When I placed my order with them in early December they told me that they couldnt ship till Mid February because the rootstock wouldnt come in till then. Ok, So I check in with them a few weeks ago and they said they would be getting rootstock in last week and would ship my order. Sounded good. Nothing has showed so I check in again today and they said they wont ship for another couple weeks. WHy? Just because. I asked if it was still a hold up on the rootstock. Nope, its in. They are just behind. I explained to them that its getting very late in our spring and 100 degree days are only 45-60 days away, didnt matter.
Frustrating. This is my first order with Raintree. Got in the St Julian rootstock we ordered in from One Green World this last week. Dont know if I will order again if mid March is the best they can do.
Iāve gotten some puny specimens lately. Iām in Z5 and therefore towards the end of the line of product to be shipped.
I suspect that they are over successful. I notice that Adams county sold out pretty early this year. That didnāt stop them from sending me a second, very elaborate catalog.
I got a Mirabelle plum from Raintree and it arrived on time, but with numerous broken and rotting roots, and holes in the trunk just above the root crown, which may turn out to be borers. It was lashed to a bamboo stake, which had rubbed the bark off of several branches. I have never ordered a tree to be shipped to me so I donāt know if thatās normal or not.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Raintree. I ordered from it twice. Both times got very good size, celan trees. The packing was good. It arrived the time I requested. I rate them high for me.
My last order were two E. plums last year. You shuould let them know.
Raintree does not produce their own trees so have less control over inventory than suppliers that do. Within this context, it has always been a well run and ethical supplier for me- but the stock can be inconsistent. Iāve never had a problem with their packaging, though.
Of course, even suppliers that produce their own product have consistency problems- growth of trees vary from year to year.
Havenāt ordered anything from them for a couple of years, but Iāve met the owner and would be surprised if he let things fall apart there. He is the kind of owner that takes pride in the quality of his product.
Raintree is similar to Peaceful Valley in my mind - a very busy place with contract growing who tries to do their best but some things slip between the cracks in the rush. I have ordered many things from them primarily due to their unique selection.
Lizzy if the tree you are referring to was the one I saw photos of on GW then itās awful. That is ridiculously poor quality and Iād ask for a refund. BTWā¦I think that is borer damage and I could see the large broken and ripped roots you speak of. Terrible.
A borer hole doesnāt mean you have borers, the grower may have treated the tree. Torn roots are typical of trees dug up bare root, Iād rather have torn roots than get trees from a nursery that cuts all the roots to short stubs before shipping. No torn or rotting roots there. Some rot on torn roots will always appear after a period in cold storage.
A borer girdles the area near the entry hole, which will be apparent with some gentle scraping. If the bark is sound there is likely no living borer but you can fish for one with a wire or sharp knife.
Iām a nurseryman, so I may be a little biased for the supplier. These trees donāt come out of a factory.
I have ordered many trees over the past 15 years from raintree. This was my first bad year. They were late. When I emailed them, they said this week. Two weeks later I emailed again, they said this week. Another week later I got a confusing email from a shipping company, they did not give an ETA until the same day several days laterš”.
Some of the trees were good. Pixi Cot Aprocot was OK but not big enough for the price. Sweet Treat Pluerry was mangled- after I pruned off the badly mangled branches, it had 2 tiny ones. Most lower buds had grown but broken off or pruned off, so if the remaining branches dont make it, itās in trouble.
A highbush cranberry had old branches that looked like they were broken off by hand. But it had 2 good branches, and anyway was a bonus plant.
On the other hand the 4 way apple was 5 way. That was nice.
If they were in school I would give them a C this year. Prior years they got an A.
We are apperantly supposed to get our raintree order today. Its forecast to hit 90 degrees here tomorrowā¦not happy about being shipped this late. I begged them two weeks ago to ship but they just ran me around in circles.
I guess I will count myself lucky that I got my pear rootstocks from Raintree at the very end of February (pretty typical for me in past years). Here thatās not such a bad thing because our local scion exchange is always the third Saturday in Februaryāvery late.
Iāve been happy with Raintree but Iām a little worried about their future based on what I read in their most recent catalog. Seems like they are looking for investors.
Iām expecting an order from them and was told they ship to the mid Atlantic region middle of march. Do they sent out a shipping confirmation email?
I was looking at their site and noticed the 4-in-1 apple tree I purchased from them is no longer listed. Does that mean that I wonāt get one? Or does that mean mine had been pulled and accounted for and they are no longer taking orders for them?
I donāt know if your order is impacted, but here is what I know about an order I made yesterday.
After finding out that Cummins wonāt have the G.65 rootstock I ordered back in the fall (ouch) since their supplier couldnāt provide them this year, I scrambled to find some other super dwarfing stock and all I could find was M27 at Raintree. Since Iām trying to coordinate it with other stock, I called them before ordering to see about shipping. They told me that they had been delayed in getting their delivery so they were behind a week. Instead of shipping out March 13 for VA, like they said on their site, they said it wonāt go until March 20 - and could take up to 6 days to get to me. I donāt know if that effects everything theyāre sending, but I do know they bundle up everything for the east coast for Spring shipments and send it in climate controlled trucks to Chicago, then distribute it out by UPS or Fed Ex ground from there. Iāll probably call them back next week to confirm theyāre on schedule.
I suppose mine will likely arrive the same time as yours as Iām in WV. I guess the only thing I can do is have everything prepped and ready to throw in the ground when they arrive late march. Hopefully the trees havenāt broke dormancy and cause me any problems.
That is interesting. I would assume here in Wisconsin weāre part of that order? Probably saves them a ton in shipping doing it that way? They should just open a nursery in the midwest if they are getting that many orders on this side of the countryā¦
Got my Nadia yesterday. Too big to be ideal for a pot. Tag just said Raintree. Nothing about DWN. Total height 48 inches with 11 branches ~20 inches. Itās now got 8 branches 6-8 inches each. The roots were broken some but needed trimming to fit the pot.
This year is the first time I ordered from Raintree and what I ordered were rootstocks. The shipment was delayed by about a month when the rootstocks finally shipped. However, they did make me feel that they are trying their best to meet my request but some situations are beyond their control. Eventually, they did ship a week earlier than their last commit. I am grateful for their effort.
