Was I taken advantage of?

[C]

I purchased 26 potted, 5 to 6', Swedish Aspen and paid to have them planted in the spring. It was raining when they were planted, and it rained for several days after. Even during the rain, the trees were beginning to drop their leaves and die. Several months later, around half a dozen trees are growing - only one is somewhat healthy.

The trees had yellow leaves when they were planted and they were BARE ROOT (not potted as per my order). The trees were also chloritic when planted (yellow leaves) because it was late in the season, and they had been keeping them in cold/dark storage to keep them from pushing out their leaves.

The nursery has agreed to provide replacement trees for free (there is a 5 year guarantee on them), but they want me to pay the fees to plant them again. I am upset that I am going to have to pay a second planting fee for the following reasons:

1) I believe potted plants are more hardy than bare root plants, and if they had delivered and planted what I ordered, there is a good chance most of them would be alive. The lady at the nursery completely disagrees with this statement. She has indicated that their potted trees are just bare root trees that they stick in a pot that same spring. In my case, they simply ran out of time to pot them. This sounds a bit odd to me because I thought nursuries typically charge more money for potted plants and I was under the assumption this was because the plants were rooted better and more likely to establish themselves when transplanted. 2) The trees were dead & dieing within days of being planted. I suspect they knew that a lot of the trees were not going to make it when they planted them.

I am not a gardener. If my expectations of the nursery are too high because of my ignorance, please set me straight. I got a little carried away when I spoke to the owner of the nursery, and I may owe them an apology........

Thank you, Chris

[Timmins01]

Hi Chris,no i dont think you are wrong here,cant you plant the news ones yourselfe? Or maybe get a friend to help.

Von.

[sockiescat]

[e-mail] C wrote:-

I purchased 26 potted, 5 to 6', Swedish Aspen and paid to have the planted in the spring. It was raining when they were planted, and it raine for several days after. Even during the rain, the trees were beginning t drop their leaves and die. Several months later, around half a dozen tree are growing - only one is somewhat healthy.

The trees had yellow leaves when they were planted and they were BAR ROOT (not potted as per my order). The trees were also chloritic whe planted (yellow leaves) because it was late in the season, and they had bee keeping them in cold/dark storage to keep them from pushing out their leaves.

The nursery has agreed to provide replacement trees for free (there i a 5 year guarantee on them), but they want me to pay the fees to plan them again. I am upset that I am going to have to pay a second plantin fee for the following reasons:

1) I believe potted plants are more hardy than bare root plants, an if they had delivered and planted what I ordered, there is a good chance mos of them would be alive. The lady at the nursery completely disagree with this statement. She has indicated that their potted trees are just bar root trees that they stick in a pot that same spring. In my case, the simply ran out of time to pot them. This sounds a bit odd to me because thought nursuries typically charge more money for potted plants and I wa under the assumption this was because the plants were rooted better and mor likely to establish themselves when transplanted. 2) The trees were dead & dieing within days of being planted. suspect they knew that a lot of the trees were not going to make it when they planted them.

I am not a gardener. If my expectations of the nursery are too hig because of my ignorance, please set me straight. I got a little carried awa when I spoke to the owner of the nursery, and I may owe them a apology........

Thank you, Chris-

Hi Chris,no i dont think you are wrong here,cant you plant the news ones yourselfe? Or maybe get a friend to help.

Von.

chris u are far from wrong on this issue they are using unfair busines practices which is totally illegal. now u didnt say where u are from but if u are in the united states her is a copy of the consumer protection act which does tell u that they were fraudulen in respect to what they did because they didnt follow through on exactl what u had ordered. also they cannot do a substitution without your permission.

going here they might be able to help u its the link to consume protection agency. go to the left hand side and click on contact us. send them a email and if u are in the wrong area they might be able to direct u t where u can get help on this issue ;). so good luck and let us know how it goes. cyaaaaaa, sockiescat

-- sockiescat

[JoeSpareBedroom]

If you noticed they were chlorotic at planting time, why did you allow the installer to continue with the work?

[madgardener]

I have to ask you first....knowing that Aspens are yellow in the fall only, why didn't you stop them from planting them right away? Aspens are suckering plants. those great stands of them are one tree. not many. if the trees were showing that they were dead and dying after only days of planting, the nursery should guarantee them for at least the first six months (barring that you kept them watered and such until they showed they were establishing or dying). No, rather than chewing out the nursery owner, take it to small claims court if you have to. Are you able to plant the replacements yourself? have friends as suggested to help? you shouldn't have to pay them to replant the trees when they sold and planted sick or dying trees. check and see if they have a simple guarantee. if they only guarantee for 30 days or even half a year, you might only be able to get them to replace them. if they only are libel to replace dead trees, go to the nursery, and pick out good, healthy trees (fall is a great time to plant trees......) bare root or potted, a $50 hole for a tree is the best, nothing deeper than the tree's roots spread out, no mulch higher than three inches around each tree, water well and if you HAVE to stake it, thread old garden hose to keep from cutting into the young tree's bark and loose enough to give a bit in the winds. Makes for a stronger tree in the long run.

Check your bill of sales and see what rights you have. and are you talking that now, since we're officially into fall, you've only started asking for replacements now? well, get the trees out of them, and find some friends to help plant them, or go into the phone book and call a LANDSCAPER.............or two and get some prices. I'd rather pay a landscaper to plant a tree or shrub than someone at a nursery. unless this nursery has a landscape section of their business. if THAT'S the case, take them to small claims and see if you have a leg to stand on (or a trunk...) I'm serious. and learn from this and don't let it stop you from planting more trees and shrubs and perennials and annuals and other stuff in the future. that's what makes gardening great and an adventure. madgardener who plants her own trees...................

[C]

I will most likely plant the trees by myself. It's the principle of it that bugs me! They aren't that hard to plant, but I thought that if I pay them to plant them, then it makes it easier for warranty claims.

Unfortunately, I wasn't knowledgeable enough on the trees to question that they were put in the ground with yellow leaves. I did see them planting them with bare roots - it wasn't until I went back to the bill of sale (when I knew they were dieing), that I identified that they were supposed to be potted. It goes to show how much of a gardener I am......

Chris

[helco]

Today's NY Times has an article about the fact that aspens in some western states are dying of an unknown disease. Perhaps that is part of the problem? You don't say where you live. Here's the link:

If it doesn't work, I can copy the text and send that, if you're interested. helco

[Rick F.]

There's also a story on the NPR website (npr.org) -- just search for Aspen