Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards
reviews and complaints

As someone who loves gardening and enjoys adding new plants to my collection, my experience with Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards Co has been a mix of highs and lows. The plants I received were healthy and in good condition, especially the fruit trees which were of excellent quality. However, I did face some challenges with their customer service. There were instances where I received dead plants and had to go through a lengthy process to get a refund. Despite these setbacks, the variety of trees and plants they offer is impressive, and their replacement policy for damaged items is a plus. If you're willing to navigate potential customer service issues, Stark Bro's can be a good source for your gardening needs.

About a year ago, I purchased 2 apple trees and three blueberry bushes from the website. They arrived right on time, extremely healthy and well-packaged. They all grew over summer, and have survived winter beautifully! This is the first time I've had blueberry bushes survive the harsh winter climate in Wisconsin and I'm thrilled! In addition to high quality plants and excellent shipping, the website provides a plethora of valuable information about the plants, and customer service is excellent! I will absolutely order again - my online cart already has a number of fruiting plants in it that I can't wait to order!

I purchased two Saturn dwarf peach trees in 2018. During 2021, the trees produced fruit but were not Saturn peaches but a round, white flesh. Though both trees were productive, they were not the variety I ordered. I emailed images of the trees to Stark Bros. with corresponding tags. Stark Bros. acknowledged the error and immediately ordered two replacement trees of the proper variety. I received both trees last Monday. On Monday evening the trees were planted. Stark Bros. action was accountable, responsive with no resistance in correcting the error. Greatly appreciated the responsible customer service. Five stars!

I have seen Stark Bros. products featured on several YouTube channels. (Specifically Hollar Homestead and in an episode with Justin Rhodes and the McLamb family) I just wanted to let you know that your generous donation to the McLamb family is the reason I placed my order with you. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but to see a company with a compassionate business model tells me everything I need to know about them. It also assures me that you stand behind the homesteading community and the values we hold. Thank you so much for being available to us and being willing to support those of us in need. God bless you.

I recently purchased 4 red raspberry plants from the website and I want to extend my gratitude and compliments. From the communication regarding the processing of my order to the shipping details and finally, the vigor of the plants I received, the experience was second to none! The plants arrived safely & obviously healthy and I cannot wait to enjoy the fruit they will bear next season. We are a market garden operation and are expanding the small fruit aspect of our business. We are also planning to plant fruit trees this autumn. We will surely be purchasing all our plants and trees from Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards in the future!

We're in the town of Milton-Freewater, in the Walla Valley, northeastern Oregon. Waited over a year to finally receive my Italian Honey Fig Tree from Stark Brothers in early June this year. Planted it immediately. Then horrific heat wave hit end of June, with several weeks over 100 degrees daily, brutal highs of 110-117, very dry heat! Deep-soaked the tree every day. Astonishingly, the tree has exploded with growth. Absolutely loving the heat, very healthy-looking. I'm thrilled and hoping my good luck holds. Meanwhile losing other trees and shrubs that can't take the sustained heat. Thanks to Stark Brothers for sending this great high quality fig tree!

I want to thank you for your excellent customer service as well as your quality stock. While the first willow I received in my order( that also contained bareroot strawberries and asparagus), arrived clearly damaged through shipping, the replacement you sent arrived recently in perfect condition. At every step of the way, from the ease of reporting this problem to the immediacy with which you responded and replaced the damaged tree, your staff was extremely helpful and pleasant. It is wonderful to know your company truly values it's customers and their satisfaction. While this was my first order with you, I am certain it will not be my last. Thank you again! LJL

We ordered two dwarf apple trees from Stark Bros. The tress were shipped quickly, although when we took one out of the protective covering we discovered one tree was broken. We actually didn't know if the tree broke during shipment or if we did something wrong when unpacking it. I emailed Stark Bros. to find out if there is a way for us to “save" the tree, and I even told them we didn't blame them for the breakage because we weren't sure of the cause. Stark Bros. Customer Care not only responded quickly, they sent a replacement tree without me even asking for it. Crystal, their Customer Care Lead was extremely nice and helpful. We will definitively order again from Stark Bros. in the future

We have bought several fruit trees from Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards. They have been in the ground for over 5 years. They bloom each year but do not produce any fruits. I have read and researched why my peach trees wouldn't bear fruits, why my cherry trees won't bear fruits, why my persimmon trees won't bear fruits, why my fig trees won't bear fruits... However, the cherry tree we bought from Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards that we planted last year already bears fruits. Other fruit trees I bought from Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards, such as the apple trees and pear trees, even the plum trees, bear fruits. I contacted Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards, and they sent me something to read. We are frustrated. Five years without one single fruit... It has wasted our time and effort. Now we are thinking to let them go and plant something else. I would not recommend anyone to buy trees from Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards.

This is a copy of the heartfelt thank you that I sent to Stark Bro's Nursery & Orchards recently:

Thank you for shipping me a new set of healthy and lovely Stark Bro's raspberry plants. They arrived in great shape today.

Stark Bro's Nurseries is the most honest and trustworthy of all businesses and I look forward to ordering more from you in future months/years.

We harvested peaches, nectarines, almonds, pears, and two varieties of apples from the bare root trees I ordered from Stark Bro's back in 2017. Your company has the very best reputation for quality (and variety) of fruit trees and also for honesty and excellent customer service.

Thanks, again, for so quickly and generously solving my problem with that first order of raspberries.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

First time ordering a grafted Starking Hardy Giant Asian Pear Semi-Dwarf tree from Stark Bro's. Unfortunately it did not do well after 1 year in our garden. I contacted their customer service via email regarding their warranty. They quickly responded and provided me guidance on what evidence that's required to validate the warranty which I did. Upon providing photos and description on what happened, they quicky responded within a day, and issued a credit for the amount of the tree that's good for 18 months from the time the credit was issued. I truly feel confident that I can trust Stark Bro's to stand by their product, and this is proof that they do, and they want us to be happy with their products. I will buy from Stark Bro's again because they have a good customer care response team that will quickly respond to you because they stand by their products.

We planted several apple trees from Tractor Supply and Stark Bro's last Fall. Tractor Supply trees are doing as well as the Stark Bro's Trees. The important difference is, I was able to pick from a much wider variety of trees from Stark Bro's. We also purchased a Nectarine Tree from Stark Bro's that arrived looking a bit sad when it arrived, we gave it a go to see if it would take, and sadly it did not. I contacted Stark Bro's with photos of the tree, they explained we were past the time for planting another in this growing season, I could either order for the next season, or accept a refund with their sincere apologies. I took the refund and have ordered another for this growing season with an additional apple. Stark has been fair with us, even during the deplorable pandemic. I applaud them for continuing to provide good product with good customer service. Can't wait to see my new trees. Thank you

I have ordered three trees and four shrubs total from Stark Brothers. Customer Service has always been a breeze -- either an email sent to them or a call connects me to somebody either within the day or instantly, respectively. I am EXTREMELY happy with my trees, and very extremely happy with the policy of replacement! My gooseberries didn't thrive in the last 10 months or so, and at least one is dead, the other's on its' last leg. I called today, and within a five minute phone call I have two new plants on their way, and advice on how to ensure that they thrive this time to boot! I'm excited to get some berries in the next few years, and excited to keep shopping at Stark Brothers for every plant that I need that they can sell me! I tell ya, it makes me a lot less nervous about investing so much in plants, knowing that in case of the worst, I have a backup that is so kind and simple. That's really nice. Thank you very much!

Placed an order in December for roughly $250 worth of grape vines with a promised delivery date of mid April. Beginning in the first week of April, I began getting weekly automated emails stating that my delivery would be delayed by a week. In early June, I sent an email asking what the issues were and I was told that the crop was growing slower this year, but that my grapes were currently being processed for shipping. Then, I received another email telling me that shipping had been delayed until the first week of July. Yesterday morning, I received an email telling me that the entire crop was lost, that my order was cancelled, and that I needed to call to request a refund. When I called today, I was told that they never had that particular variety in hand, and that they oversold and had to cancel many orders. The phone operator said nothing about a lost crop. That means on at least two out of three instances, an employee was perfectly happy to tell me an outright lie about the status of my order, causing not only an absolute loss of trust in the company, but also an entire lost growing season, thus delaying the eventual opening of my farm winery and all associated business income. Buyer beware of this company's complete disregard of business integrity.

I placed an order with Stark for bare root trees, the site indicated that the trees would be delivered within one week(estimated). Order on 4/5. Notice of change to delivery to 4/11. Then a notice of change to 4/18. Then no further notices, but no order until an email on 4/25 indicating that an item on my order was Sold Out and that all or part of my order had been canceled. At this point I was feeling frustrated as I felt misled by website and shipping dates. I didn't expect that 20 days after order I would not have received update on when the items would ship and was surprised that I was getting a Sold Out message this late. I called in and expressed frustration with the process and asked to have my order refunded. The rep indicated a refund could not be placed do shipping my order, although there was no tracking number or shipment placed at this point. I indicated that the process felt misleading and confusing, the rep apologized and offered to send the trees and refund the order and that she would contact me personally the day the order released so that I could verify the order and validate the shipping ( I didn't expect this but thought it was fair). 1 week later I hear nothing from them and check on the status of the order online and find the entire order was cancelled with no communication to me. Another week wasted waiting and more misleading feedback. I then sent in a message asking if the order was actually canceled and why no communication, and the response was a support ticket email indicating that the issue was "resolved" and that they were unsure what the representative had offered but it that I wanted a cancellation. I am tired of trying to feel heard with their company, I offer my experience as opportunity for improvement, it is clear that they are not interested in my business. I would not recommend purchasing anything from them.

We ordered plants and many died during the first growing season. We believe the blackberries all died because they came with mold on them. Here is original order placed May 19 Products Ordered Item Price Qty Total Honeoye Strawberry Junebearer $12.99 Anne Yellow Raspberry $11.99 Himbo Top Primocane Red Raspberry $15.99 Royalty Purple Raspberry $17.99 Prime-Ark Blackberry Plant Collection $36.99 Double Gold Raspberry $19.99 Merchandise Total $115.94 Discount Amount - $11.59 Shipping $9.99 Est. Sales Tax $3.77 Order Total $118.11 I sent an email to Stark to let them know about the dead plants that didn't make it last year on 04/08. They have given me the run around trying not to refund me for the dead plants that are under warranty (I had wanted a replacement but they apparently had none of the items in stock.) I had tried to call but they were not taking calls and you could not leave phone messages due to Covid issues. Here is the string of emails trying not to get me a full refund. Ticket ID (04/08) [Website-generated] Customer Support Request On Apr 8, 2020, 12:40:30 PM, S W wrote: Hello, I wanted to find out how we go about getting replacements for some of the plants that did not survive. Last year, ALL the blackberries died. Not one made it, and one set came with what looked like mold on it, so perhaps that was the downfall?!? 2 of the 3 double gold raspberries didn't survive last year either (it was one order but contained 3 plants.) 1 of the Anne raspberries never produced any foliage (it was one order but came with 3 bare root plants.) Thank you for letting me know how to go about getting replacements for these! I am very excited to grow the blackberries! We got to enjoy a small handful of raspberries last year, we are excited for more this year when they come out of dormancy! Blessings to you all! SW [10 Apr 2020 10:53:30] Thank you for your email. I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you're having. When you get the opportunity, I would like for you to perform a scratch test on the nursery stock. It will determine whether the items are still living or dead. I have attached the instructions below, if you just click on the link. If the item(s) appear green then I would recommend fertilizing with a well balanced formula suitable for your plant/tree, and pruning about 1-3 inches off of the tips, to help stimulate growth. If the items are brown, please contact customer at *** to see if they are eligible to be replaced. ***] The plants that I wrote to you about are all DEAD (see list in prior e-mail.) There is nothing left of the plants from last year to do a scratch test on, except for the one raspberry that still has the stick in the ground (it came with a very hardy stick with some roots attached.) After being in the ground all year last year, it never sprouted at all and is not showing ANY signs of life, even with the scratch test. Please inform me how to get replacements for these plants that did not grow. Thank you! [10 Apr 2020 12:42:24] Thank you for your email. I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you've had with your nursery stock. I have processed a refund of $28.79 for the items and you should see this refund back onto your card within 7-10 business days. I hope this has been helpful! [10 Apr 2020 14:23:27] Are you sending some plants as a replacement or why is the refund only $28.79? There was a blackberry collection for $36.99 2 of 3 doublegold raspberries $13.32 1 of the Anne raspberries $4.00 Total $54.31 Also refund sales tax on this amount Minus the 10% discount Thank you! SW [13 Apr 2020 09:19:09] The refund is for the items that are dead. I didn't get to book a new order for you as the items are not available. [14 Apr 2020 09:17:40] The refund is not complete! Please send FULL amount of refund! There was a blackberry collection for $36.99 2 of 3 doublegold raspberries $13.32 1 of the Anne raspberries $4.00 Total $54.31 Also refund sales tax on this amount Minus the 10% discount Thank you! SW [14 Apr 2020 09:24:05] We do not refund shipping! I do apologize [14 Apr 2020 11:28:08] That's fine, I did not request a refund for the shipping amount, only for the price of the dead products. The balance still due back to may card is $25.52. Please refund $25.52 to my card immediately. Thank you. [15 Apr 2020 09:18:27] Thank you for your email. I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you've had with your nursery stock. I have processed a refund of $41.19 for the items and you should see this refund back onto your card within 7-10 business days. I hope this has been helpful! [22 Apr 2020 11:23:10] I received a refund of $16.19. So it appears the refund is still about $10 shy of covering the amount of the refund due to my account. Please refund an additional $10 to my account immediately. Thank you. [23 Apr 2020 09:59:52] Please check with your bank I show the whole refund went back to your credit card. [26 Apr 2020 22:01:22] I checked my bank account and received a $16.19 refund and $28.79 (total refunded $44.98.) Total amount of refund due for dead plants is $54.31. Please refund $9.33 back to my card immediately. No more delays, the refund needs to be done immediately. I am also sending a copy of these emails a well as my original invoice to the ComplaintsBoard.com and the State Attorney General. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter and an immediate refund back to my account for $9.33 to complete the balance due back to me for the dead plants under warranty. As you can see, it is not an easy task to get this company to honor their warranty (which they have not done yet!) and if you can hang in there and have the time to KEEP ON TRYING, you may get some part of the refund back. VERY POOR COMMUNICATION AND CUSTOMER SERVICE! BUYER BEWARE!

I had 3 bareroot fruit trees that were 4 months old and described to Stark's that I planted, fertilized, watered and insecticided properly and died after 4 months and noting it by a dead brown scraping. I emailed them four times to have a game of messagers with Stark that they need more information and didn't receive anything. I keep sending it to them and want a refund or replacement. I don't have the time for this childish game.

I ordered a bunch of bare root trees from the Stark Brothers nursery. I was given multiple date delays on the orders. All items were listed as in stock when the order was placed. I got a sub-par order of damaged trees and have come to realize that quality of the old Stark that I have ordered from is gone. On two orders the items are listed are not available until spring/summer 2021. I requested a refund on these. I have contacted customer server many times and only once have I even gotten a response. I just want to no longer do any business with this scam business and want to get refund for items that they are unable to deliver: Order #[protected] for a Apple Tree now saying “ June-July " (was Week of October 25). Order #[protected] for a LSU Purple Fig now saying February-March (was Week of November 8).

I ordered an onion plant collection on May 24. The total was 33.99, which included 12.99 for shipping. I have a tracking number which, on their website, states my order was shipped by Stark Bro's Home delivery and was due to arrive yesterday. However, according to Stark Bro's website, the order was never picked up. When I wrote to Starks they stated they didn't know what happened but would email their shipping department as well as hand deliver a new shipment to be mailed, but stated they couldn't give me tracking information and that I would receive my order in 2-3 weeks. This is not acceptable. The amount paid for shipping was entirely too expensive to not have a tracking number be provided. After doing some research on this company, it seems they have a myriad of complaints against them for orders that never arrive, or arrive dead or severely damaged.

I purchased multiple fruit trees from here, one got canceled right away, been trying to deal with that for weeks now, been told I'd get a phone call and that never happened, actually just got another email today asking for my phone number once again and still they havent reached out to contact me, as we stand I have 2 trees missing from my order, when I received my order there was the tree missing they told me about, then another tree was also missing, when I contacted them they told me they didn't have those trees and they was unsure of the date they would be back in, I proceeded to ask why they would advertise and sell products they don't even have available... I dont understand, and I have a separate order that hasnt been fulfilled yet, the shipping dates have changed multiple times on me. I've asked for a refund or for tree replacements and I cant get anywhere with them.