Just received my first (and probably last) order from Gurney’s. I ordered a Drippin Honey pear and a Rubinette apple tree. Placed order on Feb 28th at the same time as orders with Raintree and ToA. Trees from them arrived in a timely fashion and in good shape.
With Gurney’s I kept waiting. Each time I checked the status online it showed that the estimated shipping date was pushed back. I would wait until the estimated date again only to see it was pushed back yet again. Emailed to ask about it and was stated they would “rush” the order. When I checked again a week later it was pushed back again and would ship in early April. I emailed to ask if I could cancel (sent 3 emails) and got zero response. Then magically I got an email saying it had shipped. Didn’t mind waiting, especially given current circumstances, but the lack of response was unsettling.
Got the order today, and may I saw wow, what a disappointment! Trees were hastily thrown into a bag with minimal packaging and the roots were quite dry. Trees had damage on trunk and roots. Rubinette graft pointing sideways at least a few inches. Felt like they were punishing me for making a fuss. Lame
Both of those look better than the asian pear I got from Burnt Ridge.
Looks like the one with the crooked graft may have a chance. The other one looks like it’s missing all the feeder roots. Glad you posted this, its nice to see what you can expect if you order from them.
Sorry to hear that about Burnt Ridge! I’ve heard mixed reviews about them. The roots on my apple look fine, and the asian pear is low on feeder roots but had some new one sprouting. I’m in CA so I am usually able to just stick something in the ground and it will grow.
Just annoyed mostly with the lack of customer service and responsiveness.
Your story seems eerily similar to mine but I haven’t received my shipment yet.
We’ll see.
Your trees actually look better than the stock I got from them. My Drippin Honey came with only 2 large roots practically devoid of any small feeder roots. The tree still grew well the first year and even had some fruit the following year. Maybe prune that damaged part off the top. The crooked tree should probably grow just fine and won’t look terrible once it gains some size.
I’m not saying it was ok of them not to respond to your communications and concerns in a timely manner. This speaks poorly on their customer service for not addressing your concerns.
I got a toona sinensis last spring from an etsy seller. It came in with a taproot that looked like a carrot, smooth. There wasn’t even the hint of any feeder roots. I’ve gotta pawpaws that were similar.
As long as the root is fat and not wrinkled, due to desiccation, I’ve never had a problem with a lack of feeder roots.
(BTW, if you don’t know what toona sinensis is, google image search it)
Scott
The roots don’t look too bad to me, even though they might be a bit dry. The damaged trunk is a bummer, though. And like Andrew said, you could prune that damaged top part off anyway as an initial heading cut.
I have an apple tree (Liberty) that I got from Cummins four years ago with a big curve in it off the graft union. It’s still going just fine and actually gave me some fruit last year for the first time.
Yeah I’m being a bit persnickety. I’m just frustrated with the lack of communication, but I guess it is a tough time for everyone.
The BP Moretini pear I got from ToA also had a crooked graft, tho I think it was one of the last they had in stock. I also bought a DWN Sauzee Swirl from a local nursery with basically a stub root and about one feeder root dangling and it seems fine (it was packed in a fiber pot so I couldn’t inspect the roots). I live close to DWN and most of the trees I’ve bought I was able to hand pick from the local nursery’s heel-in, so I definitely can be picky.
I took the advice here and cut the damaged part. A bit lower than what I would like but not too bad.
Cool. Must be nice to be that close to Dave Wilson’s and all those trees. It’d have to be mighty tempting to not stop by and you know, browse around, maybe take a look here and there, buy a few trees, come back the next day, look around some more…
Ohhhh yes, way too tempting. The nursery five minutes from my house has them in fiber pots but there’s only so many times that I can pass some beautiful scaffolding on a bare root tree and not buy. It’s trouble for my pocketbook
DWN also lists which retailers carry each variety, which has led to some solo car trips to various nurseries when the wife was out of town, hehe.
groworganic.com, for example, has a physical location not far from me.
Heh. Glad I’m not too close to any nurseries. But, I have my hands full with 29 trees already. Three of them are pluots from Bay Laurel from two years ago, they were the last ones I’ve bought. They’ve put on some good size since then, and a couple of them have blooms on them now.
Today, I just finished weeding and fertilizing the last of my trees in the back yard. We’re getting some rain now, so that fert should get watered in real well tonight.
I actually ordered a bag of Surround from Grow Organic last year, they had a pretty good deal on it at the time. They sent me like half a dozen catalogs since then.
Scott,
I did indeed need to google toona sinensis and it came up that it’s a mahogany with edible leaves. That’s cool! Have you tried eating them or using them to make a sauce?
I’ve eaten a few, but last year I didn’t want to go overboard. My goal last year was getting the plant growing and established. The leaves are tasty, though
The leaves are pretty when first growing, but mine is not quite as spectacular as some of the pictures online.
Scott