Kelly's Nursery

Review: On 9/25/14 at around 12:30 PM, I went to Kelly's Nursery to purchase Leeland Cyprus'es for privacy screening in my front yard.

I was greeted by their sales representative named Mike. Mike asked me what I was looking for and I told him that I needed a bunch of young Leeland Cyprus'es that I could plant across my front yard. He said that he had to check to see if they had any Leeland Cyprus'es in stock because he didn't think they did at the moment, and went on to ask how tall of a plant I was going to need. I told him I needed them to grow at least 20 feet tall in order to cover the neighbor's junkyard out in the field past my front yard (also showing him pictures). He told me that he had plenty of really great Emerald Green Arborvitae in stock that were approx 8-9 feet tall, would definitely grow to the 20 feet I needed, and were "maintenance free". I told him that I was not a plant expert and was willing to listen to his advise, but I wanted him to check if there were Leeland Cyprus'es in stock and would have to take a look at the Emerald Green Arborvitaes. We took a look at a few of the Emerald Green Arborvitaes on the way to the main office, and they did look great... but I still felt the Leeland Cypruses would be better. After checking in at the main office, I was told by the owner (Kelly), that there were no Leeland Cypruses in stock and they would have to order them. So, I ended up calling my friend Gil (at 12:47 PM), who originally advised me to get trees in the front yard), and asked him if he would recommend the Emerald Green Arborvitaes. He said that if "they grow tall enough, look good, and give the privacy you need, then go ahead as long as they give you a good deal." So, I went out in the nursery with Mike to look for some larger Emerald Green Arborvitaes to make sure they were what I wanted. We ended up finding some 9 feet tall ones, and I clearly remember measuring them out using my height (5' 11''). They were maybe a few feet taller, and I asked for confirmation that "they would at least grow twice as tall as these". Mike told me "oh yea, definitely, and they're nice too, unlike the Leelands you won't have to do anything to to these after you put them in." So, Mike took me to his sales office at the other end of the nursery and started writing up an estimate/invoice for the trees. He asked how many I needed, and we calculated out an approximation using pictures of my front yard and how far apart I wanted them spaced. I also pointed out the downhill slope in my front yard to make sure he thought the trees would still be good there. He said yea they should be good... and we approximated around 28 trees, so I went ahead and got 30 in case I needed any extra. The price seemed a little steep for me at $2,997.70, so I asked for a discount since I was referred over there by [redacted] and lived locally. He said that Kelly was in a "good mood" so he would give me 20% off (which he doesn't always do for people). I ended up paying a total of $2,682.21 and heading out at around 1:15 PM.

A few business days later (9/30), I received all 30 trees, and had them delivered along the edge of my property. My father and I got started early the next day (10/1) planting the trees. He (being more experienced with gardening/landscaping) noticed that the trees were infested with Bagworms! Which he quickly explained to me would end up killing the trees, and that a Nursery shouldn't be delivering trees that have problems to me. Also, I recalled that Mike told me these were "maintenance free" trees and I didn't have to worry about them. I wasn't told anything about bagworms or that they needed hours of maintenance and special product to get rid of! I immediately called Kelly's Nursery and spoke to Mike and Kelly... about the issue with the trees. They told me that they would have Kelly or Kelly Jr. come and check out the trees the following day, and that they should be ok though as long as they're taken care of by the Spring. So, we continued planting the trees, and the following day (10/2) we waited for them to come check them out. To no avail, even after calling to check with them, they ended up not coming, and telling us that they didn't need to because it wasn't really a problem and was more of normal maintenance of the trees. So, I called (on 10/3) and at least asked them if they would come out and spray them in the Spring after we spent the time picking off as many of the Bagworms as we could... and they said no, because they don't have a pesticide license. Finally, I asked if they could then at least provide me with the product I need to spray the trees myself.. and they said simply said no. At the end of the day, we had to get these trees in before they would be out of the ground too long... so we just continued working hard to plant these 30 trees. After 3 full days of hard work, we had all of the trees planted and finally took a rest to see the results. After stepping back and taking a good look, I said that these will definitely have to grow twice as tall to cover the area and I really look forward to it.

After a few guest visits and overlooking the trees from my house, I decided to double check on what the trees would look like after they're fully grown. I unexpectedly came across many results online that told me these trees typically grow 13-15 feet tall, which differed from what I was told... so I called Mike (on 10/7) to confirm what he said since I wasn't an expert or anything. He told me no worries, that he would double check with Kelly because he "thinks" they'll be fine, and also for me to check the tag on the trees to make sure. So, I went out and found one of the little information cards inside the trees and read that they grow 8 feet wide x 12 feet high. This was shocking to me, and I called him right back to verify this. He answered and said "that's not true, these grow in variations and that's not accurate, I'll check with Kelly and get back to you." The next day (10/8), he called me and explained that the trees will likely grow up to 18 feet tall... so I asked him for a guarantee that they would since they're supposed to grow 20 feet tall without a bunch of maintenance. He said that they don't do guarantees and I would have to wait 5 years to see... but he comforted me by saying that they would be fine and he would "put his balls on the line for it."

Mike's convincing speech put me at ease for a while, and with just moving into my first house and all the things I was handling with the move on my mind.. I let things settle for 2-3 weeks. I ended up researching more and running across many full grown Emerald Green Arborvitaes on my travels. It was obvious that they typically grow around 13-15 feet and I would not have the privacy that I was clearly advertised/swayed to believe. So I called to talk to Mike (on 10/23) again to fix the situation I was in. I wanted trees as described by him, which were Emerald Green Arborvitaes that would generally grow 20 feet tall and be maintenance free, because that was what I purchased. He told me that the only person I could resolve this with was Kelly or Kelly Jr., and that I would have to call back early in the morning @ 7:30 AM because that's the only time they're available. After calling multiple times (on 10/24) from morning to the afternoon, and leaving messages, Kelly called me. He asked what the problem was.. and I asked if he wanted the short or long story. He asked for the short overview and I summed up all the facts for him along with the general problems with the service/products provided. He told me that I "may be able to grow these up to 20 feet tall" if I used drip lines and constant fertilization in optimal conditions, and that I "purchased these trees from him 3 months ago and now was just changing my mind", and that "I'm welcome to buy more Leeland Cyprus'es/trees from him if I want to", and finally that he "wasn't going to do anything about the trees I had bought and to have a nice day" (followed by him hanging up). He also had kept saying that I knowingly bought these types of trees, which is wrong because I bought "Emerald Green Arborvitaes that were advertised/supposed to easily grow 20 feet high and were maintenance free, when these only grow typically 13-15 feet high"... which he then said that "the maintenance free that Mike was referring to was just trimming". In addition to the lies, he also mentioned that if the ballroot of the trees were broken up in anyway (ex: were uprooted), then they would die... and the condition he gave the trees to me in had 3-4 trees that had horrible ballroots already based on his description. He also deluded saying that he had plenty of Leeland Cyprus'es in stock and on site back when I made my purchase because he "always has them like a revolving door".

I was sold a product with infestation problems and that was not as described, and they’re leaving me out to dry after I paid good money for it.Desired Settlement: Replace the 30 of 8-9 feet tall Emerald Green Arborvitaes with 22 (to cover the same width) of healthy and bagworm free 8-9 feet tall Leeland Cyprus'es and plant them the same way as the current arrangement (with an extra foot or two of spacing). Also re-fertlize the soil with the 15 bags of fertilizer I purchased in the same order which were used on the current trees.