Heather g.

Ordered a Lambert Cherry tree on 5/4/23. Delivery was delayed several weeks. Upon inquiry, customer service informed me that delivery was delayed because they were waiting on trees to become more established prior to shipment. Tree finally arrived on 6/6/23 in very poor condition. Leaves were completely wilted on arrival. It was potted in very course, poorly moisture retentive media. Cursory exploration of roots revealed poor development. Customer service was contacted again reporting the poor condition of the tree on arrival. I was advised to water the tree by immersing the pot in a bucket water. This resulted in limited improvement of the wilted leaves, but severe wilting recurred within 24 hours. Contacted customer service again and was advised to continue daily immersion watering. When I expressed concern about the longterm viability of the tree, customer service advised it was guaranteed for a year. Thus began many weeks of intensive care involving daily watering with limited improvement. I maintained contact with customer service throughout this period. Eventually, I repotted the tree into a more moisture retentive media. During repotting, it was clear how little healthy root mass the tree actually had. Repotting helped significantly, but it was mid to late July before the tree was healthy enough and able to maintain reasonable enough leaf turgor between waterings that it could be planted in the orchard. Ongoing extra care and watering throughout the growing season produced no visible new growth. Due to its poor condition on arrival and inability to sufficiently establish itself over the summer, the tree died over the winter. I planted a dozen other fruit trees which were healthy on arrival (from other sources) last spring in the same orchard and all are thriving. Upon contacting Nature Hills this spring to report the loss, despite well-documented issues from the start, they are now refusing to reimburse my purchase. They will only offer a 50% credit towards purchase of a new tree and I would have to pay for shipping. Even worse, they don't even have Lambert cherries in stock this season. I've already replaced the Lambert cherry from another nursery and it was half the cost I paid Nature Hills last spring anyway. I have never purchased trees from any other professional organization that didn't replace or refund my purchase immediately upon notification when there was a problem on delivery. Heed this warning and buy elsewhere! Deceitful customer service and warranty policies.