Burnt Ridge Nursery from Washington, USA

I give this nursery 9.5 out of 10 acorns.

Today I received my first order from Burnt Ridge. This is also the first time I've ever ordered bare root plants. As such, my review reflect my lack of experience. I plan on updating this review in a few months to reflect how my plants are doing. I ordered three chestnut trees, three hazelnuts, an asian persimmon, two rugosa roses, and 50 strawberries.

Website:
8/10 I found this website easy to navigate. There is a menu on the side, as well as a drop down menu at the top. I liked the drop down menu, because I could go directly to whatever type of plant I was looking for. For instance, if I wanted to find chestnuts, the drop down menu had "Chestnut Trees" listed under "nut trees" and I was able to go straight to the page full of chestnuts without having to load extra pages. (With the side bar, you had to click "Nut Trees",  have the Nut Tree page load, and then click "Chestnut Trees"). One this I did not like was that there was no indication of how many plants were left of a certain variety. And, once that variety was sold out, the page for that variety disappeared and the varieity was also no longer listed anywhere. This made it frustrating, as I would plan out what I was wanting, research all the varieties, come back and find one was no longer available, and then have to reasearch another variety...only to have that one sell out! It also made it difficult to do research, as all the info on that variety was no longer available. All in all, though, this was a pretty minor inconvenience.

Customer Service:
10/10 I emailed them on January 21st to ask about which varieties of chestnuts would do best on my property. They responded back the next day with recommendations. I was pleased with their helpful information and speedy reply. What more can you ask for?

Shipping:
9.5/10 I placed my order 2/15 and was told to expect my trees that same month. But, then it snowed and we had a lot of frosts, and I was actually really happy that they did not ship until March. They also sent me multiple different email (order confirmation, invoice summery, another invoice summary before they shipped, and a shipping notice). This was really reassuring for me, as it helped me know that they (1) Hadn't forgotten me, and (2) Hadn't forgotten any of my plants.

The shipping notice came this morning (3/6) and the trees arrived a few hours later. I live within a few hours of Burnt Ridge, so that was some nice, fast shipping! The plants arrived in a skinny, tall box. I was initially surprised at how skinny the box was, wondering how they could fit everything in there. They did, though!

Here's a picture of the box as it arrived. My husband is 5'9". The box also stated that it was certified snail free, and it was! (We laughed at this notice, because our last order from a different company came with a California Red snail, which is now our pet snail...)



It was, however, kind of hard to get everything OUT of the box without damaging it. It ended up taking me holding the box, and my husband pulling the trashbag that the plants were in to get them out. One small branch on the rose bush broke in the process. This was the only broken branch on all of the plants.

Here you can see the plastic bag they were all in, with newspaper to keep them moist. Some of the trees were one direction, while the others were the opposite, so there was roots of plants at both ends. There was a bamboo stick through the middle of it all, which my four-year old loved playing with.



Pricing:
10/10 Pricing was really reasonable. I was able to get some small chestnuts and hazelnuts for $3-6 each. The rose bushes were $4 each, and 2.5 feet tall. The other trees were more expensive, but they were also larger/rarer. The strawberries were only $9.50 for 25 plants. I didn't really need more strawberries, but I couldn't pass up that price!

Quality
10/10
9/10,  I think. I just received the trees today. They all looked healthy. The 25 strawberries were in a gallon-sized plastic bag. About 1/2 of them had no leaves on them, but they all had lots of healthy roots and looked like they'd grow back quickly as spring approaches. The trees also had good root sizes, and were of relatively good heights, especially for having been shipped.

Here's everything that was in that box. My husband has a size 12 boot, for size reference. It's amazing how they managed to get that all in that skinny box!



All in all, I'm rather impressed with Burnt Ridge, and hope that these plants do well, and I can give positive update in a few months!

EDIT to update: All the plants are sprouting leaves and look very healthy. The strawberries are even blooming!

I give Burnt Ridge 10 our of 10 points... it is my favorite mail order nursery!!   I much prefer to buy from them... best prices for quality plants, plus a very wide selection.  I got excellent advice the few times I called, and their online customer service is prompt and helpful.  BTW, as I can drive to the Olympia Farmers Market (an excellent market, worth the trip :), I have arranged to pick up my order there, and saved some shipping cost (they've had a stall at the market during their selling season).   Again... my fave!  

I give this nursery 10 out of 10 acorns. Burnt Ridge Nursery is Awesome! I've placed several large orders with them. The last one (last Spring) was mangled worse than any order they've seen through UPS, they gave me a percentage back (hard to estimate damages to roots), and I put it all in the ground. All of it still leafed out, although some of the trees didn't grow much, but this year they are looking good, and I can't wait to see how they do.

Great customer service, and like somebody else said... best products, best prices! And they carry all of the types of plants I need including nitro-fixers, etc!

I give this nursery 10 out of 10 acorns.
I have ordered from burnt ridge nursery at least 4 times and spent somewhere between 1-2k$ on their products and shipping.  Great service and well packed, good looking trees are what I have come to expect from them.  I have had a few 'dead on arrivals' from them and they were always faithful to their guarantee and gave me a credit on the next year's order.
I have apples, pears, cherries, honeyberries, currants, hazelnuts, seaberries, siberian peashrubs, kiwis, aronias and more from them growing on my land and a neighbor's land.  Nothing has been in the ground more than 3 years so only the currants are bearing, and the hardy kiwis are making a few fruits, but I'm excited to see what else starts to flower this coming spring.

I give them about 4 out of 10 acorns I ordered some apple trees from them online. after a few weeks they sent me a e-mail saying that 2 out of the three
that I ordered were out of stock. the third I ordered they wanted to substitute with the same tree but on a different root stock.
I told them I didn't want that type of rootstock as it would not do well in the soils I have on my property.
I never got a refund after many e-mails back and forth I would not do business with them again.

I happen to work at Burnt Ridge Nursery, and have for the last 4 years. I remain consistently in awe of Michael Dolan's ability to source top-quality plants, grow what he cannot find, and sell every level of plant with conscious thought about keeping prices low. Nuts, for example: he sells seeds (at approx. $.25 each) so folks can grow seedlings of their favorite varieties (pollinated by the championship genetics of his orchard), or all ages of seedlings ($4-$12), as well as grafted versions ($20-$40) of the really stellar varieties. How he thinks we can be productive when he is selling chestnut trees for $4.00 is beyond me - and he does it for the ethics of having something for everyone. When we are selling a seedling chestnut for $6-$8, and other websites sell the same age and size for $30, I know I am practicing right livelihood - and so are Michael and Carolyn Dolan.

To Michael Westerbrook, when I want a plant from Burnt Ridge that I think might be very popular, and sold out quickly, I place my order on line ASAP in the fall.  I am always able to modify (add to, subtract from) my order at any time prior to shipping/charging me for it.  If I had waited til ... say, February... to order, it might likely have been sold out.  I find them very helpful and flexible, and have learned the hard way to be 'proactive' in placing my order.

I give this nursery 9 out of 10 acorns.

I have ordered from Burnt Ridge twice and received quality stock, carefully packed, both times. Their selection is thoughtful and very reasonably priced.

I do think they could provide a bit more growing information and educational materials—other nurseries are better on that—which is the only reason I'm rating them less than a 10.