pretty nice, thank you.

Steg

So does that make SE WI the calf? That definitely fits perfect!

The title appears boldly on page 2 of a Google search for Girards, a nice 'Don't **** with me'.

Huh, if you type in Girard's nursery this thread is the #4 hit!

Hopefully I can get some trial plants from them after posting such nice photos of their plants!

I've a mini Walmart here. Top that!

Dax

I guess they won't be to happy with me since this thread is #4. Nothing's wrong with leaving a review (bad or good) about a company. =) I wish I could have posted a good review about this one, perhaps I can if it all works out in the end...

Like posted above, if they are able to work with me I'll be more than willing to post an update so people can know they stand behind there products. If they don't, well this thread is #4 in google with a play by play of my experience.

An Update for the thread; I've emailed last Thursday morning, no response yet.

On another note, I received my SongSparrow & Maple order last week. All are very full, healthy, just as always. I just haven't been able to get any pics.

As promised last week, I said I would post my update along with a new review of this company.

Update:
They are non responsive and never sent replacements.

Review:
Your review of Girard Nurseries may be different than mine, but here is my review based on my experience:

( QUALITY OF PLANTS RATED D- )

Conifer 1 - looked like it was pressed against the wall and could only grow one way leaving it extremely bare on one side. This plant was advertised as an 8-12" groundcover. I received something 3' tall 4-5" wide.

Conifer 2 - looked like it may have lost all needles at some point in the year and then regrew a little leaving this plant extremely bare

Conifer 3 - Appeared OK out of the box, Once I inspected it more closely it appears to have root rot

Conifer 4 - Looks good all around, very happy

( Customer Service Rated C- )
They seemed very helpful when I asked about there products. I added onto my order and each time they responded withing 24 hours. However, when explaining to them the quality issues I had, they are unresponsive.

( Packaging Rated D )
It looks like they took the plants out of the 1 gal containers and tossed them into a plastic bag. They didn't bother to tie the bag in any way leaving dirt in the box. Then it was filled with hay. A couple of the larger plants they had bent nearly in half (I'm very surprised they didn't snap) to make them fit.

Final thoughts - It seems this company does have some good plants and would be better off (for our sake) being a local nursery. There mail order side is lacking. I don't think they inspect there plants before shipping, they choose whatever is closer to them. I would not recommend this company to anyone unless you are able to visit in person to pick the good stock.

Yep, seems they deserve your indictment. Nothing worse than the 'Now we don't know you'.

I use three nurseries who's packaging is art. From cane pyramids to individual wadded balls of newsprint in the main interbranch cavities. Yes it took time, yes I come back to purchase more.

Duchy Nursery
Kenwith Nursery
Larch Cottage Nursery

Thankyou.

Where is the pic of the 3rd and 4th conifer?

I don't have any pics of those at the moment, but will get some soon along with all the other new arrivals. I only took initial pics of the two that I was more disappointed in.

Conifer 3 is Pinus strobus 'Torulosa'
Conifer 4 is Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Strict Weeping'