Have you ever ordered a JM online from a nursery? How did it go and how was it packaged? What species and size did you order? If I can't find the types I want in my area I may risk an online order, but any caveats and stories are welcome. I'd love to hear about all such experiences; the good, the bad, and even the ugly.
I just purchased and Ukigumo on line and I was very apprehensive. My order won't ship till June 1st but I will keep you posted with the details after I receive it.
I've had good luck with Worldplants. Ordered a Ukigumo from them in size #1. Here's their sizing chart. http://www.worldplants.com/treesize.htm I've also ordered from http://www.whitmanfarms.com . I ordered a few Ginkgo's in a smaller size.
I've ordered hundres of JMs on-line. There is a link at the top of the Forum page called Maple Resources that lists a number of good ones. My favorites: East Fork Eastwoods Topiary Gardens (probably the biggest selection) Mendocino Maples Forest Farm Wildwood Maples World Plants (smaller plants, new grafts) If you want a LARGE plant Forest Farms or Greers Gardens are about the only ones that ship bigger specimens.
Though not in the hundreds, I've also ordered a lot of japanese maples online, and have been mostly pleased with what I've received. Many cultivars I've wanted are simply not available locally, which left mail-order as my only choice. Any quality vendor, such as those listed above, will package and ship your tree with care, so it'll arrive in good condition.
If you have more time than money, smaller plants can be a great way to go. From an Ebay retailer in Nov 2005 $15 + shipping palmatum Mizuho Beni photos from spring 2006 (essentially the whole plant) and today I agree that packaging is usually not a concern.
Topiary Gardens appears to ship to Canada (based on email communication with them a couple of years ago). I shipped from Greer Garden a couple of years ago. I believe Whistling Gardens in Ontario may ship mail order. Hope this help.
I had terrible luck with the trees I bought on ebay. I bought several hundred off of it when I first started collecting. I found many of the trees had poor root development and or sad structure. Worst than that, I had many of them that were not even the correct cultivar. a large portion of the cheap maple just died. I can say that some of the sellers mention in this thread do sell on ebay but they are not as cheap as the "cheap sellers". I am a strong believer in that no seller gives away quality trees for cheap, they sell them for a fair price. kaitain4 has given a list of sellers that I have had great success with. 20 years ago I found Forest Farm and thought it was the greatest, my yard still has many of my first purchass from them. Theyhave a cool sellection of all kind of rare trees and plants. I have had great success with the trees from East Fork. I bought some trees from Eastwood which were nice trees. I switch my buying process and have not dealt with the other sellers.
I was disappointed with my order with Essence of the Tree (previously Mountain Maples), and even more so with their customer service, even though I had no intentions of exchanging or replacing what I received. It was my first mail order Japanese Maple (Ukigumo) which I wanted for a container. What I received was a 4" to 5" trunk with two huge branches (that look like they belong to a 4 year old tree), about 4 feet long, flopping over. It is also unvariegated but I was less concerned about that. I am sorry, but I don't have to be an expert on Acers to know that what I received is unappealing and difficult to deal with. I have discussed this in another thread, and I can understand why many would reserve any negative comments on this forum. I would be satisfied with simply trying to understand what I received, but I have no reservations with expressing my displeasure with the woman I spoke to on the phone (I am not disclosing her name). I was thrilled with my order with Greer Gardens and I would highly recommend them. Diane is the person there to speak to about the ap's. I ordered a smaller Ukigumo from them, beautiful, variegated, very nicely structured and packaged well. I have not ordered from Topiary Gardens yet, but they come highly recommended and also there the woman to speak to is Diana.
I have bought a lot of trees from Topiary Gardens and have had very good results in terms of the quality of trees and their survivability. Packing/Shipping has been great and Diana has gone to extra lengths to ensure that I got what I wanted. xman
EastFork (Samantha Hatch), Topiary Gardens (Diana Smith) & Mendocino Maples (Robert Jamgochian) are all excellent in selection and service.
I agree with K4's nominees. I want to add that Cedric (bonsai Bob) on ebay sells excellent examples of often hard to find cultivars.
Huh. I ordered an Osakazuki Aureum from Greer Gardens and when it leafed out it didn't color correctly. Made me question its authenticity. I spoke with Diane about it and she said she would talk with the grower to see if it was a juvenile trait and get back to me. Didn't happen. I spoke to her many times and never did get a straight answer. Well, the tree died (I think it felt my hate) so I dropped it. But I don't intend to buy another tree from them. Not because I was unsatisfied with the first tree as mistakes will happen, but because of the follow up after the sale. Now I've also dealt with Diana at Topiary Gardens and absolutely LOVE HER.
I know mail order can be a less expensive way to buy these maples but in truth there is nothing better than hand picking the right tree. I get a many of the same trees from a single grower and there is always a difference in trees. With this, I can watch people struggle between which of that one vartiety tree they want to bring home, It can take people an hour just to decide on that one tree. Mail order may be your only choose but if not remember there is great satisfaction in finding that special treee in person.
I found these comments very interesting, care to guess where the Purple Ghost I wrote about a few threads below came from? In any case, what did you end up doing with this tree? Regards, CSL
Hi Csl, I have her potted on my porch, a pathetic "V" on a 90 degree angle with the larger branch extending outward and the smaller branch almost straight up. I had her staked for about a week; then I thought that doing so is beyond me right now, since I'm not sure that she is positioned correctly. I decided to let her go free. She is definitely not suitable for my porch, but I will have to wait before I can do anything further (cutting back that main branch maybe, by someone who knows what they're doing. I don't speak "tree" yet, much less do I know how to go about pruning this one). Thanks for sharing where you got your tree from. I'm glad some of the members here were able to help you with some advice. Winterhaven I have no business recommending any places at all. I knew that I was going to have a hard time with purchasing Ukigumo, because it seems the tree itself can be a bit flaky and sensitive to their growing conditions, but I had a good experience with Diane and she gave me a nice one. It wasn't for me though, it was for someone else. I'm sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience there.
All my maples are mail order, and always with good results. I've ordered from Eastfork, Greer, Mountain Maples, Heron and more recently from Topiary Gardens since it is the most 'local' of the nurseries for me. There are other reputable nurseries, too. I have full grown trees now from 2 and 3 year grafts. I have also ordered larger trees. I lost first season young grafts a couple of times, but they were always replaced. Diana at Topiary is great, and her inventory and service tops. My buying has slowed now just because of space limitations. Do not fear mail order. I would stay clear of Ebay if you want confidence in what you are ordering and service.
I had a Ukigumo send out a huge shoot at a terrible angle when it was very young. I was told it sometimes does that. It now apears to be growing into it's oddness and filling out.
campbtl your tree is one of the reasons I feel mail order is never as good as selecting the tree in person. Ukigumo is a near impossible tree to find whith a great shape even when you get to pick through hundreds of them. One of the people who got me into japanese maples told me early on that the guys who grow the trees can grow them better than I can and that picking from their selection is where you will get the best trees. I have to say, I have bought some very nice trees from Eastfork Nursery and Eastwood but none of those trees compared to what can be found at your local nursery, if they are buying from the right growers.
I got a few, but they were generally not the best. You get what you pay for. I'm assuming they sell the nicely shaped "pretty" trees at a premium on their websites or to their nursery customers, and sell the "ugly" ones on e-bay. That being said, you can always prune them for aesthetic purposes, or Bonsai. My $.02 - you have your own $.02, spend it wisely. Mark
Forest Keeling nursery does mail order, yet they're local to me. Well, within 60 miles. It doesn't mean since they're local I'll get a better tree if I mail order from them? I'll agree to some point that searching yourself means you'll get the best tree of the bunch not the end one on the row someone grabs to box up.
Not at all, If you buy from THEIR website, their name, and consequently, their reputation is still on the line. I was mostly referring to the EBAY sellers. If "Forest Keeling" were to sell their excess, or less asthetically pleasing trees on ebay under the name "SuperTree123" or something that is not directly traceable to them, you can bet you'll not be getting their best. This is not a hard and fast rule, just my experience/observation. I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally by tree on e-bay, and have been quite pleased with some! Mark
My point about buying locally was "going to the nursery and picking the tree out in person" as compared picking a certain cultivar to mail ordering . When you see the tree in person you may find you do not like it for its structure or its real color not color in the photo you saw. I see people all the time with a set idea as to the tree they want, rarely do they leave with the tree they had in mind. Not because the tree they like was not as great but because they saw what they liked. If you are in the numbers game to see how many maples you can get, mail order is by far the best way and ebay is full of trees. I know, I did it, My experience of it was not successful. Now there are certain trees which can only be found by mail order, then mail order is a good way and use these good selles which have been mentioned in the thread.
